Found Safe AL - Mitchell Jordan, 51, truck found running on I-22, Brookside, Jefferson Co., 18 Jun 2019

[Rocky1]

Mr. Pink says this happens often. Guys just get fed up and just walk away. I wonder if he had a refrigerated load and that is why he kept it running. If so, at least he did that but I bet he has a difficult time finding someone to trust him with their equipment again.

If he had a refrigerated load, a separate refrigeration unit would have been running mounted on the trailer. Leaving the truck running would have not made a difference.
You are right. He will have a tough time finding another company to work for. Abandoning a truck is a huge "no no" and today where "DAC" reports follow you from job to job and previous companies report anything you may have done wrong , including delivering a load late, (service failure) This man may be blacklisted from any trucking company. I'm surprised he got away with it the first time.
I have a friend that owns a large trucking company, and back before things like Qualcomm, he told me it would be months sometimes before he found an abandoned truck in a truck stop. He told me once after a driver taking a bus home and heading to the office to collect his pay, when asked where the truck was , the driver told him to "Go find it." 3 weeks later, the truck stop manager called him and told him where it was. The dash was kicked in, all the gauges were broken, and the fuel tanks were dry because he sold the fuel.

 

[perfectingpink]

If he had a refrigerated load, a separate refrigeration unit would have been running mounted on the trailer. Leaving the truck running would have not made a difference.
You are right. He will have a tough time finding another company to work for. Abandoning a truck is a huge "no no" and today where "DAC" reports follow you from job to job and previous companies report anything you may have done wrong , including delivering a load late, (service failure) This man may be blacklisted from any trucking company. I'm surprised he got away with it the first time.
I have a friend that owns a large trucking company, and back before things like Qualcomm, he told me it would be months sometimes before he found an abandoned truck in a truck stop. He told me once after a driver taking a bus home and heading to the office to collect his pay, when asked where the truck was , the driver told him to "Go find it." 3 weeks later, the truck stop manager called him and told him where it was. The dash was kicked in, all the gauges were broken, and the fuel tanks were dry because he sold the fuel.

BBM: Thank you for clearing this up, I should have asked Mr. Pink before I speculated that!

 

[Catmommy]

Well a happy ending. They are few and far between here.

 

[Tripod]

LOL, well, the great news is- Mitchell is safe and sound!

Wait until you read this!

Missing Eleva truck driver found safe at home

Wowsa! Didn't really expect that, but it might have been nice if he'd given his company a head's up. Glad he's safe and sound. Well, I suppose he might have a little screw loose, if he's done it previously. Hope things work out right for himm but maybe he shlouldn;t try for a truck drivivng job as his next gig,

 

[azure]

In a world filled with so much tragedy, Mitchell made my day a little bit today. Was he inconsiderate? Sure, but at least nobody got hurt for once. That's a rarity in missing adult cases, especially adults missing after abandoning vehicles.

 

[StarEyes]

He may have had a qualcomm installed in the truck. If that's the case, his company would know if the truck is moving or not. If he didn't, a tech could have plugged in to the truck's ECM, and that would tell everything that truck has done in the past month. IE. How long it's been running, How long it's been idling, how fast it went at any given time, how many times the breaks were applied, and a whole list of other things.

Thanks. I wasn’t sure how all of that worked.

 

[StarEyes]

Thank you, Star Eyes, you just answered a question I'd always wondered about. Kinda gross, yeah but it makes sense.

It IS gross, I think more so for females. I can’t imagine having a “monthly” while on a run. My ex would try to stop at rest stops when time allowed. We often parked to sleep at a truck stop or Walmart, so easier access to a restroom. A lot of the truck stops are so nice! They offer free showers, with soap, towels, etc. The bathrooms and shower rooms are separated (male/female). The female area had really nice smelling lotion, too. It was all super clean and the employees were all very helpful and nice. My ex would stop at a minimum of every 2 days to shower well. I was pleasantly impressed with those kinds of truck stops. And WAYYYY happy to have an actual toilet to use and not a cup! lol

 

[StarEyes]

Welp, I’m very glad he’s safe. Very much. I was worried. However, I hadn’t ever heard that truckers do this sometimes! I guess I just assumed that you’d at least take the truck back and just quit at that time. Those trucks are super expensive. If anything were to happen to one after someone walked off like that, the former employee should be liable for at least part of the damages. I mean, is it that hard to even just call to tell the employer that you can’t take another second, the truck is located at x location and where the keys are?!
PLUS, did Mitchell not think people would freak out thinking something nefarious happened to him? Seems like you’d think about that, too. Who knows.
Those few 3 day runs I did with my ex were enough for me to beyond appreciate how hard that job is.