[Muffet]

I know this sounds like a stupid question, but I need to know if this is considered an accident that would need to be added to an application. My husband doesn't think it would be considered an accident, but I think we need to make sure.

My husband was stopped at a truck stop, pumping fuel, when he realized the cargo was on fire in his van. (It was no-touch freight and no hazmat had been claimed by shippers when he left.) He acted swiftly, moved the van away from the pumps, and unhitched his tractor just before the entire van went into full flames. He spent the day on the scene with the safety manager who was impressed with his handling of the situation. The President of his company called him to commend him for his quick thinking that prevented the truck stop from blowing up and saving the tractor.

Nobody knew what caused the freight to catch on fire. They suspected someone had shipped engines with fuel (because there was an engine among the debri), but the cause was undetermined. Two weeks later, my husband smelled gasoline in the van and informed the workers at the customer's terminal. The van was emptied of the entire contents and low and behold there was another engine. The company called the hazmat team to clean out the van. Thankfully, the van hadn't caught fire the second time, but it's clear that the cause of the first fire was someone shipping engines from the southwest corner of the state to the northwest corner of the state.

Is this considered an accident that should be listed on an application?

[Biscuit Lips]

Yes, that is surely an accident. Does not sound as though he lit the trailer himself, on purpose. Why would you not put that on an application? How could he have prevented the trailer from catching on fire, unless you are leaving something out? I doubt you are, but why are you so worried about it?

[Muffet]

I'm only worried about it because my husband said to not put it on an application because it wasn't an accident.

I didn't want him to make an error and for it to appear that he was trying to hide something.

Thank you for answering!

[mike3fan]

I would call it an incident more than an accident.

[Biscuit Lips]

Originally Posted by mike3fan

I would call it an incident more than an accident.

You might be right, I all most wrote that. Your best bet would be to call the company that he was driving for and just ask them if they classified it as a accident or an incident. Many companies are different. One company I worked did not have incidents, everything was an
accident. Others might have a monetary classification. Just depends, but call the company and inquire or get a copy of his DAC report.

[Muffet]

Originally Posted by mike3fan

I would call it an incident more than an accident.

That's what I thought too. Would you list incidents on an application?

I just don't want an innocent application mistake to keep him from getting a job he wants.

[Muffet]

Originally Posted by Biscuit Lips

You might be right, I all most wrote that. Your best bet would be to call the company that he was driving for and just ask them if they classified it as a accident or an incident. Many companies are different. One company I worked did not have incidents, everything was an
accident. Others might have a monetary classification. Just depends, but call the company and inquire or get a copy of his DAC report.

I'll definitely get a DAC report. One clue that the company probably considers it an incident is that he never received an accident report---like he did for the icy hill accident that said it was non-preventable. He never received anything at all about the fire in the van incident, except for a phone call from the President.

[Fredog]

Originally Posted by Muffet

I'll definitely get a DAC report. One clue that the company probably considers it an incident is that he never received an accident report---like he did for the icy hill accident that said it was non-preventable. He never received anything at all about the fire in the van incident, except for a phone call from the President.

my question is, why would he want to work somewhere else? sounds like he had a pretty good boss

[Muffet]

Originally Posted by Fredog

my question is, why would he want to work somewhere else? sounds like he had a pretty good boss

Most of the reason, and salary details, can be found in this other post:

http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/r...questions.html

His pay is going to decline significantly now that his 4 year dedicated run has ended. Also, transportation is going to be an issue because the terminal is far away. When he first took the job 4 years ago, we were going to move near the terminal, but they ended up offering him him a dedicated run that was closer to where we lived at the time and let him keep the truck at our house.

Four years later, we're not in a financial position to move right now. We're down to owning one car which I need to get back and forth to work. (I was a stay at home mother 4 years ago, but the rise in the cost of living has caused all sorts of challenges for us over the past 4 years.) Plus, it would be very hard to sell a house in this economy too.

He doesn't want to leave, but we really can't afford the pay cut. My job isn't secure since it's directly related to financial investments. At the same time, we also wonder if it's best to stay where he has seniority during the economic crisis, even though the pay will be less.

It's the first time since he got his CDL 4 years ago that we have considered his getting another position. I'm just trying to learn as much as possible. He doesn't HAVE to leave his job. He very well might stay where he's at. We'll know more tomorrow. Hopefully they have something available for him when he goes to deliver the trailer to the terminal. I know they have other drivers sitting at home, but my husband does have seniority. We're just uneasy since they didn't know last week what to do with him. And on top of that we know he'll end up with a pay cut. His pay per mile is low since it's a starter company that doesn't pay well but treats it's employees good.

It's complicated. We're just trying to stay ahead of things. We're doing our homework and trying to come up with a plan.

[jonp]

This is not an accident. It is an incident, however, different companies classify stuff differently. It seems to me that since it was caused by frieght in the trailer not under his control as he didn't load it and it wasnt on the manifest then it is in no way his fault. It may or may not be on his record. Have him call the safety department at his work and ask them if it is on his record at that company and how they put it down. Be specific: is it an incident or a non-preventable accident?
If it isn't on his record then don't worry about it. If it is, make sure the details are correct and if it says about what you say it does then put it down on any application as a non-preventable and when the new employer reads his record that will be that.

Great thinking and action on the part of your husband!