Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

The other day while I was deadheading to the house the cell phone began to “ring off the hook”.

I must have received a dozen calls.  They all started the same.  “Have you heard about the BIG WRECK that xyz trucking had in Oklahoma?”

There aren’t that many heavy haul outfits.  Since the democrats destroyed the economy there are less of them than there used to be.  Truckers, being truckers, tend to change companies ever so often.  Since there aren’t very many heavy haul companies all the heavy haul drivers tend to have worked for the same companies at one time or the other.  We tend to know each other.

I used to work for “xyz trucking” (not it’s real name) and knew a few drivers who either still worked there or used to.  So I got calls.

It was a pretty nasty wreck.

Read about it at the Wagoner Tribune’s website.

There are articles and pictures of the accident here, here, here, here, here, , and here.

I was amused and somewhat concerned by what the reporter had to say in his articles.  From what he wrote he has not the least clue about trucks and especially oversize.  You can tell by the terminology.

Then I got to thinking. Probably he’s not unusual in that regard.  How many folks have any idea about trucks?  How may “normal truckers” have any idea about oversize loads?

Not many.

So.  For Your Information.  Oversize loads are dangerous.

Big suprise huh?  Even the various government entities have figured this out.  That’s one of the reasons Oversize loads are required to have flags, oversize signs, special lighting, special permits, special routing requirements, special travel times,special driver qualifications  and sometimes escort vehicles.

Oversize loads are inherently DANGEROUS.  It’s amazing that there are not more wrecks.  Amazingly enough oversize loads account for just a tiny, tiny percentage of all wrecks. Drivers that pull oversize are some of the most experienced truckers out there and meet requirements that not every driver can meet. Companies that handle oversize usually have training programs, selection criteria, and other requirements than “normal” trucking companies don’t.

However when we have a wreck it’s spectacular.

So. A word to the wise.  When you see lights, flags, and especially escorts indicating an oversize load.  Treat it the same way you would a rabid dog.  Give us lots, and lots of room.  Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to prevent it, crap happens.

You DON’T want to be nearby when it does.