How Hosed Am I?

I was specifically told never to obstruct traffic, so stopping in the middle of a highway is a no go.

Better to obstruct traffic than flip the trailer..... I can guarantee you that you wouldn't get in trouble if you needed to stop as long as your hazards were on and there was a valid reason. Technically you're obstructing traffic if you ever back into a dock from the road. Do you know the intersection this happened so we can look at google maps to get a better idea. Honestly I'm a better visual learner and you may help others avoid this unfortunate mishap.

I was specifically told never to obstruct traffic, so stopping in the middle of a highway is a no go.

So it's better to lay your truck on its side, which coincidentally it's a far worse obstruction of traffic?

C'mon man, you just don't get it do you?

Try saying this with me:

"I made a bad decision."

There, was that so hard?

KJ...

You have received a lot of good advice here that you basically ignored.

My turn...

Dumb Asses make terrible truck drivers.

Period.

Stop arguing with us...take responsibility for your mistakes and think long and hard if you have what it takes to make it out here.

From what I have read in this thread and your history...you are a dangerous driver; a risk to yourself and anyone within your space. No interest in encouraging you to jump back into this until you get your head screwed on straight.

You’re a hot mess.

Got a little bored and tried to see if I couldn't find the place this occurred. KJ please correct me if I'm wrong, this is Southeast of Paducah.

if this indeed is the corner I can see what you mean about a blind corner...HOWEVER, you were clearly going too fast. You can see the signs warning you of a turn, and if you were following GPS you'd see a tight turn is ahead. You even said had you hit the brakes you'd have hit the car. That's admitting you're going too fast. Having your trailer run over some grass (had you been correct about the ditch being level with the road) instead of hitting a car is the right move. BUT you never should have put yourself into that situation. Had you been going slower you would have had more time to react. I'm not sure how getting out to look around the corner would have helped you with traffic coming at 45 mph, by the time you climb back in the truck there may be cars there weren't when you looked. Be prepared to own up to it and explain to a potential employer what you learned from this and how you will avoid it in the future. Truck rollovers are ALWAYS preventable and they're extremely serious. I wish you luck.

So, KJ, you say it was your fault, but still seem to maintain that it was a non-preventable. Everybody here has called that to your attention. The bigger issue is: you will not be driving again for a long, long time, maybe never again. So, you will have to find another job. Are you going to take that "poor me, the devil made me do it" attitude into your next job? If so, you are doomed to repeat the same mistakes in judgment you made on the rollover. Not the exact same mistakes, but just "variations on a theme" mistakes.

When I drove for Schneider, I went incident free for the first 90 days. Every new driver for Schneider gets a "free" (lol) 90 day review. The day before I was routed into the OC for my review, I tried to turn around in a parking lot. I wasn't watching my mirrors as I was trained to do, and I ran my trailer tandems up over a little island in the parking lot. The island was snow covered and I didn't see a granite bolder under the snow. The trailer comes down over the bolder and gets trapped between the two axles. Takes out 2 air brake chambers. The company had to send a tow truck to lift the trailer over the boulder, then I had to limp into the OC with a damaged trailer, damaged ego and my tail between my legs. And ONE day before my 90 day review! What a bummer. The next day, I went to do the review and met first with my wonderful Driver Manager. She quizzed me about what happened and after a long discussion, she told that she could write it off as a non-preventable. I told her I appreciated her going to bat for me, but the incident was totally preventable and I had violated several rules of my training. The fact that I accepted TOTAL responsibility for this went a long way towards gaining trust and respect from the people I dealt with at Schneider. And it impressed on my mind not to repeat the same mistakes again.

So for you, this is not just a trucking lesson. It's a life lesson and I hope you can see how to apply it to your next job.

The corner Rob T posted has red flag written all over it. Sharp, blind, sloped, narrow. All the clues needed for a smart decision to slow and approach with caution . That's a no-brainer.

Rob, that's really impressive to me that you could pull up those street views and post them. You are WAY more advanced than me.

