This takes the cake!

[cheri1122]

Guys: it's not a "pitty poo" (or whatever the Col's mangled label was) attitude that I have, but simply reality: it's in the carrier's best interests to err on the side of caution, when the degree of illness is unknown. Even mild dehydration can cause an attitude of apathy that's amazing.
In a country known for a 'can do' attitude, expediters have to have even more of it, to last very long. I bet every one of us has had days where we felt like crap, and kept going, because this aint the kind of job that you can call in sick. When a normally reliable driver complains of feeling too ill to continue, dispatch ought to take that very seriously, is all I'm saying, because the dispatcher just might be the only one who is thinking straight, just then.
The one indisputable fact in Coco's story, is that the driver himself didn't know how ill he was.

 

[nightcreacher]

im going to make this short,back last month,i came down with the flu,was my turn to drive and my co-driver used his 11 hours.When I woke up,I had a bad fever and was to sick to drive.i called dispatch,they said they would set up a transfer and told me to go back to sleep,this is how it should have been done,oh and they asked if i thought i would need to go to hospital.Dispatch was very thoughtful.

 

[Critter Truckin]

im going to make this short,back last month,i came down with the flu,was my turn to drive and my co-driver used his 11 hours.When I woke up,I had a bad fever and was to sick to drive.i called dispatch,they said they would set up a transfer and told me to go back to sleep,this is how it should have been done,oh and they asked if i thought i would need to go to hospital.Dispatch was very thoughtful.

And that's the way it should be. Whatever happened to when they actually take care of you BEFORE making sure that the freight is taken care of. Otherwise, the world has turned absolutely for the worse.

 

[RLENT]

Well I managed to come down with it (the flu) yesterday ..... that's what I get for hanging around my recovering wife.

I was supposed to go back in service tomorrow morning at 09:00 ..... ain't gonna happen. Hopefully I'll blow thru the worst of it in a few days ......

 

[highway star]

Well I managed to come down with it (the flu) yesterday

Did you call dispatch for a 2nd opinion on that diagnosis?

 

[arkjarhead]

Moot,
You don't know how much I needed that. Today has been a rough day. I had my driving privledges back for 2 weeks, and had a seizure today and got them yanked for another year. After all of that your reply has me laughing my @$$ off.

 

[are12]

It is true, that some people just don't realize how sick they are so they would rather travel home to be seen by their doctor or they just think by going home and laying around they will feel better.

I will use my Dad as an example. Here is a man that is 81 years old, had open-heart surgery a few years ago and has severe harding of the arteries. One day, last year, he was not feeling quite right but decided he was well enough to go out to dinner - by himself. He drove to his favorite restaurant, ordered and half way through dinner, he felt like he was going to pass out. Since he goes there all the time, all the waitress know him and one of the girls knew there was something wrong and offered to call the ambulance. My father refused and said that he would be fine, he paid his bill and went out to his car and layed down on the seat.

When the waitress noticed his car was still in the same spot, 45 minutes later, she asked the owner's son to go out and see if my Dad was alright. When the young man went out, he tapped on the window until my Dad sat up and asked him if there was anyone my Dad would like him to call. My Dad gave him my home number and the waitress called me to explain what had happened and asked me to come and get him. I am thankful that Jim and I were still home, considering we went back into service that day.

When we got there, my father got very upset when I told him I wanted to take him over to the hospital. We got into an argument and I ended up taking him home - just like he wanted. He said he just felt light headed and probably overworked himself that day. Two days later, he ended up in the hospital because his blood count was low and they had to give him blood.

Would I have felt quilty if anything happened to my father? Of course, the quilt would have been unbearable and I tried to explain this to him but he is a very stubborn man. He told me that he is the only one that knows how he feels and that he did not feel that it was anything serious. Needless to say, I was not happy with him, when he ended up in the hospital, and I let him know it!!

 

[arkjarhead]

I've heard that alot of older people tend to get kind of stubborn after having a heart condition, especially a heart attack. My father in law told me he has seen it happen in many people. Some even turning into down right rude people. I'm not saying your father is rude. My father in law named off about 10 people we knew that had heart conditions, and they all changed afterward.

 

[are12]

I am thankful my father didn't change after his surgery - I just wish he would slow down a little more. He is just a very stubborn man and feels he knows better than his children and his doctor! After his surgery, he did get rude to the nurses and we would point it out to him because he is never like that. We even told the nurses, that he was just not himself and they said that is normal after open-heart. My Dad is usually a joker but he wasn't then! We felt so bad, my one sister actually brought them a bagel basket. Usually when my Dad is in the hospital he jokes and laughs with the nurses and doctors.

His doctor has told him: not to do anything strenuous, like shoveling snow, raking leaves, no gardening, no exercising except walking and not to be going on the roof. The doctor might as well talk to the wall!!! He still does it all and then he will call all the kids to let us know - just to see who will yell at him. He looks at it this way, if he is going to die, he would rather die, doing what he enjoys. Anymore when he calls me, I just tell him not to over do it, when he gets tired to rest for a while - it knocks the wind right out of his sail!! I look at it this way, at 81, he is going to do what he wants and none of us are going to change him.

 

[x06col]

I'd have to agree that switching the load out would be the way to go. Then however, you'd still have an ill driver problem. I'm sure you wouldn't want him/her driving home ill after being relieved from the load.
So, what would you do??

So now you've decided to switch the load out, the load was a nice weekender, for a monday delivery. All but ten of the miles have been run. You start looking for someone to bail this person out at about 2000 Sunday evening, revenue remaining about $59.50, bout six bucks a mile. I'd like to see a show of hands here from all the compassionate typers that would help their fellow driver out.
So what would you do?

 

[highway star]

I think most of us would help in a situation like that. Between 8pm and early Monday morning I'm probably not going to miss out on anything good anyway. A little good karma could go a long way, you never know.

Of course, if dispatch heard me cough or sniffle, I'd probably be put O/S just to be on the safe side.;-)

 

[x06col]

This REALLY does take the cake. Within a couple days of the original post there were many replies. The vast majority were quick to want to "hang" the big bad dispatcher or company.

However, a couple days after a question about helping yer fella driver, one has stepped up to the plate. Lynch mob mentality out there yet?? Hmmmmm.