Close Call: My Email to Forward Air
I sent an email to Forward Air this morning about what happened yesterday. Here is what I wrote.
I am a pilot car/escort for OD loads & was a truck driver for 18 years. Yesterday, one of your drivers was extremely reckless. The OD load I was escorting was 125′ long, 13′ 8″ wide, 14′ 10″ high and 198,000lbs. I was the lead escort and already down the ramp from I459 to I20 E. The driver I was escorting was on the beginning of the ramp. Your driver came speeding around the left side of the OD load & jerked back in front of him. If I had not been watching my rear view mirror at that very moment, your driver would have rear ended me and more than likely killed me with the speed he was traveling. Of course, I was unable to get a truck number or trailer number because I dove off the road to keep him from hitting me. We are all lucky that it ended as it did, but PLEASE, teach your drivers how to drive around OD loads. They are only going to be slowed down for a couple of minuets. The OD driver, by regulation, has to make sure that he does not hold up traffic very long. And, when it comes to interstates and their ramps, every truck driver should know that it is much safer to slow down that little bit than to pull a four-wheeler move and try to scoot around them. The person behind the OD load has no idea what might be in front of it because it is to big to see around.
Thank you,
Cindy
As you drive the roads, please remember that those BIG loads move slow and many time have a front escort as well as a rear escort. If you try to zoom around them, you may hurt someone.
