I may be loosing faith.........

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Tarr

Tarr

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I have be a Mopar fan since the 70's. Not just Mopar but all cars. I have raced, built cars and worked on others all my life and I turned 60 today.
Last Wed. I had a wreck and it has destoyed my faith in my abilities. I drive 18 wheelers and have never had a serious wreck till then. I flipped my truck in GA and can't figured out what I did wrong. I was on hwy 136 and was running 40-45 mph and the truck just took off and nothing I did helped. I have always been bragged on by others about what a great driver I am in CARS and trucks but this has destroyed everything I beleived. I now have a 69 Dart in the body shop being fixed and painted and I'm not even sure I want it.
The reason I wanted to share this was not for self pity. I wanted to share that everything you do every day can change your life 360 degrees. Family first and then think of the rest of the world before yourself.
By the way, nobodyelse was involved in the accident. Thank God.
 
Well happy birthday:cheers:and also sorry to hear of your accident, try not to take it to hard, if you've been driving truck that long without any accidents don't question yourself. Sometimes **** happens, maybe to teach us something about ourselves or life I think. Just take a deep breath give the family a big hug. As for your Dart give it some time, it will probably give you the excitment you thought it would before your accident, you just need time to get things into perspective. I work in the trucking industry and my hats off to you drivers for doing what you do, alot of people make stupid jokes about truckers but without guys like you we wouldn't have **** in our homes or refrigerators:toothy10:
take care, hope ya find yourself behind the wheel comfortably again real soon, Don.
 
Glad to hear you are okay and nobody else was injured. Though I can understand why you would, I would try NOT spending too much time doubting yourself, your abilities, or desires for your Dart. Interesting though how things like this begin to bring other things into perspective. Humble pie rarely has good flavor, but none of us are impenetrable and sometimes we need to be reminded of that and that we shouldn't necessarily put all our faith and trust in our own abilities. Definitely give the fam a few more hugs and smell a couple more Roses, you just never know. $0.02
 
Law of averages: If you think about the miles you've driven incident-free it was only a matter of time before it was bound to happen. Many years ago a friend of mine's Father recieved an outragous rate increase for his car insurance. He was accident-free for over 30 yrs. The insurance company told him "On average, your due..." in not so many words. He was PISSED! 2 months later he was rear-ended. And made a claim....

Don't be hard on yourself. THIS is what an "accident" is. The rest are driver error. Now get back in the saddle, and think about that Dart.... 8)
 
There are a lot of different kinds of people in the world, ranging from those that have an excuse for everything to those that hold themselves to a higher standard than others. After reading what you had to say my first impression is that you might be being too hard on yourself. EVERYONE makes mistakes, and sometimes things come out of the blue and happen so fast that its impossible to explain what happened. I also had somethig happen years ago that changed my whole outlook on life. Suddenly the smaller things came into focus and I gained an even greater appreciation for them. Give yourself a little time and get that confidence back that it appears you have always had and Im sure you will be just fine. Im glad that you came out of it all ok!! And Happy Birthday!!! Isnt 60 the new 50 :-D Truck drivers are the life line of this great country. Most people dont realise that with the catastrophes we have endured the past few years that its guys like you that have made it possible to rebuild our communities. My hat goes off to you!! I only hope that you havent lost your faith, just that it may have been shaken and that I can tell you THAT can be overcome. Best of luck in the coming days and months getting back to who you really are. And do me 1 favor, let us all know how you do blowing out the 60 candles on your cake :cheers:
 
I recently has a accident also..I always felt i was the safest driver on the road, always looking behind me when i stop.I was driving on the hwy 3 weeks ago and rear ended another car then hit a wall doing 60+ mph.I know what your going through, and i cannot honestly say i feel 100% driving again right now, but much better then the past few weeks...Good luck.......
 
That Dart you're finishing can help restore your love of the road after such a harrowing experience.

I've driven a lot of miles with a 10 ton rig and never had a rollover, but have had some scary close calls........In Colorado I was distracted by a crop duster and a semi-sized dumper pulled in front of me......I saw the worker with the "stop" sign in his hand as he went whizzing by....locked 'em up and missed the dumper by less than a foot......flat spots on all the tires......thank God I didn't jackknife.

