i was in a little town in ohio. i was lost and was on a road i couldn't turn around in. i found an area to do so and there was no traffic. well, i start to turn around. i stopped an checked again for traffic. so i continued. guess what? someone tried cutting behind me and i didn't see them until i saw my i.c.c. bar scrapping their rear quarter panel.

so, i get a ticket for "no u-turn" and get fired from my job i just started.

crst won't touch me for three years, j.b. hunt won't touch me for 3-6 months.

i am so friggin depressed now. i had a squeaky clean record for a whole year and finally got out of the low level trucking companies so i could be home with my family. now i have to go back to where i left and be out on the road for weeks at a time. dammit, i am so mad at myself.

any words of comfort?

 

If you haven't yet paid the ticket, you may be able to get a lawyer to fight it and perhaps plead it down to a lesser offense or get it dismissed altogether. You really need to protect your CDL. You may just need to wait it out and use this as a learning experience. Unfortunately, cars will run in back of you while backing or try to pass when making a right hand turn. There isn't an IQ test for obtaining a driver's license. How long have you been driving?

 

I learned the hard way about what people will do, back in 92 I was in Cleveland Oh, and while moving around in a grocery store parking lot I watched a guy drive right into my trailer tires. Guess he couldn't see the big orange truck they were attached to. That cost me a suspended license, which leads to the second learning lessen, always mail your proof of insurance by certified mail. The state of Ohio said they never received anything and just suspended not questions or notification.

Sorry for the long story but just cya and double check everything to make sure you protect the cdl.

 

sorry it happened. Like GMAN said-Get a lawyer and see what he/she can do for you.

 

yeah, i'd like to get one, but i have no money to do so. i caled the clerks office and they said i can mail in a payment and i will get two points on my record.

i'm so disgusted right now. my wife is despondent. we were planning to refinance the house, move to a house she wanted (the house we live in wa mine and my ex's), and look for a local job. i have been driving over the road now for a year, and have missed either other, and left her raising my kids. now this has happened. i can go back to my old employer where i never really quit from and don't say anything about it.

but, then it is a fed. reg. i report it to my employer, whom i was not driving their truck. but when they find out i am sure they will fire me. but if i tell them now, they will fire me. i can't win here. if something happened to me on the road while driving their truck and i didn't say anything, i will be in a much bigger fire than i am in now.

this just keeps compiling. now my wife is talking about getting a divorce because she is so depressed over all this. a whole year of having no husband (we just got married and spent my first anniversary with her at home and me in a crst truck)

 

Before you go and get your undies all in a tear jerking wad why dont you get off your pity pot and start applying to all sorts of companies. There are hundreds, hell thousands of trucking companies out there, many of them looking for drivers and there are many who have regional runs that will get you home every week and if you live along a major freight route you might even make it home once in a while through the week.

What ever you do, do not lie about your driving and/or work record. This is a sure fire way to not get hired or not to get fired once the truth comes out.

 

. . . you don't have a job . . you ain't got no money . . throw yourself on the mercy of the court. Tell the judge you believe you have a defense but you can't afford a lawyer. Judges understand. They were (are) all lawyers and they don't feel the community is being properly represented unless you have a lawyer. Be humble, be sincere and be honest. U turn laws are vague, at best. Your CDL IS your lively-hood and the judge needs to hear it from you.

 

Were there any "no U-turn" signs? Were there any "no passing" signs? Get pictures of the area, and get a lawyer.

Is your trailer clearly marked with warning of wide turns?

Like Gman said, protect your CDL. Getting a lesser offense, MAY save you from a "preventable."

Keep your chin up. As for your wife.... I don't know. Sounds like a lack of committment. Maybe y'all need to have a talk.... one you should have had earlier.

There are always options. Look into them... and tell her you are doing so to save the marriage.

Other than that, I would say... don't EVER go down a road you aren't sure of again. And always 'consider' the swing of your trailer. Get out and LOOK, if you have any questions. But, I seriously don't think you saw the situation as a hazard. 4wheelers are nothing but PESTS!

Best of luck to ya! Let us know how it turns out!

 

As a driver-trainee, I was headed in to The Gorge (I-40 in Tennessee-North Carolina) and my trainer didn't give me any warning about speed linits and the left lane restriction). I had a string of coal barges in the right lane, didn't see the speed limit change sign. When I finished the passing manover, I moved to the right lane. State bear nailed me for 59 in a 50 zone, and lane violation. The last sign I saw said "speed limit 60".

I reported the ticket to my employer. They said "bring the ticket to us, we'll see it gets paid".

12 months later, I'm in a DOT inspection in Missouri, and I get nailed for suspended CDL (I didn't know: nothing in Fed regs to inform driver of suspension).

Turns out, my former employer didn't pay up as they said they would, I didn't follow up as I should have.

Ended up costing me $400 to clear that up.

A year later, in Detroit, I killed a telephone pole (it had been clipped many times, just needed one more clip to break it). The Detroit cop writting me up said, "Do what you got to do to get into these places". Well, "do what you go to do" in that place would have been a sharp left across 6 lanes of traffic, blocking them all, so that I could back in. I boo-bood and tried to nose in (didn't realise until later that there was no room to turn around once I got in).

All I can say, with regard to U-turn, is "learn to spot the bear" before he/she spots you. Then "do what you got to do" and suffer the consequences.

 

Than go get it! $3-500,is a small price to pay, for your livelihood!