Trucking is inherently dangerous, ranking high for both workplace injuries and fatalities as an industry, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
And as you know, for an owner-operator, a disabling injury that takes the owner out of the truck for any period of time -- especially in tough freight markets like the last few years' -- can make for some very tough times.
Over the weekend, I got an email from Ashlyn White, the wife of owner-operator Patrick White, whose 2001 Peterbilt 379 was featured recently in Overdrive’s Reader Rigs gallery.
Patrick was unloading metal used for building commercial buildings on Friday, Aug. 1, as part of a three-stop haul. Ashlyn said the loads had been mixed together “and we had to unstrap more than we should have.” During that unstrapping process, an edge protector got hung up, so Patrick climbed on top of the load to free it up.
“He got up there to get it, and he made eye contact with the forklift driver -- that way he knew he was up there,” Ashlyn said during a conversation Monday morning. “You don’t get up there without letting somebody know.”
Yet the machine continued moving, the forklift moving under a skid and bumping the trailer. The movement sent Patrick off -- he fell about 12 feet, the impact shattering his right leg with an open compound fracture. He was rushed to a local hospital and had emergency surgery to have a rod put in his leg.
Ashlyn said the surgery Friday morning was successful, but it will be 6-10 weeks before he can put weight on the leg and possibly the first of the year before he can fully work the leg.
[Related: When customer facilities get too risky for business]
Patrick White has been driving trucks since 1998, and the couple opened Top Notch Transport in 2019. They mostly haul flatbed freight and go all over the country, everywhere but California and Oregon.
The Whites have three children -- a 6-year-old, a 5-year-old and a 7-week-old.
“It wouldn’t be as bad if the economy was a little better and trucking was doing a little better,” Ashlyn said. Business in recent times has been “hit and miss,” she added, with “good weeks and bad weeks.” Patrick felt as of late there have “been more bad than good,” he noted, but they’ve been able to keep on trucking “by the grace of the good Lord.”
With months of rehab ahead and the inability to get back in the truck, Ashlyn’s mother set up a GoFundMe for the family to help cover expenses until Patrick is back up on his feet and behind the wheel.
Our hearts here at Overdrive go out to the White family. Their story serves as reminder of just how fragile small trucking operations can be, particularly with how dangerous the work can be.
[Related: Income-replacement insurance, disability, downtime claims]
