little accident and logs...

[scaredwife22]

As you can tell by my username...my hubby drives trucks o-t-r- here in Texas and I don't know much about this stuff so I thought I would come here for some help. I hope it is ok.
First off, my hubby was assigned a load that there was no way legally possible for him to get it there legally on time. But because my hubby is such a hard and dedicated driver ( like alot of you are) he goes and gets it done anyway. By doing this..it puts him a day ahead of his logs. When he went to deliver the load he discovered the directions he was given were wrong so in the process of leaving that place he hit a fence while backing up and knocked the pole down. After waiting an hour for police to show up ( happened on army base ) the report was taken and he carefully proceeded to deliver the load. Well he ended up waiting until the next morning because by the time he got there it was too late.
Can the company fire him for this ? If so can this stop him from getting another driving job?
He has never had an accident but he has gotten some tickets with this company.

Thanks so much for letting me post here.

[Uturn2001]

Well a company, in most states, can fire someone pretty much anytime they want for little or no reason.

If he does get fired he needs to be sure to list this accident on any and all applications he fills out (even if he ever changes jobs on his own) if it falls within the time frame asked for. Trying to hide it will pretty much garuntee him not getting hired.

Depending on his overall driving record though, this accident in addition to any tickets currently on his MVR may make it tough for him to get on somewhere else.

I would strongly suggest that you talk to your husband and try to get him to understand that his CDL is his livlihood and he needs to protect it. That means running the speed limit, abiding by the hours of service regs, etc.

Just so you know, if that had been a vehicle with occupants that he had tangled with he could have been facing jail time and a law suit that could have been in the millions of dollars even if it was not his fault just because he was running in violation of the regulation.

[scaredwife22]

Thanks for your reply. Believe my i have been trying to install that into his head buit for some reason it is not getting through. So you are saying that when he hit the fence backing up trying to get out, that is just like having a regular accident ?
I have been thinking about trying to get my cdl's because that is the way we got all this stuff. Man, I sure hate he may lose his job. I guess the only thing I can do is to continue to worry and pray. Thanks again.

[GMAN]

Most drivers and owner operators are employed or leased on a "at will" basis. In other words, a driver can be terminated, or as a lot of carrier's like to say "disqualified" for no reason or just cause at any time. I don't know whether he will be terminated for this accident or not. One thing is for sure, he should have either turned the load down, did a trailer swap with another driver or rescheduled the delivery. Most likely he was very tired and not as alert as he should have been due to him running beyond the time he should. Since the accident didn't involve another vehicle, he may be able to keep his job. It depends on the carrier. Each company makes their own rules.

[yoopr]

you say a report was taken. Was the report taken by his company or the Army? I HOPE he reported this to the company.
Yes he could be fired but you don't say how long he's been with the company. If they know he's a good and dedicated driver he might get off with a butt chewing or make him pay for the Pole.

Personally I've NEVER ran Illegally on hours(ahem) but IF he did or does, and i'm gonna get a butt chewing for saying this, Make sure it LOOKS like he ran legally. :wink: because IF he ever got into an accident and "Things(logs-receipts-etc etc etc) it could mean curtains for him because, unfortunately, the Insurance companies rule trucking companies nowadays.

[scaredwife22]

Thanks for the replies.. He has been with this particular company for a year now and he really enjoys doing flatbed. You guys posted exactly what I have been telling him since day 1,lol I did get a chance to slip a couple of words in tonight and I think it sunk in but we will see.In short I gave him a mini lecture on what since does it make to pay all that money for schooling and your cdl's just to throw it all away by not doing right. I also told him he needs to learn how to tell him NO like he tells me NO. Sometimes those loads just arent worth it when you have to risk your job just to drop it. In my opinion.
On the logs part..I dont think it can be fixed when you are 1 day ahead of yourself.
As for the report I am not sure if it was a MP or regular police that took it but he says he is going to call his company and let them know.

This whole freakin' thing could have been avoided if he would have just told them no b/c he didnt have enough hours. I guess we will know something in a couple of days. Thanks so much for helping me with this situation.

[yoopr]

Common ailment with new drivers, and I did the same thing, was Never saying No.
Finally after years of Trucking I found that if you start off hot and Heavy the company will expect that of you All the Time. :P

[Rev.Vassago]

But because my hubby is such a hard and dedicated driver ( like alot of you are) he goes and gets it done anyway.

Sorry, but being a "hard and dedicated driver" is no excuse for violating the law. Think about what would have happened if that would have been a little kid he backed into, instead of a fence post. Your "hard and dedicated" husband would have a new home in prison.

Tell him to just say "no" to running illegal. Any company that makes him do things like this isn't worth working for.

[cdreid]

Vassago im suuure you never break the speed limit. Are always HOS compliant, never violate HOS on a load home etc etc *roll*

Oh please give me a break.


To the poster: Your company can fire you pretty much at will. Its the trucking business. Which also means they wont if they can at all avoid it. If your hubby runs illegal he needs to learn to fix his logs. If he's running illegal and his logs show it (forgive me but) he's an idiot and needs to apply at McDonalds.

Lets just say i know this driver who has driven 3000 miles between monday 5am and thursday morning on more than one occasion and has NEVER had his Current log not show him legal.....

