Trucker Forum - Trucking & Driving Forums - Class A Drivers

Nothing like being temporarily assigned to a POS truck that tries to kill you.

On Monday morning, my truck was put into the shop for a variety of repairs. So, they put me into one of our loaner trucks. The truck they put me in was a 2005 Volvo with 1.2m miles on the engine. The engine had HORRIBLE blow-by. When I drove Monday, I noticed the burning oil smell every time the truck slowed or when I got out of it. I was tired all day, but didn't think anything about it because I was really busy at home all weekend.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up with a slight headache. I drove about 30 miles to a pickup, then really started driving. Since it was raining, the windows were all closed in the truck. About 1hr after leaving the pickup, I was getting really tired. I slept all night, so there was no reason to be that tired. A bit later I came into heavy traffic and that's when the fumes got REALLY bad. I was starting to get really nauseous, too. At some point, I realized what was happening. I pulled into the T/A at Greeneville, TN and called our breakdown. The T/A was extremely backed up, but a mechanic came out and did an exhaust inspection. No exhaust leaks, but pointed out just how bad the blow-by was. So, I call breakdown to explain to them and then called my dispatch.

Breakdown was truly concerned. I was told that if I didn't feel that I couldn't drive any further, don't. Dispatch was more worried about getting the freight delivered. They wanted me to bring to truck to our terminal (100 miles out of route), get into another truck and keep going. I explained to him just how sick I was, but he didn't seem to give a damn. After that phone call with him, I flat-out ignored every call from him.

I parked in Mt. Nebo, WV at the truckstop last night. I had more than enough driving hours remaining to make it to our terminal, but I physically couldn't go any further. The last 10 minutes or so was the worst. I couldn't see straight, I couldn't judge distance, nausea was maxxed out and I was extremely shaky. As soon as I set the brakes, I shut the truck down and rolled down the windows. Thankfully there was a really good side breeze that aired out the truck fast. I got out and walked around for about 15 minutes and recovered somewhat. Once I got my head straight, I called breakdown again (they handle Safety after hours). I explained what was going on and he immediately asked if I need an ambulance. I told him no and he said if I felt I did, call them immediately. He also put my truck in 'emergency monitoring'. If it didn't move in 12hrs without hearing from me, they would send police and ems. I also sent a free-form text message in explaining the situation. Dispatch ignores those messages, but it was on record. After a couple of hours had passed, I was feeling a lot better. Far from good, but better.

When I woke up this morning, my head was pounding and nausea was extreme. I could barely drink anything. I knew I needed to push myself and at the very least get into Fairmont. The first 45 minutes wasn't too bad. It got worse from there. About 30 later, I simply had to stop and get out. I parked on the shoulder and walked around for about 15 minutes. When I got back into the truck, I sent another free-form message that I was enroute and upon my arrival I was going directly to the hospital. Fifteen miles before Fairmont, I had to stop and get out again. My brain was everywhere. Safety comes in at 7am, so I was trying to get someone on the phone. After 7 or 8 attempts, I called breakdown again. Unknown to me, the freeform messages I had sent go directly to safety, breakdown and then dispatch. They had seen the messages and sent my dispatcher a text message to his phone explaining it.

So, when I got to Fairmont, I only had to drop the trailer, pull my crap out of the truck, turn in the bills for the load I had and head for the hospital. Within 10 minutes of walking in the ER door, they had me in a bed, hooked to 100% oxygen, running an EKG, hooked to a heart monitor and drawing blood. If you've never had an arterial blood draw, you don't want one. One of the things the body does with CO poisoning is to start shutting down your extremities. Because of that, my veins were basically flat, so they couldn't get an IV. After the 4th attempt, they finally got one. I was also given some sort of anti-nausea meds.

It took a couple of hours for the test results. MY CO levels were elevated, but with CO poisoning, the level starts dropping almost instantly after getting away from it. The doctor said that with the description I gave him for the way I felt last night, my levels were probably pushing the lower end of the lethal limit. By the time I got out of there around 11am, I was feeling better, but still, far from good. I was at home by 11:30 and in bed by noon. I slept for 4 hours and literally had to force myself to get up.

One of our drivers called me at some point of me sleeping. He had heard about what happened and wanted to let me know that the corporate office demanded that truck be sent directly to Cummins for repair. Our mechanics can easily handle a engine overhaul, but they said no - another garage is to do it. I also had a call from the safety department manager. He is a former driver and has had CO poisoning, so he definitely understands. He was none too happy when I explained to him just how hard my dispatcher was pressuring me to swap trucks and keep going.

I'll be back at work tomorrow, in a different truck. I've got a pretty easy run. I just hope this truck doesn't try to kill me, too.

Drivers - don't play with this. If you're not feeling right for no particular reason, get out of your truck. If you start feeling better, get your engine and exhaust checked out. It just might save your life.