What is up with all the truck accidents? (Gap: dangerous, safety) - Northeastern Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania (PA) -Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

fisheye · 08-01-2010, 06:28 AM

I am now retired. I drove truck for about 15 years or about 1,500,000 miles (100,000 mile per year). I had no accidents. I have known truckers that have driven for 30 and 40 years without any accidents.
I cannot say that I could do it again or any of the 30 or 40 year drivers could either. Conditions change. We did not even know what a cell phone was 40 years ago. Then; truckers were all on CB’s. I also think there was more trucker comradery?
There have been other changes in the last 40 years. Trucks were allowed to be longer and wider in 1988. Doubles were allowed. Our regulations were changed - now we can drive for 11 hours instead of 10 hours. Most of these changes were for the company’s bottom line - not for safety.
Unions are just about out of business. There are a few left. However; their numbers are dwindling. They used to fight for better working conditions. Now they are afraid that they won’t have a job tomorrow.
We also are opening up our borders to truckers (NAFTA) that have a hard time with our language and therefore our laws. The Panama Canal is currently under renovation. When the Canal is finished; it will eliminate much of the transcontinental trucking jobs. The large cargo ships will pull into the eastern and southern ports. This, I think, will further pressure an industry that is already under pressure.
Bottom line is that the public will eventually have to chose whether you want safety or cheap goods.

NYRangers 2008 · 08-01-2010, 06:47 AM

Good post fisheye. Things have changed, like you mentioned safety, that seems to be out the window. It's not always the trucker's fault, that's for sure. I see idiots driving cars all of the time. Unions have become a joke. They are bankrupting companies. If you have a bad employee, they can't get fired, they will protect them. The original intent of unions were to protect workers from bad conditions and see that they got paid fairly. Now, unions have become a business almost as big as the companies the union workers work for. So, in some instances in unions, workers get rewarded for bad work.

fisheye · 08-01-2010, 07:30 AM

Thanks NYRangers 2008,
In my working career; I have worked for union and non-union companies. I am not a big supporter of our present day unions - even though I was a Teamster for 30 years.
However; it is foolish to say that unions are not needed. Perhaps; not in the same form with the same mission as they have today? The fear of unions provided better pay and working conditions for the nonunion companies. Years ago; I worked for a nonunion chemical company. Every year we had the chemical workers union set up a recruiting stop outside our gates. Every year it got voted down by one or two votes. We had a great working relationship with the company and we received good pay and benefits. I don’t think, that would have been possible, without the pressure - companies like to be the captain of their own ships (they don’t like meddling unions - even when forced to do the right thing).
Yes; I have seen workers that should have been fired retain their jobs. However; I have also witnessed workers and drivers that were fired for minor violations. Both the retention and the firings I have also witnessed on nonunion jobs - it sometimes boils down to who you know.

NYRangers 2008 · 08-01-2010, 04:47 PM

I've been a Teamster for 11 years now. I still don't understand why I have to pay $50 a month for union dues. The union has never done anything for me, I do my job and I do it well. I never had a problem with management and never need the union to speak on my behalf. I understand the union negotiates contracts with the company to get us the best salaries and benefits, but so many times I see people not working to their fullest or floating because they think the union will always be there to protect them. It certainly boils down to who you know.

fisheye · 08-01-2010, 06:13 PM

NYRangers 2008,
I always worked hard and had excellent recommendations from past employers. I started my working career in the trades and then piece work. I have even stripped box cars with 800 one hundred pound bags on the floor. I always tried to outdo the next worker. I have been threatened to slow down - it didn’t change anything. I worked hard for my own well being and it was my exercise program. Driving was hard for me because I would have preferred a more physical job. I took driving for the money.
I also have reservations about what my dues paid for. However; that still goes back to my last post. I think that we need unions as an alternative. Without them; I think that all employers would pay less. Could they do a better job - of course. This is a very hard environment to negotiate.

okaydorothy · 08-02-2010, 05:49 AM

I travel on 84 a lot and most of those drivers are so courteous. They pull in for passing cars etc.
I am so glad I don't have to go on 80 anymore. In the past I have traveled it coast to coast

okaydorothy · 08-02-2010, 05:58 AM

When we drove coast to coast in the 90's we did it with a map and a cb radio. Some of the truckers were fantastic. Hats off to u but the ones driving in a snow storm at 70-80 mph that was scary.
On the subject of unions I agree that while we need unions for health and safety etc I agree that they will put people out of work eventually. The bottom line of any company is to make money. If the union demands are too expensive or too outrageous then everyone looses.

NYRangers 2008 · 08-02-2010, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

I travel on 84 a lot and most of those drivers are so courteous. They pull in for passing cars etc.
I am so glad I don't have to go on 80 anymore. In the past I have traveled it coast to coast

I-84 is so much less congested than I-80. I also use it to go to NY, rather than take I-80 to the GWB.

fisheye · 08-02-2010, 04:58 PM

I don’t like to stereo type anybody; especially another truck driver. I do not know the driver that just killed the two last week on Route 380. To me; the picture of the accident showed a container box. Many times when I asked for directions at the large rail yards in NJ; I had a hard time finding drivers that spoke English. Containers usually come into the big rail yards. It had nothing to do with the accident last week. However; it cannot help the safety of our roads to have drivers that do not understand safety and warning signs.
Years ago, I know that drivers that could not read; were given a verbal equivalent of the CDL test. I don’t know if they still do? I don’t even hear about illiteracy in America anymore. I am sure that some still exist.

timer00 · 08-02-2010, 05:52 PM

I work Security for a chemical company in NEPA out in a rural area. We have these teams of korean truckers drive straight from Long Beach port to here delivering this powder on pallets that we need at the plant. These two guys will get out of the truck with tshirt, shorts, flip flops and not speak one word of english though the one trucker always knows a few words of it. There is no way they got their California CDL's at least how most truckers get it.

They go up into the plant and go to back in their truck to a open dock.. took them 25 minutes to back in .. after 10 or so tries the one guy switches with the other and he tries it a bunch of times and finally gets in. Every month this powder comes in its a different company and two different korean guys.

I can only imagine the upcoming NAFTA, Mexican trucks on the highways unable to read signs and follow procedure.

As for the safety of their driving god only knows

As for all the legal American drivers black/white/hispanic that I see everyday for the last 7 years besides a few a-holes.. never had one problem and don't know how they drive such heavy loads so far everyday year after year here's to you!