02/11/2023
Definitely worth the read. All it takes is a little patience and understanding and everyone can get home safely. Remember those truck drivers have a family back home that are waiting for them and they are often carrying pretty precious cargo.
We received this email yesterday from Fenceman John. He's a loyal listener and we thought he made some very good points. This is in response to the wrecked cattle truck on Friday that shut down I-90. Yes, it's long, but we think it's worth the read.
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This is long, and not terribly well composed, but I'm hoping you can actually get most of this on the air because there are way too many people who just don't get it, and those of us who are actually hauling the things and doing the work that make everyone else's standard of living possible have to do our jobs in their midst. Might be enough good material here for a whole morning show's worth of breaks, might just be the ranting of a grumpy old man.
I haven't been around a radio for your show for a few days so you no doubt have reported on this, here perhaps is some more detail. I wasn't at the sale in Three Forks yesterday, but a couple of friends of mine work out there. Word is that there was a vehicle, reportedly a light colored SUV, grey/silver or possibly white, I'll have to see if I can get a better description than that, that passed the truck that wrecked, then brake checked him hard at which point he took the ditch rather than run over them and create a huge hazard for the other vehicles in that space on the highway.
The same vehicle reportedly did the same thing to another truck traveling with the one that rolled, there were 8 trucks from the same company hauling 800 lb. calves from a feedlot near Billings to a feedlot in central Washington. I have the name of the order buyer who had the cattle shipped so I will try to contact him and see if I can find out more, in the meantime let's call out the KSCY Kavalry to make sure any of the witnesses to the event have called Gallatin County Sheriff and/or MT Highway Patrol.
As I have relayed to you previously I have witnessed numerous acts of negligent driving in the past few months, more than I have detailed in previous e-mails, but this is definitely over the line into criminal territory and the driver needs to be caught and held legally responsible.
11 yearlings were killed or had to be put down due to their injuries, and I'm sure the truck was totaled from the pictures so that's in the neighborhood of $12,000-15,000 worth of livestock not to mention a far less humane end than they would have ultimately gotten at a slaughterhouse, plus a minimum of a quarter million dollar rig, and a very real potential for loss of human life on the highway.
As a note to motorists, when big loaded trucks seem to camp out in the hammer lane they usually have a reason. Often times they move over as they overtake another truck or other slower moving vehicle in the interest of not loosing momentum as they approach a hill, then they run out of power as they climb the hill, it is not at all uncommon for a loaded truck to be running at full throttle climbing a hill literally going as fast as they can go, meanwhile the smaller vehicle they were overtaking is probably running on cruise control and will pull away from the truck as it looses energy climbing the hill.
The same thing can happen in a stiff headwind or even a cross wind. If a motorist behind them instantly gets irritated and starts to pass them on the right they can't safely move back over into the granny lane. "So why doesn't the truck driver see this coming and just slow down and stay behind?" the impatient motorist hearing this will ask.
Several reasons:
Loaded trucks weigh 80,000 lbs. up to 105,000 depending on the number and spacing of their axles, the closer they can be to their maximum legal weight the less fuel they burn per ton/mile of freight they are hauling, in this case yearling cattle.
This truck had a 4 axel trailer, probably weighed around 32,000 empty plus 61,600 +/- in cattle so 90-95,000 lbs. They can't just speed back up easily once whoever is behind them passes, so if they slow down 5 mph, they may not be able to regain that energy state for several miles, plus extra fuel burn, perhaps 4 gear changes which even the smoothest driver causes a tiny amount of wear and tear with every shift, it all adds up to actual money.
Most often trucks like that aren't just going a few miles down the road, this one was headed from Billings, MT to Central Washington State, that's 700 miles one way. Short version, of a long story commercial truck drivers can only drive 11 hours out of 14 on duty before they have to stop for 10 hours, HOS (Hours of Service) rules are far more complicated than that but that's the bottom line. Stopping for 10 hours with a load of cattle is a bad idea, they start to lay down and if any of them are weak it is hard for them to get back up, plus they get wet and yucky, it leads to sickness, and again all adds up to money. Unloading them and reloading them requires facilities, think loading chute, corrals, feed, water and perhaps most importantly help, money, and more money. The vast majority of trucks on the road are operated by one driver, short version of that story is the economics don't support the "Team Driver" approach where one driver sleeps while the truck keeps moving.
Do the math, 700 miles / 70 miles per hour = 10 hours. It's hard to average right at the speed limit for 700 miles, at 65 the same trip will take him 10:45, he simply can't afford to lose any more time than he absolutely has to. From the time he starts his truck in the morning he has 14 hours to get where he is going to park it for the night, during this time he has to get in line at the auction yard, back up to the chute, load, do some paperwork, do some more paperwork at his destination, unload and go find a truck stop, plus at some point he has to take a 30 minute safety break, eat and drink, eliminate waste and get fuel. That's a big day.
A motorist in a car or pickup/SUV can regain 5 or 10 mph in seconds just by lightly pushing on the throttle, and if they AVERAGE 75 from Butte all the way to Billings the trip will take them just under 3 hours vs. 3:12 at an AVERAGE speed of 70. It is unlikely that being patient for 2 dozen trucks in 233 miles will cost them 15 minutes, it is very likely that being patient for 72 cars in 700 miles will cost the truck driver more than 45 minutes, he is going to lose more speed for longer periods of time with each occurrence. Plus if the added time pushes him over his log book limit it might cost him and the cattle sitting on the trailer another 10 hours.
It's been said before, but it is worth repeating, that every single thing the impatient motorist has with them as they go down the road, not to mention in their house, was delivered by a truck, even if it covered a good share of the journey on a ship or a train. The vehicle showed up at the dealer on a truck, the fuel in the tank or the battery under the seat, the clothes they are wearing, the food in the fridge or at the restaurant, the lumber, windows, shingles, gravel and concrete under their house, it all comes on trucks.
A professional long haul truck driver is probably logging over 3,000 miles per WEEK, a mixer truck is taking 5 or more loads of mud and a gravel truck may haul ten loads to jobs each day, most of them are really good at it.
Like many other professions (Law Enforcement, Health Care, Teachers, Referees, Food Service, the list goes on), the best truck drivers are leaving because they are getting older and also significantly because they are sick of people being ridiculous jerks. My daughter and my son's girlfriend have worked at a local coffee shop have been literally screamed at because a coffee drink was made too slowly or wrong, my God look around, how important are you really that a cup of coffee is cause for such behavior? If your job is that important then you can either skip the double caf salted soy caramel latte coffee with whipped cream and pink sprinkles, or if you are that rich and important hire your own personal barista. If you can't afford that then you'll just have to get up ten minutes earlier and cowboy up for crying out loud.
In closing I would like to ask any who are reading this to please help our community by not being a ridiculous jerk, and by discouraging those who are. In this case the driver of the vehicle who caused the wreck needs to be criminally prosecuted. If anyone who saw the incident has not yet contacted law enforcement please do so immediately.
I have a dash cam in my main work truck and the machine I use for snow removal for this specific circumstance, the semi is next.
Sincerely,
Fenceman John
📸: Gallatin County Sheriff's Office
