Lied to over and over and over and over and over

AMonger · Jan 8, 2011

Ok, technically, not lies, because they probably thought they were accurate when they said them. It seems it always always always always happens this way. Driving in bad weather, and trying to get south of the freeze line, which seems to be harder and harder to find in recent years (Al Gore, call your office!"). So I get a weather report: Bad weather between Whiteland and Seymour, but then it's ok to almost Louisville. There's a bad spot there, but once on 64 to Lexington, it's bone dry almost to Lexington, which is bad. But once you get south of Jellico, it's bone dry again and clear sailing.

Not exactly true. After Seymour, it got better for a while, then sucked close to Louisville. But Louisville to Lexington sucked, and around the tunnel at mm 8 or so was a skating rink. Once close to Lexington, it was just wet. But south of Jellico, it snowed hard and the pavement was snowpacked in places. So pretty much the exact opposite much of the time.

Then I get east of Knoxville, and I'm told the gorge is about like what I'm on--not good, but passable, but once I get to about mm 21 in NC, I'll be out of it. Well, it turns out there's a whiteout in the gorge, and it won't get better til Asheville. Then that changes to Henderson, SC.

Happens that way every time. Every time.

Turtle · Jan 8, 2011

Are you talking about hours-old and likely stale CB reports of an ongoing weather event? Any CB weather report that's about half an hour ahead or behind you is generally worthless.

AMonger · Jan 8, 2011

Turtle said:
Are you talking about hours-old and likely stale CB reports of an ongoing weather event? Any CB weather report that's about half an hour ahead or behind you is generally worthless.

Of varying elderly-ness. The ones about coming out of the gorge were pretty timely, and the ones about 64 between Louisville and Lexington were fairly timely, though that appeared to be very dynamic situation; we heard three different stories about it as we approached Louisville from 3 successive people who had followed each other over 64 westbound.

nightcreacher · Jan 8, 2011

Just adjust your driving to the weather.THe weather reports you get are not usually very accurate,it's winter time ,your just going to have to work around the weather like the rest of us
I have a system,if its snowing bad and I'm home,I stay out of service 'til the weather breaks.If I'm, on the road,weather just doesn't matter

Turtle · Jan 8, 2011

Dynamic is a great word to use. All too often things as so dynamic that even a few minutes can change things.

Still, doesn't excuse some yahoo for severely downplaying or exaggerating a situation. Just yesterday I listened to someone say, "Oh, it's not bad. A little blowing snow, nothing to worry about."

And he was telling someone about the whiteout conditions he and I had just driven through on I-90 in Minnesota. For the 150 or so miles between Spirit Lake and Rochester, there were maybe 5 miles total, in brief moments, where you could see the westbound lanes or more than about 400 feet in front of you.

AMonger · Jan 8, 2011

nightcreacher said:
Just adjust your driving to the weather.THe weather reports you get are not usually very accurate,it's winter time ,your just going to have to work around the weather like the rest of us
I have a system,if its snowing bad and I'm home,I stay out of service 'til the weather breaks.If I'm, on the road,weather just doesn't matter

Oh, I did that. But it sure sucked. And sometimes, I'm wanting the info to decide if I'll zig over a different route instead of zag. So I do work with what I've got...just frustrated that I can't get more accurate info.

nightcreacher · Jan 8, 2011

Turtle,to some of these guys that live in the north west,the storms we get around here aren't that bad.I don't wrory to much about snow,but Ice will put me in the motel.You can control your truck,but not the guy that gets out of control and runs into you.Never use someone elses road report,just keep an eye on the weather and adjust for it.

AMonger · Jan 8, 2011

nightcreacher said:
Turtle,to some of these guys that live in the north west,the storms we get around here aren't that bad.I don't wrory to much about snow,but Ice will put me in the motel.You can control your truck,but not the guy that gets out of control and runs into you.Never use someone elses road report,just keep an eye on the weather and adjust for it.

That's the situation in which I find myself now. I delivered near Charleston, SC a few hours ago, and I'm debating whether or not to bug out ahead of the mess that's rolling in tomorrow night into Monday or hole up in a motel, or what... Oh, for a crystal ball.

Turtle · Jan 8, 2011

I never worry too much about bad weather. Unless it's just ridiculous, you can generally make it through if you stay calm and take your time. I drove through the blowing snow yesterday without any problems, but I'm not sure I'd characterize it as a little blowing snow, not a problem. But I also wouldn't have wanted to turn right around and drive right back to Spirit Lake, either.

