Preventable Accidents

AGREED! The GPS that comes with the Qualcomm is lousy and even if you have a Garmin OTR 1000 you should always look at satellite imagery so you have a good idea how it should look like. Also if you get a GPS keep it updated the best you can, don't half it and think it will be good enough.

Hello all. I started driving in January. The company I was hired with, had me go through their training..then they put me with their local TEs..for 2 weeks(a week each). Now, I was OTR..I don't see how running with locals would help me with anything I might run into on the road. My first week out after that training (alone), I was sent to PA..I inevitably got stuck following my gps. Mind you I have never been to PA, so I was not familiar. I got stuck and had to call the authorities to get me out. It ended up being a preventable (fine, I get it) no citations. In the month and a half following. I got stuck in the mud a few times and needed a tow. 3 more preventables. Then my last one I hit a customers pole and knocked it sideways. I feel like I didn't get the adequate training I needed. I'm sorry this is so long winded. But I feel wronged by the company. Am I justified to fight these preventables? They let me go and now I have 5 on my record.. no one wants to hire someone with these on their record. I don't know what to do now. Someone please give me some insight. TYIA

The importance of thorough trip planning cannot be understated. Relying on something like Google maps to route you to your destination will get you into trouble eventually... and it usually won't take very long for it to happen. Follow Google maps and you will get "stuck". It is a 100% certainty. It'll take you into a residential area, down a "trucks prohibited" road, into a 12 foot bridge... it doesn't know that you are in a semi.

I never learned route planning during my training, either, but still understood that getting the truck into a bad situation would be my own fault. I've been driving for about a year and a half now and I can say that my biggest fear is taking my truck down a road that I am not 100% sure a truck should go down.

Hello all. I started driving in January. The company I was hired with, had me go through their training..then they put me with their local TEs..for 2 weeks(a week each). Now, I was OTR..I don't see how running with locals would help me with anything I might run into on the road. My first week out after that training (alone), I was sent to PA..I inevitably got stuck following my gps. Mind you I have never been to PA, so I was not familiar. I got stuck and had to call the authorities to get me out. It ended up being a preventable (fine, I get it) no citations. In the month and a half following. I got stuck in the mud a few times and needed a tow. 3 more preventables. Then my last one I hit a customers pole and knocked it sideways. I feel like I didn't get the adequate training I needed. I'm sorry this is so long winded. But I feel wronged by the company. Am I justified to fight these preventables? They let me go and now I have 5 on my record.. no one wants to hire someone with these on their record. I don't know what to do now. Someone please give me some insight. TYIA

The importance of thorough trip planning cannot be understated. Relying on something like Google maps to route you to your destination will get you into trouble eventually... and it usually won't take very long for it to happen. Follow Google maps and you will get "stuck". It is a 100% certainty. It'll take you into a residential area, down a "trucks prohibited" road, into a 12 foot bridge... it doesn't know that you are in a semi.

I never learned route planning during my training, either, but still understood that getting the truck into a bad situation would be my own fault. I've been driving for about a year and a half now and I can say that my biggest fear is taking my truck down a road that I am not 100% sure a truck should go down.

Paper maps are old hat in the 21st century. There is no damn excuse why GPS technology can't be up to speed with the special needs of and special considerations for large, lowly, humble earthbound commercial vehicles. GPS tech is used to guide multi-million-dollar jet airplanes and humongous sea ships.

Don't be too quick to dump a good truckers atlas. All it takes is a glitch with a GPS to cause a failure and without an atlas to back you up you have no paddle to go upstream so they say. It seems like a lot of today's drivers depend too much on modern technology to be their only choice in how to maneuver through their day.

I have never had Garmin fail me to get to a destination whenever exact latitude/longitude coordinates were punched in. Streets change names and shapes but coordinates never change. A driver in theory could get the map coordinates for a customer on Google Earth if he has a laptop. He can also use that Google Earth birds eye aerial to study for his approach and landing.

We need clearly-defined national truck routes and big-rig-specific GPS applications. Each and every motor road bridge in North America should be put into a database with its defined clearances so GPS systems can accurately calculate a logical truck route and weed out any bridges and tunnels lacking adequate clearance. America should be a nation of exact standards.

We need clearly-defined national truck routes and big-rig-specific GPS applications. Each and every motor road bridge in North America should be put into a database with its defined clearances so GPS systems can accurately calculate a logical truck route and weed out any bridges and tunnels lacking adequate clearance. America should be a nation of exact standards.

