Comments By Dave B Flying

Great story Dave! The adrenaline flow I get when driving is one aspect of trucking that makes almost every day an adventure. IMO, the best stories are the ones where a driver relates how they overcame adversity.

Your post reminds me of a quote by my favorite U.S. President.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

― Theodore Roosevelt

Wow! I love that quote. I will note that one Thank you.

Dave: Did you ever drive for either Emeryville Trucking, Team Transport, Aero Trucking, or Nick Strimbu? Seems to me that I remember that night you described in your post. Not fun!

Thanks for the questions we should ask ourselves, and for the metaphor. The account of that night set up both perfectly.

Stay Safe!

No, I can't say that I drove for any of those people.

I started driving for Werner in 1985. Sometime in the early to mid 90's, Werner started a driver training program for students. I trained many students for several years. Sometime in I believe my 3rd year, I picked up a driver at the Lithia Springs, GA terminal. He was coming to the end of his training and required about 2 more weeks of training to test out. During the initial contact and general briefing I told him that I was tired and opted to rest in the truck for a night. However, this student just got done spending several days in a hotel waiting for another trainer and was anxious to get moving again. I decided that it would be ok to roll. We got an empty, headed to the customer and did a drop and hook. It was not too long before we were Northbound on I-75 heading toward TN. I continued to observe his driving and determined that he was doing a great job. Back then, once a driver was capable of handling the rig himself, we would get long loads and would drive 4 on and 4 off like a team operation. This was before the DOT rules changed. I decided that I was going to get some sleep. I let him know as I did all my students that if they needed me not to hesitate to yell for me because that's what I was there for.. He had made note that he wanted to stop at a fuel stop to grab a soda pop and snack. I told him that I had no problem with that and to keep up the good job he was doing. When I was training, I had a tendency to sleep with one eye open and was a very light sleeper. We might have gotten about 30 minutes down the road when I could sense that he was making that pit stop we talked about. I continued to lay there. The truck made a couple turns and came to a stop.

Moments later I was being called to assess the situation. On our left was a tiny fuel stop and we were sitting at the exit drive for that stop. All fuel lanes were full and turning in was not an option. Small fuel stops have one way in and one way out. I told him that he should have paid attention to which way the trucks were facing before turning down the service road. Then he utters "I think you had better drive." Right about that time a semi was coming the other way and I said "look, here comes a truck. There must be a trucking company down here with a place to turn around so keep driving." He drove for awhile and we saw the trucking company but the gate was closed and locked. He asked, "do you want to drive? I said maybe I'd better."

So here I am driving this rig with only my T- shirt and boxers too by the way because I had to react quickly to the situation. The road kept getting narrower, tree branches were getting lower and we started to encounter some hills and winding roads. Not too much longer we encounter an intimidating sign that reads "Dam One Mile Ahead." I'm thinking, this is not looking good and we are going to be in real trouble. I wasn't sure what I was going to find at the end of this road. Then we came across a sign that reads, Road Ends At Dam/25 MPH. So I slow down, we come around the final curve and the road comes to and end. I felt like I had just seen Michael Myers from Halloween. Straight ahead of me is this giant lake. I look around and there is a parking lot with curbs to the right of me that probably could have held about 10 cars or so. Between this parking lot and water was this very tall cliff looking thing that may have been the dam. I'm not sure. To the left was this small little gravel spot with 2 picnic tables chained to a pole. At this point, I just wanted to pack my bags and get out of trucking for good.

I started having visions of being lifted out by helicopters and making front page news. The student looked at me and said "What are you going to do?" I said "The first thing I need to do is put my clothes back on." We went outside and assessed the situation. The widest place in this whole area was between the table and that cliff. We actually got out and measured it by walking. It wasn't long enough for the entire length of the semi but it was long enough if I could 90 degree it. The first thing I did was slide the tandems all the way forward. It took me some time but I got the trailer wheels in between the 2 picnic tables without falling into the water and left enough room so that I could drop the trailer at a 90 degree angle. This took some time of pulling up and backing up while turning the wheels. Once the trailer was out of the way, I was able to back the truck up between the trailer and the cliff and get the tractor turned around to where I could back into the trailer from the other side. Once I got the trailer connected, I knew that the worst part was over.

