20 Years Experience, Now Can't Find A Job Due To Accident

I don't disagree with anything you've said. Not at all. I admitted in my original post that I definitely bear some blame in this. I thank God every day that there was no one in that car. I don't know how I could live with myself if I had taken someone's life that day. Half of the point of my post was a warning to other drivers out there. Don't take your eyes off the road, even for a second. It doesn't matter how skilled you are, things can happen in that one second that will destroy people's lives. If you are reading this, learn from my mistake. Please.

That said, the day I posted this, I blanketed the market with job applications, and WEL companies wants me to come up for orientation. They know about the accident, and have seen the accident report. Their Winter Haven, FL terminal is just 6 miles from my home, but I think they're wanting me to come up to Wisconsin for orientation, which makes me a bit nervous, especially when I have to quit my $15 per hour job to go up there. I don't have any hopes up, but we'll see what happens.

This is monumentally unfair towards you.

No one is crucifying Wayne here but this is far from monumentally unfair. He made a poor decision (possibly a series of poor decisions…more on that in a minute) that although seemingly small, resulted in a serious collision. If someone had been in the vehicle he struck, from the sounds of it that person would have likely been seriously injured or killed. Not a small mistake.

Even had you NOT been distracted for a second or two, sounds like this would have happened anyway.

If true, this information makes the situation worse for Wayne not better. Hitting a stationary vehicle is almost always, if not always, preventable. Of course the car shouldn’t have been there but we’re not talking about who’s at fault in the accident. I leave that calculation to law enforcement and insurance adjusters—who is at fault is not necessary information in determining if Wayne could have avoided the accident. If Wayne couldn’t avoid hitting a *stationary* vehicle because he couldn’t see it in time then he was either distracted, driving too fast for conditions, following too close (blocking his line of sight), or some combination of the three. From his description it was likely a combination of the first two. Both of those are considered serious violations in a truck. It’s fantastic for him that he wasn’t cited for the accident but insurance and trucking companies care about more than just citations. They care if you could have prevented the accident, why you didn’t prevent it if it was indeed preventable, and how serious it was.

I know all of that seems really really harsh…and it is, but that is the dark side of trucking. If Wayne had been driving a car, he wouldn’t be having as hard of a time finding a job and the accident would have been much less serious but it goes without saying everything becomes way more serious and deadly in a truck. We could argue all day about how fair/unfair it is that Wayne lost his job and is having a hard time finding another one but, fair or not, truck drivers are always penalized harder because our negative impact on other drivers on the road if we wreck is so much more severe.

Again, no one here is hitting Wayne over the head for what happened. He made a bad choice but he owned up to it and asked for advice. His overwhelmingly good and extensive track record, although not a justification or way out for his mistake, does earn him a good amount of respect as well. It’s also because of his track record that he’s the last person in here making excuses—he knows better than anyone what he could have done differently to prevent the accident. He honestly was lucky no one was in the car and I sincerely hope and believe he’ll be back in a truck very soon but I thought it was worth noting that this wasn’t an example of an injustice against a truck driver. And with this being a forum catered particularly to new and prospective drivers I think there’s a great deal of harm in new drivers not understanding just how serious one small mistake can be and how deadly and career-ending the consequences can be

Congratulations on your new job. I'll add WEL companies to my list of second chance companies for the other drivers bound to come along with a similar situation.

While your accident isn't helping your quest for hire, it's not the reason you're having so much trouble. It's the combination of a recent ticket, an accident AND a Florida address. Heck, even your, "nasty ticket" in your personal vehicle is probably a contributing factor. I wish you well and even if things don't work out you couldn't ask for a better time to be looking for work.

I got sent in for a random earlier this week. While I was in the waiting room a young woman who was also waiting started telling me how excited she was to start her new job as a pharmacy assistant. Training 100% provided by her new employer. She had no experience, education or background in pharmacy. She took a call then started packing up to leave the clinic. I asked her why she was leaving without testing for her new job. She told me the call was an offer for another job that she had applied for that paid $5/hr more than the pharmacy job! I had more questions but I was summoned to provide a sample at that time. She had already left when I was done.

Pianoman, that was an outstanding comment you made in your last post. So true and so much to think about. I think Wayne is on the same page and I certainly wish him WEL.

And Wayne, thanks for sharing your experience. I was going through Dallas today, twice, on 635 and was thinking about your situation. We all benefit from cautionary accounts like this and need to be constantly reminded of the hazards and dangers of our profession.

It's still not 100 percent certain with WEL, but they're the second company that didn't just hang up on me, the first one was Trans Am. I don't think I want to go out there over the road for 31 cents a mile. I did the math, and I'm probably better off sticking with the $15 per hour security guard job I've been working the last couple of months. WEL is offering 50 cents, which is a lot less than I was making before, but it will prevent the inevitable bankruptcy case in store for my future. The job at Trans Am won't.

Either way, I will be OK. What's kept me afloat the last six months is the fortunate circumstance that my house is paid for, and my only bills are utilities and credit card bills.

Im glad some of you who've read this are thinking about my situation when you're out there on the road. Keep your eyes up, get the big picture, aim high in steering, and don't let this happen to you.

As someone already pointed out, it isn't the accident - it's the accident combined with that moving violation. Insurance companies work on a point system where each incident or ticket is assigned a certain number. I learned this myself a few years ago. All I had were two tickets, 1 year apart. One was a left lane violation, the other was Illegal Passing (forbidden left lane and passing at the same time). I think I ****ed off the trooper for the second ticket - his name was B Durham. He didn't seem to like the reference to Bull Durham. Next thing I know, inspection and that ticket. Anyway, that one was a 5 pointer. Combined with the 2 pointer other one, I was 1 point over what most insurance companies would accept. Other than that, I have an outstanding work record that companies really like.

I came to Texas to do specific work but that crashed my plans. Ended up working at MVT for 2 years to clean up the record. MVT is a company that self-insures up to a certain point. I liked them, so it wasn't hard to do. Crappy equipment, though. LOL

With that accident combined with that ticket, though, I'm not sure how that'll go for OTR/Regional companies. If I were you, regardless of what WEL says, I'd be working on getting them to put something into writing to ensure they did all the checks and still passed you before heading up to Wisconsin. If they take you, be prepared to spend at least 2 - 3 years with them until that ticket drops away. Some companies want 18 months after the last ticket (usually megas and majors).

I have two suggestions, though, which may help.

1. For the failure to yield ticket, check to see if that state will allow CDL holders to take a traffic class to keep it off your license. If they do, you may have to apply to reopen the case to request it (if you already paid that ticket). If you state allows CDL holders to take such a class, the judge will probably allow it just to keep you employed. Most states allow this, some do not (like Texas). Many of these classes are online, others are in-person, but it sounds as if this may be something you'll need to check. In person classes are generally 1 day, mainly Saturdays.

2. Florida is an agricultural state. Not sure exactly where you are off hand, but perhaps you can grab a local hauling job for a couple of years, even if part time. Even if it's driving a crappy box truck or bobtail truck. Many of those companies pay 1099 (be ready for that) and won't check your past beyond the easy stuff they can do in 1 day.

If you can afford it, you can also keep doing what you're doing right now for 18 months before making the rounds again.

My MVR has a failure to yield ticket on it from a month ago.

I don't think anyone here is crucifying him. In fact, it's the opposite as far as my little pea brain can tell. My point was, mainly, that even if he never took his eyes away conditions dictate the accident would likely have happened anyway.

But, as it turns out, there's a separate ticket around the same time-frame, so - yeah - no longer monumentally unfair. Now, it's a cautionary tale. Not hopeless, though.

This is monumentally unfair towards you.

