Fuel for Thought

Victim of Circumstance?

If the weather related events of last week have shown anything, it is that drivers have a lot of problems, some self-inflicted.

Many drivers were stranded on highways and in parking lots. Many of these same drivers took to social media to claim they were hungry and thirsty during the time they were “stranded”. 

Most everyone has seen the videos of the multi-vehicle pile ups that occurred on the icy and snow covered roads in different areas of the country. 

Fuel became unavailable in many areas, as did fresh water. Fuel trucks could not replenish supplies and water mains broke and/or froze, compromising the water quality or completely stopping the flow of it altogether.

Homes and businesses lost power. For those drivers who managed to get off the highway and find a place to park, there were not any places open to get a meal, fuel their trucks or take a shower in many locations.

When will people learn to prepare for the future? This is not the first time weather has affected drivers. Even in a standard OE truck, you can carry some supplies. It is not that difficult to carry a week’s worth of food and water in the truck to get you through an event such as this. If you decided to go camping, would you expect to find all you needed just waiting for you in the forest? 

Of course, there is also the planning ahead for the trip. This was not a surprise tornado or earthquake. This was a storm system that was predicted to be coming through the affected areas. It may not have been predicted to be as bad as it turned out, but, nevertheless, it was predicted and many drivers should have prepared to be affected by it in some way.

Then there were the pile ups, the high speed pile ups. There is absolutely no excuse for the speed that some were traveling when they slammed into other vehicles. Sure, ice is slippery, as a professional commercial vehicle driver, you should know that. When the weather is treacherous, and visibility is low to non-existent, why would anyone be traveling at high speeds? 

I sincerely hope that many drivers have learned from this past week. 

Be prepared.

Go slow when visibility is low.

Don’t be a victim of your own shortcomings.

Don’t put yourself into a situation you cannot get out of.

 

See you down the road,

Greg