The Danger of Forcing Truck Drivers to Drive Sleep-Deprived EXPOSED

Dockworker

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The video might be a repost but there will be a 20/20 story about it this Friday.
You can watch the full story on ABC News' "20/20" on Friday, Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. ET.
There are so many ways to remedy this kind of working condition up to and including resigning etc.

Set your DVR's if you will not be able to watch.

After having slept during his first 10-hour break, Attallah said he couldn't go back to sleep during his second break. “I am not a robot. I don’t have an on and off switch, you know?” he said.
The schedule was disastrous for his body clock, which is why he was so exhausted on his overnight run to Wisconsin, Attallah said. Worried he might cause an accident, he pulled into a truck stop and called his company dispatcher, which he caught on a video that he later uploaded onto YouTube. “I've only got a couple hours of sleep. I've been awake too long. I can’t drive no more Attallah can be seen telling the dispatcher in the video.

The Danger of Forcing Truck Drivers to Drive Sleep-Deprived Exposed

[video=youtube_share;l5B14ut13IE]http://youtu.be/l5B14ut13IE[/video]
 
ok, here is how i see it..

he is a newbie

he works for Werner (his jacket has a Werner insignia on it)

he doesn't know how to work the system.

i find it incredibly difficult to believe, that after his first 10 hour break, he could not take a nap of some duration, telling me that he either drank coffee or some other caffeinated beverage.

so he stays awake a FULL 10 hours..???

hogwash.....

instead of calling and complaining he didn't get any sleep, he could have easily taken his 30 minute break, and GET a nap..

or, he could have called them, and told them something is wrong with the truck, and might be delayed

or, he could have parked someplace, take a longer nap, then say "traffic/construction/accident" back up,

as a newbie, he complained as they all do, when the littlest of all things goes wrong, and he blames them, not taking responsibility for his own actions, in not getting more rest when he had Christ, what, 10 extra hours..??

in those 10 extra hours, he couldn't get some exercise, to tire himself for a nap..?? (God, he COULD USE some exercise)

he couldn't stay away from caffeine..??

he couldn't read a book, newspaper, something to bore him into a nap..??

sorry.....but he did that to himself, a very typical newbie dumbass...

now if THIS segment makes it to 20/20, it'll show what one dumbass can't handle.

it IS EXPECTED after your 10 hour break, that YOU drive for 11 hours, as you are "fresh", and good to go...

he could even have called in "sick", saying he is doing his best, to get there, but he may have to pull over and puke....

but no, he called to say he didn't get any sleep.....

the life of a person "wanting to be a truck driver, and making BIG MONEY".....

that dream fizzled for him, i'd say....

his video title..

"The ugly truth of trucking"

should have been....

"I am a cry baby and don't like all this shyte of truck driving, cuz the the school i went to never told me"

typical newbie shyte.....

i hope at his new job......

he'll get paid LESS THAN $15.00 per hour and NO union.......flipping burgers....
 
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In 27 years of driving I never suffered sleep deprivation more than when I went on e-logs...then I left the industry...
 
I now there are always two sides to a story but feel people really need to be sleeping, resting during their off duty hours. If they can't do that than they need to find a new line of work period.
It's no longer going to be like it was for us tougher truckers where we gutted it out.
You still have your cheats that think they can buck the system, all of a sudden Karma catches up with them.
There is a newer breed of truckers emerging and things are tougher, rules are getting stricter and the governments eyes are all over our careers.

I know there are dispatchers out there bullying drivers especially OTR, that's probably why there is a shortage of those kinds of drivers.
No one wants to live that way any more or take that kind of treatment from dispatchers and companies.

For a level safe playing field....people need to be exposed.
 
I now there are always two sides to a story but feel people really need to be sleeping, resting during their off duty hours. If they can't do that than they need to find a new line of work period.
this is true, and that bozo had an additional 10 hours to get more sleep. even if he had to take a nap, say about 3 hours before he had to get back on the road....to think that he said he was up, wide awake for those additional 10 hours, is something i just cannot believe, given that he is a newbie, he should have been able to catch some "Z's", as he most likely was not adjusted to different sleep periods, as a OTR would be.


It's no longer going to be like it was for us tougher truckers where we gutted it out.
You still have your cheats that think they can buck the system, all of a sudden Karma catches up with them.
There is a newer breed of truckers emerging and things are tougher, rules are getting stricter and the governments eyes are all over our careers.

the rules are tougher but i think the tough rules fall mainly on us older guys, as we have to make the adjustments to the "new" ways..

a "new driver", is coming into the industry, and doesn't know much (if anything) about the old rules, regs, etc. so, in my opinion, the 'new rules" should be (i'll say) more easily to follow, than us old dogs making adjustments from the old.