No one can tell just what happened to you either..........could've been many things that caused a loss of control, but most likely NOT you or your good judgment, especially at 45 MPH.

STAY ON COURSE. Finish the car and enjoy it. You'll be glad you did.

Bless ya' buddy. Doc
 
Fist off Happy birthday :eek:ccasion:
I am a young man compared to you sir, And built motors and painted cars and raced cars straight line and on the dirt.
I have truck drivers that has retired in my family and I have all the respect for them on and off the hwy.
This was bound to happen sooner or later, You are a great driver and it
hurts me to here you are feeling bad about what has happened to you.
Take this in stride and be the man you are :thumleft: There are most likely people around you that needs to see that spark in your eyes and share your abilities with them:happy10:
And I would bet that you have allot to share with them. I wish I had the words to open your eyes and get back to your good ol'self again.
Once a gear head allways a gear head! hang in there and thank you for all the trucking you have dun for us.:cheers:
Keep the faith and give this time to heal.
Hope to here from you soon Tarr.
 
I have noticed my parking skills have gone to hell, I used to just whip in there and be dead center, now one side is almost always right on the line. So when peolpe say, do you always park like an asshole, I say, yeah pretty much :-D

Like others have said don't be so hard on yourself, **** happens, happy birthday :cheers:
 
It took off on you ? As in engine ran away? Throttle stick ? Or something else. Man I am glad your ok and ya something like that shakes you to your shorts. However. If you have driven truck that long you are considered a "professional" driver. Keep that in mind. Even professional drivers have accidents. It will rock your boat for a little while, but keep in mind that al lthe years behind the wheel has made you a savvy driver. Someday we will all call it quits to our driving and well... thats life.... I dont think your at that point yet.


-RPM
 
Rob said:
I have noticed my parking skills have gone to hell, I used to just whip in there and be dead center, now one side is almost always right on the line. So when peolpe say, do you always park like an asshole, I say, yeah pretty much :-D

Like others have said don't be so hard on yourself, **** happens, happy birthday :cheers:
Click to expand...

LOL! I do the same thing. I wonder if one eye is going bad.

Tarr,

A friend of mine who drove a truck since '74 shared a story about a fuel pump or pump regulator that malfunctioned and caused a runaway engine. I can't imagine what anybody could do in that situation. This supposedly happened parked at a truck stop and grenaded the engine.

Don't ever give up Tarr.
 
Hope you weren't injured badly. Like the others said, don't beat yourself up over it, though I know it's easier said than done. Everything happens for a reason, I truly believe that, though sometimes there's no rhyme or reason. I also have driven an 18 wheeler most of my adult life, and I'm not gonna jinx myself here. I've had my share of close ones.

Take care, it's understandable that your shaken, but time will help.

Kenny
 
Tarr, the way you said it in your original post, it almost sounds like there may have been a mechanical failure of some sort. If it was then you should definitely not blame yourself, but even if there was not a failure, accidents do happen. I have been a truck driver most of my life also and I have only had one fiarly bad accident. I had a n older woman try to beat mke thru a right hand turn after I had already started into it. My trailer duels ended up in the middle of her hood. luuckily noone was hurt except my pride.
 
But I really wasn't looking for support. I realize that it has made me re-think what is really important to me and want all of you to hold on to family more than the secondary things. Heaven forbid something happen to any of you but I guess if we have our priorities in the proper place, we won't have to second guess everything.
In the end, I'll have to sort out what I can live with and what I believe. It will take some time.
I though something broke in the trailer. Heard a loud noise and it felt like the brakes came on the trailer. Hwy Patrol said I left 180 feet of marks fighting it before it went over.
We all need to hug our families more.
 
Hmmm....First question- Are you Human? yes
or
no

If you answered yes, take a deep breath, and relax.
All of us get in a jackpot now, and then.
DON'T EVER DIG TO DEEP INTO YOUR PRIORITIES!!
I'm sure your family was already important, otherwise, you wouldn't be hiking up and down the interstates to keep them fed. Try your best, and take what the good Lord throws your way. Time will heal all wounds,and those that love you will continue to.

