Fired For Accident And Not Sure What To Do.

Rainy asked: Did you see a doctor??? You keep spouting fatigue but do you realize those symptoms apply to depression, ADD, anema, temporal lobe epilepsy, low blood circulation and probably a dozen other conditions???

ian replied: Which is why I say fatigue is hard to identify.

So the answer is NO, you didn't see a doctor and have diagnosed yourself. A thing you have no degree nor training to do. You got fired from a job you were trained, yet you decide you can diagnose yourself on a condition that is difficult to diagnose?

Wow! You are truly amazing! Somehow you crammed 8 years of college, medical school and a couple years of residency into the few months it has been since you got fired.

You never saw a doctor about a condition you claim is so serious it got you fired, yet you had no problem seeing a lawyer to help you out of trouble. We all see where you priorities lie

Stop claiming it was fatigue. Cause you have no proof it was. It makes for an easier explanation than the fact you screwed up. What woukd you think about someone walking around clsiming they had cancer yet never saw a doctor? you would think they are both stupid and crazy.

You have no way to prove it in court, so you lose, case closed.

Its not fatigue. It is laziness.

Brett, as usual, you are spot on. Now, where is that popcorn emoji?

The company required me to work off the clock illegally

No, they didn't. They said you could log off duty when you're at the docks because you're relieved of duty. You're not doing anything. If you were inside counting freight or loading freight, that would be on duty not driving, and you could still drive 11 hours in a 14 hour period even with some on duty time.

Stop trying to bullsh*t us. We've been at this for a very long time. We know the job, we know the laws, and we also know the tactics that guys like you try to use to deflect the blame off of yourself and onto others who are innocent. Your company was 0% to blame, you were 100% to blame. There is no gray area here.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the law, but I thought watching for the light to turn green is technically "work". I can understand why it doesn't seem like work, but as long as I'm required to be there and be awake I'm not truly "relieved of duty".

So you're not a rookie anymore. See how totally disingenuous you are? You'll try to bullsh*t anyone about anything.

I was reassigned as a local driver with about four months solo OTR experience. This wasn't a factor in the accident, but it exemplifies the company's "not my problem" attitude toward safety. They shouldn't have hired me at that time if I wasn't qualified.

Yeah, and getting to go home and sleep in your own bed every night is a luxury you had and OTR drivers do not. Now who do you think should sleep better, someone stuffed into a tiny bed in a walk-in closet in a parking lot with the engine running or a guy in his own quiet home in his big, luxury bed?

You assume I wanted to go home every night. In fact I didn't like having to commute and would have preferred to sleep in a truck if that option had been available to me. There was no point in going home because all I did was go to sleep, then get up and go back to work. Sometimes I didn't even have time to eat while I was at home.

You assume I wanted to go home every night. In fact I didn't like having to commute and would have preferred to sleep in a truck if that option had been available to me. There was no point in going home because all I did was go to sleep, then get up and go back to work. Sometimes I didn't even have time to eat while I was at home.

No dumbass, you said in your very first comment:

I also would not be able to accept a “standard” OTR job with minimal home time.

If you didnt want to go home then why did you take a local job that was so demanding? Why not go right back to OTR when you realized what it was like?

This isnt jist about trucking. It is about how you go through life. YOU made decisions and you failed. You will continue this throughout your life because you havent learned anything from it.

Yes, i blame my generation for this. When we started putting kids on the "naughty chair" instead of smacking them in the face for back talk, we ruined the world. Now we have a bunch of wimpy cry babies who cannot hold down a job let alone support a family.

However, since i have no children, i did not directly cause it. If i did have kids, they wouldnt have been wimps and could have held valid arguments.

Heres a question for you...If you rear ended someone during your commute to and from work and caused an accident with $10,000 in damages....whose fault would it have been?

would you still be blaming the company?

Rainy, he probably would attempt to blame the company, because they FORCED him to take a local job with an hour commute each way.

