Accident At Fuel Island

What's up fellow Truckers. I have a problem that's freaking me out. I'm a new student with CRST and I passed all of my training. I'm now OTR with my lead driver. We have been on the road for 2 weeks now and he has basically been rushing me to get to loads and safe I'm over safe. Well today we had a load and another trucker was backing into the parking lot and he told me to go pass him because I was waiting for him to finish his maneuver. I followed as he said and the other trucker hit the side of my trailer with his headlights on his blind side. We exchanged information and no parties were injured. He told me I should have swung wider to prevent the accident and said I can't wait for everyone. I called accident hotline and reported accident and no Cops were involved. I'm freaking out because my Goal was to stay accident free this whole year and I want to know how will the effect my CDL. Will I get points or will this show up on my record or anything ? Thanks

Hi Tevin.. welcome to TT.

First breathe. ALL new drivers have accidents and it is totally unrealistic to be accident free your first year. It happens rarely... but most dont even make their first year, let alone do it accident free. Companies know this.

You wont lose your job and it doesnt give you points on your license for your own car insurance like a car accident does. It will be on your record as far as trying to get a new job. Most companies will have a requirement of "x amount of time accident free". it is no biggie.

What you need to do is learn from it. YOU are in control, not the trainer. If you feel something is unsafe, then you need to wait until it is safe to do so. It is hard in training to be like that, but this is your career, so do not wreck it.

If it makes you feel better....1 month solo, i knocked an axle off my trailer at a fuel island. 3.5 years later... im still with my company and necer had another accident.

Take responsibility for it. learn from it... then get it out of your mind so it doesnt distract you and cause another accdient.

You will also lock yourself out of your truck and jump the 5th wheel while backing under a trailer so it gets stuck.

it is a right of passage. welcome to trucking.

Welcome to the TT forum, Tevin C. You are the captain of the ship while driving, so if you’re not comfortable, say so to your trainer. When in doubt, STOP! I doubt there will be any points on your license....no police report. I’m curious about your trainer. Is he a lease purchase driver or a company driver?

100% agree with Rainy. What companies are looking for is that you accept responsibility and explain what you learned from the accident. Unfortunately saying something like "my trainer told me to go" isnt that great of an excuse because when you're driving its YOUR license on the line. The trainer put you in a tough place because being new you may ne afraid to speak up but I'm afraid thats what you must do. The company wont fault you for being overly cautious (within reason).I'm not sure of the size of parking lot where you were but it's always best to allow those backing the right of way if they've started their move. PROFESSIONAL drivers will atleast get it in the hole and then allow any traffic to go before they pull out to straighten up. Many shippers/receivers I've been to also have it posted that all trucks yield to those backing. Please stick around and keep us updated on how things are going for you. You'll learn a ton of stuff that will help you succeed. That incident Rainy mentioned she had actually help me avoid something similar. I'd rather learn from others mistakes than doing my own the hard way. One of the many perks of this forum.

Tevin, you gotta be real cautious about following other truckers directions to move ahead. Most of the time they are just hand signals and easily misunderstood. How was it that he gestured for you to pass and then hit you? Did he move prematurely?

My instructors said to be VERY careful with gesturing for anybody, car or truck, to move. If you give direction and the other party follows it, you are probably at fault if there is an accident. If there is a right-of-way issue, always yield to the other vehicle to clear out before you proceed. It's not only the courteous thing to do, it's also safer.

The driver backing didn't tell him to go around.. his lead driver did. Don't let your lead driver push you around like that.

Ahhhh, thank you Susan for the clarification. Now I understand things better.

Trainer gave the direction, trainer's fault. Rookie should have refused (in a perfect world), but can you really fault a trainee in this situation? Bad decision on the trainer's part, that's what is concerning. Is the trainer really qualified?

Ahhhh, thank you Susan for the clarification. Now I understand things better.

Trainer gave the direction, trainer's fault. Rookie should have refused (in a perfect world), but can you really fault a trainee in this situation? Bad decision on the trainer's part, that's what is concerning. Is the trainer really qualified?

Still the students fault. The trainer telling him to "go around" is only an instruction. It is still up to the person driving, to do it safely. This does not make a trainer less qualified, because his student made a mistake.

Ahhhh, thank you Susan for the clarification. Now I understand things better.

Trainer gave the direction, trainer's fault. Rookie should have refused (in a perfect world), but can you really fault a trainee in this situation? Bad decision on the trainer's part, that's what is concerning. Is the trainer really qualified?

I agree with you all I accept that I'm in control of the truck and I accept that I should've made my own decision. He has 10 months of experience and knows things I can learn. I just came in as a student and trusted his knowledge about handling different situations. I accept the consequences.

I should learn to relax more as well I guess. He tells me I'm over safe and think to much about problems that could arise. He tell me to just worry about the present moment. I'm just trying to be the best I can be at trucking so I ask millions of questions all the time.