USXpress Enterprises After a year of faithful service Chattanooga Tennessee

I feel for you James, but that is why they call them accidents. I can sense you are or were a good driver, with good road habits. My questions is, If you knew the ABS was not working properly (was due in shop for fixing along with other issues), then why did you not STAB brake? Locking up the tires on wet pavement, with an empty trailer is gonna make you skid/jack-knife. You gotta get the tires to rotate if you want to stop the skid. And, Yes, of course the dang 4 wheelers pull in front of you and cut you off, and slow down when in front of you. It has always been that way, always will be. Best bet, SLOW DOWN when wet, increase following distance, dont slam on the brakes. Hope you found another job.

Every time you respond, more details come out and unfortunately, they don't help your case. They make it look even worse.

Let's set aside speed for a minute. It doesn't matter. Your statement that the tractor brakes locked, but the trailer brakes did not, illustrate exactly what the problem was.

If the trailer brakes did not lock-up, then the trailer ABS was still working. Also, if they weren't locked-up, then how in the world could the trailer, or would the trailer start coming around the truck? Do you realize that this is an opposite and impossible reaction to what you describe was the case?

A trailer with free traveling wheels will follow the truck to the end of the earth. It is only when those wheels lock on that trailer, that the trailer will be apt to stray from the path it was destined. Therefore, the more likely circumstance is that all wheel on both the tractor and trailer were locked-up, or the tractor wheels did not lock-up, but the trailer wheels did lock-up.

Inertia does not explain what happened. A class 8 van trailer weighs about 2,000 pounds less than the average class 8 tractor does. Since you were empty, the trailer could not have "pushed" the tractor. However, all it would have taken for you to loss control, would have been to turn that steering wheel one way or the other while in a skid situation, and at the point that the there was a 15 degree angle out of alignment, while moving at any speed whatsoever, a jack-knife was inevitable, and a total loss of control would have been reached.

The bottom line is that for whatever reason, you could not maintain control of the vehicle in the time it took to lose control, and a perfectly working ABS would not have saved you either.

Now on to the rest of your response:

I'm lost as to why you spent what appears to be a month in a motel, and at your expense. If they suspended you pending an investigation, they had an obligation to provide you transportation to your home, or to provide sufficient housing until they made a determination as to what their decision was. Apparently you let them push you over.

Damage repair:

Look, it's probably too late at this point to do anything that could completely clear your record, unless some of those exchanges you had with them over maintenance issues surrounded the braking system of the truck. If they were only in regard to the ABS, then you'll probably not get anywhere.

If they did include anything at all about the brakes other than the ABS, then you need to contact an Attorney immediately. Hire him to clear your record, and he can begin that process by subpoenaing records of those Qual-comm messages, which are kept on file by Qual-Comm for up to two years.

Personally, if I had been in your shoes on that horrible day, I would have been on the phone to an insurance adjuster that specializes in trucking accidents in a heartbeat, to have him inspect the tractor on my behalf, especially if I had any reason to think that the brakes were the least bit defective.

There is a high probability that US Xpress has had an adjuster go over that truck with a fine-toothed comb, and an Attorney might be able to subpoena a copy of that inspection report from the adjuster, to see if there were anything at all defective on the truck at the time of the accident.

If they monitor key mechanical components via qual-comm, those messages and any fault codes will have been transmitted via qual-comm to US Xpress, and that information could be subpoenaed from Qual-Comm without US Xpress's authorization or cooperation.

If you are able to clear your record, I'd go for the jugular. I'd sue for the motel bills, loss of wages, and for whatever else you can get.

Let this be a lesson to anyone reading this, that you should NEVER rely upon a company to look out for your interests in any case of accident. You have to protect your own interests as well. This means at the scene, immediately following the accident, and in the weeks and months that follow.

