No openings until January

I'm experiencing the same thing. I'm 23 yrs old and started driving for Gordon 1 month after my 21st birthday. I've been driving for them for 2 years straight without a single ticket, felony nor accident. And to add a cherry on top I met a FedEx driver in Reno 3 months back that gave me the number to his supervisor back in Syracuse, NY who agreed to hire me because he owed the guy i met a favor. I just needed to wait 3 1/2 months until the current driver retired. Perfect. A 23 yr old driver getting ready to go to one of the most desired trucking companies around after only 2 yrs of exp. THEN BOOM. Disaster.

I pulled into a Pilot and stayed overnight. The next morning i pull out of my parking space and turned to the right only to find out that another driver that was on the left of me (when i was parked) was flaggin me down in my side view mirror. I stopped and he said that I scraped his passenger side mirror with the end of my trl when i came out. I checked and it appeared that i did. So i told him i'd give him $400 out of my own pocket for the "scratch". He said he wanted to exchange insurances. So we did. I called Safety to inform them of what happened and they said everything was ok, seeing that it was minor...

1 week later. I get a phone from my DM stating that Gordon is letting me go due to a preventable accident and that i am to clean my trk out. It was one of the most devestating things that ever happened to me. I called FedEx back and explained everything. The man bluntly said "ITS OVER" and hung up the phone. I've been calling company after company for a whole month now and get recruiters that are happy to bring me aboard UNTIL i tell them what happened. Then i get "If u were terminated by your previous employer for ANY reason, we can't hire you, CLICK".

I never knew this Industry was so cut-throat. To be honest if i knew scratching the side of another truckers mirror by "accident" even with an immaculate record was the equivalent to rolling my trk over and hitting 3 other trks during the process. I would have NEVER took this trade. I mean c'mon. Accidents can happen. Even when your being TOO careful.

Side Note...I guess its not the equivalent because I know a J.B Hunt driver that rolled his trk over by driving to fast and they just gave him another (newer) trk.

All in all, Does any exp driver that has been thru something like this or know of anyone thats been thru something similiar to this? If so, I'd appreciate the advice. I have to do something soon. Thanx

 

You offered settlement that was very generous . Drivers know very well the consequences of notifying an insurance company . The driver shafted you and it was probably the insurance company that determined you had to go . This is not the first incident like this posted here that resulted in a driver losing his job . Wannabes better keep this in mind , especially those taking company training with a year employment obligation .

 

I am a rookie and just got hired by Central Refrig. They are located in Conley Ga, Salt Lake City UT,and Fontana Ca. try them out. They will re-train you and put you on one of there trucks and long as you pass all of there tests. Good Luck in your search.

 

Well it's January , ya'll should have jobs now--RIGHT !!

 

Surething, I feel your pain. I joined a large carrier after 1 year. A week into the job, I was backing into a tight dock when I bumped a shipping container (my fault, I should have GOAL'ed). Absolutely NO damage to either trailer, not even scuffed paint. The other driver insisted on filling out an accident report out of fear of job loss. This is what trucking has come to.
I was called by the main office 2 days later and term'ed with a ding on my DAC. If they are going to hold us to the same standards as an airline pilot, maybe we should get the same pay..
Unless I can get on with a small carrier or an o/o, I fear trucking is done with me. My friend and I were just turned down by Heartless Express, my bump, his two tickets..

 

BTW,
I met a guy when I was in Swift orientation that jackknifed his truck and injured a trainee, he was coming BACK to Swift. He even showed me the pix on his laptop. Maybe Swift will take you. I know the SOP for a backing accident was to send you to backing classes at Swift, hopefully they haven't gotten as tough as the other carriers.

 

I also heard the same thing. I worked for werner for a little more than a year and 3 days b4 christmas they called me to a terminal and said it was just for my annual review and there was no problem. Well the decided becuse i had 3 speeding tickets and moving violation in the past 3 years that makes me an unsafe driver b/c in 3 years i had 4 tickets. What made me mad was that 1 ticket i got when i was in high school in 07 they highered me knowing i had the ticket and what they said at first was that i had to have 4 tickets to get fired I only had 3 until they found my application and when i applied and said that the 4th ticket counted. Other than saying I was a bad driver they went further and said that due to my age and the ticket ill never be able to get another truck driving job. I didnt think that was true but it is. I have tried applying to may other companies and i either got try back after janurary or i was too young or the tickets. If i had known that something like this would happen I would never have started truck driving. I loved driving i really dont have a home so i hardly took my home time but I loved it and I really couldve seen myself doing it until i couldnt drive anymore but ive just about gave it up. Yea I got tickets but I will never believe that i am a bad driver. I was always on time never had an accident. Yea i speed but 2 of them i had an emergency its not an exuse but a family member of mine was in the hospital and i broke every speed limit to get to where I had to go and i made it there within 10 min of the person passing away and to be honest i would do it again as bad as it sounds. I also had to learn most of what i know from other drivers or learning the hard way. I had 3 trainers 1 couldnt keep his hands to himself another didnt know what she was doing and the 3rd was great but i had him a week and kept in touch with me to help me at any time but I put so much into trucking driving and but I unfortunatly i have to give it up and try to find something else. My school that i paid $6,000 for tell me they cant help me I dont know any o/o and i tried every company but i have everthing against me. I did talk to a driver who drove for 40 years said that no 1 is going to hire a 22 years old female with 3 tickets and only a year of experience and told me a pretty girl like me could find something better to do than drive a truck. So I understand what your going through and hope you have better luck than me.

 

Wow. Not even scuffed paint? Like i said this industry is very funny. They're treating us like we have the plague. Look, i understand the fact that its more profitable (insurance wise) to hire someone fresh outta school with no record than it is with some one with a ding or a couple of non-commercial tickets that has a yr or more of exp. But in a way its not, because theirs rookies out here wrecking alot of equipment lately. I should know. Gordon is #1 or #2 in Safety, so every 60 mins i got a qualcomm mesg stating all types of accidents that happened from rookies 1 month out of the gate from EVERY company.

All i'm saying is that they should balance the types of drivers they hire with rookies and less than perfect drivers, as opposed to shutting us completely out of a trade we paid very good money to be in.

By the way, i tried out Heartland too and just before the recruiter got ready to cut me loose after the story, he actually "tried" to help me aboard even with me being terminated because of how crazy things happened. He couldn't swing it, but he did tell me to get at least 6 months of exp. with someone and then specifically call him back and it can work. I appreciated at least that much effort to help out a driver in a tight spot.



And to the LadyTrucker, i hope you find your way out of the rut as well. With us being so young everything is against us due to insurance purposes. I too loved trucking. It was very relaxing. But now i can think of several things i could've used with my money rather than being possibly shut out for good. Evn if i do find a way back in, i dont think i will ever feel the same way knowing that the most minor mistake made can cost my career or any other driver unaware of the tight rope policies of trucking.