AMonger · Jan 8, 2011

Turtle said:
I never worry too much about bad weather. Unless it's just ridiculous, you can generally make it through if you stay calm and take your time. I drove through the blowing snow yesterday without any problems, but I'm not sure I'd characterize it as a little blowing snow, not a problem. But I also wouldn't have wanted to turn right around and drive right back to Spirit Lake, either.

Like nightcreacher said, you can only control what you do. What the other guy can or can't control, well, that's going to affect you, too. That's why I'm debating staying and waiting on a load, holing up, or bugging out.

guido4475 · Jan 8, 2011

Welcome to the life of a Truckdriver.The weather is similar to our business, unpredictable.

Brisco · Jan 8, 2011

nightcreacher said:
I don't wrory to much about snow,but Ice will put me in the motel.You can control your truck,but not the guy that gets out of control and runs into you.

What are the repercussions, penalties, if you were under load and decided your safety was more important to you than that load was? I too will not drive on ice. Not that I don't know how, it's just others don't and I'm not going to put MY life and MY truck on the line for a load.

Had many a argument with field managers about this when I was running local stuff here in the DFW area. Any sign of ice or snow here I do NOT get out, period. Had more than one Manager tell me if I didn't get to my assignment(dealership) when there was ice/snow on the freeways that my contract would be cancelled, basically fired. Yelled back over the Nextel, so be it!! and then turned it off. Next morning, when roads were clear, they would call back to ask "you working today???".

How is this issue with the Major Expediting Companies??? (Fed-PII-Bolt-Etc)

greg334 · Jan 8, 2011

I don't have an issue with my company, it is a given that I have that latitude to make that decision and have.

nightcreacher · Jan 8, 2011

Your the captain of your ship.You should know your own driving ability,so if the roads feel unsafe,make that phone call and park 'til roads are safe.One problem,if one of the other trucks in your company runs the same route,and doesn't have a ptoblem,then you might with dispatch

greg334 · Jan 8, 2011

nightcreacher said:
One problem,if one of the other trucks in your company runs the same route,and doesn't have a ptoblem,then you might with dispatch

That will show me that the company doesn't want to professionals in control of the cargo, just people who don't care but will do the job no matter what. When there is an issue with weather, if the driver doesn't feel right about driving, then the driver should not have a hesitation to say "I don't trust the roads, I'm parking". And if there is retaliation by the company, then it can be a bit of a legal issue because they now made you an employee.

AMonger · Jan 8, 2011

nightcreacher said:
I don't wrory to much about snow,but Ice will put me in the motel.

That's how I feel. I don't mind some snow, but ice...that's a different story. I'm not like some of these crazy guys who go like a bat out of hell. 70 is as fast as I'll go on ice.

AMonger · Jan 8, 2011

Brisco said:
What are the repercussions, penalties, if you were under load and decided your safety was more important to you than that load was? I too will not drive on ice. Not that I don't know how, it's just others don't and I'm not going to put MY life and MY truck on the line for a load.

How is this issue with the Major Expediting Companies??? (Fed-PII-Bolt-Etc)

I think it's the same with all of them. If you're going to stop while on a load because of ice, you have to state specifically, "It is unsafe to continue." I was on an NLM load like that one time, and the dispatcher said I had to state that specifically. It's in the contract that a load isn't considered late if it's unsafe to continue driving.

Brisco · Jan 8, 2011

nightcreacher said:
Your the captain of your ship.You should know your own driving ability,so if the roads feel unsafe,make that phone call and park 'til roads are safe.One problem,if one of the other trucks in your company runs the same route,and doesn't have a ptoblem,then you might with dispatch

Then Yes, I would have many problems with dispatch if this did happen.

Who's to say that he did have problems, such as running 15-20 miles an hour on edge for 9 hours straight just to show that he could get it done, and then says to dispatch "No Probs, drive was peachy keen", leaving dispatch to believe roads were safe to drive on. There are a lot of drivers out there who run because they need the money, they run out of fear of losing their job, their contract, etc.

I have never had a problem telling the companies I've contracted with that NO, my truck is not running today when I felt the roads were not safe. But, since other drivers went ahead ran the roads those times, the same companies think ALL drivers should have been on the road that day too. I drive my way, they drive their way. My truck is/was my income producer and I will not/would not put my main source of income at risk no matter what others beliefs were.