Profile For Ryan R.

The sort of situation I could see using a knife in is when I'm in my sleeper and someone is breaking in. I'd be cornered already. I'd probably yell at them to go away, and that I was calling the cops, while calling the cops with my knife out. You can't accurately swing any big weapons in enclosed spaces like that, but you can unleash a barrage of stabs. I suppose pepper spray is a good idea too, but spraying pepper spray in a sleeper will probably get me too. That stuff stays in the air, and in a confined space like that, it'll be concentrated. I used to spray it at dogs that would come after me when I went jogging until I got sick of having to pay for it - switched to rocks instead.

Brett,

Do you deny the existence of all of the various categories of people you just listed being put in situations out of their ability to accurately make the right decision? Because that's utter nonsense if so. Experts in some of the fields you listed acknowledge it plainly. I've even worked in one of them.

People that get stuff done don't need to burden themselves with petty things like blame. They need to try their best, and the best they can do is acknowledge when something is not totally within their control. There will always be fools willing to strap themselves to a missile without fins, and take the responsibility of guiding it at a precise target, perhaps even with utter conviction in their ability to do it.

I believe you are probably smarter than most people, and perhaps your particular talents have suited you well as a truck driver, but that doesn't mean it's the case for most of humanity, or that it's out of the realms of a possibility that you could potentially make such a mistake. In the end, you didn't hit a bridge before you quit driving, and congrats to you.

Partagas,

That question did not imply that specific wording. That was a specific example to communicate a broader understanding to the question. I watched a video on youtube of a DOT inspector training recruits. Believe me, I fully understand that interpretation can be grossly mangled by dunces that can't even speak 6th grade English, but that doesn't mean a competent judge wouldn't laugh it out of court.

Or better yet, just some small sensor at the top of the trailers?

We need solutions instead of blaming people that have literally been setup for it to happen to them.

Brett,

There are, "mistakes" that a fully functioning human being shouldn't make if they are applying themselves properly. We will all make them in some manner, but we generally accept that doing so is our own fault. We could do better, we knew better, etc.

Then there are, "mistakes" that a fully functioning human can be expected to make because it is not in the scope of their capacity. Judging bridge heights at road speeds is easily one of them. Unless truck drivers are expected to drive up to every single bridge, stop and check their clearance, or idiots stop building bridges too low for legal vehicles (including accounting for repaving of roads that any engineer with two brain cells should do), this sort of thing is going to predictably happen again and again.

In the case of Errol's bridge, with that posted clearance, I probably would actually stop at the bridge completely, turn my hazard lights on, and slowly inch towards it while checking my clearance - getting in and out over and over. Doing so, I risk getting rear ended or hit by another car. Hey, I might get killed, but at least I won't be blamed right?

Yes, I'll do trip planning, but there are still going to be the poor souls that do trip planning and still manage to be the first to find a bridge or power line some idiot built too low, that just got raised at that critical point from some road work. Of course, that road work can be a clue to be more careful, so lets just hope all truck drivers are super geniuses tuned into every clue around them while traveling 55+ MPH. Yes, plenty of truck drivers don't hit a bridge, and proper planning reduces their chances, but that doesn't mean they couldn't potentially hit one if bad luck strikes.

Worse than that is power lines in the dark.

I was actually thinking about this earlier. Why not put a thin, fragile bar on the top of the cab of the truck that extends slightly above the height of the trailer, which sets off an alarm if broken? It could be done to add minuscule amounts of wind resistance, and break before causing damage to most structures.

I asked what the most deadly weapon was a person could legally carry in a thread similar to this, and I was told it was a knife. I've gone shopping picked out a knife I consider perfect for a truck driver. It has a glass breaker, and a seat belt cutter (So I can pull someone from a burning car if I happen upon one), and a 3" blade. It's what rescue workers carry for saving people.

I'm wondering though... is this going to be generally legal throughout all states? Do companies allow it?

I don't want to waste money on it if some giant walking female parts decide to tell me I can't carry it as a truck driver. I'm already a well trained grappler, and I generally doubt I look like someone to choose to mess with, but who knows. I also like that I could potentially save a life with it.

Partagas,

Not4hire already quoted this. It's right off the FMCSA's own website. Why do you disagree with their own words?

FMCSA 392.5

Question 3: Does the prohibition against carrying alcoholic beverages in §392.5 apply to a driver who uses a company vehicle, for personal reasons, while off-duty?

Guidance: No. For example, an owner-operator using his/her own vehicle in an off-duty status, or a driver using a company truck or tractor for transportation to a motel, restaurant, or home, would normally be outside the scope of this section.

C T,

May I ask what company you grossed 32k in a half a year with?

It's one of my greatest fears about becoming a truck driver. It's a situation that anyone could find themselves in, IMO. Bridges and power lines SHOULD NOT ever be built over roads that are too low for legal vehicles. I think it's more obviously a blunder by the people that designed them than anything else.

But the theme for truck drivers is to take all the responsibility for everyone else's incompetence without the authority to change anything.

Failures before you hit the bridge:

1. Building the bridge too low for a truck to pass in the first place. 2. A company GPS telling you to go under it.

Yet a truck driver takes the full blame when they have the least ability to change the situation, and the least chance of judging it properly since it's flying at them at road speeds. I mean, in the dark, you're not even going to necessarily see power lines you could potentially hit. The entire situation is ridiculous.

I'm sorry it happened to you.