Advice on finding a job after a rollover?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by tenconamei, Apr 5, 2013.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Driver of the year

    Driver of the year Medium Load Member

    442
    249
    Sep 28, 2012
    Tampa FL
    0
    I was not stuck, i was driving that day almost 16 hours and it was a nasty rainy day in florida. Loaded flyash at the Orlando power plant, this was my third and final load for the day and four rail road tracks kept me from finally reaching the silo at Florida Rock plant and as i was approaching it, i thought i saw another truck at the silo where i was going and by the time i was looking for the stop sign, i was already in the tracks, i slowed down for the bumpy tracks and something told me look at your left side, a gut feeling that i never ignore, ther was no horn, no arms, nothing telling me that a train was crossing, if you see my first picture that i posted, you can see the darkness where that monster came from and you'll have an idea, all i can do was step on the gas as hard i could in third gear and he got me in the middle of the tanker. Just one simple mistake could've taking out half of the city of tampa with 20 rail cars full of fertilizer. But trucking gave me a second chance with a slap on the wrist.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. starsonwindow

    starsonwindow Medium Load Member

    569
    165
    Feb 2, 2012
    Phoenix, Arizona
    0

    DOTY? I'm glad you and half of Tampa are still here, You could call yourself anything you want to and I'd still like you(as long as we are not planning on eating dinner and you are late). Please don't read anything off color here you bottom feeder slims but that I like to read his post and that I am glad his wreck was not more serious. Thank You.
     
  4. Ghost Ryder

    Ghost Ryder Road Train Member

    1,647
    1,181
    Jan 3, 2013
    Your Mailbox
    0
    If the rollover isn't on your MVR, then find a company that doesn't use DAC. This will require some research on your part, but not every company uses DAC.
     
  5. Florida Playboy

    Florida Playboy Road Train Member

    4,102
    6,620
    Dec 19, 2012
    Florida
    0
    That's crazy. How did it feel when the train hit you?
     
  6. Cranky Yankee

    Cranky Yankee Cranky old ######

    15,317
    209
    Jan 31, 2012
    Green Bay Wi
    0
    my brother in laws in chicago act like fiddle faddle maybe it is in the water
    the most telling thing he said is he cant wait to get out of trucking

    he can keep calling me names i dont care
    just sooner we wont have him around telling us how messed up we are
     
  7. Driver of the year

    Driver of the year Medium Load Member

    442
    249
    Sep 28, 2012
    Tampa FL
    0
    Well, when i knew that train was going to hit, instantly, the famous semi that was always shown when the Train hit him when he was stuck in the tracks. that came to mind and tha cat engine accelerated so fast that i thought i was going to make it, then i heard and felt a masive thunder, i kept moving forward, then suddenly felt like the world turn up side down. Then my 10 years forklift experince kicked in In forklift training, if you are going to overturn because of a fast turn or a truck pulls forward in a dock while you are still exiting the trailer, you grab the steering wheel with both hands antil that vehicle finally makes contact with the ground. I did just that and i was hanging from the sterring wheel. ( seconds before i had taken off my seatbelt which help me) so i hang from the steering wheel and it looked forever that the train kept pushing my rig out of the tracks. At this time by using my forklift ex. i dint have a scratch, then suddenly silence, i was afraid the truck was going to blow up. So i climbed up, opened the driver door and jumped, there i twisted my ankle and limped away from there. The tractor was still running on it's side and the traction tires were still turning in third gear. Since i knew i was close to 16 hour on duty, i needed to get to my cell and LOG BOOK before the DOT or the sherrif, even the port authority got there and ask for it. So i saw no diesel leak and grabed a Chain Binder since we are an original flatbbed company and busted the bottom windshield to turn the engine off, CSX ask me too and i found my log book in the sleeper and my cell in under de seat. I was still legal by 8 min. Sheriff shows up, need your license and logs book. The log interrogation begins and it's fine. The CSX guys were no where to be found. Finally i called my boss and he answered the call nobody in trucking wants to hear. He shows up and i still could not recall if i stopped. I told him i did. After two days when Homeland Security releases the video under tight security, the sherrif calls me in my cell, he tells me i did not stop. The next day i sit with my bass the manager, we worked for the same company before this one and the driver manager, we sit and the port computer geek shows us the video. I was the most embarrising moment in my life. I totally lost sight of the stop sign and slowed down when the rail track bumps got rough. I was relesed of my contract in the lease purchase with the company and we sit down and talk. I was in a low moment and theres when the driver manager tells me, go to court and plead no contest! dont accept responsability, and thats what i did and my record is like nothing happend? so folks, thats why i tell every driver, fight that ticket in court! it's worth it and this driver with the roll over question should'off done that! I missed the stop sign and CSX did not have the are or intermitent red light or the horn and i was in CSX RAIL ROAD TRACKS and it's their rules. Their train car had extensive damage thanks to 53 thousand pounds of flyash. Three weeks later the top brass of CSX in Jacksnville FL a Female send me a letter, it's protocol from the NTSB National Transportaion Safety Board to ask with the permission of my attorney to answer some questions. I had no attorney and i the NTSB for the archives wanted to know my injuries, all i had a swollen ankle and scratches when i fell. I aswered what they ask me and i actually send her a message that they should cut the brush and shrubs on the side of the rail track. You cant see anything once you get right at the tracks, thats why i never saw him coming until i was already in front of him. A week later ofter i told her about the safety hazard with these shrubs, i saw that they sended a maintenance crew and cut alot of plants and trees for better visibility. Just four rail tracks to go and my day was over, just like Earnest Byner of the Cleveland Browns fumbles at the 1 yard line against John Elways Broncos in the 1987 AFC Championship.
     
