Post by Terrible Trucker on Apr 1, 2011 12:27:47 GMT -5
Remember, if you see a trucker acting terribly the main goal is to stay alive and out of the way of the truck. If this means you don't get all the info to report him to his company, so be it.
Classifications of terrible truckers:
1)
An immediate threat to everyone on the highway. This would be a driver falling asleep or possibly drunk, swerving all over or otherwise acting erratically. Call 911 to report this driver, and if possible follow at a distance until law enforcement can intervene.
2)
A major screw up. this driver ran over a light pole and kept driving, barely missed being hit by a train, sped through a school zone, made an unsafe lane change requiring others to take evasive action to avoid a collision etc. This is the guy you report to his company using the info below.
3)
A one time, minor screw up. Cut the guy some slack and let it go, you probably screwed up a couple times yourself this week.
To report a driver you need several key pieces of information. The reason this is important is because most of the larger companies these days may have many trucks on the same stretch of road at any given time, so if you call them to gripe, they will have no idea which driver is guilty, therefore all they will do is tell you they are sorry etc etc.
If you want to actually make a difference, the one key item is the TRUCK NUMBER. This is usually on the sides of the hood in 3" letters and or numbers. It could be as few as one digit or as many as eight. This one item tells the company WHO it was. Obviously you have to be beside the truck to get this.
If all you can get is the trailer number, which is similar to the truck number, just a set of numbers on the sides and sometimes the back of a trailer, that helps but often times trailer numbers are misreported in the computer system, or drivers switch trailers or even pick a different trailer than the one dispatch assigned. Helpful, but not always useful.
The DOT Number is also on the side of the truck, and for smaller companies with little to no web presence, this item is very helpful. REMEMBER, many companies especially smaller ones have very similar names, "Fast Freight, Fasst Freight, Freight Fast, Fast Forward Freight, Freight Forwarding"... you can see how if all you did was get the truck number you might still have nothing to contact the company. However a DOT number is unique. You can take a DOT number and enter it into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website to get the phone number, address, and contact name for the company. VERY helpful. FMSCA website here: safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx
After you have the truck number make sure you get the name of the company, the time, the place, color of the truck, and anything else you can read off the side of the truck. I suggest if you have a video recorder or voice recorder on your cell phone you start recording as you drive beside the truck, then read the information aloud into your recorder. Later you can play it back and have all the info at your fingertips. This is much easier than trying to write while driving.
In summary if all you can get is a truck number and DOT number that will be good enough 99% of the time.
Classifications of terrible truckers:
1)
An immediate threat to everyone on the highway. This would be a driver falling asleep or possibly drunk, swerving all over or otherwise acting erratically. Call 911 to report this driver, and if possible follow at a distance until law enforcement can intervene. 2)
A major screw up. this driver ran over a light pole and kept driving, barely missed being hit by a train, sped through a school zone, made an unsafe lane change requiring others to take evasive action to avoid a collision etc. This is the guy you report to his company using the info below.3)
A one time, minor screw up. Cut the guy some slack and let it go, you probably screwed up a couple times yourself this week.To report a driver you need several key pieces of information. The reason this is important is because most of the larger companies these days may have many trucks on the same stretch of road at any given time, so if you call them to gripe, they will have no idea which driver is guilty, therefore all they will do is tell you they are sorry etc etc.
If you want to actually make a difference, the one key item is the TRUCK NUMBER. This is usually on the sides of the hood in 3" letters and or numbers. It could be as few as one digit or as many as eight. This one item tells the company WHO it was. Obviously you have to be beside the truck to get this.
If all you can get is the trailer number, which is similar to the truck number, just a set of numbers on the sides and sometimes the back of a trailer, that helps but often times trailer numbers are misreported in the computer system, or drivers switch trailers or even pick a different trailer than the one dispatch assigned. Helpful, but not always useful.
The DOT Number is also on the side of the truck, and for smaller companies with little to no web presence, this item is very helpful. REMEMBER, many companies especially smaller ones have very similar names, "Fast Freight, Fasst Freight, Freight Fast, Fast Forward Freight, Freight Forwarding"... you can see how if all you did was get the truck number you might still have nothing to contact the company. However a DOT number is unique. You can take a DOT number and enter it into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website to get the phone number, address, and contact name for the company. VERY helpful. FMSCA website here: safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx
After you have the truck number make sure you get the name of the company, the time, the place, color of the truck, and anything else you can read off the side of the truck. I suggest if you have a video recorder or voice recorder on your cell phone you start recording as you drive beside the truck, then read the information aloud into your recorder. Later you can play it back and have all the info at your fingertips. This is much easier than trying to write while driving.
In summary if all you can get is a truck number and DOT number that will be good enough 99% of the time.