USA TRUCK Driver Hospitalized due to unsafe truck then asked to drive truck to terminal for repairs. Van Buren , Arkansas

I am writing to tell you my experience with USA TRUCK. While there are many things I could write in here on safety, I am going to bypass the whole experience to the end of my trucking career.

I had been complaining for some time about a possible exhaust leak. The truck had been checked for exhaust leaks and none had been found. During this particular time, I was headed up Virginia. I had just crossed into West Virginia when I noticed the cab had filled full of vapor and I was hallucinating. I pulled off the road and sent a message to dispatch letting them know that an ambulance was on its way.

At the hospital the doctor told me that I had signs of carbon monoxide poisoning and they ran tests and couldn't find any trace of carbon monoxide in me. She then told me I had a panic attack and dismissed me from the hospital.

Upon leaving the hospital, I paid up for a hotel room and called the company. In the morning I called dispatch. I was then told to get my stuff together, that I needed to go get a drug test done. I complied. And apparently I was still out of it from all the fumes I inhaled, and I forgot to call him back and went to the hotel and passed out.

They told me that the keys were needed and so I went down to the place where the truck was being "repaired" then went back to the hotel. I went back to sleep at the hotel. I woke up to my phone ringing and my dispatcher was pissed off. He said they had fixed the truck and were dropping it off at the hotel.

The men arrived and I asked them what was wrong with the truck and what repairs were made. They handed me an invoice that had storage fees on it, but no repairs done. I immediately called dispatch but they were gone for the evening and it was on friday so then I called the company that had stored the truck and trailer.

They told me the trailer had been switched and that they just charged for storage of the truck. They said that USA TRUCK did not want them to fix the truck. I immediately sent qualcomm messages asking them what I was to do.

They told me to drive the truck from Winchester, Virginia to Roanoke, Virginia where they have a terminal and that they would repair it there. I told them, that they lied to me and that the truck had not been fixed and I was not going to drive it. Several attempts were made to get me to drive the truck to Roanoke. I eventually told them that they were telling me to drive a truck that was unsafe, and a truck that had put me in the hospital. I told them I would watch the truck but as far as I was concerned, my health was more important than working for them. I told them if they wanted the truck, to come and get it.

2 hours later. Another USA Truck driver got into my unsafe truck and drove it. That was the last time I heard from them. When I tried getting on with other trucking companies, I discovered that good old USA was talking me down on my DAC report and trashing my name.

Anyhow, during my stay at the hotel, I received a call from their health department and they said they had gone through the chemicals, and what I was describing was coming from Freon, and that it wouldn't have any lasting effects and it was nothing to worry about. They told me the reason they hadn't found traces of carbon monoxide was simply because a diesel truck does not produce carbon monoxide. Upon doing my own research, I discovered that they had LIED about the effects of freon on me.

When I finally got home to my house, I spent the next month in recovery. My energy levels were extremely low. I had problems concentrating for long periods. I was always coughing and I slept a lot. Its been a year since then. I now have pains in my back and legs. I suffer from dizzy spells and I was never compensated for the damages that occurred. I felt like I needed to write this out, because their safety department is a joke. They create lies behind your back to strengthen their stance. They put unsafe trucks on the road which is not good for the driver or others that they share the highway with.

I could go on about the low miles and everything else, but you can experience that for yourself.