Episode 88 Show Notes

Episode 88 Show Notes  

Man angry about Jake Brakes arrested for using gun to ‘frighten’ truck drivers, Tennessee sheriff say

Published:    February 7, 2025    ByAshley 

A Tennessee man is facing felony charges for allegedly using a gun to threaten truck drivers because he was upset over the noise from Jake Brakes.            On Thursday, February 6, 2025, Thomas Robert Gambrel, 47, was arrested on two charges of aggravated assault, according to the Carter County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO).        On the morning of February 6, a a 911 caller reported two dump truck drivers had heard gunshots while traveling on Landfill Road in Elizabethton, Tennessee.     When police responded, the truck drivers said that they had stopped to speak to one another in front of a residence on Landfill Road for less than a minute when they heard multiple gunshots.         The dump truck drivers left the area and called 911.                                                  “One of the drivers reported that the previous day while he was driving on Landfill Road a man ran down the roadway toward him, climbed up to the window of his truck, and told him “if drivers kept hitting ‘jake brakes’ in front of his residence that he would shoot at them.” The driver said when he stopped in the road on Thursday to speak to the other driver, he heard six gun shots and when he looked in his mirror he said the same man he had encountered the previous day with a black pistol in his hand. The man told officers that he was afraid because of the statements the man made to him the previous day,” CCSO said.   Deputies went to the residence described by the truck drivers and “saw six spent shell casing lying near the door of the residence in plain view.”       While the deputies were at the residence, a man later identified as Gambrel pulled up in the driveway in a vehicle and asked if he could help the officers. As he exited the vehicle, deputies spotted a pistol in a side holster on his person.        After securing the weapon, CCSO asked Gambrel what had happened with regard to the truck drivers.                                                                                                                                                            “Mr. Gambrel stated he had stepped out on his porch and fired into his yard because of his frustration with the trucks  making so much noise,” deputies state in the affidavit charging Gambrel. “At that time, I asked Mr. Gambrel why he would fire his weapon in that manner, and he stated ‘to get them to stop.’”          Gambrel was arrested and transported to the Carter County Detention Center. He is being held without bond pending arraignment. 

TECHNOLOGY IN TRUCKING

I was sitting back the other day thinking about how electronic gadgets have come and gone in the trucking world. Way back when, when your dad or grandpa was around the ole CB radio was a staple of how truckers communicated. It’s still around but not used as widely as it was back in the day. Then we had radar detectors and jammers that are still around today but not that useful.  Then it came time for GPS and maps in an app, that proved to be very useful until everyone trusted it too much and would drive in a lake or off a road because it was routed that way and not using common sense. Then the mobile phone or cell phone appeared and it was heaven sent so we thought until we were accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Not what a driver likes to be hounded all the time by a dispatcher, but there were those out there that felt that need. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice not having to try and stop and find a pay phone to check calls twice a day, and punch in a calling card number to call. Don’t miss that one bit!

Then we get into electronics in our trucks, alerting you to cars beside you or slowing your truck for you, thinking you’re too close to a vehicle. E-logs to monitor your every move and keep a record of it. Telling when to sleep and how long. Electronics that are supposed to make it safer for the drivers that only prove its a control effort from the Government that puts them at risk everyday.

You have software in the offices that run pay rolls, all your driving information lasts 10 to 15 years, your DOT physical, tickets, and any violations you have had. Running risk analysis on load you haul and might haul. 

We have all electric trucks now, also unmanned fully automated self driving trucks. Technology is slowly pushing us out. One day one way it will happen, I hate to think about it.

This industry has provided me and my family a nice life and would hate to see others lose it.

Talk these things over with other drivers and get their feelings on it. We are loud if we all speak up!

GOD BLESS AND BE SAFE!