Stoopid U-turn Of The Day

The point Harvey? Your story doesn’t hang together. Full of holes...

How about we take a break for a while.

Harvey spinning the yarn,..

Just a question and hope you guys are not too hard on me.

Do you ever make a U-turn even if prohibited?

My son "Jay" started driving for a new company last week. Flew out of state for orientation and then given trips further north from there and 1,300 miles until he got to his home base yard. He followed the company route on Qualcomm. I was meeting him at the yard because we had taken him to the airport. I used Google maps to get there and took me on a different road than Qualcomm. I was unsure of the entrance and drove on past the driveway and saw him straight ahead of me on the right at a big intersection with no other vehicles within a half mile. Problem: big road construction and the road I was on had the other lane blocked off so he could not make a left turn. He was at a dead end. He had told me that U-turns were prohibited and there before my eyes I saw him make a U-turn. He had a 53' refer and he had huge clearance. Had to make a detour of several miles to come back around the direction I had originally come from. Some other driver in the yard that makes local trips mentioned some other spot that it's possible to turn-around but he only knows that because of driving there every day. When going back a couple of days later, the road closure was much different, no map is going to prepare a driver for the current conditions. The only way to leave the yard at this moment is to turn right even though that is supposedly going against traffic (or take several back-ups to make a left turn in what should be the on-coming traffic lane).

While I was driving him home from the yard he called the safety department and left a message about what happened and said he had no choice. That was three days ago and he hasn't heard back.

These conditions are changing too quickly for dispatch to know what route to give drivers unless other drivers explain things to them daily.

You drove Jay to the airport? Watched him make a u-turn in his big twuk..? And then you drove him home?

C’mon...

Harvey when was the last time you submitted to a random?

Looks to me like Jay left last week, they eventually routed him home and they were picking him up from there. Guess I'm not seeing what the problem is.

Just not convinced Harvey is for real.

Read it again, maybe the road construction is difficult to understand, but there are no "holes" in the story.

Jay went to orientation and then did routes and parked at his yard 45 minutes from our home. I picked him up. Since he flew, his vehicle was at home.

More to the point, if your company's policy is "no u-turns", do you every find you must make one?

Harvey spinning the yarn,..

Just a question and hope you guys are not too hard on me.

Do you ever make a U-turn even if prohibited?

My son "Jay" started driving for a new company last week. Flew out of state for orientation and then given trips further north from there and 1,300 miles until he got to his home base yard. He followed the company route on Qualcomm. I was meeting him at the yard because we had taken him to the airport. I used Google maps to get there and took me on a different road than Qualcomm. I was unsure of the entrance and drove on past the driveway and saw him straight ahead of me on the right at a big intersection with no other vehicles within a half mile. Problem: big road construction and the road I was on had the other lane blocked off so he could not make a left turn. He was at a dead end. He had told me that U-turns were prohibited and there before my eyes I saw him make a U-turn. He had a 53' refer and he had huge clearance. Had to make a detour of several miles to come back around the direction I had originally come from. Some other driver in the yard that makes local trips mentioned some other spot that it's possible to turn-around but he only knows that because of driving there every day. When going back a couple of days later, the road closure was much different, no map is going to prepare a driver for the current conditions. The only way to leave the yard at this moment is to turn right even though that is supposedly going against traffic (or take several back-ups to make a left turn in what should be the on-coming traffic lane).

While I was driving him home from the yard he called the safety department and left a message about what happened and said he had no choice. That was three days ago and he hasn't heard back.

These conditions are changing too quickly for dispatch to know what route to give drivers unless other drivers explain things to them daily.

You drove Jay to the airport? Watched him make a u-turn in his big twuk..? And then you drove him home?

C’mon...

Harvey when was the last time you submitted to a random?

G, he's in Cali. Be easy.

Harvey, to answer your question. . . honestly? Tom 'almost' lost a job over a U'Turn early on in his career. It was a 'simple' from a Pilot, to go the other way and avoid the TS traffic on the exit road. Wrong idea. No 'incidents,' carried along on his day, week, month...fine.

