Given what I read earlier...He could have contributed to his own demise! He told his father that the course frightened him, and he nixed his father's suggestion of using his legs to slow himself going into those curves.

Sad that such a young man was killed playing.

 

And now the rebuttal . .

Truckers have choice words about jackknife cause - baltimoresun.com

 

Well, I'm not going to accuse this guy of being a complete idiot. But, I suspect his "rose colored glasses" need to be re-tuned just a little.

When study after study shows that anywhere from 67% to 84% of all truck accidents are caused by the 4-wheelers, he would do far better to actually get into a truck and ride shotgun for a week. His writing is fine, but he does need a better understanding of the situation, and just what order to arrange the words in.

He's also suggesting that we all have flawed crystal balls.
Did I know I was never going to jackknife a truck when I first started driving?
Did I have some fairy godfather come along with his wand and thump me on the head to make me a perfect driver overnight?

All the years I've spent driving, each and every day proved to be a learning experience, and each new experience helped to make me a better quality driver. Driving is just as much a "practice" as being a doctor or lawyer. And, the longer you practice, the better you get. But, he's suggesting we need to know we are going to be perfect drivers even before we go into training. Not very practical, is it?

Another single-engine Cessna pilot trying to tell NASA how to fly the shuttle missions.

 

got stuck at the Pilot at exit 140 on I-71 from 4 pm Monday until 10 am Tuesday, then had to go down 61 because they had I-71 all screwed up trying to pull all the trucks out of the ditch
THEN, I had to wait on 61 while they pulled a rolled over reefer out of the ditch.. the driver was talking to us and I asked him if they had told him what the wrecker bill was going to be, (it took 3 wreckers) he said they hadn't told him yet, but the LAST TIME this happened, it only took one wrecker and it was 600 bucks..

 

Both sides have valid points, my personal feeling is that when the roads get dangerous and there might be much more potential to jack-knive or rollover when some idiot cuts me off, it cant happen if I am parked in the truck stop with the rest of the "sissies who are too scared to drive in a little snow"
our company has had 7 rollovers so far this year and it's only February, 4 of these guys had over 10 years tanker experience and clean records, it can happen to anybody, part of being a REAL professional is knowing when to get off the road

 

With that many rollovers this year, you aren't likely to catch any flack for parking it. However, there are companies out there that will give a driver a whole bunch of flack if he parks the rig in bad weather. There are drivers that are pressured into running regardless of weather.

There was one company I drove for (out of business today) that did start giving me flack about parking the truck and load. That is, until I informed them what kind of hazmat I had on. When I asked them if they wanted the liability, they got very quiet. But if you do not have hazmat, they'll reem you a new rump for parking it. And, after that, they can starve out a driver too. I know of one driver that lost his house, his car, and his wife divorced him because he could not seem to get over 1200 miles a week. That makes for an incentive to try to keep dispatch happy, and it can get costly. But, dispatch is safe in the office while everything comes down on the driver.

 

And now Part III . .

Getting There: Plow contractor has had it up to here with trucks - From roads to rails to runways, Michael Dresser tracks transportation - baltimoresun.com



Fredog nailed it. "when the roads get dangerous and there might be much more potential to jack-knive or rollover when some idiot cuts me off . . "

I look at it this way . . the delay is inevitable. Do I want to be a party to the problem or do I want to manage my losses and park where I have access to creature comforts?

The plow guy in the latest article is right. That idiot had no business being where he was and he should have been looking for a safe harbor long before he made his problem someone else's.

 

That Pilot, actually the Arbys, is where I stop for a coffee and a biscuit most mornings. It was fun again last night. Freezing drizzle all night and a sheet of ice between the 170 and the 150. I was spinning out trying to get up the hill at the 169, cars wrecked all over, a big truck spun around backwards. I got off at the 165 and waited for the salt trucks. They must have been caught off guard. The pucker meter has been pegged for 4-5 weeks now. Every nite's an adventure.

 

I love that line!!!

 

Thank you. And, you have my permission to use it.:thumbsup: