Preventable Accidents

Hi I'm a rookie driver today on my 1st load at the receiver I backed up in the trailer that was docked right next to me clutch was overheating and as I was backing up the truck just jerked and the engine turned off and I barely hit the trailer I had to report to my carrier and exchange insurance information it was only scratches on trailer very minimal any vets here know if my career is basically ruined? my carrier was really nice about the situation will this show up on my record if I wanted to get another job?

A lot of this depends on your carrier. Nobody here will be able to answer these questions.

Generally speaking, you should be ok.

Honesty and ownership of mistakes, as well as saying what you learned from it and how you'll prevent similar situations from reoccurring, carry a lot of weight.

Minimizing the situation and placing blame on outside forces will not help.

Good luck in your driving journey.

You "Should" be ok, early in my team driving days, we had an Amazon load to drop at a DC. Place was kinda tight, and I was backing into a very close/tight hole @ the dock. 1 trailer on my blindside, was 1 of our company trailers already docked there, trying to be ever so slow and get it in the slot, it was tedious. So tight was this docks slots, their yard goats, should be doing the docking of trailers lol

Anyway, I ended up barely touching OUR company trailer, and rubbed it with the corner of my drop trailer. NO damage, just wiped some of the dirt off the exterior trailer wall. As soon as I felt/heard the contact, I stopped, and got out to look.

BUT, the Amazon people around went ape shyt and made a big deal out of it. Had to give em my DL, insurance, etc so they could write it up. Another guy was on the phone, yada yada. They claimed I shoved the trailer to the side on its landing gear feet. Well, I showed em the drag/slide marks went in the Opposite direction, than if I had actually shoved it over.

So I called and talked to our safety dept, and DM , during all this explaining the situation, and it was ALL good. A big fuss over nothing was made by the Amazon people, I just laughed in the end. And YES I finally was let to finish my drop at the dock

So did that count as preventable accident on your mvr or driver record and does it only show up if insurance have to pay for damages? Like I said it was already scratches and dents on the guys trailer so I'm wondering if my carrier would have to pay for that therefore making me have to pay deductible. I talked to my insurance and I sent pictures they should since it was no damages I should be ok. I just really want to know if that shows up on my record.

You "Should" be ok, early in my team driving days, we had an Amazon load to drop at a DC. Place was kinda tight, and I was backing into a very close/tight hole @ the dock. 1 trailer on my blindside, was 1 of our company trailers already docked there, trying to be ever so slow and get it in the slot, it was tedious. So tight was this docks slots, their yard goats, should be doing the docking of trailers lol

Anyway, I ended up barely touching OUR company trailer, and rubbed it with the corner of my drop trailer. NO damage, just wiped some of the dirt off the exterior trailer wall. As soon as I felt/heard the contact, I stopped, and got out to look.

BUT, the Amazon people around went ape shyt and made a big deal out of it. Had to give em my DL, insurance, etc so they could write it up. Another guy was on the phone, yada yada. They claimed I shoved the trailer to the side on its landing gear feet. Well, I showed em the drag/slide marks went in the Opposite direction, than if I had actually shoved it over.

So I called and talked to our safety dept, and DM , during all this explaining the situation, and it was ALL good. A big fuss over nothing was made by the Amazon people, I just laughed in the end. And YES I finally was let to finish my drop at the dock

Sounds like you're working for a mom and pop organization.

This won't show up as a DOT accident. For something to be reported to DOT, one or more of three things must happen

1) A vehicle is towed 2) there's a fatality 3) an injury that requires attention away from the scene.

Driver record or DAC reporting will vary company by company. Some company's report everything, some company's report nothing. Nobody here can answer that. You'll have to ask the powers that be at your company.

Why would you have to pay the deductible?

Stay away from these small companies. They're career killers, but at least they know your name.

Most people have a small incident or two when they’re new. Best thing you can do is take ownership, determine what you did that caused the incident, learn from it, and move forward. A small incident like that is not a career killer but it can turn into one if you keep having incidents so make sure you learn from this and you should be fine.

You "Should" be ok, early in my team driving days, we had an Amazon load to drop at a DC. Place was kinda tight, and I was backing into a very close/tight hole @ the dock. 1 trailer on my blindside, was 1 of our company trailers already docked there, trying to be ever so slow and get it in the slot, it was tedious. So tight was this docks slots, their yard goats, should be doing the docking of trailers lol

Anyway, I ended up barely touching OUR company trailer, and rubbed it with the corner of my drop trailer. NO damage, just wiped some of the dirt off the exterior trailer wall. As soon as I felt/heard the contact, I stopped, and got out to look.

BUT, the Amazon people around went ape shyt and made a big deal out of it. Had to give em my DL, insurance, etc so they could write it up. Another guy was on the phone, yada yada. They claimed I shoved the trailer to the side on its landing gear feet. Well, I showed em the drag/slide marks went in the Opposite direction, than if I had actually shoved it over.

So I called and talked to our safety dept, and DM , during all this explaining the situation, and it was ALL good. A big fuss over nothing was made by the Amazon people, I just laughed in the end. And YES I finally was let to finish my drop at the dock

Lol that’s nuts Stevo! I remember I did that exact same thing one time in a Walmart DC one time except both my trailer and the trailer I touched were Walmart trailers. Absolutely no damage whatsoever, just rubbed a little dirt off the rub rail. I’m glad no one saw and went crazy lol.

It is not a mom and pop it's Stevens Transport. I was just wondering since me and the guy had to exchange insurance that if my carrier would add to my mvr.

You should be fine. Accept responsibility, learn from it and no you won't have to pay the deductible.

Jeremy, Don’t worry too much about your CSA score or DAC That’s not saying not to be careful, just don’t live under the impression that it is the end all of reports. Stevens may or may not report it as a preventable. You can’t control that now. What you you can control is from here on out.

I pretty much destroyed the front corner of a Trailer in my first 6 months of working for my initial company (Roehl). Never heard a word after I reported it. I have been hired a few time since with various carriers ( employed by Ruan for 5 years now).

Good luck and turn the page. Focus on the now and not in the past.

Tim