Truck Driver Gets 110 Years For Claiming The Lives Of Four People.

[Quasar44]

airplanemechanic
That is true but the breaks went out

 

[MaryL]

Truckers are boycotting Colorado over this. I am conflicted. This guy need to be punished. Yes. But so do the licensing agencies and business involved, they played as much a part in this tragedy as well.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

airplanemechanic
That is true but the breaks went out

They didn't go out by themselves. He kept using them until they overheated and no longer worked. It was driver error for sure.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Truckers are boycotting Colorado over this. I am conflicted. This guy need to be punished. Yes. But so do the licensing agencies and business involved, they played as much a part in this tragedy as well.

All businesses care about is the applicant has a CDL. Even with no experience, you have to get experience somewhere, and businesses are legally allowed to hire such people and allow them to get that experience.

 

[MaryL]

They didn't go out by themselves. He kept using them until they overheated and no longer worked. It was driver error for sure.

Amazing. The guy could barley speak English let alone READ traffic signs. He had no training in mountain driving and on and on. He ran past a truck runaway trap. I think the business that hired him and the government agency that licensed him need to be brought up on charges, too. As far as his brakes failing? That happens often in Colorado and 99% use the runaway ramps. Or Check their brakes BEFORE heading down hill.

 

[SmokeALib]

Yes and no. It's the government that issues CDL"s. It's up to them to make sure the applicant is capable of handling that vehicle. It starts there. My experience is that many of these foreigners had no training, had no experience, and probably never been on the inside of a truck in their lives until they got a job here. Blame the government.

That sounds reasonable. I suppose what I was trying to say is the courts made this unqualified driver the fall guy for these tragic deaths. The unusually harsh sentence was maybe to divert attention from the DOT, or whoever issued this man a class A CDL, to the driver.

 

[airplanemechanic]

airplanemechanic
That is true but the breaks went out

So did your English.

It's BRAKES not BREAKS.

By driver error, not mechanical failure. 100% the fault of the driver. . I'm a truck driver. We are trained how to NOT overhead the brakes when we go down steep grades. Number one being SLOW YOUR NAPPY ASS DOWN. There is a reason you'll see big rigs crest the top of a hill before a steep grade and you'll see him slow down even more before beginning down the hill. The less speed you have the less energy you have to dissipate.

Murder? No. But killing 4 people should be one hell of a prison sentence, but not 110 years.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Amazing. The guy could barley speak English let alone READ traffic signs. He had no training in mountain driving and on and on. He ran past a truck runaway trap. I think the business that hired him and the government agency that licensed him need to be brought up on charges, too. As far as his brakes failing? That happens often in Colorado and 99% use the runaway ramps. Or Check their brakes BEFORE heading down hill.

You can have a brand new truck and trailer, but if you keep using the brakes and overheat them, they too will fail.

These foreigners that can't read or write English and getting behind the wheel of a truck is nothing new. I've been out of work for two years, but prior to that I seen this all the Fn time. It's aggravating.

 

[Dr Grump]

As a very well experienced driver, I can tell you first hand many of these foreigners never took a CDL test in the US to drive here. They get some sort of reciprocity from their country where an equivalent of a CDL costs you five dollars and a pack of cigarettes. Here if you want any chance at passing our tests to get your Class A, brother you better know how to handle that vehicle.

one of the few things I agree with you. Happens here in Australia too. We have a reciprocity agreement with driver's licences in general from a lot of countries, including China. Can't drive for shit and get their licences by giving backhanders to those handing them out.

 

[SmokeALib]

Amazing. The guy could barley speak English let alone READ traffic signs. He had no training in mountain driving and on and on. He ran past a truck runaway trap. I think the business that hired him and the government agency that licensed him need to be brought up on charges, too. As far as his brakes failing? That happens often in Colorado and 99% use the runaway ramps. Or Check their brakes BEFORE heading down hill.

I agree here. I mean, this was a tragic accident, not premeditated murder. That is a harsh sentence for what happened.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

That sounds reasonable. I suppose what I was trying to say is the courts made this unqualified driver the fall guy for these tragic deaths. The unusually harsh sentence was maybe to divert attention from the DOT, or whoever issued this man a class A CDL, to the driver.

The judge said he had no choice but to hand down this sentence. It sounded like he didn't want to. That's up to the legislatures of that state who wrote nonsense like this. The judge should have had the leeway to adjust the sentence as he seen fit.

 

[MaryL]

If I was a trucker, I would never support this guy, nope. I deal with truckers every day, I see what a bunch of lackadaisical incompetent boobs that makes up the majority (by all means there are some really GOOD truckers). NAFATA, and gee whiz, minority hires given jobs over actual talent. Stuff like that...I am a little ambivalent here.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

one of the few things I agree with you. Happens here in Australia too. We have a reciprocity agreement with driver's licences in general from a lot of countries, including China. Can't drive for shit and get their licences by giving backhanders to those handing them out.

The worst I've seen are people from the middle-east. But Russians too have no training either. Drivers from Canada are well trained and good drivers from what I've seen so I have no problem with them.

 

[EvMetro]

Well, here is the problem: Our country is hurting for truck drivers

In CA, lefties are trying to force owner operators to identify as company drivers, in an effort to get more union members and dem votes. AB5 is making a mess.

 

[MaryL]

You can have a brand new truck and trailer, but if you keep using the brakes and overheat them, they too will fail.

These foreigners that can't read or write English and getting behind the wheel of a truck is nothing new. I've been out of work for two years, but prior to that I seen this all the Fn time. It's aggravating.

But that rarely ever happens. You can use the runaway ramps provided by CDOT. This person ran right past one. Obviously there is HUGE training issue here.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

But that rarely ever happens. you can use the runaway ramps provided by CDOT.

Yes......if you know what they are. But with no training you have no idea what those things are there for. It must be a road they were ready to build or something.

To be totally honest, I wonder if this guy even knew what engine brakes were. He likely had them but again, with no training, had no idea how to use them.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

In CA, lefties are trying to force owner operators to identify as company drivers, in an effort to get more union members and dem votes. AB5 is making a mess.

Yeah, I read up on that. The independents moved the hell out of there. Also I read if your engine is older than 2011, you can't operate in that state either to keep the enviro-kooks happy. All this vote buying is why we have nearly a hundred ships waiting to get unloaded that can't. You get rid of 80% or more of the drivers in your state, of course you're not going to be able to find anybody to haul that stuff out of there.

 

[MaryL]

Yes......if you know what they are. But with no training you have no idea what those things are there for. It must be a road they were ready to build or something.

To be totally honest, I wonder if this guy even knew what engine brakes were. He likely had them but again, with no training, had no idea how to use them.

I deal with truckers all the time..."jake brakes". Hmm. There is video of this person blowing past a runaway truck ramp because because he obviously wasn't familiar with mountain driving. Who's fault is this really?

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

I deal with truckers all the time..."jake brakes". Hmm. There is video of this person blowing past a runaway truck ramp because because he obviously wasn't familiar with mountain driving. Who's fault is this really?

As a person who spent 30 years in that line of work, I blame the government.

At my former company, when we needed a new tractor-trailer driver, my employer gave our straight trucks the opportunity to get their Class A and get experience with our company. They had to sign a three year contract though. In any case, I know what these well experienced drivers had to go through to pass the CDL Class-A test. It was no picnic. Some failed the first time for the most stupid things.

This is how I know these foreigners never had to get training or take our test. There is no possible way they could have passed it.

 

[Quasar44]

airplanemechanic

I don’t get all this technical jargon