Worst Trip on the Road - English Essay

Worst Trip on the Road

This is a story from April of 2008. It was supposed to be a good time for my wife and me to spend together out on the road in my semi truck; instead it turned into the worst trip ever. The story began as I went home for my scheduled home time in Ohio, after which we decided that my wife would come out and spend some time with me on the road. On the day we were supposed to head out, we got a load assignment that was supposed to pick up in Indiana the day before and be in Colorado the next day; which is about thirteen hundred miles away.

We headed down to Seymour, Indiana to pick up the load from a Wal-mart distribution center. I had to drop off my empty trailer and they had just finished having a snow storm there. I ended up getting my tractor wheels stuck on the ice, when I tried to pull out from underneath the empty trailer. The only way for me to get going was to drag out my heavy set of double chains, ones which cover both the outside and inside tires. I struggled putting them on while not being able to move the truck. I finally got them secured enough to get traction and pull out from under the trailer, but I was a muddy mess by the time it was all through.

We then took the loaded trailer and headed for Colorado. Due to federal regulations on driving which only allow a truck driver to drive eleven hours before taking a ten hour break, or be on duty a total of no more than fourteen hours, I was not going to be able to deliver the load on time and had to change out with another driver near Kansas City, MO. His load was also going to CO but for the next day, so I could legally deliver this load, which had three stops, two in Denver and one in Grand Junction. I took off from there after my break was over and headed for CO.

This first stop was going to a place I was familiar with for picking up loads, but I’d never delivered one there. Since it was a refrigerated load I took it to the warehouse we normally use for loading, they told me to go to their other warehouse across the highway, so I drove down there and they unloaded my trailer and signed my bills and I went off to make the second drop and then back to my companies terminal for a break.

After my break was complete I fueled up my truck and pulled up to the guard shack, I then realized I had forgotten to put my fuel cap on and was leaking diesel all the way across the parking lot. So someone told me to go ahead and leave and they would take care of it. We pulled out and start heading up the mountain and they sent me a message over the satellite communication system telling me that I must return to the terminal and clean up the spill or be charged five hundred dollars. So we turn around and go back and I have to clean up the diesel with a shovel, broom and oil-dri over the entire lot.

We finally get that finished up and head back up the mountain a few hours later, again. My plan was to drive all the way to Grand Junction that night to get unloaded first thing in the morning, but this too went horribly wrong when the interstate was shut down half way up to Grand Junction because of a truck wreck. They said it would be shut down the rest of the night. We had to turn around and go back the other way and park for the night beside the on ramp. We woke up in the morning and the interstate was open, but now we were going to be late for our delivery.

It was a clear, warm, sunny spring day when we left Grand Junction to head back to Denver. Along the way we stopped at several view areas off the side of the highway and we walked around and took pictures, at last we were spending quality time together. At the last stop in a rest area just east of Vail, CO, I was busy making some lunch in the sleeper area of the truck. My wife said we had better get moving quick because it was starting to snow. I said it was April; it was not going to be that bad. I finished up my lunch and we took off again onto the interstate.

It began to snow heavier now; it seemed as if it was chasing us from behind. We approached the entrance to the Johnson/Eisenhower tunnel; a one mile long tunnel through the mountain. Traffic was slowed to about twenty miles per hour as we approached the exit. There is a sharp right downhill turn immediately exiting the tunnel, making it an almost blind curve. As I exited the tunnel I noticed suddenly cars were swerving to the left and the right like a V. I looked up and a small white six wheeled box truck had slid sideways across the interstate, I tapped the brakes and I was on solid ice with an empty trailer. Immediately my trailer starting swinging around to the right side, I counter steered to keep from jackknifing and I knew I had no choice at this point but to hit the truck.

I held on tight to the wheel and we slammed right into the back of the box, pushing it down the road further, my truck went into a partial jackknife and landed in the median, my trailer still across the interstate. A pickup truck ran into the tires of my truck as I slid sideways, another behind him pulling a small trailer went into the median. Car after car came crashing into one another, I also later found out I hit a few cars with my trailer before I hit the other truck. Luckily there were no injuries, except for my wife and I suffered minor injuries to our shoulders and were taken to Denver in an ambulance for treatment.

