A lorry driver from Grimsby has tested positive for cocaine after his trailer became loose from the cab and rolled away.
Humberside Police described the incident as ‘potentially very dangerous’ and said officers were called by staff at Immingham docks on Thursday after the incident.
They confirmed the heavy trailer had become ‘uncoupled’ and the lorry driver was breathalysed and underwent a drugs test. The drug test came back positive for cocaine and he was arrested.
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Could equally be a defective fifth wheel coupling, I walked on the spot one Friday because the bloke I worked for refused to listen to me when I told him the fifth wheel was defective and dangerous, and on the Monday the very first time my replacement picked up a trailer (From Husk, at Lydden) it came adrift from the tractor unit as he left Husk’s yard and caused several thousand pound’s worth of damage.
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Given that, if so… Would you wanna work alongside him?
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Given that, if so… Would you wanna work alongside him?
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Snorting an illegal substance knowingly, hen jumping behind the wheel of a truck … there would of been suspiciousness as to why the police attended … regardless of the incident, the fact is he is a drug taker of non permitted drugs and could of killed someone no mistake snorting lines and yes drugs do impair judgement … you wouldn’t be saying “mistake at work” if he killed a couple of family’s on the motorway network. You would be crying why wasn’t he taken off the road sooner … let’s hope the TC remove his entitlement for life … he gives good truckers a bad name.
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Could equally be a defective fifth wheel coupling, I walked on the spot one Friday because the bloke I worked for refused to listen to me when I told him the fifth wheel was defective and dangerous, and on the Monday the very first time my replacement picked up a trailer (From Husk, at Lydden) it came adrift from the tractor unit as he left Husk’s yard and caused several thousand pound’s worth of damage.
Often gets overlooked, I’ve had a fifth wheel break on me, thankfully with only broken wingtops as a result. Unit ended up with a full new fifth wheel. It’s always assumed to be driver error.
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Snorting an illegal substance knowingly, hen jumping behind the wheel of a truck … there would of been suspiciousness as to why the police attended … regardless of the incident, the fact is he is a drug taker of non permitted drugs and could of killed someone no mistake snorting lines and yes drugs do impair judgement … you wouldn’t be saying “mistake at work” if he killed a couple of family’s on the motorway network. You would be crying why wasn’t he taken off the road sooner … let’s hope the TC remove his entitlement for life … he gives good truckers a bad name.
I wouldn’t be crying about anything.
Drugs do impair judgement. Cocaine doesn’t if he had it on Saturday and this happened on a weekday.
Fling the book at him if he was out his nut at the time. I doubt he was and doubt that anything in his system was the cause of this. Just makes a nice sensational headline and helps with the anti truck vibe.
TheUncaringCowboy:
I wouldn’t be crying about anything.
Drugs do impair judgement. Cocaine doesn’t if he had it on Saturday and this happened on a weekday.
Fling the book at him if he was out his nut at the time. I doubt he was and doubt that anything in his system was the cause of this. Just makes a nice sensational headline and helps with the anti truck vibe.
More to it than slower reactions, would you agree ?
Alcohol makes for reckless and sometimes aggressive driving. Cocaine makes for jumpy paranoid drivers. I don’t want to share the road with any ofem. To be detectable surely it was still in his system ? Was the test a simple roadside one ? That would show what was present and so be affecting him at the time. Or an expensive lab test? That would only happen if cops were suspicious wouldn't it? Thatd show historical use.
Ive had pin come out the coupling plate on my Trailer .luckly I was just doing 10 mph at the time .took out back lights on the unit .man make it man break it .
I’ve made this point before if he was on it at work throw the book at him but the problem with drug testing is they test for traces of drugs in your system that are there long after impairment has gone.
Yes drugs are illegal but alcohol isn’t and can be as damaging and it seems unfair that you can be punished for something that has no bearing on the incident.
It’s why there’s problems with hard drugs in prison. Heroin is only in your system 24 hours whereas cannabis traces can be found weeks later.
Many turn to heroin as less risk of getting caught despite the fact it’s way more harmful and addictive
The way I see it is that even if it was a faulty fifth wheel that caused this, he’s been caught fair and square and a question I’ll ask is simply, why do people take illegal drugs? I’m one of those goody two shoes who’s never taken or even experimented with drugs. I drink alcohol, but not when I’m driving and I used to smoke but packed up in 1989. I’m ducking down behind the sofa now, so anyone that want’s to, have a go. I can take it.
