Despite fears that the driver they were assigned to work with drove too recklessly, lorrymen Ray Adams and Akkel Hallford still decided to go with him to deliver building material in Tableland.
However, that decision cost both men their lives on Friday.
Adams, 18, and Hallford, 20, employees of Ali’s Hardware, Marabella, were in the cab of a one-tonne truck on their way to Tableland, when around 1 pm truck driver Abudulah Ali overtook a parked vehicle along the Naparima Road and collided head on with a trailer truck driven by Joseph Charles.
Hallford died on the spot, while Adams died around 9.30 pm on Friday at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH).
Ali, 28, remains warded at SFGH in critical condition.
Charles, 65, was treated at hospital and discharged.
Yesterday, Adams’s older brother Joey, who is also employed at the hardware, in an interview at his home in Palm Street East, Mayo, said his brother feared Ali’s driving.
Joey said his father advised Adams to ask his boss to assign him to another driver.
Joey described his only brother as hardworking and independent. Adams had written CXC examinations at Gasparillo Secondary School in June and was only working at the hardware for the school vacation.
“He was waiting on CXC results so he wanted to do something in the meantime,” he said.
Hallford’s brother Quintin, of Ramsamooj Street Extentsion, Marabella, said the last time he saw Hallford was when he left for work on Friday.
“The next thing I know I got a call saying my brother was in an accident,” he said.
Both families said the Ali family said they would cover the costs of both funerals and wakes.
The Sunday Guardian visited the Ali home in Caratal, Gasparillo, but a security officer said the family was not at home.