The OOIDA is blaming a truck driver training issue for the recent brake failure wreck that hurt nearly a dozen people.
The wreck on Friday, November 3rd occurred after a semi truck hauling gravel reportedly lost its brakes, sending it barreling through multiple intersections before crashing into a car dealership in Toole, Utah. The 26-year-old truck driver was not hurt, but nearly a dozen other people were. Now, the OOIDA Executive Vice President says an industry-wide issue with truck driver training is the root cause of the dramatic wreck.
“We train pilots, and we train most other people in other industries on what to do and how to handle things when they go wrong, the problem in trucking is we don’t do that,” said OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh.
“All you got to do to become a truck driver is to pass a test, and that is pretty scary,” he continued.
“This is what’s wrong in our industry and so wrong is that young people come in here and have no idea what they are doing,” Pugh said. “They are not taught, nobody is helping them and unfortunately bad things happen, and the only person held accountable for it is the person behind the wheel.”
“He’s coming into town, he’s probably riding his brakes a little more than he should have,” said truck driver Roland Roberts, who is familiar with the area, to 2KUTV.
“I’m suspecting that’s what happened, he got his brakes so hot, they just stopped working,” he said.
“Trucker’s offices are the interstate highway so there is no one who is more concerned about truckers’ safety or highway safety than truckers,” added Pugh.
The truck driver is employed by CL Ranch Transport out of Grantsville, Utah.