What would you have done?

I have owned and managed trucking companies for a long time and while the gut reaction is to boot his butt, a lawsuit or having the government crawling up your ##### is also a bad thing.

Way worse than having a truck sit for a day.

Corrective action. Document it and no matter what happens you will be covered. If he is that big a moron he will be gone eventually and you will have a documented account of the mistakes he made. Maybe he will have the ability to actually learn. If so he could turn out to be a good employee. Either way you should try to exercise due process, a process the driver in question did not and got fired for it.

The other way you can cover your butt, because in all honesty that is what it is all about, is to create a list of excused and un-excused incidents and make him sign when he is hired. If that was on there then you have documented and and justifiable reason to can him without recourse.

 

deadhead 800 miles in any large fleets truck for no reason and see where that lands ya

 

It amazes me than some people think that DH 800 miles with out permission is not grounds to fire a driver.

 

I don't believe that anyone is suggesting that it isn't grounds for termination. I do believe that before doing so, whatever the reason, the employer needs to have his butt covered from all angles and that a simple, calm discussion about the reasons for the actions (if possible) will not only assist in more posterior coverage, but might shed some light on why someone would knowingly and willingly do something that could be/is grounds for termination.

Let's be honest here, in todays economy no one worth keeping around is going to put a good job in jeopardy with out a #### good reason.

 

Didn't say he doesn't deserve to be fired, just saying there needs to be some protection from lazy, greedy people.

 

Your not reading the same posts as I am. (progessive this and progressive that) I have had employees and I understand calm discussions about reasons for terminations. In this case if he had a valid reason he could have called before he DH 800 miles. He wasn't my driver but, if he was I don't care what the reason was because he decided to move that truck with out permission.

 

I understand calm discussions about reasons for terminations.
You also said you would soil his DAC so he couldnt work for a long time.
NICE GUY, hope someone doesnt do that to you - what goes around comes around.

I still think a sit down, and clarification of what was expected vs what he actually did, would be of great benefit. If nothing else, it clears you up in court if it goes there. You MIGHT wind up getting the DH money back, and a better (good enough?) driver.

I would never do wqhat this guy did, as a driver I am sure I will treat company property and profitability better than this guy did, but in tough times it is always better to cover yourself legally and recover losses FIRST, then if there is no way for that to work out you have NO problems with ANY regualtory body.

 

I guess I'm saying the days of kicking a bad driver's arse in the yard are over - if you dont want to write them a check for 50,000 or so.

 

Well, actually I am, and maybe I mis-spoke a bit. But basically I think that everyone is on the same page here, it's just that some folks have skipped ahead a few paragraphs.

At this point it's all brain fodder anyway. If I'm understanding the O.P. correctly, what's done is done. I for one don't blame him and would probably have done the very same thing in his shoes. He asked for thoughts, and he's getting them. Which is good for everyone involved in this thread. I'd say that all the participants have already been in a similar situation or at the very least can see themselves being in it, on one side of the issue (driver or owner) or the other, and are benefiting from the conversation.

My personal interest in this comes from an incident many years ago in which one of our company drivers left a road surface at highway speed, crossed over a road construction area, cut off two vehicles (one of which I was driving) causing both to make emergency maneuvers and leave the road. He then drove to the terminal and parked the truck and trailer in front of the shop doors, blocking the entire shop. When I arrived I did exactly what I was emotionally driven to do, but not the right thing. I went ballistic on the guy. Under the circumstances, who could have blamed me?

Unfortunately we discovered later on that he had been having truck trouble all night with his tractor, that he had been on the phone with shop personnel who as we later found out, were let's just say, less than 100% supportive. His frustration level was extremely high to say the least. Then I come up and blow a gasket on the guy, without knowing what he had been going through all night. He had some choice words to say to me, then in a very colorful manor decided to leave the employment of our company on the spot.

In no time at all we found ourselves being sued by him. Ultimately his claims and the reason for the suit were found to be all bogus and we technically 'won'. But we still had to pay our attorney fee's, not to mention the lost time of the President, Vice President, myself, his dispatcher, a technician and the shop foreman as we all sat in court for several days waiting to be called to testify.

All of which probably would have been avoided if I would have simply, and calmly asked, "What's the problem here?"

Did he deserve to get fired? Abso-freaking-loutely! But I'll always regret not trying to look through the drivers eyes first to see what caused the meltdown. Not just because it would have saved the company and myself a lot of headaches, but because it is simply the right thing to do.

 

Go back and reread my first post. Then go back and reread where I clarified I wasn't talking about a lie on the DAC. If the truth hurts his ability to get a job. GOOD. Get YOUR story correct.