It's a Team's Life

What a Week!

What a Week!

Have you ever had one of those weeks where things could have turned out very differently than they did? We recently had such a week. The week was filled with near misses through no fault of our own. Fortunately, we came out on the best side of what could have been some very bad results. This got me to thinking about how what we haul could change our lives in the blink of an eye. And how we really do rely on everyone on the road to drive in a safe and attentive manner.

First, we were picking up a load that started out like many others. It quickly turned into a load that required more people than I realized worked behind the scenes to make sure that the freight is packaged and secured in a safe way. The forklift driver that was loading our truck noticed that a piece of freight had been punctured. A team of safety personnel came to the dock to verify that the item was safe to haul. I also asked someone to create a letter stating that we did not cause the damage to the item.

Our second near miss of the week happened right in front of me as I was coming from a driveway and entering the street. A car across the street from us was also entering the street. The driver had confessed that he was looking at our truck rather than looking at the traffic that was coming from the opposite direction. He proceeded to turn onto the street while another car was coming at him. That driver had no way to stop. She hit him. While this was happening in front of me I felt as if I was watching everything in slow motion. I saw her passenger side airbags deploy. The airbag in her steering wheel also deployed and hit her in the chest causing her to have trouble breathing. She was coming right at us. Fortunately, she was able to stop her car before she hit us.

These near misses gave me pause to think about what all of us as drivers go through in our occupation. We understand the risk and continue to do the job anyway. We are not heroes. We just go about our business because it is what we love to do. 

Wishing you millions of SAFE and profitable miles.

Kelly Plumb