Question On Applying To Company And Explaining Termination

How's everyone..I need a little advice and guidance from some veteran or seasoned truckers about applying for a new trucking job after being terminated. I will give ya the short version of the story. I trained at one of the big three student training companies for 10 weeks. My second week of training, I stayed in a hotel and had a disagreement with the owner and instructed my trainer that I would not stay there anymore and told him why. Trainer understood and put me up in another town on his home time. Well, this company does not allow you to go home during training or you forfeit the bonus they offer when you complete training. I developed an abscess on a tooth the week before my training ended. I rolled in to the terminal to start the testing out and in carried over the weekend. Ibuprophen was helping put I met my mom half way and she gave me some antibiotics. I placed out and they sent me to another terminal to shuttle some new trucks and then assign me my truck. I was assigned a truck and they told me to get moved in and I would be dispatched out the next day. I complied but I had a safety hold and safety searched my truck and found the antibiotics with my mom's name on it. The safety hold came from the a$$hat owner of the hotel who called in August 9th stating that I was smoking pot, drinking beer and he had to call the police on me. I laughed at the story and demanded a UA to prove I was clean. I explained my situation to the safety guy there and he told me that it was a big deal with having a pill bottle with someone's name on it, but more than likely I would just get a one time warning(because it was amoxicillin) as long as my UA was clean. Well, I was sent home to get go to the dentist so I could get some antibiotics in my name and I called back 2 days later to see if they got the results from my UA. Safety guru explained they were terminating me eventhough my UA was clean. Per safety guy, my Dac report is going to say,"terminated due to violation of company policy." I applied to 6 companies and trying to be truthful told them the whole story. None would consider me. My question is this, do I have to divulge the truth or can I alter it to something less incriminating violation like parking on an exit ramp. I have been told that previous employer can not give out specifics of the termination other than what is on the DAC. Also, wondering if I had any recourse since they waited 5 weeks and 3 terminal stays after the report to search my belongings(didnt have any thing on me then). Need some help guys, really enjoy be on the road and the freedom it brings.

Brian, you have got yourself into a "pickle", and I'm not sure what to tell you. It was a huge blunder for you to have that medication on your truck with someone else's prescription - that is a huge no-no. I don't recommend that you try to alter the story, I think you will find that these trucking companies have little ways to uncover what really happened to get that information put on your DAC. You are just going to have to apply like crazy everywhere you can and hope and pray that someone will give you a break. But, seriously you need to stop and take a look at this false start. I'm not saying this was all your fault, but you got in a heated disagreement with a hotel owner, then you had someone else's medication with you - those are two things that you could have avoided if you had tried. You just learned a lesson the hard way, I hope you can rise above it and find some employment, but you are going to have to be diligent and persistent, and have a little good fortune thrown in there somewhere also. Keep knocking on that door, and hopefully you will find someone to open it for you, but when they do you have got to be extra careful about the way you conduct yourself, this career has very harsh consequences on those who don't take it seriously, and you made some classic blunders on your first go at it.

Brian, you have got yourself into a "pickle", and I'm not sure what to tell you. It was a huge blunder for you to have that medication on your truck with someone else's prescription - that is a huge no-no. I don't recommend that you try to alter the story, I think you will find that these trucking companies have little ways to uncover what really happened to get that information put on your DAC. You are just going to have to apply like crazy everywhere you can and hope and pray that someone will give you a break. But, seriously you need to stop and take a look at this false start. I'm not saying this was all your fault, but you got in a heated disagreement with a hotel owner, then you had someone else's medication with you - those are two things that you could have avoided if you had tried. You just learned a lesson the hard way, I hope you can rise above it and find some employment, but you are going to have to be diligent and persistent, and have a little good fortune thrown in there somewhere also. Keep knocking on that door, and hopefully you will find someone to open it for you, but when they do you have got to be extra careful about the way you conduct yourself, this career has very harsh consequences on those who don't take it seriously, and you made some classic blunders on your first go at it.

Really couldnt help the heated argument with the hotel owner as he just busted up in my room while I was "chatting" with my wife online, yelling at me that I needed to check out. I responded that I was there for an additional day and to get out of my room. I then went to the office to verify my reservation was for 2 nights and he said it was. I then told him that it was against the law to barge into someone's room without knocking. He replied that it was his hotel and he could do as he pleased. After some choice words back and forth, I went back to my room. But no drugs or alcohol nor any police. But rest assured, I will roll through Lexington, TN again and stop in to say hi. I still don't know why they allowed me to finish training with this report that I was drinking and smoking pot. FMCSA regulations stipulate that all safety-sensitive duties are to be immediately ceased if the is suspicion on drug or alcohol use.

Brian, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say they got rid of you because you were simply too much trouble. You're not getting along with people and you're showing bad judgment. And I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that your conversations with the hotel owner weren't kind and friendly before he barged into your room. Instead of having the foresight to lay low, get along with people, and get your career off to a great start you've done nothing but cause a huge mess.

The thing is - trucking requires an incredible amount of patience and good judgment. You have to be able to remain calm, think clearly, and make logical decisions. Not only that, but you'll be dealing with your company's customers on almost a daily basis and they're hoping for drivers that are professional and know how to make a good impression. You didn't demonstrate the ability to do any of that so the company let you go. We could give you a thousand pages of advice on landing the next job but you're going to run into the same problems over and over if you don't figure out how to get along with people and make smart choices.

I'm also not sure what to tell you as far as applying to other companies but I would start by getting a copy of your DAC to see what they put on it. I would also avoid telling "the whole story". I can't remember what you said originally but something about your ma helped you pack for school and thought it would be a good idea for you to have some medicine with you since you're travelling and she didn't understand the ramifications? She thought, "It's only an antibiotic" so that's understandable. Moms will do anything for their kids. I don't think the hotel manager and all that had any bearing on the situation as far as your next company is concerned.

Well it seems that my situation was not made clear. So I will try and break it down a bit since everyone thinks I am hot headed. 1st the complaint. At no time before the owner barging in to my room had I spoken to anyone other than the day I checked in with my trainer and showed my identification. Only left the room once to walk across the street to subway and the store for some smokes. He just barges in on Sunday around 1pm telling me I needed to leave. All he had to do was check the paperwork and see that I was there to Monday and none of that would have happened. You all seem to think that I was causing a commotion or outside loitering around. Not the case. But where I come from, ya knock before entering regardless where you are at. 2nd - My 2nd trainer(dedicated account) and I had 9 commendations from store managers on the great job we did delivering the freight. I have copies of 5 of those but I am not sure if it was on my record for safety to see. 3rd- I placed out early at 217 hours out of 275 hours with no incidents or infractions what so ever. 4th- my last 10 days training, we did 9450 miles of which I did 4920 with 4 Jit loads and my trainer(OTR) received a bonus because of it.

With that said, I know now that having my mom's antibiotics was a definite don't do. I did not try and play it off as far as the prescription drugs. I just wanted a UA because I was accused of doing illegal drugs. The first safety guy informed me that this would be my one and only warning but then the higher up terminated me. If I had any inclination that I would be fired, I would have quit. Better yet, I would have took a LOA during training and forfeited the $500 bonus even though I really needed the money. Now, I have no job and no hopeful prospects at driving anything articulate. Looks like I will be a garbage man. But Werner was a decent company for the most part.