Waaaahhhh

Rainy asked: Did you see a doctor??? You keep spouting fatigue but do you realize those symptoms apply to depression, ADD, anema, temporal lobe epilepsy, low blood circulation and probably a dozen other conditions???

ian replied: Which is why I say fatigue is hard to identify.

So the answer is NO, you didn't see a doctor and have diagnosed yourself. A thing you have no degree nor training to do. You got fired from a job you were trained, yet you decide you can diagnose yourself on a condition that is difficult to diagnose?

Wow! You are truly amazing! Somehow you crammed 8 years of college, medical school and a couple years of residency into the few months it has been since you got fired.

You never saw a doctor about a condition you claim is so serious it got you fired, yet you had no problem seeing a lawyer to help you out of trouble. We all see where you priorities lie

Stop claiming it was fatigue. Cause you have no proof it was. It makes for an easier explanation than the fact you screwed up. What woukd you think about someone walking around clsiming they had cancer yet never saw a doctor? you would think they are both stupid and crazy.

You have no way to prove it in court, so you lose, case closed.

Its not fatigue. It is laziness.

I know I said I wouldn't post anymore but this is the last one, I promise.

I can't argue with that at all except perhaps the "laziness" remark, but I that's unimportant. You are all correct, I have still been trying to deny that I screwed up and that was no one else's fault. I'm sorry it took this long, but the breaking point was that I couldn't come up with a good response to your post because my reasoning was already so distorted.

I would like to apologize for coming across as a hostile know-it-all trying to avoid responsibility. That did indeed describe me when I started this thread but I have come to realize I have the wrong approach. I know this must have been just as frustrating for you as it was for me. Some people have told me that I overanalyze things and that making quick decisions is not one of my strengths. I should really learn to take more time to "let it sink in" before I get too defensive. It took me a few days of "overanalyzing" but ultimately I have come to realize that you have the right ideas. The trucking industry isn't going to change so I need to find a career that is better suited to my abilities. Next week I start classes at a community college.

This forum really does tell the honest truth, even though it wasn't at all what I wanted or expected to hear. Thanks for the reality check.

If you didnt want to go home then why did you take a local job that was so demanding? Why not go right back to OTR when you realized what it was like?

Spending the night at home wasn't important, I only cared about full days off.

Yes, i blame my generation for this. When we started putting kids on the "naughty chair" instead of smacking them in the face for back talk, we ruined the world. Now we have a bunch of wimpy cry babies who cannot hold down a job let alone support a family.

However, since i have no children, i did not directly cause it. If i did have kids, they wouldnt have been wimps and could have held valid arguments.

Physically punishing children isn't going to make them "hold down valid arguments", they'll just be afraid to make any argument at all. Then no one will have the occasion to provide a rebuttal to their argument, so they'll just go on thinking that they must be right. "Back talk" may be frustrating but I don't see why you think it's a punishable offense, unless you feel entitled to power because you're older than them. When has censorship ever solved anything?

If you're going to attribute my position to assumptions about the way I was raised, at least know that you are wrong that my parents did not use physical punishment.

Ian, we realize this trucking career is one tough nut to cut. We work real hard at teaching people how it works. We had no personal animosity toward you, but we couldn't let your statements stand. They would mislead anyone who reads them in the future.

You gave us an excellent opportunity for teaching some of the harsh realities of this career. You said this...

Some people have told me that I overanalyze things and that making quick decisions is not one of my strengths.

If there's one thing truck drivers need to be able to do regularly it's be decisive and quick on their feet. Our whole career is one dynamic element of chance and change. It's an extraordinary job that requires a lot from those at the wheel. It's common for people to blame their company when things go badly for them, but it is very seldom a true version of the facts.

We all wish you the best in your endeavors, but we just couldn't sit idly by and let you slander the career we've all excelled at. It's a complicated business, and it takes a lot of responsibility to pull it off. Nobody knows that better than the men and women who have done it well consistently.