Police: UPS truck driver fell asleep prior to crash on I-95 in Delaware

[cheryl]

Police: UPS truck driver fell asleep prior to crash on I-95 in Delaware - 6ABC

Delaware State Police investigators say the driver of a UPS tractor trailer had fallen asleep at the wheel prior to crashing on I-95 in Newport Friday morning.

Preliminary investigation indicates that 45-year-old Phillip Bates of York, Pennsylvania was traveling from I-295 southbound, merging onto I-95 southbound, when the tractor-trailer traveled off of the roadway and onto the right shoulder of the I-295 merge.

Bates was issued a traffic citation for Inattentive Driving. Delaware State Police are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

 

[greengrenades]

That sucks. He should have just pulled over and took a nap. I feel bad for the guy.

 

[cachsux]

If he had a "hot load" he didn't have time for a nap. Mgmt wouldn't like that.

 

[superballs63]

If he had a "hot load" he didn't have time for a nap. Mgmt wouldn't like that.

Given the choice of the load arriving a bit late, or the driver falling asleep and wrecking, wouldn't the first choice be the best one?

 

[cachsux]

Given the choice of the load arriving a bit late, or the driver falling asleep and wrecking, wouldn't the first choice be the best one?

I was being truthfully sarcastic.

The point is this happens everywhere and not just us. Hypothetically this driver has put in long hours, maybe had issues getting proper sleep, is into his fifth day, and now it catches up to him. Yes, if he had the opportunity, he should have gone on unpaid time and caught a refresher nap. It might have made the difference. But if he had the proverbial " hot load" that had to be back on time he would have felt the pressure if driving straight through. If he had attempted to stop he could have had mgmt threaten him for doing so.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Accidents like this are going to be the only way UPS's hand gets forced to correct O/T issues. This one not so much since no one died.

 

[Wally]

At least he wasn't backing.

 

[Kis124]

He was on his way to my building.

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[bleedinbrown58]

If he had a "hot load" he didn't have time for a nap. Mgmt wouldn't like that.

"Hot load" sounded a lot like Indecis0n's department....lol.

 

[The Other Side]

What would be important in the case would be what part of his day was he in. The first 4 hours? The middle 3 hours? Or the last 4 hours?

If it was his last leg, and the company forced the driver to run one last leg because of staffing and the driver extremely tired leaving the yard?

I see this all the time. 11th hour and the manager finds one more trailer that needs to be pulled somewhere and a driver is assigned to take it knowing he is very tired.

As UPS always attempts to say, "accidents" can be prevented, but if the company really believed in this principle, it would look into what leg this driver was on.

Its always something at UPS. HOT LOADS, is stated, as if that is going to motivate me to somehow drive faster or take shortcuts.

For me, I got news for UPS. I aint going any faster than is safe, and if the trailer is late, then its late.

TOS.

 

[over9five]

When I first came to Feeders, my boss told me "If you're ever too tired to drive, pull over and take a nap. We'd rather have a late load than an accident".

I have MANY times. Set your cell alarm, amazing what a ten or 15 minute nap can do for you.

 

[Old International]

When I first came to Feeders, my boss told me "If you're ever too tired to drive, pull over and take a nap. We'd rather have a late load than an accident".
I have MANY times. Set your cell alarm, amazing what a ten or 15 minute nap can do for you.

Ditto. A short 10-15 minute nap does wonders for the attention span of a driver.

 

[MaceFremonti]

One of the first things a 35+ year Feeder driver told me my first week was...

"There is no such thing as a Hot Load....it's a myth. What they should be called are GTBLs."

"What's a GTBL?"

"Going To Be Late Load!"

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[Richard Harrow]

Given the choice of the load arriving a bit late, or the driver falling asleep and wrecking, wouldn't the first choice be the best one?

No. Profits before people! Vehicles are insured against loss, packages not insured against service failures.

 

[Cementups]

Many years ago I was running "junk" in the morning and then would go back and grab a moose (van) and go about and do some bigger bulk pickups. One day I got back into the hub before picking up the moose and my on-car says he needs me to run such-and-such. I said, no can do, I'm gong to lunch. He grunts but says, fine but hurry back I have something else for you to do before your pickups. Soooooo...

I go to lunch. Take my full hour. After eating a nice hearty meal I am dead beat tired. Like falling asleep at the table tired. So, my hour is up and I go out to the UPS minivan I was driving and decide I need a nap. I drive around the corner and park the minivan under a big bridge in a depleted area, set my alarm on my phone and lay in the back and close my eyes. About a half hour later I woke up and drove back to the building to pickup the moose.

I get into the office and my on-car flips $h!t on me and asks me where I was. I told him to calm down that I took a nap after my hour lunch. Not happy with me at all. I told him I coded all 1.5 hours out as lunch and I'm sorry but I figured I had two options here.......take the nap and be ok for the rest of the day or come back and get behind the wheel of a very large vehicle and drift off to sleep and potentially injure/kill someone and/or myself. He gave me a "huffing jesus" and told me not to make a habit of it but I did the right thing. Safety first.