Time passes, Safety catches up on 'complaints.' Ergo: He got pulled OFF the road, and spent the next 3 days in a 'cubicle' in Missouri watching videos, unpaid. No accidents, no issues, no incidents....just some high and mighty 4 wheeler 'Karen' that thought her day w/her poodle would not be complete, without reporting this. Not even on cellphone camera; just his truck/company dash cam. I've got the disc somewhere; just not a computer with a drive to forward it to anyone, anymore. Years ago. He's learned from that. ALWAYS: The next exit is closer than the time a 'faux pax' would take, and the money lost when they pull you off the road.

IMHO (and hubby as well; he's home!)

The answer is NOT ever. That's the safest, surely, way to be.

Best to all; say hiya to Jay..hoping he's happy with his new company! I'll share Tom's experiences and 'stuff' anytime, with his consent...tonight I'd gotten his permission. NO U'Turns. EVER. (The company he was with is Transp.Am. if that's important....!)

Best to ALL. . . ALWAYS!

~ Annie ~

Read it again, maybe the road construction is difficult to understand, but there are no "holes" in the story.

Jay went to orientation and then did routes and parked at his yard 45 minutes from our home. I picked him up. Since he flew, his vehicle was at home.

More to the point, if your company's policy is "no u-turns", do you every find you must make one?

I read it a half dozen times. The call to safety, no reply in three days? His call goes to his driver leader, or his direct report, not safety. I just think there is a bit of BS in every one of your posts Harvey.

The answer? I’ve never had to make an illegal u-turn. And won’t.

Since I was not there with Jay...to observe the situation, and no idea who the company is... I can’t really answer your question.

Jay said he was calling safety to explain, I don't know exactly what extension he dialed. But he left a voice mail on the weekend explaining what happened.

He did not make an illegal U-turn. But it was against company policy. The street he was turning from was 4 lanes and headed to a railway yard apparently. Company route had him turning left would would have been through barricades. He had to drive about five miles around to come from the direction I had come on as directed by Google maps. If you can, send me an email and I'll show you a map. This was his first time to this yard so he thought following the company route was the safe thing to do.

I was a bit shocked when I saw the U-turn but it looked very smooth and safe with lots of clearance. Turning around in DG parking lots surely helped.

I know you're an upstanding driver with a ton of experience but you have no basis for questioning my honesty which is beyond reproach.

Read it again, maybe the road construction is difficult to understand, but there are no "holes" in the story.

Jay went to orientation and then did routes and parked at his yard 45 minutes from our home. I picked him up. Since he flew, his vehicle was at home.

More to the point, if your company's policy is "no u-turns", do you every find you must make one?

I read it a half dozen times. The call to safety, no reply in three days? His call goes to his driver leader, or his direct report, not safety. I just think there is a bit of BS in every one of your posts Harvey.

The answer? I’ve never had to make an illegal u-turn. And won’t.

Since I was not there with Jay...to observe the situation, and no idea who the company is... I can’t really answer your question.

Look Harvey... I’ve read all of your posts. I’m not convinced...but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Jay needs to develop a relationship with his driver leader, the individual he reports to. That is the person he needs to communicate directly with especially if he is concerned with any policy violation.

If Jay is intent on becoming a successful driver, encourage him to join the forum and handle his business with us directly. That’s my suggestion.

Look Harvey... I’ve read all of your posts. I’m not convinced...but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Jay needs to develop a relationship with his driver leader, the individual he reports to. That is the person he needs to communicate directly with especially if he is concerned with any policy violation.

If Jay is intent on becoming a successful driver, encourage him to join the forum and handle his business with us directly. That’s my suggestion.

I have encouraged him to take a look at this forum but for reasons I don't understand, he seems uneasy with this sort of information format. He likes talking to other drivers in person and watching YT videos.

I'll suggest he talk to his DM about this and maybe show photos or maybe they'll just look at video footage from the truck. Thanks

...and encourage Jay to join the forum. That’s possibly the best thing you can do for him.