  8. Fiddle Sticks

    Fiddle Sticks Light Load Member

    149
    46
    Dec 24, 2012
    Chicagoland
    0
    Care to explain how exactly? Because I call out a guy that tells me to keep my mouth shut? I am not the only one that Transcam Pud chastises for he plagues many on TTR, unfortunately. He is the one that needs to go away because he never offers a solution, he just gives out grief.

    Incorrect you are. I was not completely filled in about ALL bottom-feeders when I started my decision to try trucking as courier O/O'ing was dead. I was 'Scheider Blinded by the Light'. That was my 'be all-end all' company to work for. I went to trucking school believing they had given me a 'pre-hire' agreement. CRE was the only one that I knew about at the time of plunk down of my cash. I almost shipped out to Knight--your can read all about it on TTR. Then, week by week, in the Report a Bad Trucking section, I learned of Swift, Werner, Knight, Pam, Stevens, Roehl, Marten, and I cannot remember all the others.

    Meanwhile, while discovering the 'names' of the companies, I learned of the 'tactics' that these companies perform to their drivers: no empty trailers available, hitting the DAC with an 'abandonment' tag despite a driver leaving the truck in the yard, shorting of pay, not reimbursing tolls and lumper costs, not fixing trucks, not getting a driver home for weeks on end, issuing trucks with the cab soaked in urine or covered with fecal matter, etc etc.

    ----------------------------------------------

    Long story short, no, I did not 'know' of the 'deal' before I 'sat in the saddle'. I am so grateful of TTR and the ones who posted their experiences on here before me to save me from a mega-hell. I would never get my 1-year experience with a bottom-feeder (non-Schnieder) because I would never last on week at one given all that I have read!

    The only bottom-feeder I will consider as of this typing is Schneider, but I am desperately trying other options first. I make no apologies to anyone that gets peeved over this. Like the Bon Jovi song goes: "Its my liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-ife...."

     
    DriverToBroker Thanks this.
  9. Fiddle Sticks

    Fiddle Sticks Light Load Member

    149
    46
    Dec 24, 2012
    Chicagoland
    0

    Kinda ironic, ain't it? I mean, a very senior citizen, such as yourself, in his sixties, claiming that a guy, some 20 years your junior, is not going to be 'around' and all....

    I may not be around TTR or trucking, but you are actuarially speaking likely just not to be around...anywhere....if you know what I mean...
     
  10. Tonythetruckerdude

    Tonythetruckerdude Crusty Deer Slayer

    2,904
    41,340
    Dec 8, 2012
    hunting...../ retired
    0
    Driver of the year..This may sound silly...but why were you driving 5 hours over the legal limit of HOS....in bad weather low light conditions. All I'm going by is the info that you posted about it your self. It would seem that you should have already been a few hours into your break when you had that accident. If you had been obeying the rules then you would have been sleeping , or relaxing at the time , instead of trying to get in a third load............You do know that its the drivers responsibility to make sure that he is legal right.....some awful big flags going up here.........

    To the OP...roll-overs are serious accidents in the trucking world. Lots of companies won't even look at you once they see one. IMO , they can be a job-killer even worse than a failed drug screen or a DUI/DWI. They scream two things , 1) The driver was not paying attention , 2) the driver over reacted? panicked , or was driving too fast for the road/traffic conditions. There is also the mechanical failure/blown steering tire scenario , but if that is the case a police/accident report can shed some light on the incident. You are in a bad spot, to be sure..... but it may be possible with time to find a job in the industry , keep looking , but just remember a good , steady/accident free work history post roll-over is going to be your best bet. Good Luck
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2013
    perufb Thanks this.
  11. Colorato

    Colorato Road Train Member

    1,336
    865
    Feb 22, 2011
    0
    Not to pick on them but you might try Fed-Ex. The company I work for now the first truck I drove for them had been rolled. 2 weeks after the driver rolled it Fed-ex hired him. :biggrin_2556:
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  • Thread Status:
    Not open for further replies.