This was certainly not the trip we had in mind when we set out together. To top it off I found out the next day that the delivery I made to the first warehouse was the wrong one. That was their dry warehouse and I had a load of milk. They signed for the product and left it sit on the dock and spoil. Now they were holding me responsible for one thousand dollars of the claim, also my safety director was holding me at fault for the accident even though the state patrol and witnesses all said there was nothing I could do. I was charged an additional one thousand dollars for that. This was one trip I was glad when it was through.

SuperMax prison

The SuperMax prison in Florence, CO is supposed to be the nation’s most secure correctional facility, housing only the highest risk, serious offenders. Such as Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Ramzi Yousef, as well as several gang leaders. But recent discoveries show there may be a serious flaw in the security at SuperMax.

Mexican mafia leader Reuben Catsro was indicted on charges of conspiracy for continuing to run his gangs drugs sales in Los Angeles from his cell. Two leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang were indicted on charges of conspiracy for inciting a murderous race war at a Pennsylvania prison though messages smuggled out of their SuperMax cells. Colorado State Democratic Rep. Buffie McFayden says that terrorists inside the SuperMax could be plotting another major attack on the United States from within this prison.

A justice department investigation was initiated when Spanish authorities found that inmate Mohammed Salameh, who rented the Ryder truck in the 1993 world trade center bombing, had been sending letters to a terror cell with links to the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

The justice department report found that the SuperMax staff had failed to monitor at least half of all the inmates’ telephone conversations for the last year. So what is causing these lax conditions at a so called “Super” maximum security prison? The heart of the problem seems to be centered on budget, and low staffing. The prison employees’ union says the staffing of SuperMax has fallen well below its original staffing level of when the facility opened a dozen years ago, and has now fallen below the established minimum staff levels allowed.

A federal arbitrator recently said that because of the low levels of staffing at SuperMax; entire cell blocks were left without staffing for an entire shift on several occasions. He also discovered that inmate cells were no longer being searched on a regular basis.

An inspector general’s report found that at times, the special investigation staff whose job is to read inmate mail were pulled from their duties to fill vacancies in cell block staff. This may be a key contributor to the secret messages that have been discovered leaving the prison and giving the gang leaders behind bars the power to still run their criminal activities.

I think in light of the recent discoveries of a total lapse in security at the SuperMax prison, it’s almost more of a joke than an accurate name. One would expect that a super maximum security prison would be a top priority as far as budget is concerned. In order to get these prisons back to their intended use, we must allocate the necessary funds to them. We should not blame the staff entirely for the lapse in security, it seems as though they are just stretched thin and they can’t oversee all the requirements to maintain such a high level of security all at the same time.

End of term

We have reached the end of another term here at Westwood. I'm sorry I have not been loyal to the blog this term. I was getting a little overwhelmed with three classes and trucking, also the criminology stuff is so in-depth I would not even know where to begin explaining. Basically criminology is the study of crime, we looked at many different aspects, physical, sociological, mental, and many others.

The corrections class was very interesting, I was surprised by what corrections is all about. It entails so much more than just locking people up, as a matter of fact most prisoners only spend eight hours a day in there cells. The rest of the time they have jobs, and any special treatments that they need, such as drug counseling. We looked at how the war on crime and drugs has a long term affect on the prison system. Politicians love to parade around with their "get tough on crime" laws, but when it comes time to fund the corrections department to take care of all these long term sentences they are handing out, well they don't see so enthusiastic anymore.

The underfunding and under staffing of the prison system is pathetic. In one assignment I reported on the so-called "SuperMax" in Florence,CO, also known as, "SuperLax." The security here was so bad that the 1992 world trade center bombing was planned by a terrorist behind bars. In yet another case an L.A. Gang leader was still running his operation from within this super maximum security prison. I should post that report so you can see the whole thing, it's very interesting.

