Robert well written, thanks for your input, kind words and professionalism.
I am sure the operator who almost hit me learned and important lesson
yesterday too. / Tom Scordato
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert M Doran" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 12:56 PM
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Trucking Industry the Saga continues
I just had to say something here because, besides presently owning and
driving a 115 and a 107 (...and the old 123--gone but not forgotten), I
drive an 18-wheeler for a living most of the time and have done so for
over 30 years.
Foremost in my mind when I am approaching any situation on the road is
the anticipation of what would be the most inappropriate (read: "stupid")
thing that another driver could do and then plan what my reaction would
be to it. I doubt if any of you guys on the list would believe me if I
told you how often that's exactly what does happen. I'm not trying to say
that truck drivers are blameless--in fact I've seen some real boneheads
that should have not been allowed behind the wheel of any vehicle, let
alone a truck--but some of the things I've seen 4-wheeler drivers do
would simply blow you away! And I have to concede that it is probable
that the sheer numbers of 4-wheelers in comparison to the numbers of
trucks on the road blow what I've observed out of proportion somewhat.
But still.......
In my years of operating these monsters my experiences have taught me to
be a defensive driver above all else and, even though I am confident
enough of my own driving abilities, I know that the beast I am herding
down the road is much more difficult to maneuver than is my 115, for
example, so I drive with that thought in mind and try to compensate in
advance for upcoming traffic situations. Unfortunately, many (most?)
4-wheeler drivers do not exhibit that concept and they drive as if these
trucks were as manageable as what they are driving and that's not the way
it is at all. It appears from Tom Scordato's post that he was well aware
of a possible upcoming hazarous event and he acted appropriately. That
action may well have saved his life. If more people would similarly try
to be more aware and prepared, many injuries and lives lost might be
prevented. I don't know what the truck driver in question was doing when
he should have been paying attention, but he obviously was driving beyond
his capacity to control his vehicle. There could have been extenuating
circumstances, but he was obviously not in control and that's a bad
thing.
Just as in any group of people, there are those over-the-road drivers who
do their jobs efficiently and exhibit a high level of expertise--and
there are those at the other end of the scale as well. Unfortunately,
it's the ones at the lower end of the scale that often get the attention
and therefore cause some folks to generalize and form opinions based on
their (re: "all Indians walk single file--at least the one that I saw
did") personal experiences which are often very limited in scope. It's
too bad but that's how it is.
Since I'm not aware of the safety standards of the aerospace or maritime
industries, I'm unable to make any informed comments, but I do know that
both the federal government as well as the individual states have the
Department of Transportation regulations which do much to enforce
compliance with safety standards. The demise of the old Interstate
Commerce Commission left a little to be desired in as far as enforcement
of a multitude of confusing rules, but it was a step in the right
direction and all good things seem to take some time before they mature
to their fruition (is that even a word?). Unfortunately, it's not there
yet, but I have observed much progress (notice I didn't say
improvement-some of the new rules are absolutely assinine!) in this area
over the past 30 years. But they are working on it.
Anyway, I got that off my chest. I'm glad nobody was injured or
killed--that's the main thing--and one more of these amazing MBz's (with
a driver a cut above the average driver) continues to roll on it's way
and that's a good thing.
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