I have just completed my first year OTR which was done with two companies, 6 months each. I quit the second one and started looking for non OTR opps for a weekend off job, maybe LTR.

I have been turned down my multiple companies and just now had one take the time to explain it to me.

My safety record shows 4 accidents. This is news to me! I guess nobody explained what constitutes an accident.

There was one that was significant. I did not allow enough room to swing in a truck stop and got into a Kenworth Grill for what could have been a $1000 -$2000 bill. I took pictures for the company, etc.

Another was catching a rim on a curb hidden by snow while getting out of my offroad sleeping area after spending the night during a WV snowstorm. Road service pounded the rim out and filled it using the same tire.

No 3 was also catching a rim on a large boulder hidden by tall grass in a
really bad area in which I had trouble getting through a narrow bridge. Fix was a new rim with tire even though tire was aok.

No 4 was in company lot on ice and snow, early morning hours. Lot had trailers everywhere because of the conditions, piles of snow everywhere. I tried to get around the end trailer by swinging wide as possible but it was not possible. Backed up at 1 mph and got another company truck with rear of my tractor. It put small dent in Freightliner XL grill. If I had not been a rookie in his first year I would have refused to negotiate the lot and just dropped the trailer on the road. I know bettter now.

Anyway, I was not cut by either company, quit on my own and find I am out of trucking. I guess I though and accident meant on the road with police etc, and thought that at least 3 were incidents but not significant. I also thought that the extra risk of a first year driver were reflected in the low pay.

Presumably if I had known I may have been able to plea bargain down with the company but now I am gone, they have no incentive to do it.

Short version.......I am out of trucking and didn't even see it coming. Wish this had been explained to me in truck driving school because it is at least as important as knowing how to back!

 

The lesson learned here is not specific to trucking, just life:

"never quit a job to find another, quit after you have found the other."


As for your minor incidents, anything you report to your company will go on your record. Sure, it may be reported as an "incident" instead of an accident, but it will still be reported. The system is really that simple.

 

Thanks for posting that RandyinVA (good insight for us greenhorns).

 

Randy, as the others have said, thanks for posting this. Best of luck to you.

 

Are you saying that you had four "accidents" during your first six months of driving? Any accident in the companies eyes would be an insurance claim made on your behalf. Live and learn.

 

It also sounds like you were taking the truck into places that you should not have.

Hitting another truck when you are backing says you did not get out and look.

Hitting a rock and bending a rim on a road that had a narrow bridge... Was that on the way to or from a customer? If not, you were where you should not have been. Very bad point against you. If it was, then, other drivers are able to negotiate the same road, and you would seem to have a problem judging distances when maneuvering.

I had a safety director that said: "If a driver had only one minor incident during the first year, he would rather hire him than one that had none. But if a driver had a series of incidents, I don't want him."

One incident in a year would suggest that you learned from your mistake. Four of them in one year suggests that you learned absolutely nothing. Even for a seasoned driver, backing into another truck is a "BLACK MARK" he does not want. It makes it hard for him to get another job. It suggests carelessness.

 

I would definitely have to agree with Desert that you should never quit a job until you've found another. Unless you are in a good enough position financially to handle the situation like you're in now.

I don't want to sound like the bad guy here, but you have to face the facts. All of these were preventable accidents. I know that I was warned about preventable accidents in orientation. If you look at it from the company's perspective, if you had been more careful all of these could have been prevented.

I know this probably isn't what you wanted to hear, but keep plugging along. I'm sure that there is still someone out there who will take you.

 

You had 4 incidents that 8 of 10 first year drivers will have. Keep applying and do not list these as accidents on your applications. Your previous company may have put these on your DAC as a punishment. These were not DOT recordable accidents, so they should not affect you, however one year is still a newbie and with 4 incidents, carriers may be learie of you. Keep trying and good luck.