I know there are dispatchers out there bullying drivers especially OTR, that's probably why there is a shortage of those kinds of drivers.
No one wants to live that way any more or take that kind of treatment from dispatchers and companies.

For a level safe playing field....people need to be exposed.

which is why i say, the driver is a newbie, and just doesn't know how to play the game.

he (if he knew better) had better choices of things to say than he didn't get any sleep.

yes, dispatchers are still morons, and the thing is, they know when they can push the buttons of a newbie, over us old dogs.

the newbie is scared outta his mind, that he has bills piled up at home, family, school loan, etc,etc, and he is easily bullied...

again, he was his own worse enemy, stating he got NO sleep in that 2nd 10 hour break.

from a dispatchers point of view, he had 10 hours off, he was supposed to be fresh and ready to rock and roll.

what would/will happen, if the dispatcher told HIS supervisor, he's got a driver, fresh from an additional 10 hour break, and cannot drive, all because he is tired..??

not knowing how to play the game, and correctly choosing his words, the driver screwed himself...

actually, (i think) giving the company an easy fire-able employee.....
 
I got the 20/20 episode on DVR since I will not be at home tonight.
I'm looking forward to the expose and hope that this segment awakens everyone.

Each of us might be the safest driver on the road when we are working, we do our part to promote our professionalism and come home safely. When we are off the clock enjoying our personal time on the road, we would like to know that the truckers who are on the road are refreshed and alert.

To be honest, I try to keep my distance from Doubles and Triples while on the road. I can't stand the amplified whip cracking that happens, especially when a newbie is doing death grip steering off their mirrors.
 
Back in the day we'd just pop a couple of diet pills we got from the overweight waitress at the diner.

Remember the white pills with the red and green specks on them that were advertised on the back of magazines in the late 70's "? I used them. 2 pills and driving from Chicago to the Truckstop where I-44 and hwy 69 in Big Cabin oklahoma without a break was a cake walk
 
So far the 20/20 segment has been eye opening. I never knew the change from a 5" Trinity guard rail to a cost saving 4" could mean the difference between life, death and limb loss.

[video=youtube_share;RnTzY2cxQio]http://youtu.be/RnTzY2cxQio[/video]
 
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K&B trucking and the dispatchers just got a black eye from this story and the driver that refused to drive while fatigued.
I'm sure the ATA will be monitoring this companies practices for awhile.
 
..1)...So far the 20/20 segment has been eye opening. I never knew the change from a 5" Trinity guard rail to a cost saving 4" could mean the difference between life, death and limb loss.

...2)...K&B trucking and the dispatchers just got a black eye from this story and the driver that refused to drive while fatigued.
I'm sure the ATA will be monitoring this companies practices for awhile.

...3)...I got my sleep! Especially when my students were driving ... I has to sleep with one eye open but I slept, none the less.

first, of course i need to make a correction..

the video HERE in this thread, i saw a Werner insignia on the (alleged) driver's jacket, but watching the farce of a tv report, from what i believe was once a reputable news program, i was mistaken, as he was NOT a Werner driver at this particular time.

Regarding #1)...that being said, with selective editing, 20/20 NEVER mentioned he had already "up to" a 20 hour rest period. i watched the show, and i taped it as well.

that "so-called alleged driver", made charges in the video here, that the general public will never see or hear. that in of itself, gives the industry as a whole, a "black eye"..

i never heard the ATA guy say he wanted to talk with that particular alleged driver for more information. (as dockworker said, there are 2 sides to EVERY story), then there IS the truth (i say that last part).

the scumbag alleged driver at the end of the "fabricated, edited story" was shown with his arms folded across his chest, saying "how proud he was to have exposed this problem"....

he is scum, pure, plain and simple.... a cry baby, that HAD "up to" 20 hours off duty, and the frigging jerk off could NOT get any more sleep..???

again, jerks going to school to then get a job, "making big bucks", but then finding out how difficult an "easy job i can do, or i always wanted to drive, or i like driving" job can be.

i saw IT ALL THE frigging time, those jerk off's in MY classroom saying those and other stupid remarks....

before i go onto the next quote here, i will say this, when I WAS a student, there was this guy, probably a "rich daddy's son", that drove into the yard, in his (back then) shiny NEW BMW... we were in the classroom, and the instructor said how things are on the road, the hardships, etc...

when class broke out for coffee break, daddy's boy, jumped into his NEW BMW, and drove off, never to be seen.....

he made the right decision, back then, and this is something, i will never forget...

i will stand by my bashing of this alleged driver of this thread....he is dirt, scum, a cry baby....now since "he may have been" a former Werner driver, at least he must have had "some knowledge" of working the system, and NOT telling his dispatcher he was tired.......

to me, he will never be a "driver", just another scum sucking cry baby....

