ABF | The wreck of ol' 97

[hangbelly]

So now we discover that the powerbrokers who set up this high-speed amtrac line between Seattle and Portland to save commuters 15 mins and used an existing old rail freight line to attempt it, are now saying " Whoa! The engineer knew that was a 30mph curve (duh!) This isn't OUR fault!" Hell no! it never is! Initial reports said that the curve had a new 79mph speed limit. NOW they say it was 30mph. Maybe that engineer should have listened to that old bluegrass song by Flatt and Scrugs again first before climbing into the cab yesterday. It went like this " They handed him his orders at Monroe Virginia, sayin' Steve, you're way behind time! This isn't '56, this is old '97, you must put her into Spencer on time!" So what is the take-away from this tragedy for the rest of us? Dispatch will ALWAYS cover their rears when the wheels come off. Always have, always will. ABF central dispatch never argued with me or threatened me when I called in to drop triples in the snow, but other companies I worked for sure did. They would threaten you and say "proceed with caution" etc,etc. Garrett Freightlines usually fired 1 or 2 drivers every winter for dropping 3rd trailers when it snowed. It was illegal to pull them in the snow, but they didn't care. Yeah, the drivers got their jobs back at grievance, but never with back pay and benefits, so everyone thought "man, I can't afford a month-long unpaid vacation," and that was the intimidation they were looking for. It appears if this knife-in-the-back stands up after the NTSB investigation is over, this engineer could be facing multiple counts of negligent homicide. But the bigshots will still have a guilt-free Merry Christmas, and that is really all that matters, after all. Let us all keep this engineer in our thoughts and prayers this holiday season. All this tragedy and anguish for an "attaboy". What a shame.....

 

[seabreeze]

So now we discover that the powerbrokers who set up this high-speed amtrac line between Seattle and Portland to save commuters 15 mins and used an existing old rail freight line to attempt it, are now saying " Whoa! The engineer knew that was a 30mph curve (duh!) This isn't OUR fault!" Hell no! it never is! Initial reports said that the curve had a new 79mph speed limit. NOW they say it was 30mph. Maybe that engineer should have listened to that old bluegrass song by Flatt and Scrugs again first before climbing into the cab yesterday. It went like this " They handed him his orders at Monroe Virginia, sayin' Steve, you're way behind time! This isn't '56, this is old '97, you must put her into Spencer on time!" So what is the take-away from this tragedy for the rest of us? Dispatch will ALWAYS cover their rears when the wheels come off. Always have, always will. ABF central dispatch never argued with me or threatened me when I called in to drop triples in the snow, but other companies I worked for sure did. They would threaten you and say "proceed with caution" etc,etc. Garrett Freightlines usually fired 1 or 2 drivers every winter for dropping 3rd trailers when it snowed. It was illegal to pull them in the snow, but they didn't care. Yeah, the drivers got their jobs back at grievance, but never with back pay and benefits, so everyone thought "man, I can't afford a month-long unpaid vacation," and that was the intimidation they were looking for. It appears if this knife-in-the-back stands up after the NTSB investigation is over, this engineer could be facing multiple counts of negligent homicide. But the bigshots will still have a guilt-free Merry Christmas, and that is really all that matters, after all. Let us all keep this engineer in our thoughts and prayers this holiday season. All this tragedy and anguish for an "attaboy". What a shame.....

So now we discover that the powerbrokers who set up this high-speed amtrac line between Seattle and Portland to save commuters 15 mins and used an existing old rail freight line to attempt it, are now saying " Whoa! The engineer knew that was a 30mph curve (duh!) This isn't OUR fault!" Hell no! it never is! Initial reports said that the curve had a new 79mph speed limit. NOW they say it was 30mph. Maybe that engineer should have listened to that old bluegrass song by Flatt and Scrugs again first before climbing into the cab yesterday. It went like this " They handed him his orders at Monroe Virginia, sayin' Steve, you're way behind time! This isn't '56, this is old '97, you must put her into Spencer on time!" So what is the take-away from this tragedy for the rest of us? Dispatch will ALWAYS cover their rears when the wheels come off. Always have, always will. ABF central dispatch never argued with me or threatened me when I called in to drop triples in the snow, but other companies I worked for sure did. They would threaten you and say "proceed with caution" etc,etc. Garrett Freightlines usually fired 1 or 2 drivers every winter for dropping 3rd trailers when it snowed. It was illegal to pull them in the snow, but they didn't care. Yeah, the drivers got their jobs back at grievance, but never with back pay and benefits, so everyone thought "man, I can't afford a month-long unpaid vacation," and that was the intimidation they were looking for. It appears if this knife-in-the-back stands up after the NTSB investigation is over, this engineer could be facing multiple counts of negligent homicide. But the bigshots will still have a guilt-free Merry Christmas, and that is really all that matters, after all. Let us all keep this engineer in our thoughts and prayers this holiday season. All this tragedy and anguish for an "attaboy". What a shame.....

 

[canaryinthemine]

That's why even if they have computer-driven trucks,....there will always be an...."employee"....in the cab. You can't sue technology...........