Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/661456
DIVERSIONS 48 | Overdrive | April 2016 Wreck on a foggy highway: Preventable or Not? SCENARIO: John Doe was rolling down a rural highway in a shroud of early-morning fog at the post- ed limit of 55 mph. Suddenly, a battered pickup, stopped at an intersection, began turning right into Doe's lane. Doe slammed on his brakes but still plowed into the pickup's side. Neither driver sustained injuries, but Doe later received a prevent- able-accident warning letter from his carrier. He contested it, saying he had his lights on and wasn't speeding. Who was in the right: Doe or his carrier? VERDICT: The National Safety Council upheld the carrier's prevent- able ruling. Doe admitted to seeing the pickup's lights, NSC said, yet made no eff ort to stop or blow his horn in antici- pation of the driver pulling out into the blinding fog. To see a video presentation of this and other Preventable or Not scenarios, visit Overdrive's YouTube channel and find the Preventable or Not playlist. From the truck stop to the links Living in Nashville, not far from the Lebanon, Tenn., base of Landstar-leased Andy Soucy, our paths have crossed several times. The most memorable time was at the Two Rivers Golf Course on the east side of town, where Soucy joined me and my brother-in-law for a round a couple of years back. Soucy told me recently that he sees one of the perks of trucking is the opportunity to play courses across the nation. Plus, it's a welcome distraction when things are slow or times get tough. "I enjoy it because it gets me out of the truck," he says. Also, "it gives you an opportunity to de-stress." If he's at a truck stop on a 34-hour restart or waiting out a weekend or weekday for the next load, "many times I'll go to the truck stop manager and tell them, 'I'm here for the weekend, and I'd like to go play a round of golf. I'll be back in fi ve, six hours.' I've always had a positive response to that," after which he'll contact the golf course to make certain they can accommodate a bobtail. If they can, he'll drop his trailer at the truck stop and be on the way. "It's better than sitting around watching some- body else watch me watch them," he adds. In addition to Two Rivers, he rattles off other memorable courses: One of the more diffi cult he ever played: Willowbrook, in Winter Haven, Fla. "I lost every ball that I had in the wa- ter. By the end of the course, I was literally looking for golf balls under bushes to fi nish." But a bad day on the course is better than a good day most anywhere else, to paraphrase an old saying. The most scenic and challenging to fi nish: Conklin Player's Club, convenient to truck stops near the New York/Pennsylvania state line on I-81. "You play on the side of the mountain. … It's one of the prettiest golf courses I've ever played, and quite reasonable, too." Another notable: River Terrace, in Channelview, Texas, "not far from the Flying J in Baytown." Get in touch with Dills via his Channel 19 blog: OverdriveOn- line.com/Channel19. BY TODD DILLS Golfing can be a good stress relief activity while on the road.