No one is crucifying Wayne here but this is far from monumentally unfair. He made a poor decision (possibly a series of poor decisions…more on that in a minute) that although seemingly small, resulted in a serious collision. If someone had been in the vehicle he struck, from the sounds of it that person would have likely been seriously injured or killed. Not a small mistake.

WEL just emailed me a "pre adverse action letter" along with my Hire Right report. Not sure what it means, it's light on details, but it doesn't sound good. There's nothing on the report that I didn't put on the application.

I'm having second thoughts about going back out there now, anyway. I've lost about 40 pounds since I stopped driving, because I'm out moving more at work. My family is dead set against me going back out there, mainly because my health has improved a lot since I came off the road.

I mean, I'd go back out there over the road if they offered me the job, but maybe it's just not meant to be. I don't think I'm going to even consider the Trans Am offer, at 31 cents per mile. For crying out loud, that's what I was making back in 1998. I can't see spending 14 days out on the road for $500-600 per week.

We'll see what happens.

Yeah... The Pre-adverse thing is not a good sign.

Try Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT). Corporate is out of Las Cruces, NM, but Operations are out of El Paso, TX. Although they aren't advertised as such, they are a good second chance company. Mileage pay is low, but they tag per diem (by the mile) onto each check. Ends up pretty good. As regional , I averaged $1300/week after taxes. The equipment can suck, but they treat drivers well enough. They do use Hire Right, though.

Although, you may have to wait for 18 months after your last ticket for a new chance. It's an insurance thing, based on points (not on your license - from what you report as well as what's on the record). If there's no official record of that accident attached to your name, might I suggest just not saying anything about it even when asked?

WEL just emailed me a "pre adverse action letter" along with my Hire Right report. Not sure what it means, it's light on details, but it doesn't sound good. There's nothing on the report that I didn't put on the application.

I'm having second thoughts about going back out there now, anyway. I've lost about 40 pounds since I stopped driving, because I'm out moving more at work. My family is dead set against me going back out there, mainly because my health has improved a lot since I came off the road.

I mean, I'd go back out there over the road if they offered me the job, but maybe it's just not meant to be. I don't think I'm going to even consider the Trans Am offer, at 31 cents per mile. For crying out loud, that's what I was making back in 1998. I can't see spending 14 days out on the road for $500-600 per week.

We'll see what happens.

I am so sorry this happened to you and hope that you get in somewhere soon. I am curious why it wasn't put on your DAC report but I guess that won't ever be known. I have been in a accident not to long ago that ended with loss of life and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through so I am so happy you didn't have to go through it too.

Well, here I am. They say everything happens for a reason. So, I'm going to deal with this. As of now, I'm working as a security guard at a truck gate, writing down pick up numbers and checking seals. The pay is about half of what I'm used to, but I'm 58 years old, as of yesterday, and the house is paid for, so all I have to pay for is utilities and groceries. This security company has some pretty good health insurance and benefits when they kick in next month.

Trucking over the years has done a number on my health, I've got type 2 diabetes now. I've lost about forty pounds since the accident. So, maybe this is where I'm meant to be now. I don't know. It is what it is.

The accident is not on my DAC , or Hire Right, which they call it now, but it is on my PSP, and it ain't going anywhere for a while. So, I guess this old hand is just going to have to learn new tricks until I reach retirement age, which ain't long from now. Trans Am said they will put me in a truck, but what they're paying, hell, I'm making just as much sitting here in my gaurd shack.

That, and I'll probably live longer than I would if I got back out there on the road.

I can't complain. I'm living in a 55+ mobile home community. The lot rent is $340 a month, which includes water, trash, free lawn care, and a heated swimming pool with a bunch of bikini clad grandmas lounging around on the pool furniture. Life doesn't suck.

I am so sorry this happened to you and hope that you get in somewhere soon. I am curious why it wasn't put on your DAC report but I guess that won't ever be known. I have been in a accident not to long ago that ended with loss of life and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through so I am so happy you didn't have to go through it too.