Getting Hire With Preventable Accidents

Some "minor" accidents are still 3 year "No Hires" for a lot of places.

Rear-end/Following too closely Accident: "I just tapped his bumper". Doesn't matter, thats a big NO NO.

Well, here. Here is what most insurance companies give to their Trucking Companies as minimum standards. Again, notice they put "Following Too Closely" right above "DUI".

Dear God, this post is ridiculous. Why beat around the bush? Just tell us what happened, and what you did. Secondly, why even post if you don't want to get back into driving? 😒

Must be a slow night shift at his mini-mart job.

Dear God, this post is ridiculous. Why beat around the bush? Just tell us what happened, and what you did. Secondly, why even post if you don't want to get back into driving? 😒

You guys'll probably laugh at me or whatever as well, but I might have a similar story (assuming no more details prove otherwise)...

I got my cdl last summer and went to work for Schneider. I drove for them 'til late February when I drove over a patch of black ice and slid off the road. It was not DOT recordable (no injuries, no one else involved, didn't need to be towed, no authorities even there).

I was going 50 on I-70E (75mph limit...truck governed at 65) just past Colby, KS due to conditions (30 to 31 degrees, misting, and a little bit of fog). I was trying to get as far as I could ahead of the blizzard that was coming behind me from W to E. There were plenty of vehicles on the road still, pretty much all going faster than me (even the big rigs), so I didn't feel it necessary quite yet to just shut it down. Luckily, the fact that I was going as slow as I was and the others going faster meant that when I ran over the patch of black ice there was no one else around and no one else involved. Also luckily, In my steering to try and regain control I managed to go off the road on the left side rather than the right (the left being much shallower) and didn't roll it. I did jack-knife, but there wasn't much damage (none to the trailer, but the wind flaps/wings torn off on the passenger rear side of the cab and the bottom corner of the cab there crunched in) so I was able to pull myself back on the road and drive the 10 to 15 miles to the TA in Oakley, KS where I stopped and waited out the storm for a day and a half. I could barely even walk on the road it was so slick, so I knew it wasn't safe to stick around at the site of the incident. I made my phone calls at the TA and after the weather cleared up I drove the 300+ miles back to Topeka. Talking with my boss and other drivers, it didn't seem like it would be a big deal...but they ruled it preventable and terminated me for it. My boss was apologetic, but cited company policy about "loss of control accidents." (I went on home-time right after and I was called with the news just before I was to report back.)

I've filled out applications since and still have lots of companies calling me, but whenever I tell them about the black ice and why I left Schneider...they can't get off the phone fast enough. I keep hearing that they could hire me but I'd need to work for someone else first...seems to be an insurance thing.

I pulled my hireright report right after but that may have been too soon as there wasn't anything showing on it. I don't know if anything actually was reported on it...but I make sure to tell the truth anyway when applying...

You guys'll probably laugh at me or whatever as well, but I might have a similar story (assuming no more details prove otherwise)...

Hey Tim. I'm not sure why you think we would laugh at you. That's a story filled with factual information, and the realities you've experienced since it happened. If anything we empathize with you. This is one tough job, and the consequences of a moment's indiscretion can have great magnitude. Preventable accidents are sometimes really difficult to get past as far as employment is concerned. Jackknifes and rollovers are particularly tough ones.

I wish you the best. Keep trying. Keep putting out those applications. Hopefully somebody will give you a shot based on your honesty.

My accident was I struck a overhead object. I did everything by the book called the police and reported it back to my terminal. No injuries and no one had to go to the hospital. Like I said I drove the tractor and trailer back to the yard. When I called the terminal the woman told me long as the police didn’t cite me I wouldn’t have to do anything. Well a few minutes later another cop showed up and he cited me for not following a traffic device(road sign). Didn’t get no ticket or anything for the accident itself. When I told the woman back at the terminal what I got cited for she told me to bring the equipment on to the yard and then come to her office and she’d have to send me for a drug test when I got back there. And I was going on home time because I was done scheduled for it that week. So I wasn’t suppose to return till Friday for home time. But ended up going back to the yard on Thursday. The accident happened on Wednesday and I didn’t have enough time to drive back that day which I told the woman at the terminal that. She said it’d be fine just report to her office as soon as I got to The yard.

Big Al, do you always have this much trouble accepting responsibility?

For two months now we've been trying to get just some basic information from you. Back at the start of this conversation you told us this accident

wasn’t a roll over or nothing major.

Today you tell us

I struck a overhead object.

Dude, that's a serious preventable accident!

For the new folks in here reading this, I want to translate Big Al's comments for you, because it's painfully obvious he doesn't want to come clean.

"I took a non truck route, ignored the low bridge warning sign, and struck a bridge with my eighteen wheeler. Now, I can't understand why I got fired, or why nobody else wants a driver like me."

Big Al can correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll apologize for putting words in his mouth, but this is ridiculous!

People, this job requires a lot of personal responsibility. If you can't even formulate a simple statement admitting how bad you screwed up, you need not apply yourself to this. I've made some mistakes as a rookie driver, heck we all do, but I always owned up to what the problem was. If you can't admit how bad you messed up you certainly can't learn from your mistakes. We improve ourselves by learning from our mistakes.

Don't You Dare Miss That Sign!

My accident was I struck a overhead object.

and there we have it. This is much more serious than a preventable incident. This is considered negligence by the companies. Brand new drivers do this a lot even at motels with awnings and no trailer. My company places a $10,000 negligence deductible for lease ops for this type of incident.

Apply everywhere.

Old School--Where's that picture you took of the 3 topped trailers, "Three Blind Mice"?

Old School--Where's that picture you took of the 3 topped trailers?

Here ya go my friend...

Three Blind Mice