Like Turtle said, any safe driver would have been going VERY slow and with EXTREME caution approaching that curve.

Also, remember that almost roads have ditches adjacent to them . It's a fundamental principal of road construction. They are for drainage, DUH. Most of them are overgrown with grass and weeds. If you can see a shoulder with gravel and no big drop off, It's probably safe. But beyond that It's totally unsafe. just drive so you can keep all 18 wheels on the pavement and you will never roll over at a safe speed.

Got a little bored and tried to see if I couldn't find the place this occurred. KJ please correct me if I'm wrong, this is Southeast of Paducah.

if this indeed is the corner I can see what you mean about a blind corner...HOWEVER, you were clearly going too fast. You can see the signs warning you of a turn, and if you were following GPS you'd see a tight turn is ahead. You even said had you hit the brakes you'd have hit the car. That's admitting you're going too fast. Having your trailer run over some grass (had you been correct about the ditch being level with the road) instead of hitting a car is the right move. BUT you never should have put yourself into that situation. Had you been going slower you would have had more time to react. I'm not sure how getting out to look around the corner would have helped you with traffic coming at 45 mph, by the time you climb back in the truck there may be cars there weren't when you looked. Be prepared to own up to it and explain to a potential employer what you learned from this and how you will avoid it in the future. Truck rollovers are ALWAYS preventable and they're extremely serious. I wish you luck.

Rob. T.,

EXCELLENT RESEARCH!! That Curve looks almost exactly like a entrance/exit road in Cheraw, SC., to Carolina Containers. Same style, right turn in with a driveway/road to the left in middle of turn. - -There is too a invisible ditch on that road, but only ENTERING.- - ___________________________________________________________________________

KJ,

Even at NIGHT with HEADLIGHTS, that invisible Ditch isn't.

Just like a Load is a Load, a Rollover is a Rollover regardless of what Natural/Unnatural circumstances (hidden Ditch) are involved.

SLOW IS SAFE!! 4 WHEELERS HAVE BRAKES!!

Could have been in Mountainous Terrain (NC., PA., KY., VA., W.VA., AR.) and there are many spooky, winding, STEEP 2 lane Truck Roads.

- - A Rollover CAUSED BY (SUDDEN) HIGH WINDS is NOT Driver Error unless there were Statements made by the STATE warning HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES of Potentially Dangerous Winds, etc., like have been and will be Nationwide and the MANY DRIVERS that Chose/Choose to IGNORE WARNINGS.- -

Sorry Mate, 3 Years (MAYBE a bit Less) before a Company will possibly accept you for Training seems right.

Thanks ALL!! CHEERS!!

I meant SOUTHWEST of paducah. This actually wasnt hard to find, it appears that KY 998 only runs for a short distance so I just looked at the map and that is only place it looks sketchy. It's possible it restarts elsewhere in the state but I couldn't find it.

One other thing worth noting with this road is the lack of a shoulder. The roads I've seen with this setup typically have a drop off on the other side. Also as bruce pointed out, unless theres storm drains 99% of the time you're going have a ditch for drainage purposes. That corner is far from ideal and the trees should be cleared up, but theres still no excuse. I really do wish you luck, but you really need to demonstrate that you learned from this mistake which has not happened in this forum. You've said you accept responsibility but then still try to pass the blame.

I meant SOUTHWEST of paducah. This actually wasnt hard to find, it appears that KY 998 only runs for a short distance so I just looked at the map and that is only place it looks sketchy. It's possible it restarts elsewhere in the state but I couldn't find it.

One other thing worth noting with this road is the lack of a shoulder. The roads I've seen with this setup typically have a drop off on the other side. Also as bruce pointed out, unless theres storm drains 99% of the time you're going have a ditch for drainage purposes. That corner is far from ideal and the trees should be cleared up, but theres still no excuse. I really do wish you luck, but you really need to demonstrate that you learned from this mistake which has not happened in this forum. You've said you accept responsibility but then still try to pass the blame.