Alvin Wilkerson testimony

I've been off the board so don't know how closely this story has been followed here, but this report on testimony by Crete driver Alvin Wilkerson who was responsible for the deaths of 7 children when he fell asleep at the wheel seems to raise more questions than it answers, though to the uninformed public it certainly seems damning.
Point 1 - he had just taken 34 hours off, so how is he (and the headline of this article)blaming his manager for his not getting sleep during that time?
Point 2 - without context, a message telling him he is running behind the previous week means nothing more than he's running behind, and says nothing of his hours on duty. Did he oversleep on his off time and start his run late? If so, how does that implicate Crete?
Was he taking breaks causing him to be unable to do a certain number of scheduled runs per day? If so, how does that implicate Crete?
Reading this article is like listening to one side of a phone call.

this just posted by the Florida Times Union writer paul Pinkham :
Last modified 6/28/2008 - 11:31 pm
Originally created 062908

Trucker explained pressure to keep up
Afraid of losing his route, Alvin Wilkerson stayed awake 34 hours before a crash that killed 7 children.
By Paul Pinkham, The Times-Union


LAKE BUTLER - A week before he fell asleep and killed seven Union County children in a 2006 crash, a Jacksonville trucker received a series of text messages from his boss at Crete Carrier Corp. urging him to pick up the pace.

"I need you to keep up or we will lose this lane," one says.
"What is taking so long?" asks another.

The messages were part of a three-hour sworn interview that truck driver Alvin Wilkerson gave prosecutors last month before pleading guilty to seven counts of vehicular manslaughter. Wilkerson, who'd been awake 34 hours when the crash occurred, told prosecutors he felt pressured to keep driving or risk losing a coveted route that kept him close to his family.

"My company, they knew where I was. They knew what I was doing," Wilkerson, 33, said. "They didn't send me anything saying, 'Hey, this is wrong.' "

Officials with Nebraska-based Crete didn't return several phone calls last week. The company has a satisfactory safety record from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Agency records show 459 Crete trucks have been involved in crashes, 12 fatal, during the past two years.

A transcript of Wilkerson's statement was requested by the Times-Union after he was sentenced June 12 to seven years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to testify in future proceedings.

State Attorney William Cervone of Gainesville declined Thursday to discuss Wilkerson's statement or any further legal action.

"We are considering what [legal] options are available," Cervone said. "One of the things we're trying to determine is who's done what and who has the authority to do what with the company. We've been focused up until now on Wilkerson."

Cervone wouldn't disclose what options authorities are mulling, but they could include criminal charges against the company leading to potential fines or sanctions by federal regulatory agencies.

After his plea, Wilkerson also gave a deposition in lawsuits filed by the crash victims' families against Crete. Lawyers for the families wouldn't discuss the case.

Wilkerson told prosecutors May 7 that he drove extra routes hauling water between High Springs and Jacksonville because he didn't want to lose a route that allowed him to be home with his wife and children rather than driving cross-country. He said it wasn't about money - he got paid the same no matter how many routes he drove a day - but about his supervisor's fear that Crete could lose the route.

"I wasn't under the impression that I was about to lose my job or lose my truck or nothing like that," he testified, without immunity. "I'm trying to make him look good and me look good so that this ... route can stay right here in Jacksonville."

The pressure to keep up intensified the week before the crash, both in conversations with his supervisor and in the text messages sent to the truck, Wilkerson testified.

"The accident occurred because I took on his problem and made it my problem," Wilkerson said. "He was 20 loads behind, and he said somebody ... was getting on his back and they were constantly telling him about losing the account. So I in return said that I've got to keep this account. It's getting me home every night."

Wilkerson said the company had a positioning system that identified where his truck was whenever it was running. He said he had been criticized for sleeping too long on a previous run.

The crash killed seven children when Wilkerson's 2004 Freightliner semi rolled over their car, which was behind a stopped school bus on Florida 121. Both vehicles crashed into the bus, and the car burst into flames.

Wilkerson told prosecutors he remembers seeing the bus off in the distance but doesn't remember seeing the car. After the crash, he was accused of taking pictures with his cell phone, but he said he was frantically dialing his employer and family.




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Pushed to keep going

Here is an excerpt from a three-hour sworn interview that truck driver Alvin Wilkerson gave prosecutors last month before pleading guilty to seven counts of vehicular manslaughter.

Q: Now I'm going to show you page 899. The date of the message from John Graham to you is the 17th of January till about 12:08 Central Standard Time which would have been about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The message from John, "Are you even going to be able to deliver a second load today? What's taking so long?" Take a look at this and tell me whether or not you recognize it?
A: Yes, I recognize it.

Okay, and did you get that message?
Yes, ma'am.

And based upon that message, did you feel an obligation to continue your driving and get the work done?
Yes, ma'am.

Even if it was going to put you outside of hours?
Yes, ma'am.

Even if you were tired?
Well, yes.

You would have pushed, you were going to push through, weren't you?
Yes.