I'll close in offering that because I live within spitting distance of US Xpress's headquarters, I wouldn't work for them if they were the last trucking company on earth, but that's strictly my opinion, and it's an informed one, I assure you.

let look at a few things

"While Driving down I-95 in New Haven Ct it was about 11:30 pm on Oct 8th 2007. It was raining, visibility was good, roads where wet but passable."

if it was 11:30 PM and raining then the visibilty was NOT good.

"I was in the middle lane of 3" "My Speed was 50 mph 5 miles and hour below posted speed limit"

why were you in the middle lane going 5 miles below the speen limit.....? lucky you didn't get a ticket for impeding...!

"Second there was no Panic stop. As I stated when he applied his brakes I applied mine. The truck was due for repairs and one of the issues was the ABS on the tractor"

ABS only works in a PANIC STOP..!

"And the reason I say the ABS was the major contributor to the accident is because the Tractor brakes locked up while the trailer brakes did not and that my friend is why the trailer came around me."

if the trailer DID come around your ABS had nothing to do with it, first as we all know a skidding tire ALWAYS leads so if the trailer did come around IT"S brakes locked and not the trucks OR the trailer was hydroplaning (you were going to fast) OR the trailer brakes didn't work (more likely) and if that is the case you should have found it on your trailer pre-trip.

"As far as driving the truck while there were issues with the truck there were attempts made to correct some of the issues and as far as the ABS was concerned I didn't feel it was a safety hazard. Due to the fact I had drove a few trucks without ABS"

same thing you didn't think was a safety hazard NOW turns into the reason you had an accident..? you knew it wasn't working and you still made the decision to driver it, and yet some how that's usx's fault..?

"They left me in limbo and based their decision solely on the statement I made to them and the ticket. I am sorry but I feel that I was not done right and that to truly decide if I was at fault they should have looked more into the truck and all the reports that I sent through the qaulcomm concerning all the issues I was having with the truck"

what should thay base it on...? you told them what happened and a ticket & if you were having issues with the truck WHY were you still driving it....??

"This is response to the gentleman that said my ABS didn't fail. And that I was following to close"

it was dark, wet but passable, you were driving to slow in the wrong lane, and if you couldn't stop in time then you WERE following to close. what ever happened to the 6 second rule..? after all if you were following the 6 second rule you would have had time even if he locked his brakes to change lanes and pass him...

"And believe it or not when I came to a stop the first thing I did was make sure I was OK then I checked the system faults . This was a Volvo 770 so very easy to check."

what is strange is that USX has over 7000 trucks and not one of them is a 770...
if you don't even know what kind of truck you are driving then it makes it hard to believe the rest of the story.

My Speed was 50 mph 5 miles and hour below posted speed limit. And the reason I say the ABS was the major contributor to the accident is because the Tractor brakes locked up while the trailer brakes did not and that my friend is why the trailer came around me.

If you are as knowledgeable as you seem you would also know that the inertia caused from the trailer swinging around would help push the truck at a greater velocity then the actual speed at the time of the jack knife.

As I said before if I were at fault then I would gladly take responsibility for my actions. My main complaint was the fact that USXpress left me sit in a motel that I paid for out of my own pocket while telling me for over a month it was still under investigation. All that time mind you on unpaid suspension.

As far as driving the truck while there were issues with the truck there were attempts made to correct some of the issues and as far as the ABS was concerned I didn't feel it was a safety hazard. Due to the fact I had drove a few trucks without ABS.

The basis of my whole complaint was that while they were saying they were investigating the accident not one person from USXpress ever called or went to where the truck was towed to.

They left me in limbo and based their decision solely on the statement I made to them and the ticket. I am sorry but I feel that I was not done right and that to truly decide if I was at fault they should have looked more into the truck and all the reports that I sent through the qaulcomm concerning all the issues I was having with the truck.

Thank You.

Okay, let's take you at your word for a moment that the entire accident was due to an ABS failure. And let's take you at your word that you pride yourself on being a safe and courteous driver.

Then why in the world were you driving a truck that supposedly had a braking issue so severe that you totaled it in what you maintain was not a panic braking situation?

