ORONO, Maine — A Canadian truck driver escaped serious injury early Friday when his rig left Interstate 95 and went into the woods, according to police.
James Watson, 34, of Woodstock, New Brunswick, was southbound when he fell asleep at the wheel around 2:05 a.m. Friday, causing the truck to leave the roadway, jackknife and hit a couple of trees just north of the Kelly Road exit, according to Maine State Police Trooper Darren Vittum.
Watson was hauling a load of potatoes from Aroostook County to New York state, the trooper said. Watson was not injured.
“It looks like he just kind of fell asleep and wandered off into the woods,” Vittum said.
Watson said Friday afternoon that he did not fall asleep. He said the accident occurred because he blew a tire on the cab of the vehicle. Watson also said the load of potatoes originated in New Brunswick, not Aroostook County.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident and Vittum didn’t require any backup at the scene. No charges are expected to be filed.
Should probably stay on the road, eh.
Another one that wants to ignore their circadian cycle. Get sleep before you drive, not during please.
The logbook rules more or less demand that one ignore circadian rhythms.
If the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could give drivers some discretion, we’d all be better off. I told a guy from Maine Motor Transport that the hours of service rules are really an attempt to make my biorhythms conform to someone’s idea of what constitutes “enough rest”.
I agree, Downeasta, that the circadian cycle is the root of the problem, but the issue is complex, mainly due to the fact that we live in a “just-in-time” economy and that means the shipment of goods doesn’t always fit the circadian rhythm. The logbook rules ensure that sometimes drivers drive at less than ideal times, and that is a big part of it, too.
It is hard to regulate common sense, and in the case of the logbook, there are times when safety is hindered by the rules, rather than enhanced. If they’d have some restriction, but give a driver more discretion, it would be a lot safer out there.
“Why Things Bite Back” by Edward Tenner gives a lot of examples where some “solution” actually creates a worse problem than the original problem. I believe the hours of service/logbook rules sometimes do the same.
I am well aware of log book rules, yet the log book does not dictate when you MUST be on the road. It just dictates when we can not drive. It is the drivers responsibility to be able to manage our books and arrive in a timely manner.
Granted this latest FMCSA crap has made logging all the more interesting.
Seems like there are an awful lot of truck related accidents lately. What’s up? Also, why are Canadian drivers hauling US products?
2 good questions…
I was wondering this myself. Why is a foreign company hauling goods between 2 U.S. points? Where are the American trucking companies?
There isn’t a lot of freight from points south and west to Aroostook County. Anyone going up there to haul potatoes is probably dead-heading. Someone from Woodstock, NB doesn’t have much of a dead-head, can get a load down into the heartland, and then stay out there in an area where there is more freight.
Why not? If I hauled a load to Canada, I’d sure as heck want to be able to haul a load of Canadian stuff back this way. Wouldn’t you?
That different because it’s between 2 countries. This guy was hauling between Maine and New York, both domestic points. That’s called cabotage and in the airline business, it’s not allowed for a foreign carrier to carry traffic between 2 domestic points. That would be like Air France carrying passengers boarding in New York and getting off in Chicago. Not Allowed!
Canada is a friendly country and a good trading partner.
Why begrudge a guy from Woodstock a chance to haul those potatoes. Unless the American trucker was local, he/she would probably have to deadhead to the County to haul that load. Not much payload heading that way. At $4.20/gallon, who wants to dead-head?
THANKS FOR SHUTTING DOWN OUR REST AREA’S!!!!
Bring back the railroad!
(Once freight is out of Maine, modern railroads are pretty fast too.)
Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh, but come see me again when diesel is $9. :-)
How many derailments has Pam Am had in the State of Maine>
A canadian truck driver is not supposed to pick up a load to be delivered in the usa in the usa he can only deliver a load from canada to the usa and then pick up a load in the usa to deliver in canada same rule applies for an american except we can’t pick a load up in canada and deliver it in canada has ne picked up in canada and delivered to the usa
WHAT??
I passed the accident scene earlier today. That man sure is lucky!
he was very lucky. if the trailer had not jacknifed the way it had, it could very well have been a fatal accident from what i was told by a well known source.