Companies Won't Hire Me Because Of 1 Minor Accident. Any Suggestions?

Hello, thanks for taking the time to read my question. Here it goes:

Last November (2014) I got into an accident, I may have been distracted for a second or so and didn't see the roustabout truck in front of me stop, (I don't think there was a reason to so idk why did he) and when I realised I was too close and I didn't have enough distance/time to stop so i rear ended him. I wasn't driving fast, we were all following a pilot car at about 25-35 mph, so when I hit him i must have been at 25mph. It was not a big accident, no one was injured, it was like a fender bender just with a truck. His vehicle had no damage, just mine, the radiator and hood were messed up. I got a ticket for "failure to control speed". I took it to a lawyer which is currently working on it. It has passed some time and it is still not on my record.

I applied to US Xpress (my first choice) and when the recruiter asked me if when they called (X company, the one that I had the accident with, which I was let go for by the way) if they were going to say everything was clean, and I said that I meant to put what happened on the application but I wasn't sure since it was still not on my record and it probably was not going to be, she said that they weren't going to be able to hire me until I had 24 months of accident free commercial driving...

I also applied to Schneider and with them I did put it on my application and the lady said that even if I got it removed they weren't going to be able to move forward with me until 7 years! Which to me sounds like a huge amount of time. If I accumulate such time of accident free time while driving I don't think I would apply at Schneider anyhow lol

So my question to you good people of this website is the following: Should I just not put the accident on my application? Since it is still not on my record? I just feel bad about lying/withholding information because I don't want to be enjoying my job and everything be going good and then I get let go because I didn't tell them about my pending results of my accident/ticket.

So what's your suggestion/advice TT?

Thanks again for your time and your replies

First of all, that is not a minor accident. Rear-Ending someone is extremely serious and life threatening, it also is very pricey. So the fact that you're calling it minor just tells us you're downplaying the situation. Both the companies you applied at aren't taking you because they're classifying this accident as a major one and with a ticket on top of it all.

That "failure to control speed" ticket also hurts you badly. We're piloting a monstrous tractor trailer and control is something we must always have. That ticket really does a lot of damage for you.

What's done is done, I'm sure you still have a future in trucking. I would definitely include that accident in your application even if it's not on your record. The fact is your employer will still manage to find it and if they catch you being dishonest on your application then you're really screwed.

If you don't include it in the application then in a few months it will show up on your record and your employer will find out about it. You'll be questioned and it'll be discovered that you lied to them and you'll be terminated.

I know it's tough to include it in your application because it cripples your chances, but you definitely should. Not being upfront with them will eventually come back to haunt you.

I suggest you Apply For Truck Driving Jobs and hope for the best. That link will actually allow you to apply to all the major carriers at the same time! You definitely need to take whoever will take a chance on you.

Good luck! Keep is informed!

Hello Daniel. Thanks for your reply. It wasn't my intention to "downplay" the situation, I did not know it was that big. I have seen way worse accidents here in West Texas where I drive so to my knowledge it wasn't that big, now I know that is not the case so thanks for clearing that for me.

I am currently employed by another water hauling company out here in the oil fields but the thing is that it is slowing down and a friend of mine and I were thinking about trying out for team driving otr. Also my girlfriend and I would eventually want to do it also, she's working on her license at the moment. I am glad I was able to find out about my being hire-able problem sooner rather than later though..

It discourages me now because some of the companies I've heard that hire people with a bad driving record (not that I consider myself to have one) don't pay that great. I didn't see myself as a "i'm desperate I'll take whoever takes me" but from what you said, my situation is not as "not that bad" as I thought haha.

I sent an application to "Marten" I saw a job posting on "jobsforteams.com" and they said on there "maximum accidents in a 3 year period that they allowed was 3, same with moving violations. I am hoping I hear from them next week as they seem to be a pretty good company and I've seen their trucks drive by where I live. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Also, my teammate has some tickets in his mvr but some of them were removed, he was let go of his former company because he didn't notify them of those tickets he had gotten on his personal vehicle. (I advised him to let them know, so you were right, they found out and let him go...) That's why I rather be honest..

For now I guess I'll hang in here at my current company and lower my pride a little bit and keep driving as safely as I can with my eyes 1000% on the road. Thanks for everything. I'll keep you updated

Keiler