You can't have it both ways here. If the truck was unsafe to drive, you have a duty to the public to park it until repairs are made to it, and it is again safe to drive.

If it was not a panic braking situation as you claim, then how in the world did you manage to jack-knife the truck, go through a guard railing, and down into some trees? It takes quite a bit of momentum to take out a guard railing with a loaded trailer, and you were empty. How fast were you going when you lost control?

Let's be clear on something. The ABS is not what stops the truck. The ABS is designed to assist in preventing wheel lock-up in panic braking situations, and more specifically on wet pavement. In the case of ABS failure, and assuming there are no other braking deficiencies, the truck's brakes will still work as they should in applying the brake shoes to the drums. You are not going to encounter any situation where the brakes will not work, even in total failure of the ABS. Class 8 trucks stopped for years before ABS came back into play on them, after a miserable failed attempt to install the systems on trucks in the late 70's.

ABS is not some saving grace that will pull your feet out of the fire when there is not enough room to stop. It is designed on a large truck to reduce stopping distances in cases where the tractor or trailer wheels attempt to lock up, causing a loss of control. The situation you have described makes it clear that you did not have enough time to stop, nor would have ABS saved you, whether it was working or not.

I'm sorry, but you're not taking responsibility for what happened. Blaming a defective ABS and an environment where you were in a trucking hostile state did not contribute to what has happened to you. Had you been following the traffic in front of you at a safe distance, and driving at a speed conducive with the road and traffic conditions, there is no reason for you to have been able to slow to the reduced speed of traffic in front of you, without locking up any of those wheels, and without ultimately losing control of the vehicle combination.

US Xpress is a crappy company to work for, but that fact aside, they do have a record of operating safe vehicles out there on the roads. I find it very hard to believe that you would be operating a truck out there with any mechanical issues in play that would have jeopardized the safe operation of the truck.

The on-board diagnostics systems, combined with the electronic communications system they operate would have triggered an alert to their maintenance department in a New York minute, had there been any serious mechanical issues or fault codes in evidence that dictated that the truck was unsafe to operate.

And lastly, in case you were not aware of it, ABS is not a required by the DOT or the FMCSA to be functioning in order to safely operate that truck and trailer, which is why you were still driving it and the repairs were scheduled for a later date, rather than immediately.

Okay, let's take you at your word for a moment that the entire accident was due to an ABS failure. And let's take you at your word that you pride yourself on being a safe and courteous driver.

Then why in the world were you driving a truck that supposedly had a braking issue so severe that you totaled it in what you maintain was not a panic braking situation?

You can't have it both ways here. If the truck was unsafe to drive, you have a duty to the public to park it until repairs are made to it, and it is again safe to drive.

If it was not a panic braking situation as you claim, then how in the world did you manage to jack-knife the truck, go through a guard railing, and down into some trees? It takes quite a bit of momentum to take out a guard railing with a loaded trailer, and you were empty. How fast were you going when you lost control?

Let's be clear on something. The ABS is not what stops the truck. The ABS is designed to assist in preventing wheel lock-up in panic braking situations, and more specifically on wet pavement. In the case of ABS failure, and assuming there are no other braking deficiencies, the truck's brakes will still work as they should in applying the brake shoes to the drums. You are not going to encounter any situation where the brakes will not work, even in total failure of the ABS. Class 8 trucks stopped for years before ABS came back into play on them, after a miserable failed attempt to install the systems on trucks in the late 70's.

ABS is not some saving grace that will pull your feet out of the fire when there is not enough room to stop. It is designed on a large truck to reduce stopping distances in cases where the tractor or trailer wheels attempt to lock up, causing a loss of control. The situation you have described makes it clear that you did not have enough time to stop, nor would have ABS saved you, whether it was working or not.

I'm sorry, but you're not taking responsibility for what happened. Blaming a defective ABS and an environment where you were in a trucking hostile state did not contribute to what has happened to you. Had you been following the traffic in front of you at a safe distance, and driving at a speed conducive with the road and traffic conditions, there is no reason for you to have been able to slow to the reduced speed of traffic in front of you, without locking up any of those wheels, and without ultimately losing control of the vehicle combination.

