to all end dump haulers...

Congrats on the local commitment an the new ride.

 

Okay folks @Trashtrucker1707 @MACK E-6 @motocross25
I know it's been forever since I was here. So much has went on this past year that I don't know where to start and what to tell.
I'm still trucking in my normal places, still causing terror to the undisciplined and un-oriented of the highways. I am going to make some change in my travel lanes so beware! Haven't decided what exactly but they are coming.
I guess one thing I haven't talked much about is the guy that ran(on his two feet) out in to the road in front of my truck on 7/20 and committed suicide. I still do not know why, never will and wonder if I will ever be able to drive on that stretch of road again. I still see him looking straight at me as he runs in front of the truck. I can still feel the "bumps" as the truck and trailer roll over him. I stopped the truck less than 50 feet from the point of impact, yes I was empty and moving slow. I still see his mangled broken body, he was knocked out of his shoes. I feel the dread in my stomach knowing that I cannot do anything for him as I call 911. I hate that his family is going to suffer this loss that he decided to cause. Something that I will not ever get away from no matter what I do. There are victims that lived and will suffer through this for a lifetime. There are no easy ways to get past something of this magnitude.
The ALEA determined that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. So a perfect company record and driving record has been ruined as well.
I was off for several months with the repairs and just getting mentally ready to deal with it. Today is a good day as I can write all this without tears, tomorrow maybe a bad day. I know God will get me through this. I was told "God gives the hardest battles to his strongest warriors." If some one has asked me about dealing with something of this magnitude before it happened, I think I would have said I'd quit driving, but that hasn't happened. In fact I drove home after the accident, got in my driveway when all the water in the radiator gushed out on to the ground. I know God let Jimy and me get home. There was no lawsuit which was a blessing considering how many attorneys advertise about doing that very thing. The family did have a firm look into it, but thankfully there were no grounds. My truck and trailer went through a forensic mechanical exam for several hours and they couldn't find anything wrong with the truck or trailer. I was investigated as well and they couldn't find anything there either.
On top of that, my dog retired PEDD Jimy was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and we spent months trying to beat it. Jan 31.2022 we lost, and I have been heart broken since. Some days are better than others. I miss him horribly and have considered selling my house as the memories are difficult at best. So much sadness in this house over the years. I often wonder if over time the sadness weeps into the houses bones. Yes I know that sound crazy but I do believe trucks, house, cars and other inanimate objects do have their own "personalities".
So enough about me and my woes. How is everyone doing?

 

Glad to see you back @NightWind and glad to see you be able to talk about things. Not many of us left in here anymore, I transitioned off the road around July of last year, and if you look back a few posts you'll see the new anthem day cab I was assigned. I'm already itching a bit to move back in to a sleeper when the new ones roll in towards the end of the year, I wouldn't take my old sleeper back at this point if they offered it, I'm a neat freak and know that no one else in this company takes care of a truck the way I do. I still stretch the legs on the old day cab though, I run up around Macon, GA quite a bit and do more south Florida, Fort Myers, Miami, than I really care to deal with. Maybe one of these days I'll pack an overnight back and head out to ES&G for old times sake. Don't be a stranger, I wish more regulars would post but it has died off quite a bit over the past year.

 

Good Christ! I didn’t know anything was goin on in here. @Trashtrucker1707 your day cab looks pretty sharp I must admit. Are you finding it’s easier to maneuver? The reason I ask is at Pavlich the daycabs were only like 6 inches shorter on wheelbase than the sleeper truck. The back window was handy, however. Have you been keeping up with supercross?

My local gig has been going great I’m really liking it. The hours are good the job is easy. I don’t have to worry about tipping over when I unload. End dumping is fun and I really enjoyed it and am thankful for the opportunity and experience, i just wish it paid more.

