I BLEW IT...and ended my career!!!

Are you serious? Well that blows my perfect record.

 

When did it become ok to crash trucks and run over things and just call it learning ?

I always Thought we are called professional drivers because we don't run over things.
I know many old timers that have not been to the same place every day and still have managed to not crash wreck or drive over the top anything .

Running hard is no excuse for tearing stuff up be it your truck trailer or property.
There Is NO excuse for tearing things up EVER !!!

I can promise you that your company no matter how sorry would rather you be a few minutes late than to not make it at all and cost them a tow bill or truck and trailer repairs !!!
Dedicated routes are not any different than any other route except that you get bored and let your guard down so I would think that it be more likely that you would have a accident .

I cannot believe the low standards that we have in trucking today !!

I still say if they really want to make better and safer truck drivers there has to be a standardized system put in place for every company and driving school out here .
A driving school ran by the company and a trainer with 6 months seat time does not make a well trained driver make .

I know there is no easy answer to all the problems in trucking but we can start to make things better by at least expecting each and everyone of us to accept responsibility for our actions .
It is not anyone's fault but your own when you screw up.

You cannot be made to run junk trucks and break laws you make the decision to that on your own .
I know that because I have done them both but when I got caught I took my medicine like the big boy I am .

I have hauled hot freight I have ran team freight as a single driver I have broke speed laws but the one thing I have never done is tear up my equipment for any reason .
33 years danged near 4 million miles and I have yet to tear up any truck or trailer I have ever been in control of.

You can say what you want but you don't get to a clean record without a little luck and a heck of allot of paying attention to what you are doing and where your equipment is at and what it can and can't do .

 

the man pretty much summed it all up with this post.

Patty I'll try an tell you the difference. An accident occurs when 2 things try to occupy the same space....regardless of fault. An incident happens when a driver simply doesn't pay attention to his surroundings or the weather/road/traffic conditions , speed , fatigue , all types of things cause incidents. IMO the big difference between the 2 is "most" of the time the driver has more than 1 way to avoid an incident , by paying attention , slowing down or just using common sense.

 

Seriously??? Yeah dispatch me. And I guarantee I and millions of other PROFESSIONAL drivers will get it there. WITHOUT GPS but with plain old common sense.

 

The OP was Is my career over. That is up to you and you alone. With the CSA scores that become attached to a driver you will find that it will become harder and harder to catch on with a new company.

I have only been driving for 8 years. In the first year, I run over 7 trees, little ones. I knocked down 4 stop signs. I had one car side through a stop sign on ice and hit my trailer. My second year, I got knocked off the road by a big ORANGE truck. Luckily the Highway patrol officer saw it. My third year, I destroyed a Peterbuilt 379 and trailer (sued the state of Oklahoma and won). Since then, haven't touched a thing. None of the above accidents would have happened had I known then what I know now. I am a much better driver now. I get 20% better fuel economy now also.

This industry pays more for experience because with the more experience you have the safer you become. The more profit you will earn for your company. There is a 400,000 plus shortage in drivers out there. If you can't find a job with your record it is because you have given up too soon. Learn from your mistakes and you might be the best driver among us in a few years.

 

This is probably one of the top problems for new drivers, making the assumption that they have to turn around immediately to get back to the customer instead of continuing to drive until they find a safe place to turn around. Last month I had a pick up in southern Illinois in the middle of the night. Dispatch told me I was picking up from "XYZ" company and the GPS (and Google Maps) showed it was a very small building with a very narrow driveway off a 2 lane country road... but VERY close to a Walmart distribution center.

I get there and that narrow driveway was literally a narrow driveway with more than a foot of snow going into a farmer's residence. No WAY was that the customer. So I continued to drive for about 25 miles, passing up bad options for turning around, until I came to a Walmart store and parked it for the night after I was close to running out of hours. Contacted dispatch and found out the "XYZ" company was actually a supplier to Walmart and I was supposed to pick up at Walmart. Made the pick up the next day with no issues.

FAR better to continue on in a safe manner until you are REALLY certain you can make a turn around.

 

Hitman, my wife and I have been to that Pilot & had diesel fried chicken from the place across the street. Probably the best way to cook chicken in our opinion.

 

LOL @ a driver shortage. Also some people don't get better with time. They just have a really long run of decent luck. At the end of the day you are driving. Making decisions on the fly. If you have issues making decisions in your 4 wheeler then do not waste your time getting a cdl. From that video that was shown earlier. There was no way he had room to do a U turn, but because of making quick judgments that didn't take into consideration a 53 foot trailer. He put his self in a worse situation. None of us no matter how much experience we have. No matter how many patches we have on our jacket, shirt and truck. Are immune from an accident. Black ice doesn't take into consideration your safety record, Wind, Hydroplaning, 4 wheelers wheel's coming off while he's passing you. I even had a guy who was arguing with his girl friend or wife in the car, and I seen this dude turn the wheel right into the center barrier. The car came bouncing off and I had enough room to move over. So my friends let's all be safe and remember it only takes one second, and your career can be over as well. In my Earl Pitts voice with the national anthem playing in the background. WAKE UP AMERICA!!

 

You know over the years it has been my observation that " COMMON SENSE JUST ANI'T THAT COMMON ANYMORE"