Accident Or Incident?

Sorry if I misunderstood you. I'm just going by what you say.

to be on record for 7 years I feel is not what this calls for.

It’s not about my feelings or anyone’s feelings. I appreciate your comments, however, not helpful. Of course it was the drivers fault. Of course he learned from the mistake. But that’s not really what I’m asking here. Thank you though

Who told your friend that it would be on his record for 7 years?

Are you a driver yourself? If you are, then you would know, unless you are a brand new driver also, that it is up to the company whether they report it as an incident or as an accident. It has nothing to do with dollar amount that they spent for repairs or how severe the situation was. You would also know, that it wouldn't be on his record for 7 years, but only 3 years. Was this friend fired for this incident/accident?

If you aren't a driver, then why are you getting involved in this person's business? What is it that you want us to help you with?

Tell him to get his DAC record:

DAC Record

Once a year is free. Any more requests after that is $10 a request. It may take upwards of a month if they have reported it to get recorded. If they kept him on and didn't fire him, then I wouldn't even order one for a while, because as time goes on, beginners have incidents and accidents and that way down the road he can get a free one and look to see what all was recorded.

I can't be the only person on this forum that thinks we're being unnecessarily hostile towards this person. And before anyone jumps down my throat, I'm the furthest thing from sensitive. I don't think you could hurt my feelings if you tried. Not my forum, not my sandbox, but this person came on here asking a legitimate question and it seems like we're digging way more into it than is necessary.

For example:

Trucking has zero tolerance for our "feelings."

Get past your feelings about it

Maybe trucking just has a bunch of us out of touch because we spend so much time by ourselves, but if you said this to someone in person it would absolutely incite conflict almost every time.

All the OP said was...

to be on record for 7 years I feel is not what this calls for.

It's a figure of speech that simply means it seems excessive to her. If she's not in the industry herself (a likely possibility considering she's said multiple times she doesn't know about all this stuff) 7 years would absolutely seem excessive.

Are you a driver yourself? If you are, then you would know, unless you are a brand new driver also, that it is up to the company whether they report it as an incident or as an accident.

She obviously doesn't know much about the industry or she probably wouldn't be asking this question on here. Also she never questioned the company's authority to make a call like that about their own equipment.

If you aren't a driver, then why are you getting involved in this person's business?

Have you never inquired about something for a friend because they were busy or had decided to just let something go? Maybe this is her husband and she wants to help him out because he's busy on the road and this incident/accident/whatever affects both of them? Maybe, just maybe, it's none of YOUR business why she's on here asking a question.

To be clear, absolutely nothing we said on here was incorrect or invalid information. I really feel (figure of speech...) it's unnecessary to be rude to someone like this who's asking a legitimate question. She just wanted to know if the incident in question should be classified as an incident or an accident. For someone who doesn't know how trucking works, it's a legitimate question and there's no need to be condescending. If my comment comes across as rude, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. I didn't say anything incorrect on here, but even across the web my comment still conveys a certain tone.

If what I'm saying still doesn't make any sense, imagine if you told a driver in the fuel lane "Hey man you're blocking the fuel lane, you need to move." He'd probably look at you and say something like, "Well since you're being so nice about it, I think I'm just going to stay here a little longer." And then of course you'd probably think to yourself, "Wow people are just so inconsiderate these days. I just knew he wouldn't move." Imagine instead, you said something like, "Hey buddy sorry to bug you, I just am on this really tight delivery and I'd appreciate it so much if you could please move to a different spot so I can get out of here. I'm never gonna hear the end of it if I'm late." Even if he doesn't move right that second, 9/10 drivers would apologize and move their truck as soon as they reasonably can.

Why do I even care enough to comment about this? Because I and lots of us come here for advice and we've all noticed how engagement on the forum has dropped over time. Why would anyone want to come here and ask questions if they're going to be questioned and talked down to like this over a simple question? I know our favorite line is that this is trucking "truth" not trucking "what you want to hear" but jeez louise people, we sound like we have a stick up our a$$ on this thread. This is also not even close to the first time of us being outright rude to people for absolutely no reason, otherwise I wouldn't be saying anything.

Sorry for derailing the thread.

I have already apologized for misunderstanding.

I know I have a tendency to read more into some of these posts than I should. I try to point folks into a direction that I think will help them in this career. It's not always well received, and I'm sure there are days I do a better job of it than I did here.

I never intended to be "hostile." Maybe I need to take a break and let someone else engage in this stuff.

So what IS the difference between an “incident” and an “accident”?

Can an accident be incidental? Can an incident be accidental? (Incidentally, I’m confused.)

I have already apologized for misunderstanding.

I know I have a tendency to read more into some of these posts than I should. I try to point folks into a direction that I think will help them in this career. It's not always well received, and I'm sure there are days I do a better job of it than I did here.

I never intended to be "hostile." Maybe I need to take a break and let someone else engage in this stuff.

No Old School, you aren't at all. I enjoy reading your comments which make me think that at one time you were a writer or an English teacher. You are very thorough in your answers and your questions to give more information are very valid.

He referenced more of my post and feels I'm hostile. So be it, I have to be up at 0400 as my load delivers at 0530 and it is now 2315. I'm not going to answer his post cuz I'm not ashamed that I'm more blunt and to the point than I am hostile. If Brett thinks I'm hostile and wants me to quit answering, he can let me know.

Now, I really have to hit the bunk.

Laura

I think the underlying issue needs to be acknowledged is that the trucking industry has undergone a tremendous shift. It's unlikely, barring a wildcard event, that it will return to what it was.

The narrative of being a safe, reliable driver that's easy to work with is as valid as ever, in fact it's now the bare minimum just remain employed. A lot of us I think have seen so many folks come in, less than honest and so misguided that I think we become slightly cranky and have a tendency to support the carrier.