I agree. Not just with bridges, but with everything related to trucks. Every road in the country should establish specifications for which vehicles are allowed, and we incorporate that data into GPS systems.

Unfortunately, only truck drivers know we need this, and only trucker drivers care. We're only about 1% of the population, so we rarely get attention from corporations or governments.

LOL!!! being from Carmel, CA and only having lived in Tokyo, SanFrancisco, NYC and Los Angeles, I've never heard of noodling catfish. After looking it up, I can easily say, well, I never! I'll stick with the fish counter at Ralph's.

Were you "trained" by some small mom-n-pop company in Oklahoma? I have lived in Oklahoma for a few years and know how mickey-mouse things can be down there. The place seems like such an underdeveloped nation. I would have launched a driving career with a national mega carrier and perhaps receive a comprehensive level of training. Oklahoma is called the Sooner State for a reason. The sooner one gets out of there, the better. I have moved to the mid-west recently and things are not quite as mickey-mouse here.

Hehe, I had to laugh at the Oklahoma reference. I have lived in Tulsa, Ponca City and Skiatook in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is heavily populated with red neck, aggressive type people in my experience. The Sooner I DON’T go back, the better, lol. Of course, I wouldn’t want to be guilty of stereotyping.

They Noodle for catfish in Oklahoma. If you don’t know what “noodling” is, look it up. It just might be more dangerous than truck driving.

LOL!!! being from Carmel, CA and only having lived in Tokyo, SanFrancisco, NYC and Los Angeles, I've never heard of noodling catfish. After looking it up, I can easily say, well, I never! I'll stick with the fish counter at Ralph's.

When married to my last husband, we used to have to watch fishing shows of all kinds. That is when I saw noodling on TV. You really need to watch it to see what they do to get catfish. I love eating catfish but I'm not going to noodle for it! I don't like getting that muddy and I like looking into the water and seeing what's out there!

Laura

Like all new drivers, I've gotten into quite a few pickles, but unlike some others, I STOPPED before any major damage occurred, then figured out how to get out of it. The few times I actually bumped into something (I recall two poles, a sign, a building, and a trailer at the DC, all of which were preventable), thankfully there was no damage beyond a few scratches, and my manager gave me another chance because he knew I was conscientious.

Many times I was left shaken, embarrassed (you always have an audience when it happens) and kicking myself for getting in a jam in the first place, but I made each one a learning experience. Thank goodness the Lord protected all those dumpsters, streetlamps, walls, residential street corners, other trucks and cars from one of His biggest idiots.

Family Dollar sent me to places that had no business being served by a 53 foot truck. I believe that many a new driver with a promising future ended their career in the interest of FD wanting to ignore the inherent risks associated with that account. If they cared, their DCs would provide shorter trailers, daycabs, even box trucks, but since they dump all the risk on the contracted carrier, they can turn a blind eye.

So, a driver has to stop & find a safe solution, then spend a miserable day beating yourself up for poor judgement and learning from the mistake. If a person can't do those, pick another career.

Don't be too quick to dump a good truckers atlas. All it takes is a glitch with a GPS to cause a failure and without an atlas to back you up you have no paddle to go upstream so they say. It seems like a lot of today's drivers depend too much on modern technology to be their only choice in how to maneuver through their day.

I use mine every trip; Co-Pilot has a sick sense of humor.

Like all new drivers, I've gotten into quite a few pickles, but unlike some others, I STOPPED before any major damage occurred, then figured out how to get out of it. The few times I actually bumped into something (I recall two poles, a sign, a building, and a trailer at the DC, all of which were preventable), thankfully there was no damage beyond a few scratches, and my manager gave me another chance because he knew I was conscientious.

Many times I was left shaken, embarrassed (you always have an audience when it happens) and kicking myself for getting in a jam in the first place, but I made each one a learning experience. Thank goodness the Lord protected all those dumpsters, streetlamps, walls, residential street corners, other trucks and cars from one of His biggest idiots.

Family Dollar sent me to places that had no business being served by a 53 foot truck. I believe that many a new driver with a promising future ended their career in the interest of FD wanting to ignore the inherent risks associated with that account. If they cared, their DCs would provide shorter trailers, daycabs, even box trucks, but since they dump all the risk on the contracted carrier, they can turn a blind eye.

So, a driver has to stop & find a safe solution, then spend a miserable day beating yourself up for poor judgement and learning from the mistake. If a person can't do those, pick another career.

It sounds like drivers are often forced to do the impossible. Sending an 18-wheeler to mickey-mouse joint like a dollar store? Come now! The complete mental retardation that is today's human race.