Trucker sentenced to 25 years in prison

Here’s a warning to drivers who think it’s OK to watch videos while operating their rigs: They could wind up in jail.

For proof, consider the plight of truck driver Jerry Elder, Jr., of Flint, MI, who was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in a September 2019 crash that killed one man and injured another driver in Kentucky. Elder was watching a video on a cell phone mounted to the dashboard when he failed to stop for traffic in a construction zone.

His tractor-trailer plowed into the rear of one vehicle and then struck another. Elder pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter.

(From the Sept. 13, 2021, issue of Transportation Manager’s Dispatch. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)