@NightWind I can’t begin to offer you my condolences. That’s tough. I am not saying this to try to come across as “I know what you’re goin thru” because I know every situation is different. And I hope I don’t have to say I’m not trying to compare my experience to yours, because that’s not what I’m doing. All I can say is I can sympathize. Story time. And like you it’s hard to talk about. Literally the only person that knows what I’m about to say, on this forum or in “real life”, is @bzinger he was an absolute rock to confide in. And we both swore ourselves to secrecy. Not because of trying to hide it, but didn’t want to advertise it. Here goes. Few years back I was boomin thru the I-255 loop around St. Louis headed for home after a week out. I come up on an underpass and I see a guy stand up and just start running toward the interstate. I get over a lane and start braking and he keeps comin. I get over another he’s running still. I get over and stand on the brakes and hang on the air horn, inches away from the Jersey wall when all I see is this look on his face like “WTF?!” and KABLAMO! Hit him with the front corner of my trailer. I look in the mirror and he is flipping head over heels thru the air and just absolutely rag dolls on the pavement. I get stopped, I’m freaking. Call my company and all I remember saying is “I’m in St. Louis I just killed a guy”. I mean I was just absolutely awestruck. Other vehicles stop, a lovely husband and wife team from R&L came over and said “man we saw the whole thing you did absolutely everything you could do”. The cops show they ask if I’ve been back to check on him. I say “no, honestly I’m afraid of what I might see”. They tell me “he’s conscious. He’s not alright but he’s alive”. Like you DOT came and gave my truck the equivalent of an 18 wheel body cavity search. I was deemed not at fault and the truck passed as well. Come to find out in the following days dude was on so many drugs that quote, “he was testing positive for stuff we’ve never even seen”. He didn’t want his family at the hospital, I’m guessing to hide the fact he was smacked out of his mind. (Literally). So I avoided the whole lawsuit thing as well. He got a dislocated elbow, I broke his shoulder and shattered his pelvis. The cop said if he wasn’t on drugs, he’d be a goner. The relaxation of his body helped absorb impact. I took 2 weeks off to mentally recover. It’s a tough thing for sure, and something that sticks with you. But let me tell you something the female police officer on scene told me. “You can control what you do, and you did it right. Today and your driving history proves that. When what others do is out of your control, and try to bring you in to their mess, it’s unfortunate, but sadly it’s only that”. You did everything right @NightWind wrong place wrong time. And unfortunately someone’s mental shortcomings drug you down with them. It will get better and I hope you can in time come to i dunno what the phrase is. Forgive yourself isn’t right because you did nothing wrong. Maybe come to terms with the reality of it and find peace in the fact he was mentally deranged. You are not. It’s selfish to say but you came out unscathed and that’s what’s important here. Like I said I get it, it’s tough. If you need anything you gotta good group of dudes in here to vent to. PM me if you need to talk more. Best of luck.

Dang it @NightWind i forgot to say, get every piece of paper you can about your incident releasing you of fault. report #’s, Officers Names, reporting jurisdiction, EVERYTHING. Like you I was deemed “not at fault” but it still shows up as an “accident with bodily harm/death” and that raises a lot of questions. I know you do your own thing so may not have to worry about it as much, but anyplace I’ve applied since has wanted to see that accident report.

 

@motocross25 being in a day cab definitely has some advantages, but like you said the overall length of it is pretty near that of the sleeper truck. As far as supercross, I've definitely been tuned in, pretty great racing so far other than this past week in Detroit where it seemed like everyone yard sale'd. Tomac has found his old groove on the Yamaha.

@NightWind and @motocross25 the more I processed everything that had happened to the two of you, the more I realize how fragile life can be, not only for those lost, but also for drivers like you that have to relive that everyday, my prayers certainly go out. Early in my career I witnessed an accident like that, to this day I'm not sure if the man was intoxicated or if it was intentional. It was early, somewhere around 2AM, another driver and I had stopped at a little jiffy right by the shop to grab coffee and a donut, as we were walking out I could see the headlights of a rock truck coming in the distance, about 10 seconds later I heard the trailer start bouncing and the tires sliding, no horn or anything so we didn't think much of it. We pulled back in to the road and approached the truck, and sadly there lay the body of the man that walked out in the front of the truck in the road, and what I would assume a girlfriend or wife screaming hysterically on the side of the road. That morning stuck with me for a long time, I can't even imagine what you must go through when you're involved at no fault of your own, other than wrong place wrong time. Keep your head up and keep trucking, southern Alabama rock quarries wouldn't be the same without that big Pete' and even bigger CB talking loud and proud.

 

Thoughts an prayers go out to @NightWind and @motocross25 .

 

Check check, 1-2, anyone still kicking in this thread? I’m still around, doing the day cab thing, but putting down some serious miles though which is nice. I’ve been running a ton of shell lately from south Florida up towards Jax, the guy I deliver to reloaded me a few Fridays ago and I took that way out past Panama City beach, that’s quite the hike for me from the house. Either way, hope all is well for the regulars out there, here’s a pic of the ride all cleaned up today just waiting for the “ok” to put it in the air and unload the glass in Warner Robins GA.

 

Ya make me wish i lived down that a way. Dump trucking in the south would be right up my alley. Sure be better in the winter than when i used to do it in the midwest winters.

 

As long as you don’t do it south of Tampa, the traffic in south Florida is miserable.