Rookies MUST READ: The nightmare that was supposed to be a step up the career ladder

Rookies and Anyone considering a trucking industry career,

If there's any I can tell you from this experience...COVER YOU BUTT. (In my terms...CYA). Looking back based on my knowledge at the time, I couldn't have done anything different. I had no way to forsee what was to happen next. Hindsight is 20/20 and knowledge is power.

I got my start with Werner back in January of last year. Put in my year. I had a few bumps, a couple of minor preventables early on my first 60 days out on my own, but they were very very light. A bent fairing on the truck from jumping a kingpin, and a got a trailer stuck in some in mud and had to have the trailer lifted up and put back on the road. Rookie mistakes.

In November I was charged with a 3rd preventable, but I know for a FACT that it was not caused by me. Because I had done a pivot/U-turn manuever in a tight lot at a consignee's dock area, and I got out and looked 3 times. Anyways, I was charged with hitting the front of a truck with the rear of my trailer. The trucks were all parked across from the docks. I contested it and appealed, but I might have well have been trying to spray water from a garden hose into the wind. My appeal was denied, so I am going to have to fork out money for an attorney and try to fight it, because it's basically setting the rest of what I am about to tell you in motion.


In early January, I got a job offer from Knight Transportation. With my experience, the recruiter said I could easily make $65,000 my first year. I was only making $47,000 with Werner, so I saw this as a substantial pay increase and a chance to take my driving to the next level and move up the ladder. I put in my app and submitted it. The recruiter called and said he had looked over my application and run my background check and everything looked good. I verbally TOLD HIM on the phone, that I had had 3 preventables with Werner, and we talked about each one of them. He said that wasn't going to be a problem.

When someone says they ran my background check, I took that to mean, my DAC, my MVR and my Background. That was a wrong assumption, but I didn't know any better at the time, and it never occurred to me. So I put in my 2 weeks notice and I left. Was enroute to Denver (from St. Louis), because I also wanted to move and get a change of scenery, and Ig et a phone call from my recruiter. Hey said I had too many preventables and Safety decided to pass on my application. I was shocked and stunned. He also tried to say I didn't put my preventables on my app and therefore falsified my application which also disqualified me. As a result, they weren't going to pay me the $150 orientation pay. And I never got any money for that.

I knew I hadn't falisified my app, and luckily, I had covered my butt, by downloading the application as a PDF document. I found the application, took a screenshot and put a highlighted yellow box around the section where I had listed them, and sent it to the recruiter. He looked at it, then checked the app I had sent him, and called me back and apologized for missing it. I told him we had "TALKED ABOUT THIS" during the phone interview and that he had assured me that it wouldn't be a problem and of course, he said he never remembered having any such conversation about my preventables or the details of what happened. (Of course you dont, you little weasel. That would prove that you were NEGLIGENT in your job and you dont want that coming back on you).

He then made a big show of having me send in the info on my preventables to try and get Safety to approve me (which I doubt he ever really did), and then I haven't heard a peep from him since. Refuses to answer my calls. Refuses to return my emails. No surprise there.

On January 25th, I filed for unemployment. Yesterday, my unemployment claim was denied because I "quit my job" and under state law, I am not entitled to unemployment since I quit. It's on appeal, because I am unemployment situation is no fault of my own. I had a job, I found another job, I gave notice and then resigned, and went to orientation, and found myself without a job. I did everything right and it was still wrong. I may have to get an attorney and sue to get my unemployment benefits. I don't know yet.

I tried to get my job back, but my position on my route has been filled, and the Review Board at Werner is telling me that they are opting not to bring me back. No reason is being given. I have pressed hard to find out, but no will give me an answer when I call. Which is garbage.

So if you're a young driver, thinking about moving to another company;

Make sure you have your recruiter pull your DAC, pull your MVR, and pull your Criminal Background Check before you ever give notice to leave your job.
Once he has, make him send you a letter that is SIGNED in ink, in the mail, that says, your Criminal Background Check, MVR and DAC report are acceptable and have him/her put the offer of employment in the letter.

This is for YOUR PROTECTION!

If they aren't willing to do that, tell 'em you're content to stay where you at.

If not for that 3rd preventable, none of this would have ever occurred, because 2 preventables would have been ok and gotten me in the door at Knight.

Had I known all this was gonna happen, I would have just stayed put at Werner till next November and then gotten out of there. What was another 10 months?

These negligent hiring practices MUST STOP. There's no reason why any recruiter can't pull all your info before you quit your job and come to orientation. I will be writing some letters to the Department of Labor, and state representatives trying to get some changes implemented. I may or may not be successful, but if you don't try, then you can't change anything.

If I don't get my unemployment, I may consider discussing with an attorney what my options are for suing Knight and the recruiter for negligence, wages lost plus damages, because it's been a stress filled 6 weeks. I have proof that the recruiter only ran my Background and not my MVR or DAC, because I requested a copy of my DAC report and it shows his inquiry for my background check, but not the MVR or DAC because the boxes aren't checked next to those too.

I also saved ALL email correspondence, so I have proof of everything.


While this story doesn't have the ending I ultimately had wanted when I left Werner, it does end on a positive note, as I did find some work finally, got on with a FedEx contractor here in Denver, running doubles OTR as a team. I was able to find a cheap room to rent, and stick around and hold out on my limited funds till I found something, but I shoud be starting a week from tomorrow. Not sure if it's just the contractor or if it is FedEx, but they didn't go off my DAC report. they only went off my MVR which was clean. I also got registered with a Driver Placement company, so if I hadn't gotten the FedEx job, I'd have at least had work every day till I found something. I couldn't work last week because I had pneumonia.

 

and with what manner of deductive reasoning did you come up with that at?

 

actually I had 2. one was falsely charged to me and Werner is defaming my professional character by charging it to me.

According to Knight's Safety Department, they were willing to let me in the door with 2. They said if I get the 3rd one off, they would hire me.

I also didnt have any idea about that link, I got an application link in my email from the recruiter. They contacted me, I didn't contact them.


and preventables being called preventable is a crock of crap, because they should be listed as "incidentals", and not treated as an "Accident".

Scratches, dents and dings happen in this industry. It wasn't like I had a head-on accident, or a DUI accident, or frickin' rollover. we're talking about a dented fairing here for god's sake in my 2nd week of driving on my own after training. And a tandem tire that hit a patch of deep mud and got stuck, there was nothing even damaged! and that happened my 6th week after soloing out. I didnt have any more after that, and I refuse to count the 3rd one because I was not involved in that.

 

Um, the only thing I have ever hit was a fairing. I owned that and reported it on the spot. I owned the 2nd one because I should have gone out a few feet further before making my turn.

as for the 3rd one, I'm not owning something I KNOW I didn't do.

I did everything right in this situation of leaving Werner to go to Knight. I got a job offer, I was told he had pulled my info, I put in my notice, I left and was en route to the new job when I got out of a job because of someone else's negligence. There's just some things you can't account for or prepare for.