US Xpress is a crappy company to work for, but that fact aside, they do have a record of operating safe vehicles out there on the roads. I find it very hard to believe that you would be operating a truck out there with any mechanical issues in play that would have jeopardized the safe operation of the truck.

The on-board diagnostics systems, combined with the electronic communications system they operate would have triggered an alert to their maintenance department in a New York minute, had there been any serious mechanical issues or fault codes in evidence that dictated that the truck was unsafe to operate.

And lastly, in case you were not aware of it, ABS is not a required by the DOT or the FMCSA to be functioning in order to safely operate that truck and trailer, which is why you were still driving it and the repairs were scheduled for a later date, rather than immediately.

Okay, let's take you at your word for a moment that the entire accident was due to an ABS failure. And let's take you at your word that you pride yourself on being a safe and courteous driver.

Then why in the world were you driving a truck that supposedly had a braking issue so severe that you totaled it in what you maintain was not a panic braking situation?

You can't have it both ways here. If the truck was unsafe to drive, you have a duty to the public to park it until repairs are made to it, and it is again safe to drive.

If it was not a panic braking situation as you claim, then how in the world did you manage to jack-knife the truck, go through a guard railing, and down into some trees? It takes quite a bit of momentum to take out a guard railing with a loaded trailer, and you were empty. How fast were you going when you lost control?

Let's be clear on something. The ABS is not what stops the truck. The ABS is designed to assist in preventing wheel lock-up in panic braking situations, and more specifically on wet pavement. In the case of ABS failure, and assuming there are no other braking deficiencies, the truck's brakes will still work as they should in applying the brake shoes to the drums. You are not going to encounter any situation where the brakes will not work, even in total failure of the ABS. Class 8 trucks stopped for years before ABS came back into play on them, after a miserable failed attempt to install the systems on trucks in the late 70's.

ABS is not some saving grace that will pull your feet out of the fire when there is not enough room to stop. It is designed on a large truck to reduce stopping distances in cases where the tractor or trailer wheels attempt to lock up, causing a loss of control. The situation you have described makes it clear that you did not have enough time to stop, nor would have ABS saved you, whether it was working or not.

I'm sorry, but you're not taking responsibility for what happened. Blaming a defective ABS and an environment where you were in a trucking hostile state did not contribute to what has happened to you. Had you been following the traffic in front of you at a safe distance, and driving at a speed conducive with the road and traffic conditions, there is no reason for you to have been able to slow to the reduced speed of traffic in front of you, without locking up any of those wheels, and without ultimately losing control of the vehicle combination.

US Xpress is a crappy company to work for, but that fact aside, they do have a record of operating safe vehicles out there on the roads. I find it very hard to believe that you would be operating a truck out there with any mechanical issues in play that would have jeopardized the safe operation of the truck.

The on-board diagnostics systems, combined with the electronic communications system they operate would have triggered an alert to their maintenance department in a New York minute, had there been any serious mechanical issues or fault codes in evidence that dictated that the truck was unsafe to operate.

And lastly, in case you were not aware of it, ABS is not a required by the DOT or the FMCSA to be functioning in order to safely operate that truck and trailer, which is why you were still driving it and the repairs were scheduled for a later date, rather than immediately.

This is response to the gentleman that said my ABS didn't fail. And that I was following to close .

First off let me say that I have been driving OTR for over 10 years and have encountered many different situations where panic braking might come into play.

Second be aware that When the car came into my lane I did let off the gas to slow down to give following room.

I have prided myself for being a safe and very courteous driver.

Second there was no Panic stop. As I stated when he applied his brakes I applied mine. The truck was due for repairs and one of the issues was the ABS on the tractor.

And believe it or not when I came to a stop the first thing I did was make sure I was OK then I checked the system faults . This was a Volvo 770 so very easy to check.

