I've been in the recruiting game for over 5 years now and with our phone number on the back of trailers, I field a lot of calls from irate 4-wheelers. Most of them are from slack-jawed idiots that are mad because they don't know what it means to "YIELD" when merging onto an interstate and they're irate because our truck wouldn't slow down on a heavy traffic interstate to let them in.
Occassionally, though, we'll get a legit call...like the hysterical lady calling to say our truck running down the highway at 65 mph on the highway outside of Miami, had a guy hanging on to the back of the trailer. :shock: Yes, at 65. That had to be a ride.
Being in the industry has made me very aware of other drivers, both truckers and 4-wheelers. And as a 4 wheeler myself, I would have to say that many of other 4-wheelers out there are complete and utter retards that should have their licenses permanently revoked. Occassionally, I'll see a trucker acting stupid, but only once have I called in on one. Couple years back, I was on I-80 in the hammer lane, following another truck that was doing the 65.1 mph pass.
Not a biggee...I seldom let that bother me any more. But as I'm following him, I see an O/O Pete coming up very fast behind me. I ease out to the edge of the highway, ready to react in case he doesn't slow down. He doesn't. I end up in the median and he slams his brakes on moments before rear-ending the other truck. Had I not taken the median, I would have been accordianed.
Needless to say, I was P.O.'d. He never stopped, never acknowledged the fact that he nearly killed me (damn lucky I didn't have my kids with me)...he just continued tailgating the other truck until it cleared the one in the right lane, then he stomped it down again and was gone. But in the time that he was behind the other truck, I was able to get back on the road and back up behind him, where I got his company, trailer #, and phone number. Fremont Carriers got a call from me the moment I stepped into the house. I demanded, and received, a call back from the safety director the next day, informing me that the problem had been taken care of, that they do not tolerate that kind of behavior. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I could sympathize with the safety director, being in a position to have to deal with calls every day. But this guy was flat-out dangerous and was going to kill somebody if something wasn't done. Hopefully it was and the safety director wasn't just blowing smoke up my hind end.
Snitching or Civic Responsibility?
