Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/522363
VOICES 8 | Overdrive | June 2015 It's no secret that animals looking for a warm, secluded place to nap some- times climb under the hood of parked vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks. And it's not just small mammals – snakes, too, are known heat-seekers. Some snakes that prefer the engine to the pavement apparently get curi- ous about crawling even further up. If you scan the 10 photos of snakes in or on vehicles in a certain Youtube video, you'll see that many appear on windshields. That was the case in a fascinating truck video circulating in April. Made while driving, it shows a snake slithering on the windshield like a trippy wiper, and then finally disappearing back under the hood. Watch it and Overdrive's snake-in- the-cab Worst Case Scenario series video via the May 7 post to the Over- drive Extra blog: OverdriveOnline. com/overdrive-extra. Reader Deborah Kunic responded to the topic with a tale about her son, Seth Kunic, who hauls aggregates with a Peterbilt for Mike Cole Farms in Santa Margarita, Calif. "He had just come back to the ranch after work last summer, driving his big pickup," Deborah writes. "It was really hot, and maybe the rattler was looking for shade (they're not all that smart). "He had stopped his truck … and as he turned around to get in, he saw a large rattlesnake … slither up into the running gear right under the cab and disappear! With some haste, he drove the rest of the way into the ranch and parked the rig down in the sand arena. … He smoothed out the sand all the way around the rig so he would know if the snake left. Sure enough, the next morning, there was a slither trail from the cab and across the sand." Smart thinking, Seth! – Max Heine All snakes want is to cuddle with a warm body – parked or not Driver-facing cam might end career I recently read remarks that drivers made about driving with cameras on you. The one that comes to mind is "I'd drive naked!" After having a good laugh, I can tell you it is horrible having that thing three feet away from you, keeping an eye on you. If you hit a bump, make a sudden move, brake a little harder than normal – these are some of the things that make that red light go on, so you know you are on-camera. If the camera was just pointed out the front of the cab to witness what happens in front of you, I'd have no problem with it. I recently left a good-paying job in the gasoline industry primarily because of the camera. It seems such a shame, with 39 years of experience and a clean record, that I have to say this might be the end for me if I can't find a carrier without a camera. In defense of the cam- era, it can at least save a company millions in the legal department after an accident because it can help to find who is at fault. I would be interested to hear what a supervisor would think of having a camera in his car and in his office, given how they preach the benefits of hav- ing a camera. – Charlie LaPorta, Southington, Conn. How would fleet executives feel about working all day in front of a camera? Catch all 10 scenarios in Volume 1 of our Worst Case Scenario series, and suggest your own, via OverdriveOnline.com/worstcase. Rob Smith, Jr.