Regarding #2)...again, due to "selective" editing, we all got that black eye...

here i sit at just past 7 AM today, and even though MY FUTURE as a driver is in question, (due to my major operation), i am as appalled as can be, of that alleged driver and 20/20....which by the way....in all truthfulness, i ain't seen since Hugh Downs and BABA Walters days......

Regardnig #3)...when i did "some" driver training (on the road, not in a classroom), i never slept with one eye opened....

BOTH my eyes were opened.......

i can tell you (and everyone), some dammed scary situations, that would scare the crap outta the devil himself.......and make him cringe, begging for mercy......


in closing, the scumbag alleged driver, of this thread, is a cry baby, thru and thru, i have NO RESPECT for him, in fact, i had NO respect for him, when i first viewed the video here.

as far as the dispatchers "pushing him" or whatever....frankly, as much as i have no feeling for one way or another for dispatchers, they were doing thier JOB....

they KNEW he had "up to" 20 hours off......to me, they should have given him a "service failure", and anything else....

they had every right to push him, as frankly, for someone that was a most likely former Werner driver for x number of days or weeks, should have KNOWN, how to work the system, AND NOT SAY, he didn't get any sleep, with "up to" 20 hours off.....




i suspect some "strong words" on my part will be "deleted"...or ****, but WTF.....

i am as incensed about this typical BULL SHYTE, from cry babies.........

GET THE "F" OUTTA THE INDUSTRY, YOU BUNCH OF FA*****'S.......(there, i "deleted" myself, saving you one less word)
 
You all know I moderate the Trucking accident forum on this message board.
I retired from my city driving trucking career after 45 years.
My last 5 years I was a safety trainer for UPS Freight.

I have been surfing the net & posting commercial crash news links since 1999.

As a trainer & all of the commercial crashes I & a few other safety minded trucking board members have posted over the years.

Other than the very small percentage,of mechanical,medical & weather related crashes,when the trucker was at fault.
All of the rest of those crashes have been caused by either sleepy drivers or drivers who were not focused on their path of travel,or surroundings or speed.
Or all three of those negative issues.

So to sum up my remarks on this topic,there are (2) main issues that need to be in place to be accident free.
The first & most important is to be well rested,the second is to be focused every second of your driving.

So a note to all drivers, commercial,or personal,follow those (2) rules & have a safe trip.
 
I spent 35 years as a linehaul driver, before that I did 2 years night delivery for a grocery store chain, before that I hauled US Mail, all night time driving. Driving at night can make you sleepy no matter how much rest you get. Some of my worst nights were following a good days sleep. Until drivers are protected from retaliation or consequences for stopping to rest if sleepy, this problem will persist and Apostolic will be kept busy posting links to accidents that occurred between 3-6 AM. I'm still around today because I was fortunate enough to work for a company that, although they weren't overjoyed, never retaliated against me when I called to let them know I was running late because I stopped for a nap.
 
I have to admit, it was a great show about different aspects of dangers we as drivers can face.

Only the truly experienced well seasoned driver knows exactly what it takes to get their job done and we've all developed our tricks of the trade that work safely.
The common denominator between newbie and senior drivers. as I already stated in my previous post is being well rested.
With that follows alertness of your other senses.

I remember back in the day where I didn't need as much rest to function at peak capacity....oh boy have things changed..the older I got, the longer it takes to get out of bed, make boo boo's heal resulted in me needing more rest. I even have to prepare to play with my grand kids. LOL

With that being said another danger is texting and since I do not do this, and some people just don't get it, this is a device that I truly welcome.
New gadget lets police detect when you're texting while driving
 
Fedex ground trucks are always blowing by us..I clocked one at 74 last night in a 60...state trooper had him pulled over a couple miles down the road.

Conway doesn't tailgate..we have cameras and the trucks run 62 and we go home everyday..so this really doesn't apply to us.
 
Fedex ground trucks are always blowing by us..I clocked one at 74 last night in a 60...state trooper had him pulled over a couple miles down the road.

Conway doesn't tailgate..we have cameras and the trucks run 62 and we go home everyday..so this really doesn't apply to us.

Yeah because I'm sure NONE of our drivers are tired as h3ll after working 12 and 14 hours a day. The speeding and the tailgating are just compounding the issue
 
Yeah because I'm sure NONE of our drivers are tired as h3ll after working 12 and 14 hours a day. The speeding and the tailgating are just compounding the issue

We tired sure. But the dang thing drives itself. You know how many times I have woke up behind the wheel doing 55 following some wide load ?
 
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