I couldn’t resist, this is too funny.
Inexperienced driver uses bad judgment; crashes on day two
…on his second day on the job, he attempted to make a narrow right turn, but didn’t have enough space. He wound up taking out a Dunkin’ Donut sign, which then fell on a parked car.
Stoughton, MA, Police Sgt. Paul McCallum said a pickup truck with a trailer, much less a semi, could even have had a tough time with the turn,. “It’s hard to believe this guy tried to pull this off,” McCallum told the Stoughton Journal. The driver, who police did not identify, worked for Tennessee-based U.S. Express Leasing. The driver is no longer employed with the company. McCallum told the Journal an experienced driver “never would have tried to make the turn.”
The truck went up over the curb, struck a piling and dislodged the Dunkin’ Donuts sign, which was set at least four feet into the ground. Heavy-duty tow trucks and wenches were needed to free the loaded truck and the sign.
At what point do you stop your turn? When your wheels are up over the curb? When you’re knocking over pilings? Or as you see the sign start to fall? The sign was four feet in the ground? That’s a big sign.
US Express fired the guy after one little wreck? Great company. That must be a great training program they have.
How many tow trucks and wenches did it take? And what’s a heavy duty wench? Or do I want to know?
Popularity: 26% [?]
I need some mental floss.
The visual. “Tow trucks and heavy duty wenches”. is soooo un-PC.
What will the National Association of Women ( the NOW gang) say?
Too funny. Thinking back to my first days in a truck, i would not have been above that either. Thankfully, I had a trainer looking out for me and screaming like hell to stop this sort of mishap. I remember the trainer stopping me about 1 foot before I took out a pole and I was clueless to the problem, until I looked out the mirror. With my stomach in my throat it began to sink in what those mirrors were for. All I needed was that one incident to solve all my turning problems.
Speedy training programs and folks that just aren’t cut out to be truckers are the culprit here. You could count on a bit of total despair and confusion being in there too.
Stoughton, Ma, now there’s a great place to send a new driver. That’s another thing I never understood. Companies always send them off to the most hazardous places right off. I realize that’s where the freight is, but can’t they take it a little easier on the new guy?
I feel for the poor guy that did it. He’s gotta feel like a heel. NOBODY, gives an understanding and support when you goof like that! Sad part is that he’ll probably get out of trucking over it and he would most likely never do it again.
I had a driver fresh out of JB’s school smash my cab hard enough to knock it off the frame bolts years ago. It’s a hell of a thing to wake up to, for me and the other driver! The guy told them he tried to wake me up to help him back up too! So they gave me a lecture too. There wasn’t enough help in the world for this guy.
Companies send rookies to the worst places because anyone that knows better doesn’t want to go.
The story says this guy was two days out. Is that two days after being with a trainer?
I was wondering if there was a trainer and the trainer bailed out the door!
What people don’t realize is they graduate CDL Schools with a CDL, not a learners permit. Scary isn’t it?
If it wasn’t for the fact that the guy lost his job (I wonder how he got home?) this would be hilarious. Kind of like those Kasey Kahne Allstate commercials. I watched a guy do something very similar, once, trying to make a turn into a Denny’s parking lot off U.S. 41 in Terre Haute, IN.
He didn’t knock down a sign but it did take two tow trucks to get him out of the ditch. Might have been able to get him out with one but no wenches were willing to help.
I did the same thing my first month on the job but without the damage to anything. Tried to make a tight right turn that I just couldn’t make. Had already missed the turn once and somehow managed to get turned around in a residential area without hitting anything and by then I was pretty frustrated. I ended up just stopping until I calmed down and looked at things clearly. Sometimes we get feeling rushed and put ourselves where we have no business being or trying turns we have no business trying. All my “accidents” have been from just such rushing around and not thinking clearly. Good thing I carry my own wenches now.
ditto that. “All my accidents were rush jobs”.
Don’t rush.
Still wondering about the wenches though.