But I think that we really need to take a measure of just how high of a level of malfeasance the carriers are engaged in.

The carriers are collectively trying to come to grips with the market collapse. First they didn't do much, wrongly assuming it was a normal ebb and flow issue. Now they are cutting costs, which means taking the losses out on their drivers, concentraing on asset allocation and doing whatever they can to systemically and permanently lower driver cost (wages), retain drivers at the new lower wages and deal eith reduced volume yet increase profits as the volume is never likely to return coupled with them reducing capacity.

Absolutely it was excessive to label it an accident and put it on the drivers DAC. But it's done to keep the driver from going elsewhere, effectively locking him into a low wage for years to come, much like owing your soul to the company store.

This pattern is going to increase. Diminished operating conditions, reduced pay, inflexibility and heavy handed tactics all under the protection of the federal government. Why? Because there is such an excessive pool of drivers available. The carriers will continue to expand these processes as long as possible. It equates to reduced losses and eventually more profits with less expense. Just as the shippers do to the carriers, so dovthe carriers to the drivers.

As a whole, the standards with which our labor is treated are something out of the thirties, it's as if the labor reforms never happened. If a company in any other industry except perhaps residential construction treated and paid their workforce as we do, they would be in litigation and jail on a daily basis.

I think perhaps it's time to look at the balance between new folks questions and the behavior of the carriers with a bit more critical eye.

I'm not going to answer his post cuz I'm not ashamed that I'm more blunt and to the point than I am hostile. If Brett thinks I'm hostile and wants me to quit answering, he can let me know.

Amazing! You mean to say, my blunt response got a less than desirable response from you? That's how that works? Wow, welcome to human interaction 101.

Listen, I'll get off the soapbox after this one but since we're being blunt and all, I'll just say this. We sure are a hypocritical bunch here sometimes. We love to pride ourselves on how we're a cut above the rest here. We hold ourselves to a higher standard here and we try to help newbies entering the industry on here, but yet sometimes we can't seem to just answer a damn question without performing a witch hunt to find out the inquirer's true motives for posting or backhandedly reprimanding them for not knowing better in the first place. It's ridiculous.

As for the OP, seeing as how I completely ruined this thread...

To answer your question...."incident or accident." Incident vs accident is frankly terminology that is used by many trucking companies to attempt to categorize accidents into serious vs less serious events. Incident is supposed to be less serious and accident would be more serious. Not every company differentiates between the two and it really doesn't matter. What matters is if the company put this on his DAC report. Simply put this is a report that companies can report major and minor accidents or incidents like this to. If anything is put on the DAC report, other companies he applies to in the future can see whatever is on it. Like IdahoMtnGirl was saying, he has the right to request a copy of this report online following the instructions she provided. I don't personally know how long things stay on the DAC report but everyone else on here is saying 3 years.

I'm thinking your friend might be saying 7 years because he may be mixing up the DAC report with his actual MVR (motor vehicle report) aka driving record. A standard MVR goes back 7 years. However, this incident will not go on his MVR because, unless there is more to the story we don't know, it was not a DOT reportable accident. It was simply a minor incident that the company decided to make note of but it's an internal matter that does not involve DOT or his actual driving record.

My personal opinion on the matter is that if there truly was no damage at all and if I'm understanding the story correctly, it was a bit heavy handed of the company to make any record of this. If I'm being totally honest, it's not that I don't believe you, but I doubt absolutely nothing was damaged if the air lines came completely out of the tractor. Like PJ said, they're threaded on and can't just be screwed back on if they broke off. Maybe he just wasn't aware that the shop had to replace a part or two. Maybe I'm wrong.

Either way, everything Old School and Laura said was true. The industry is unforgiving and right now we are also experiencing a freight shortage and the freight rates are in the toilet, so it's even more unforgiving than usual at the moment. Trucking companies have us by the short hairs because there are too many of us in the industry for the amount of freight there is. Trucking is very heavy handed in general with screwups. Many companies have more or less a 2-3 strike for minor incidents like this one and often have no tolerance for any major accidents, rollovers, road rage, cell phone use, etc.

The best thing your friend can do is to work on being more methodical and careful and also cover his ass if he makes a similar mistake in the future. If there truly was no damage whatsoever and the lines were able to be threaded back on no problem, he could have saved himself the hit on his record by doing it himself. He's new to the industry and probably didn't know all this but hopefully this helps.

Sorry Davy, didn't mean to step on your reponse. I think we posted at the same time.

It’s not about my feelings or anyone’s feelings. I appreciate your comments, however, not helpful. Of course it was the drivers fault. Of course he learned from the mistake. But that’s not really what I’m asking here. Thank you though

Who told your friend that it would be on his record for 7 years?

Are you a driver yourself? If you are, then you would know, unless you are a brand new driver also, that it is up to the company whether they report it as an incident or as an accident. It has nothing to do with dollar amount that they spent for repairs or how severe the situation was. You would also know, that it wouldn't be on his record for 7 years, but only 3 years. Was this friend fired for this incident/accident?

If you aren't a driver, then why are you getting involved in this person's business? What is it that you want us to help you with?

Tell him to get his DAC record:

DAC Record

Once a year is free. Any more requests after that is $10 a request. It may take upwards of a month if they have reported it to get recorded. If they kept him on and didn't fire him, then I wouldn't even order one for a while, because as time goes on, beginners have incidents and accidents and that way down the road he can get a free one and look to see what all was recorded.

A letter in the mail says 7 years. Mailed from his company he works for. I am not a driver. We were just both trying to look for opinions on this because for many reasons he’s wanting to find another job, and he’s worried that an accident on his record would stop anyone from wanting to hire him.