Crashing In L.A.

[derelict77]

I drive into and around the L.A. area 3-5 times a week and almost every single day I hear on my xm traffic report that a big truck has overturned. It can be a crazy place to drive because if you dont keep up with the big truck traffic you are in serious danger. Those guys cut me off and miss my bumber by inches, and then they flip me off! Hehehe. I think the main problem down there is following distance. Seems a rarety to find another trucker keeping good distance down there.

[Tomcat]

This is true, I grew up in the Los Angeles area. It doesn't scare me, because I know it. But I just did my first drive through there as a OTR truck driver a couple weeks ago.

I posted something similar about Atlanta over on the CFI board, well because I live in Atlanta now, but LA is the same if not worse with a couple of minor exceptions.

But you are right, following distance is key. Relax, take your time, maintain your buffer of safety, and @&!#! what anyone else thinks about it. Your job is to get through it safely, not get through it quickly.

Honetly the most aggrivating thing about LA that I encountered on that trip was being leglislated into doing 35 mph down the back side of the Tejon pass (grapevine), which .. during nice weather .. is a joke of a hill.

[tweety bird]

I think most of the flip-overs in LA are due to excessive speed and low experience. I mean, come on, it takes a lot to flip a big truck. Not a little nudge or a normal speed going around a freeway-to-freeway ramp... Crashing is different from flipping over. That's pure opinion from seeing the kinds of trucks flipped over or hearing the companies involved etc. Usually it's Raul Jimenez Trucking etc with a beat-up cabover and a half-***** trailer to go with it. BTW I have no problem with latino drivers or foreign drivers- but the LA guys tend to be less "road conscious" due to lack of experience. IMO.

The Inland Empire is probably my favorite CITY to drive in. Compared to Houston, NYC, and- boo hiss- Chicago, anyway. Even if you miss an exit or get turned around, you can almost always find a freeway nearby and correct yourself. Yes, the traffic sucks, and, yes, people flip you off and cut you off and generally disregard common courtesy... but that's what makes truckin' fun!

[Bigmon]

Tweety is right. Lots of times it's speeding around corners. Everyday on the news there is a flip over.

There was a JB Hunt driver that flipped about 2 months ago. He was going 55 around a corner and had 3 hours sleep from being at a cookout earlier. When he was intervied by the news crew and asked what he learned he said he should get more sleep next time.

BTW...he had 4 years exp and was Mexican. He spilled oil and closed the freeway for about 5 hours going into Riverside.

[Windwalker]

Tweety is right. Lots of times it's speeding around corners. Everyday on the news there is a flip over.

There was a JB Hunt driver that flipped about 2 months ago. He was going 55 around a corner and had 3 hours sleep from being at a cookout earlier. When he was intervied by the news crew and asked what he learned he said he should get more sleep next time.

BTW...he had 4 years exp and was Mexican. He spilled oil and closed the freeway for about 5 hours going into Riverside.

As a driver, your only comment to any news crew should be "NO COMMENT". Anything you say to anyone, expecially a news crew, can be used against you or your company AND you in a court of law. Never do an interview. "NO COMMENT". End of story.

[GMAN]

That driver just opened himself and his company to a major lawsuit. If charges were not already filed, they most surely will be once that airs. NEVER make comments about an accident to a news crew.

[whodat54321]

accidents involving big rigs also happen on city streets, too.
i was walking from swift's fontana yard to the econo lodge on
valley blvd. and noticed a flatbedder going slowly by, looking like
he was searching for a place to park (about 9 pm, 10/31).
i ducked into a store for something to drink and saw that same truck
two blocks down the road, with another flatbed crashed into the back
of it. first responders were just arriving as i walked by. nobody hurt, but
the trucks were a mess. the fontana cop at the scene had probably
seen this many times before. the slow moving flatbedder was probably
at fault, because he was driving more than 15 miles below the limit without
his 4-ways on. the other driver that plowed into him misjudged his speed,
and whap.

rollovers are a serious issue at swift, and have been a major focus of
training for me. especially with roll paper loads, and light loads in high
crosswinds.

[yoopr]

yeah-the winds at Cajon are pretty wicked that's for sure and usually a truck or 2 get blown over on it.

[Sizzle]

A place where you see A LOT of rigs down is Wyoming. If the wind isn't blowing you're not in Wyoming!!! There's a grave yard at the bottom of Elk Mountain for all the trailers that are invariably lost over the mountain.

I saw a bull rack on it's side one time north of Cheyenne on I-25. It looked like someone had laid it over on it's side with a spatula. When you see all the rigs down in Wyoming it makes you realize just how dangerous our jobs are. I doubt most of us think about it often.

I've only been to Wyoming a few times this past few months and I've already seen three rigs down. All three were down between Cheyenne and Laramie. It's definitely a treacherous place to drive particularly the closer it gets to winter time with the wind, blizzards and ice.

[yoopr]

A place where you see A LOT of rigs down is Wyoming. If the wind isn't blowing you're not in Wyoming!!!


LOL-ain't that the truth-One state that will throw up the Gates for Wind.

[Sizzle]

I've been through 45 out of 48 states in a rig. I've been through all 48 in a 4 wheeler. I haven't gone through Louisiana, Mississippi or Vermont and I've also been through all lower 8 Canadian provinces. I have never seen the rigs down like in Wyoming.

Treacherous place to be!!!