It displayed multiple failure one which was the ABS. USXPRESS never sent anyone out to where the truck was towed to , to check this out.

As A trainer I always emphasized the importance of a safe following distance. And you are correct that an empty trailer on wet roads is akin to ice.

That is why when the car came into my lane my first reaction was to back out of the throttle without applying the brakes. Which worked till all of a sudden him putting on his brakes.

And yes there was a witness to all this. Now bear in mind that the State of Connecticut is not a very trucker friendly state and if I were driving to fast for road conditions that would have been the ticket whick is a much higher fine and a safety concern.

I appreciate your point on this but trust me if I were at fault I would truly say oh well I screwed up. But I didn't. thank you.

I understand your frustration, but there are a couple of things in your complaint that make no sense whatsoever, and you're not taking responsibility for what you did do wrong.

First of all, why would a car stop "for no reason"? It really doesn't matter. The fact is, that you were apparently following too close, and driving too fast for conditions, or you would not have crashed.

I understand that the car came into your lane, and then suddenly braked after a short distance, but that's really no excuse for not increasing the following distance between your truck and that car...immediately. You have to give yourself that room, because you just don't know when people will make those sudden, unexpected surprise maneuvers, much like the one that you had happen in front of you. You also have to keep in mind that the speed limit on a road is meaningless when it is wet. An empty trailer on wet pavement is akin to driving the combination on a sheet of glass. You simply have to slow down on wet pavement.

Your ABS system did not fail. In a panic stop, the brakes will lock because the increased pressure you apply in a panic stop situation will tell the system that there is no time for limited braking. You have to stop now. I had a similar situation last July, when a truck pulled out broadside in front of me. On dry pavement, every wheel locked on both the tractor and trailer for the 25 feet from application to impact. There simply was no way to avoid the collision. On wet pavement, the system will attempt to keep the trailer wheels from locking up, to avoid a jack-knifing circumstance, but there are limits to what it can do in a short span of time.

The trooper was correct. When you turn that steering wheel and leave your lane of travel and are involved in an accident, you are at fault for anything that happens beyond that point. It would have almost been better to have hit the car when it suddenly braked in front of you. It might not have changed the outcome, but at least then the driver of that vehicle would have been there to explain why he or she braked so suddenly in front of you.

And like the other poster offered, I cannot understand why any Trooper would have told you that the ticket issued would not hit your MVR. It's Federal law for any ticket issued to the holder of a CDL to be reported to their home state, and for any conviction of any moving offense to be listed on your MVR.

You goofed. It happens. US Xpress will fire a driver for much less. I was leased to a company bought by them for several years (Hall Systems), a decade and a half ago. They like to make examples of drivers, or so they say, when they screw up.

One of the US Xpress company drivers rear-ended me in Birmingham, Alabama in 1995 when I had to stop suddenly due to traffic in front of me. We were traveling together, having loaded at the same place, and delivering to the same place. He goofed as well, because he was just too close on my bumper. They fired him later in the day. When one of their fine Safety Directors attempted to allude in a conversation, that I might have "set the accident up", in spite of the fact that I had signed a waiver two minutes prior for any claim for the damages to my truck (they were extremely minor. The collision pushed me into the back of another truck in front of me). I concluded my conversation with the man as soon as he uttered the thought, then I immediately went out to my truck, scraped the signs off my truck, and went on my merry way elsewhere. That company is scum, and I let it be known so when I left on that day. I've never looked back.

A totaled truck is a bad thing. It will prevent you from hiring on with most of the bigger companies. Try looking at some of the smaller companies local to where you live, where they might be willing to overlook the accident and see it for what it was - a mistake in judgment. Your options are very limited, but not hopeless.

Something tells me that you'll take more care in the future to stay well behind others from now on.

that any Troopper would tell you this:

"The Trooper then gave me a ticket for failure to maintain my lane. Said it was just a basic titcket and that all i had to do was pay it and it wouldnt even show up on my license."

ANY moving violation goes on your liscense.