As we started to roll he said, "Man you are good!" I said "No, I'm just very lucky. Just when you've seen it all, Whammo! We got to I-75N and I pulled into the first truck stop I saw, and put her in a hole. The student asked me what my plans were. I replied, "Parking for the night." He graciously replied, "Yes sir!"

Lessons learned

No matter how good you are, no matter how long you've been doing it, "IT" can happen to you.

This is a true story and an extreme case. From my experience, Georgia roads are traditionally full of surprises. It may start out as asphalt or concrete but you never know what you will encounter.

In hindsight, I probably should have had the student get out and I should have backed into the fuel stop.

I also should have listened to my instincts the first time and parked unt morning.

Sometime back in the early 80's, I don't remember the year, I was slowly trudging my way back home to Cleveland, Oh from Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore, MD the day after a nasty winter storm. Me and several other drivers were rolling W on I-70. We had just crested the top of Town Hill along the north slope of Emmaville Mountain on I-70 and started making our way down into Breezewood, PA. It was early and there weren't many trucks rolling due to the aftermath of the storm. Roads were very spotty in places and I broke traction a few times trying to get up that hill. None of us carried snow chains nor were they required. We actually had intelligent conversations on the CB radio back then and as we got closer to Breezewood, we could hear some other drivers on the radio warning us about ice on about the last mile of that hill before Breezewood. It was suggested that we pull over and think twice about coming down until the salt shaker had made a pass.

Somewhere in this conversation, compounded by sitting for over 30 minutes waiting on the salt truck, I decided in all my new found wisdom that if the other driver had made it down, I could too. I was told that although there were long stretches of ice, there were also some stretches in between of dryer pavement especially near the end. We decided to go down the hill one at a time and I decided that I would go first. I started to make my way down ever so slowly and as I came up on the first stretch of ice, I came to a complete stop before proceeding any further. I let off the brakes and she started to roll. No words can express the regret that I felt as my truck slowly started to roll down that hill and gain speed. I believe that I had it in 3rd or 4th and as the truck started to gain speed the RPM's started going higher and after awhile the engine can no longer hold you back if there is no traction underneath and your tandems start to slide. I slapped into a higher gear so the wheels would stop sliding and I had hit nearly 45 mph before I came upon what looked to be one of those dry spots.

I hit the brakes as hard and as smoothly as I could and got down to almost 20 before I ran out of dry pavement and had to release the brakes and let her roll again. Best I can remember, this maneuver was repeated probably 3 or 4 times before hitting the final dry stretch before the stoplight. With my heart racing and feeling like it was going to come out of my chest, I got on the radio and told the other drivers that I had made it but if I had to do it again that I probably would have waited for the salt truck. I also told them precisely what to expect and to attempt it at their own risk. That was a long time ago and If I remember correctly, 2 other drivers followed in my foolish footsteps before the others had been graced with the arrival of a salt truck. The other 2 drivers who slid down the hill along with 1 or 2 others who had heard it all over the radio and I sat down for coffee at what was then the 76 Truck Stop and proceeded to exchange stories.

In conclusion I would like to say that I was a young guy back then who had much to prove to the world before acquiring the true wisdom that only comes with time and experience. I have had many other experiences in my early days of truck driving that have made for some great tales at the truck stop but in hindsight, they were foolish decisions that could have cost me my life. Some of my decisions were rooted in a lack of proper training. Driving schools were rare back then. You had to know someone that was willing to teach you how to drive a semi and the requirements were less stringent and mostly at the discretion of the employers. The best thing I can say about those parts of my career is that I survived it.

I posted this in another post and I would like to post it again. When it comes to making decisions I ask myself 4 questions:

1. What is the best thing that will happen if I do this? 2. What is worst thing that will happen if I do this? 3. What is the best thing that will happen if I don't do this? 4. What is the worst thing that will happen if I don't do this?

Remember: A smart driver is always learning

In aviation we have a metaphor that can be applied to trucking. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. But there are no "Old Bold" pilots.

I wouldn't take it personally. Just remember why you are there and that it's not forever. You're just getting your foot in the door and as you gain more experience you can pick and choose who you work for. Dave Since 1980