And ya.. if you Qualcomm in "Out of hours. Cant drive. Going to bed. Buzz me and you die".. pretty much that conversation is done. (I always sigh when i hear a driver say "but i got a message that says "call dispatch!". WHY would you do that??).

The truth is your hubby chose to run hard. Probably Likes running hard (i do for some stupid reason). He needs to learn to keep the legalities covered.

[cmegobye]

I have had 11 years of safe driving in a truck and 13 years of safe driving in a city bus prior to my trucking stint. I cracked a front turn signal on another truck last Nov, was hit by a car (sideswipped) while I was sitting in a left turn lane also in Nov. Then in March, I clipped a lightpole, no damage but filed a report as per company policy. I was fired in April. I was removed from my truck 700 miles away from home. I had to get a rental truck ($600) + pay for fuel to get my stuff home. The cost of all three incidents couldn't have been a total of $200 but the way it is listed on my DAC is making it very hard to get another OTR job. KEEP YOUR NOSE CLEAN + CYA.

[uncleal13]

I used to not mind fudging things to get the job done. But after hearing of what happened to a few other fellows I now make sure that at all times while on the road that my butt is covered. I heard of a fellow in Portland that was out of hours driving along, minding his own business when an 80 yrs old guy comes flying across the median and hits him head-on. Guess who's fault that was. You think you can make it fine, but other people can mess things up on you.
The other fellow was right too, about running your own way. The dispatchers will push a new guy to see how hard you like to run, but if you push back and say no when appropriate, then they know who they can run hard and who they have to run legal. They don't care if you get caught. They'll just say you were running against company policy, and get another new guy, after all in their view, drivers are a dime a dozen.

[Myth_Buster]

Stupid is as stupid does:

By doing this..it puts him a day ahead of his logs........Well he ended up waiting until the next morning because by the time he got there it was too late.

So IOW, he could have driven legal and got there at the same time.

Carriers and drivers face penalties after the fact for fudging their logs. Falsification of log books is the prime reason why electronic logs are on the proposed rule making circuit.

What drivers forget is there is a ton of documentation retained by their employer for tax purposes and the US DOT. The FMCSR requires carriers to keep their logs for at least six months under Part 395 and for three years under Part 379 See Section K Supporting Documents.

There are three methods of falsification cited by the FMCSA:

1. Nominal = Driver purchased fuel but didn't log fueling time.

2. Critical = One hour or 50 miles, i.e. Shortest distance from Chicago to Saint Louis is 300 miles requiring 5.25 hours of driving time, driver logs the run in 4.25 hours.

3. Deliberate = Driver hid an hours of service violation, i.e. Driver drove for 13 hours and logged 11 hours

When the FMCSA performs a compliance review it takes days, weeks, or months to complete the review based on the carrier's operation. Everything is checked and cross referenced: D & A, HM, HOS, DQ, Maintenance, etc. The carrier has to pull out moutains of documentation to be examined. The motor carrier receives one of three ratings:

1. Satisfactory
2. Conditional
3. Unsatisfactory

Numbers 2 & 3 can cost a carrier their business, customers, raised or dropped insurance, or all of the above. Not to mention additional scrutiny by the FMCSA.

When drivers have accidents when they are in violation of the HOS they face criminal charges for neglegance, i.e. driver was out of hours at 3:00 PM and has an accident at 4:00 PM. Judges and prosecuting attorneys are using the space time continuim i.e if the driver had stopped when required the accident would have never occurred.

I know of three drivers charged with either manslaughter or 2nd degree murder now spending hard time or facing hard time. Attorney fees, loss of work, media attention, etc. can ruin a driver's life regardless of the outcome of the trial.

Folks please weigh your decisions carefully, it only takes one accident to ruin a life. False logs are easy to detect when there is a mountain of supporting documents. Don't keep the supporting document? The carrier can be cited and have their safety rating reduced to a Conditional or Unsatisfactory. Modify the document, i.e. cover the time? Face criminal charges and adminstrative penalties for Part 390.35.

Be safe.

[syl77dar]

good luck

[kc0iv]

I had a mudflap off and in the Kansas City, MO area DOT specilizes in stopping big rigs 2 ticket them lately and I refused 2 move and had already had it repaired and as the man was repairring it i was calling the company 2 get it authorized, idiot on other side asked me why i had it repaired right on the site instead of driving 2 a truck stop 5 miles away???? stupid! it did not cost company any more 2 have caravan fix it then it does 2 get it done at a truck stop! duh!

Caravan must have changed it's policy. Last time I used them they charged $35 plus mileage for a road call. Plus parts and labor for the repair.

kc0iv

[One]

Companies will try to get you to run illegal, but in the end, the driver is the one who makes that choice and the trucking companies love to wash their hands of it while profiting. Running illegal can be very bad, if something serious had happened it could have turned from a not at fault accident into JAIL. If a driver gets delayed while loading, he could make the choice to claim on the log that he took his 10 hour break and run with it wether he got rest or not, thats no big deal (if he is able) as long as the load doesnt require him to count or load, then if something happens the question will be asked wether he was loading/counting or in the bunk. If he claimed he was in the bunk on the logs, but it can be proven he wasnt..........

[Chunker]

Hey One, why are you answering post that are 2 yrs. old????