Anyway I have a lot of respect for these men and women now, they are locked in every day and greatly outnumbered by many dangerous felons. They don't walk around with a whole belt full of different weapons like the officers on streets, in there the best defense is communication.


In English class I brushed up on my grammar skills and wrote two essays, one was a process essay on pre-trip inspections, and the other was a narrative essay on my worst trip on the road.

Over all I finished with a 95% grade in all classes, another great semester. However I have dropped my course schedule to part time, which is only two classes per semester. This will extend my time in school longer, but it makes it less stressful on me, and gives me a chance to devote more time to each class, so that I can really get the full benefit of each one. My next semester is pre-algebra and criminal law.

Process Essay - Pre-Trip Inspection

The objective of this assignment was to use process writing skills to describe something we do often, and of course, I do this EVERY day. Really, I'm a trucker, would I lie to YOU?!?

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Doing a pre-trip inspection

When you’re driving a forty ton tractor trailer, safety is always your number one concern. Failure to detect a potential problem before you start driving down the highway is dangerous, and it can be deadly. Serious accidents can occur when you fail to ensure your vehicle is in safe condition by conducting a thorough pre-trip inspection before you begin driving each day.

The first thing you want to do is start from the inside of the cab. You turn your key to the on position and begin pumping your brakes and watching the air gauge on your dashboard. When the air pressure reaches 60 psi you want to hear an alarm go off; letting you know that you’re low on air. Next you will turn on your wipers to make sure both blades are functioning correctly. Now you want to tap your city horn, that’s the one on the steering wheel that is legal for use in cities. You should hear a horn that sounds similar to a car horn, next you want to pull your air horn and make sure it is working also. Air horns are not required by the department of transportation (DOT) to be working, but your city horn must be working. Finally check all your windows and mirrors for clarity, clean them if they need attention. Now turn on your headlights and four way flashers and pull down on the trailer brake handle, then exit the truck.

Once outside the truck walk around to the front of the truck and look underneath to make sure you do not see any fluids leaking on the ground, then open the hood. You want to start out by pulling the dipstick for the oil and wiping it off with a towel and then reinsert it and pull it back up again to check your oil level. Next you will check your coolant level, if you have a clear plastic tank this can be done by simple observation. For older metal tanks you must remove the cap and look inside the reservoir, using a flashlight if necessary. Finally you want to check the power steering fluid level; this is always in a clear plastic tank on the left side of the truck, so a simple observation is all that is required. Left and right sides are always determined by standing at the rear of the truck facing forward. Now you will look at your shock and check for any wear or oil leaking from the tube, and also check the leaf spring or airbag for any suspension damage, you will repeat this step on both sides of the tractor. On the left side of the tractor you will grab hold of the steering linkage bar coming through the firewall from the steering wheel and shake it, you are checking for any excessive looseness in it.

Now you’re ready to check your tires. With a tire pressure gauge that is capable of reading up to 100 psi you will check the air pressure in the left and right front steer tires, then you will take a tire depth measuring instrument and stick it between the tread on both tires making sure you are not below DOT minimum tread level. Finally you will look in behind the steer tires and check the brake pads and drums for any damage or worn down brake pads. Now go back to the front of the truck and close the hood and secure it back in place with the provided latches.

Now stand in front of your truck and check to make sure that the headlights are both working as well as any other marker lights on the truck and four way flashers. You are now ready to inspect the rest of your tractor and trailer. Walk between the tractor and trailer and check the red and blue air lines for damage or leaks and check the electric cord for damage. The process for checking tires, suspension and lights will be the same all the way around the vehicle as you did for the front of the tractor.

You will want to check the air lines hanging under the trailer for leaks or damage and also check the hub oil levels on the trailer wheels through the see through hubs in the center of the wheel. The reason you pulled the trailer brake handle before you exited the truck was to make sure that the brake lights on the tractor and trailer are working.

If everything is satisfactory you may sign off on your log sheet that the vehicle is safe for operation on the highway and you’re free to begin your day driving.