The Source for Trucking News, Opinions and Trucking Jobs | Florida Crash

A couple of days ago I posted this about cars driving around trucks. This has nothing to do with that. This wreck was a horrible, horrible accident and our prayers go out to the family and the entire town. We can’t even begin to imagine such huge loss of family all at one time.

Saying that, I want to go at this at a slightly different angle. We’re in Orlando at the moment and the local TV news was filled with reports. Being truck drivers our behavior is public knowledge. Tickets may not be counted on the MVR after three years, but most DMV’s keep records for ten years. This guys criminal charges (which were dropped) and his less than stellar driving record are now all over the news. Crete Carriers FMCSA record also gets on the news. Any large company is going to have accidents and violations.

Initial reports are always fuzzy. Most headlines say indications are that he didn’t brake. NTSB says -

Lake Butler united in grief after crash
By BOB ARNDORFER
Sun staff writer

Rayburn said slight “shadow marks” on the pavement suggest that
Wilkerson’s truck may have braked before impact. But more information
will be needed from the truck’s onboard “event” recorder to determine
such things as whether he did in fact hit the brake and what his speed
was.

And this quote -

“A semi was honking its horn at us,” said 11-year-old Dalton Sumner
during a news conference Thursday afternoon at Shands at the University
of Florida.

Hopefully, the truck driver was at least trying to stop. With anti-lock brakes, skid marks may not be as dark as they used to be in the old days. At the moment I’m giving the guy a benefit of a doubt. So far, reports say he was going the speed limit and no evidence of drugs or alcohol were found. But you’re past is what makes your present. And his past wasn’t all that great. So, things aren’t looking good for the truck driver.

“Black Boxes” aren’t officially in trucks, but with all the computers and sensors all over the truck , they are the next best thing. A lot of large companies like Crete use Qualcomm to track their trucks. Speed and location are only a couple of records that are kept. The speed limit on the road was 60mph, the truck driver was doing 55 - 60, but a speed limit of 60 on a two lane road where school buses routinely stop? That doesn’t sound like a safe situation. Looking at Google Earth, highway SR 121 near Lake Butler is long and straight with a few curves and Florida is fairly flat. Not looking good for the truck driver.

The driver of the car was only fifteen with a learner’s permit -

Fla. Crash Leaves Family Heart Broken
By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press Writer

she picked up the other children from school every day.

In my opinion, a car full of children is a big responsibility for a fifteen year old with a learner’s permit. Has nothing to do with the wreck, just an observation.

What I as a truck driver take from things like this is one mistake at the wrong time and in the wrong place can change not only your life, but others in a drastic and sometimes horrific way. Our careers are open books and public knowledge. One mistake has haunted and or sent to jail, many, many a truck driver over the years and I thank God and pray that my “one” mistake will at least not hurt others.