I Messed Up

So I get on my solo week at the end of my company training program, and I go to pick up my first solo load. I show up and get loaded, my weight is fine, but a storm just hit in montana and the roads are icy and they shut down the interstate and I get stuck in a rest stop. No big deal the dispatcher says, these things happen. About 18hrs later I am up and running again and I make it to just before the california border the next day and I stop to check my tandems to make sure they are california legal. I am one pin too far back so I try to slide them and one pin won't stay back, so I go around to the passenger side of the trailer to try to figure it out and realised that I made a mistake. When I inspected the trailer I only checked the locking pins on the drivers side and not the passenger, and the passenger side is missing the one opposite of the pin that won't retract. It was too late on a friday for the local TA to order the part, so they did it on monday, and they didn't get it yesterday like they said they would. They got it today and now my load is going to be almost a week late mostly because of a mistake I made. All on my forst solo load on my solo week when I am supposed to be showing the company that I can do this and be reliable.

Do you think they will let me go for this? I have been good so far, passing everything on my first attempt and being reliable and hard working teaming with my coach. Might this mistake ruin their confidence in me?

I dont think it's going to be a big issue, Bingo. Who's to say that locking pin wasn't fine when you picked it up? It could have broken when you were on your way.

Also now you learned a couple lessons: Do a thorough inspection of any trailer you pick up. The one time you dont, something will go wrong. You also learned that if you pick up a load bound for California, make sure you are at legal length BEFORE leaving the shipper.

Dont stress. Learn and move on. No injuries, no accident, no tickets. Just wounded pride...We've all had our share of that.

First solo load. You had bad weather, and a bad trailer. It could have been much worse.

Your job is safe. Stop worrying.

Incidentally, the tandems should have 4 pins, so if I still had 75% of them, I would have delivered the load, then taken it in for repairs. One hole off I would not have worried about that, either. The cops aren't looking too closely at anything that minor.

As long as you get in touch with dispatch, you should be good.

Hey Bingo, it's all minor rookie issues. They are expecting you to have some struggles. Just keep your dispatcher informed and give yourself a break.

It's tough going solo. You just don't even know what you don't know yet. We've all been there, and many of us have had much bigger blunders. You didn't hit anything or anybody - that makes it a good day! They can change your delivery appointment so it doesn't even show you as late. Take a deep breath! Your gonna have plenty of stressful days. You just got one of them behind you.

Congratulations on going solo!

Sounds like a laughable first week. You’ll be fine and learned a lesson too. No harm, no foul as they say. My first 2 weeks in I wanted to cry and quit a few times. It gets better

One hole off I would not have worried about that, either. The cops aren't looking too closely at anything that minor.

I considered that, but on this particular trailer it has a big arrow pointing down with 40' written above it where my rear tires are supposed to be centered.

Thanks for the replies everyone. You have made me feel much better, lol.

One hole off I would not have worried about that, either. The cops aren't looking too closely at anything that minor.

I considered that, but on this particular trailer it has a big arrow pointing down with 40' written above it where my rear tires are supposed to be centered.

Got a roll of duct tape? It covers up problems.