The trucking industry’s tensions over adequate parking can be seen as a backdrop to an incident Friday in Oklahoma that left a truck driver in the hospital after being shot by a security guard at a truck stop.
According to several local news reports, the incident took place at a TA Truck Center in Oklahoma City, near the intersection of South Council Road and Interstate 40. The shooting occurred in a section of the truck stop with reserved truck parking.
Sgt. Brad Gilmore of the Oklahoma City Police Department, quoted by local news outlets, described the incident as occurring when the security guard for the truck stop was checking the reserved spots. “Apparently the security guard was out there checking that when a disagreement happened,” Gilmore was quoted as saying. “A physical altercation took place. The security guard discharged his firearm.”
The driver, who was not identified in the news stories, was taken to a local hospital. Charges were not filed against the security guard, though Gilmore indicated evidence could be presented to the local district attorney, who could pursue further action.
The report on the shooting from local television station KWTV quoted a truck driver on the scene named Jimmy Combs. His comments seem to sum up the issue with parking that truck drivers face every day.
“That’s pretty severe force when you’re taking somebody down for parking in somebody’s parking spot,” Combs was quoted as saying. “Most of the time long-haul truck drivers are tired. They run eight, 10, 12 hours and when they want to go to sleep, they go to sleep. You wake them up, I mean if I get woke up, I’m kind of in a bad mood.”
In last year’s annual survey of the biggest issues facing trucking from ATRI, the research arm of the American Trucking Associations, drivers put parking as the No. 3 issue. A year earlier, it was second. In the 2018 survey, management listed parking as the ninth biggest concern. In the most recent survey, it didn’t place in the top 10 in the view of management.
Noble1 suggests SMART truck drivers should UNITE & collectively cut out the middlemen from picking truck driver pockets ! UNITE , CONQUER , & PROSPER ! IMHO
Previously I omitted posting a comment on the altercation itself due to the lack of details concerning the story . However, since the story has been reported no further information has been released .
Was lethal force justified ? Apparently the “guard” felt threatened enough to defend himself with lethal force . However , I blame the guard for escalating the confrontation to that point .
He could have approached that truck driver differently .
If the trucker gets all hyper for no reason , walk away for a few minutes to allow the tension to subside . Why carry a fire arm ? Why not simply carry a stun gun if in a worse case scenario “lethal force” is necessary ? However, don’t provoke it to such a point .
It’s touchy to judge a situation without all the facts . I would have liked to see the security camera recording .
I haven’t read anywhere about the truck driver being awakened from sleep .
That being said , there’s a way to approach people without causing an altercation .You want to prevent it from potentially escalating into a physical one . It’s all about attitude .
Some guards go off on power trips . They have bad attitudes and use authority abusively .
In conclusion . Authority should conduct themselves appropriately when confronting in such situations . There’s a friendly way , and then there’s an obnoxious authoritative way . The way that guard handled the situation lead it to tarnish the truck stop’s reputation . Who the heck in their right mind would want to go to a truck stop with a trigger happy guard there ?
Boycott that place . If truckers don’t stand up to this sort of unnecessary preventable aggression , then you’re a lost cause .
I’m not defending the wrong the trucker committed . I’m simply strongly stating that there is a more humane and civil way to approach such a situation without it leading to shooting an individual . That guard needs better training . In fact all guards should be trained to handle confrontations amicably .
I wouldn’t go to that truck stop until management guarantees and commits to a change . That bullet could have potentially become astray and hit a bystander or potentially cause severe damage and loss of life if it would have hit a gas tank of an idling truck .
IMHO …………
jason pawelecki
Woe I wonder what would have happened if he parked at the pump
Roy
These want to be cops should first be trained as cops because they don’t have a fricken clue what us truckers have to put up with on a daily basis and then to worry about a security guard with a gun that know thinks he’s god. There is a problem with parking, I truck from Canada every week with either A trains which you can’t back up so you need to pull through, or super “ Bs” which again is longer than a normal 53’ truck and trailer so if your not in a truck stop parked by 5 or 6 pm good luck getting a spot, so I hope this is taken seriously before more incidents like this occur.
Kevin Shafer
This is nothing less than premeditated assault. The truck stop knows drivers are grouchy when woke in their sleep. Who ain’t. I have heard the people at the fuel desk commit on not going outside to wake drivers. They said sometimes tthey mean when you wake them up. And they know this. So they have a man with a gun go out. Knowing at some point someone is going to get hurt. It’s all premeditated. That is all for greed. Suew the living shit out of them. And put the manager in prison. Looks like we need a gun to protect ourselves from people who are supposed to be protecting us
Eric
If the security guard felt like his life was in danger I see no problem with he did. He has a job to do just like the truck driver does.
Kevin
No they have a very dangerous way of running their business. When you know their are going to be trouble and you send a armed man to encounter with a gun. Someone is going to get hurt. Or a innocent driver gets a shot in the head laying in his bunk. Greed greed greed
Mike
I agree! You let them carry a gun and give them a badge and they think they are God.
They were originally put there to keep the lot lizards out. Alsi to protect the truck stop. They definitely have taken their too far.
He should be charged and fired.
Steve
My observation has been that these parking lot mall cops are more nuisance than good! They run all night with bright amber light bars, shine spotlights and flashlight 🔦 onto your truck waking you up…. then you can’t get back sleep.
There is NO reason for these losers to carry a gun!
Don Bryan
The truck stop and the security guard should be sued…… but mostly the security guard for excessive force