It's a Team's Life

My Heart Started Racing

Usually, things happen fast and you don't get the shakes till after the event.  Here are a few examples of getting my heart pounding.  None resulted in an accident. 

Recently while driving on the interstate I saw a sign for construction ahead.  As a truck was passing me both of us saw what appeared to be a car coming down the interstate on the wrong side.  Both of were braking at the same time and as the car appeared to be on my side I was really REALLY wanted to get behind the other truck.  As we got closer I saw that the construction lanes changed to the left and the car with the headlights on was right behind the barrier.  It took a bit for my heart to slow down.

Another time a car with a bike rack passed me and as they got a bit in front of me the bike rack came off.  Now I have two bicycles coming down the interstate at me with the rack.  Luckily it happened at an off-ramp and I could move to the right and miss the rack.  The truck behind me was able to follow me and miss the bikes as well.  I hope that everyone else was able to do the same thing.

Another time following a flatbed a pallet fell off and landed right in front of me.  I had a choice to try and veer quickly and probably run over the pallet with the driver's side front tire or straddle the pallet.  I choose to straddle the pallet and was lucky that the pallet did not touch anything on the undercarriage of the truck.  

Another time while going across Donner very early in the morning my headlights picked up something black that was moving.  I was in the curves of Donner and going about 45 MPH when I saw a BEAR!  The poor animal was trying to run as fast as it could back to the shoulder of the road and I was slowing as fast as I could to miss him.  I missed by about an inch without throwing Bob around in the bunk.  No one was following me so I did not impact traffic.  Later when we looked on the dashcam we could see how close I came to the bear but that the bear did make it without me clipping him.  I was so thankful. 

Many times we see huge chunks of rubber laying in the road and I am always thankful that I have been able to avoid these.  The damage they can do to a truck is expensive to get fixed and could possibly leave us on the side of the road waiting for a service truck to fix the damage. 

All of this is a good reminder to not follow another vehicle closely as you cannot react in time to miss what the other vehicle is avoiding.  Leave enough room to make good decisions.  

Bob & Linda Caffee

TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO

Expediters since January 2005

[email protected]

 

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;

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Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;

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