Oh ya, if you answered no...........post pics!!!:munky2:LOL
 
Tarr said:
But I really wasn't looking for support. I realize that it has made me re-think what is really important to me and want all of you to hold on to family more than the secondary things. Heaven forbid something happen to any of you but I guess if we have our priorities in the proper place, we won't have to second guess everything.
In the end, I'll have to sort out what I can live with and what I believe. It will take some time.
I though something broke in the trailer. Heard a loud noise and it felt like the brakes came on the trailer. Hwy Patrol said I left 180 feet of marks fighting it before it went over.
We all need to hug our families more.
Click to expand...

Very true !!

Were you running empty or loaded ?? Were the marks from both duals or just one ?? I wonder if a brake chamber might have exploded and locked up a brake ?? I've had that happen pulling an empty milk tanker and it left a long skid mark, and not ONLY on the pavement !!

Glad you are OK, and perhaps the "reason" was for you to re-focus your priorities..

Kenny
 
Trailer layed down only marks on right side. Tractor put others with me trying to get back under it when it started over. I didn't load the trailer. Picked it up at the yard from another driver that just pulled in sick. I was just getting over being off sick. It's going around. I suspect the trailer wasn't loaded correctly but since I didn't get in and check it, I don't know. I knew better but took it on faith he wouldn't pull it unsafe. It still comes back to me.
 
That's a crap load of brake calipers !! I feel for ya man, it always falls on the driver, and you know the last guy isn't going to fess up.. Can't trust anyone these days..
 
a load of Chry. parts. Raw castings going to TRW to be built.
If you buy a new Chry. product soon and the calipers are scratched, sorry.
 
Tarr said:
Trailer layed down only marks on right side. Tractor put others with me trying to get back under it when it started over. I didn't load the trailer. Picked it up at the yard from another driver that just pulled in sick. I was just getting over being off sick. It's going around. I suspect the trailer wasn't loaded correctly but since I didn't get in and check it, I don't know. I knew better but took it on faith he wouldn't pull it unsafe. It still comes back to me.
Click to expand...

Yikes, Tarr! Glad you're OK, and oh yeah, Happy 60th!

At my old job (20(!) years back), I had only about 1/80th the amount of truck brake shoes that you had loaded on a pallet toward the back of my 3/4 ton Chebby work truck, when I had to make a VERY sudden stop. I heard the shrink-wrapped pallet slide forward and I ducked for my life. Two of the brake shoes flew off the top of the load and through the rear window, but missed my head :)

Yep, we all need to hug our families a LOT more often...glad you're still around :cheers:.
 
Keep your FAITH,it's carried you this far so don't give up now your halfway there.glad you are ok
 
Tarr said:
I have be a Mopar fan since the 70's. Not just Mopar but all cars. I have raced, built cars and worked on others all my life and I turned 60 today.
Last Wed. I had a wreck and it has destoyed my faith in my abilities. I drive 18 wheelers and have never had a serious wreck till then. I flipped my truck in GA and can't figured out what I did wrong. I was on hwy 136 and was running 40-45 mph and the truck just took off and nothing I did helped. I have always been bragged on by others about what a great driver I am in CARS and trucks but this has destroyed everything I beleived. I now have a 69 Dart in the body shop being fixed and painted and I'm not even sure I want it.
The reason I wanted to share this was not for self pity. I wanted to share that everything you do every day can change your life 360 degrees. Family first and then think of the rest of the world before yourself.
By the way, nobodyelse was involved in the accident. Thank God.
Click to expand...
Happy birthday. I know exactly what you are talking about. I notice that after I turned 60, I started falling apart. I am going to hang in there though. My stroker '65 Coronet is still fun to drive on occassion and the Dart drag car that I am finishing up will be fun even if one of the grandkids are doing the driving.
Remember that old age and treachery always trump youth and enthusiasm.
 
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