BTW, I don’t need drugs to make stupid mistakes.
peterm:
The way I see it is that even if it was a faulty fifth wheel that caused this, he’s been caught fair and square and a question I’ll ask is simply, why do people take illegal drugs? I’m one of those goody two shoes who’s never taken or even experimented with drugs. I drink alcohol, but not when I’m driving and I used to smoke but packed up in 1989. I’m ducking down behind the sofa now, so anyone that want’s to, have a go. I can take it.
BTW, I don’t need drugs to make stupid mistakes.
I imagine that people take illegal drugs for much the same reason that I take legal drugs such as nicotine, caffeine and alcohol; I like them. We could argue the rights and wrongs of drugs until the purple dragons come home but the simple fact is if you take an illicit substance and get caught then you get busted, in much the same way as if I habitually drove at 40mph through a certain 30mph section then the law of averages shows that sooner or later I’m gonna get caught.
Whether a broken 5th wheel was the problem or not, the fact still remains this guy was done for having been on drugs. If you have even a simple bump anywhere on the dock at Immingham they will breathalyze you, looks like they will also administer a drugs test too. Having seen far too many roll-aways in the short time driving trucks and almost getting killed by one when a driver pulled his pin on a slope, it scares me that people are that careless.
Radar19:
Whether a broken 5th wheel was the problem or not, the fact still remains this guy was done for having been on drugs. If you have even a simple bump anywhere on the dock at Immingham they will breathalyze you, looks like they will also administer a drugs test too. Having seen far too many roll-aways in the short time driving trucks and almost getting killed by one when a driver pulled his pin on a slope, it scares me that people are that careless.
Point of order - he hasn’t been “done” for anything at this stage - He was arrested after a screening test showed the presence of cocaine and was subsequently released pending examination of samples etc.
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Could equally be a defective fifth wheel coupling, I walked on the spot one Friday because the bloke I worked for refused to listen to me when I told him the fifth wheel was defective and dangerous, and on the Monday the very first time my replacement picked up a trailer (From Husk, at Lydden) it came adrift from the tractor unit as he left Husk’s yard and caused several thousand pound’s worth of damage.
Genuine query here - How did you discover the fifth wheel was defective? I don’t drive artics all the time, but other than looking for obvious bits missing/major damage prior to coupling up, I rely on doing my tug test and scooting underneath to check that the jaws appear to have locked across the pin. Is there something else to check? I seldom see any other drivers at our place doing even that?
kr79:
I’ve made this point before if he was on it at work throw the book at him but the problem with drug testing is they test for traces of drugs in your system that are there long after impairment has gone.
Yes drugs are illegal but alcohol isn’t and can be as damaging and it seems unfair that you can be punished for something that has no bearing on the incident.
It’s why there’s problems with hard drugs in prison. Heroin is only in your system 24 hours whereas cannabis traces can be found weeks later.
Many turn to heroin as less risk of getting caught despite the fact it’s way more harmful and addictive
The point I’m trying to get at.
I don’t think people should be punished for stuff they do on their days off, regardless off the legalities of it.
TheUncaringCowboy:
I doubt he was sniffing fat lines off the mudguards while coupling up, I’d be very surprised if he was actually out his bin. Probably a regular weekend user and it makes a better headline rather than “guy makes mistake at work”.
Could equally be a defective fifth wheel coupling, I walked on the spot one Friday because the bloke I worked for refused to listen to me when I told him the fifth wheel was defective and dangerous, and on the Monday the very first time my replacement picked up a trailer (From Husk, at Lydden) it came adrift from the tractor unit as he left Husk’s yard and caused several thousand pound’s worth of damage.
Genuine query here - How did you discover the fifth wheel was defective? I don’t drive artics all the time, but other than looking for obvious bits missing/major damage prior to coupling up, I rely on doing my tug test and scooting underneath to check that the jaws appear to have locked across the pin. Is there something else to check? I seldom see any other drivers at our place doing even that?
The only time I’ve ever had a fifth wheel fault the visual exam was fine. It was only when I tried to pull away with the trailer that I thought there was a lot of play on the coupling. Tricky do describe but I felt the cab moving before the trailer.
Tar everyone with same brush.