I Was Just Fired!

I was an OTR driver for Heartland Express, and I was just fired for securing the driver floor mat down with screws. Velcro wouldn't stick to the rubberized floor covering or the rubber mat, and it would slide up and get caught under the pedals. To me it was a safety issue, and I didn't think anything of it, but bottom line is it violated Heartland's no alteration or modification policy, and I was immediately terminated for it. I liked and respected Heartland, and still believe it is a great company to drive for if you're into short and medium hauls and care about home time. However, I liked driving long haul with the carrier I was with before, and don't really care about home time. I've been out for up to five months at a time, and like it. With my hazmat endorsement, I was making 46 cents a mile at Heartland, whether it was 15 or 1500 miles. I liked that far and above the sliding scale other carriers have, such as Knight and Marten.

I'm now discovering that since I was terminated, I can't qualify for other carriers with whom I contacted. I am still relatively new, with just over a year's experience OTR; I like it and want to continue. Am I totally f*d?

That sounds like an awfully trivial thing to be immediately terminated for. Is there any more to the story?

That sounds like an awfully trivial thing to be immediately terminated for. Is there any more to the story?

That's what I thought, that there had to be, but not according to my fleet manager. And the thing is, my fleet manager tagged me as a "runner," meaning I always picked up and delivered on time, kept the hammer down, and more times than not always showed up as much as a day early. In fact, I joked that if I was on time, I considered myself late.

Apparently, using screws to secure the mat voided the truck's warranty. I was shocked, flabbergasted, and thought, WTF!!

On the next truck, try putting a small towel under the floor mat. That will keep it from sliding.

First of all, no, you're definitely not screwed. There will be some companies that won't hire you but with a year of OTR experience you'll have plenty of opportunities. That's a dumb, trivial little thing really. I mean, probably very few people in maximum security Federal prison for screwing down floor mats.

But I was seriously fired one time for being too early to an appointment. And I worked for US Xpress and had been there for years. The terminal manager who I'd talked to many times over the years said he was shocked when he heard what I did. And I was like, "You're firing me cuz I did what??? Showed up too early? You do realize this will be the first time in the history of the trucking industry someone was fired for arriving too early, right?" - That's pretty much an exact quote.

Turns out my dispatcher didn't give me the info he was supposed to so I unknowingly went in too early when I wasn't allowed to. They went through my Qualcomm , I talked with a few guys higher up, and they "let me" keep my job. Like gee thanks......I've only been one of the top drivers for the last five years and you fire me on the spot without even hearing my side of it. It's a real privilege to "keep my job". Good grief.

So I totally believe you could've been fired for nothing more than that. Seems hard to believe, but I've seen a lot of crazy things over the years and that's not even in the top 10.

But you'll have plenty of opportunities if your record is otherwise pretty solid.

If Heartland reported this on your DAC report, you can put an addendum on your report to tell your side of the story. Sometimes when trucking companies report this, they are not clear as to why you were terminated and that happens a lot.

Ernie