I was a mover for S & M United Van Lines. I was asked to go with a new driver to Las Vegas to pick up a couple of shipments. This driver was only United Certified for one week before we crashed. Although he had been working all week I can only give a timeline from Thursday October 18th. Thursday he was working in Phoenix for 12 hours loading a shipment I packed that was headed to the U.K. Then he went to the warehouse to get ready for the trip. He went home ate and took a shower. We finally got on the road at about 9 P.M. Thursday night. We arrived in Las Vegas around 2:30 or 3:00 A.M. On Friday morning. Then we got our weights and started loading our first shipment around 8 am. We worked all day loading 2 shipments and finished with our second shipment around 7:30 pm. Friday night. Then S & M dispatch said they needed our tractor back in Phoenix for another job by 10 am Saturday morning. Even though the driver said he was exhausted he chose to be a team player. The driver could not fill out his log book because he was way over his allowed hours to be on duty. So he tried to drive all night again. Around 2:30 am I decided to crawl into the sleeper compartment to get some sleep. He assured me that if he felt like he was falling asleep he would pull over. I awoke to wind blowing because he rolled the windows down to wake himself up. I fell back asleep and the next time I awoke, we were wrecking. Immediately I knew what was happening. I was screaming as I was being thrown around the truck as we flipped and slid down the highway at 4 am. When we finally came to a stop, I was feeling my body for obvious signs of injuries when another tractor trailer slammed into us. The roof of our tractor was hanging off and I ended up on the ground. I was told a third tractor trailer was also involved in the accident. I was in shock on the ground shaking uncontrollably. A fire extinguisher busted open filling our lungs with what ever chemicals were inside. My lungs and throat hurt for about a week. I had huge bruises on my back, my hip, ribs, shoulder and neck were injured. I have bad headaches and PTSD. I was out of work for over a week and then I was on limited duty. I lost a lot of wages that I still haven't been compensated for at all. To make matter worse, the insurance company, Vanliners has treated me like a common criminal and are refusing to pay my lost wages, property damage and for my wife driving to California to pick me up. Will it be your family or friends killed next time? Next time you see a United Van Lines truck I would steer clear of it. At the time I quit, many full time employees that have been there for years have no health insurance. The ones that do have it can hardly afford to use it because of the high co-pays. S & M Moving Systems United Van Lines are bad faith employers and put greed over the health and well being of others. Consider yourself warned. I had to hire an attorney and eventually I will be paid, in the mean time I must warn people about how this company disreguards laws and public safety in the neame of greed.
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