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

hawkjr · Feb 28, 2015

teflondave said: ↑

I hope she can and does make $65000 at knight trans so all the nay-sayers will get off their high horses and STHU...she made a few rookie mistakes like we all did but all the cheap shots at her are unnecessary. watch where you throw them stones huh. smh..........
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You know what... i had to change this, yeah some of us are being kinda of rough but I think we can all come to an agreement and say "She F-ed up"... which is another rookie mistake in its own. She'll learn

bucksnort · Feb 28, 2015

I don't get what hiring a lawyer would solve. I don't quit one job until i have another sealed offer. Recruiters are like swampland salesdogs.

flyingmusician · Feb 28, 2015

joseph1135 said: ↑

I made plenty of mistakes. Still do. I go the wrong way sometimes. When I started I knocked a trailer door off. It's not that she made mistakes. It's the attitude that she has.
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that's the whole point I think some of us are trying to make and some are doing better than others at it but this pretty much nails it.

we ALL make mistakes. rarely do they result in damage......and we don't get more defiant the more we get responses we don't like from those with more time in the seat than we have.

I made the mistake of listening to the receiver's directions getting into New Orleans down close to the superdome 3 weeks ago when I should have trusted my gut and gone the longer route I had already spent over an hour figuring out the night before but still wasn't sure about which was why I called the receiver......it was one of those places there just isn't a good way in or out and waaayyyyyy tighter than the place she described earlier. as a result of not listening to my gut and instead buying that old line of 'that's the way all the trucks come in'....(actually the first time I'd ever been told that. that in itself should have been a red flag lol)....I ended up looking at a 13'2 bridge as soon as I rolled off the exit. I sure didn't drive into it to verify what I could already see. I just pulled the brakes and put on the 4 ways and figured it out and gracefully extracted myself out of that situation fairly easily.

mistakes happen. it's how you deal with them that matters. and not making the obvious ones that even a raw noob should be able to see are coming if they're paying attention.

X-Country · Feb 28, 2015

Arkansas said: ↑

Ok. Here's my question. Can you really make 65,000 at Knight ?
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absolutely. I have 5 friends that work for them in the Reefer division. all clearing $65,000 a year. All have 2 or more years of experience now.

flyingmusician said: ↑

therein lies the problem with your mindset and why you just don't get it. scratches, dents and dings do NOT happen in this industry if you're paying attention to what you're doing. the only time you should get a scratch, dent or ding is if SOMEONE ELSE puts it there.
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no I get it. But if you don't know any better, and you're inexperienced, and you didn't get the best training, things do happen unfortunately. Look at the company that trained me. Werner. Their CSA is absolutely cow pies. They let ANYONE with 3 months experience train other drivers. A driver can only be as good as they training they are provided with. But I assure you, after my first two, I did everything I could to address it and not make more mistakes. That's why I went almost 6 months with no preventables, and it should still be a continuing streak because I didn't hit the truck in the 3rd instance.

jumping a kingpin, and to the point where the header contacts and damages a fairing is inexcusable. it shows you don't follow good practices by stopping just under the trailer to be sure it isn't too high instead of just blindly backing under it until it stops.....on something.....which in this case was the fairing.
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Somehow, through CDL School and while out with my training, it was never once mentioned or covered. Every time I backed under a trailer it was always at the right height.

It wasn't until I learned the hard way by hitting the fairing that I realized you need to get out and check the trailer height, and if its too high, then you need to lower it. But only made that mistake once. It's not happened again since.

And I never said anything about it being excusable. But to put it on the same level of severity as hitting someone on a highway, rolling your truck or something else, is just Super Trucker minded arrogance.

flyingmusician said: ↑

likewise with dropping the tandems off in the mud to the point you had to get extracted. it shows that a) either you didn't care and knew they were they and just thought you'd just drive it through and out or b) you just weren't paying attention. I didn't have to be there. these were your own admissions.
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I was paying attention, I just misjudged my turning point. The entire tandems weren't in the mud just the very rear outside tire. And that was also corrected because I haven't done that again either.

cnsper said: ↑

The whole second statement boils down to this.... YOU can not prove you did not do it! I hit an elk at about 40 mph and I even saw it happen but I barely felt it. It felt more like a bump in the road. Scratching a hood you would not feel at all. Maybe you did do it maybe you did not but you can not prove it. The receiver has no responsibility to turn over security tapes to you. If you were the only one that delivered on that day then you did it.
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No way of knowing if I was the only one.

When I get an attorney and take Werner to court over it, the burden of proof will be on THEM. They have to PROVE that I did do it, and they wont be able to, which should get it off my record.

Like I said, for all anyone knows, the truck was damaged before I got there. Or it was damaged after I left. Or it was damaged Monday morning by one of their own drivers, and they just tried to blame it on the last driver that was there.

I don't pull into someone's lot and start looking for damaged trucks. Instead, I'm looking at my surroundings, thinking what I need to do, thinking about my setup, approach, and what maneuvers need to be made and focused and concentrating on my task.

There's entirely TOO MUCH DOUBT to prove anything of who did or didnt do it.

They do have an obligation to turn over security tapes to our Safety Department for review but have refused. If I supposedly did this, and they have tapes that show this, then why won't they turn over the tapes and say, we got it right here, you did do it and then that's the end of it? What are they hiding and why? That doesnt make any sense at all.

But getting an attorney and challenging the preventable in court, I can have the lawyer have those tapes subpoenaed.

I have a problem with companies that fraudulently place things on a Driver's DAC report without having PROOF to back it up. 2 pictures sent via email don't prove anything. Placing a preventable on someone's Professional Record that you can't prove they did is called fraud and defamation of professional character and is having an impact on me getting employment elsewhere. And Werner is WELL known for this practice.

cnsper said: ↑

I went to use another one of our trucks to pull a trailer in because we had to tow the tractor. Guess what I found that no body did???? A big gouge out of the sidewall of the left steer tire. I could even see the cords and some were cut. How that tire was still together I don't know but no one did it. It was pretty easy to figure out though... It was not like that the day before and the shop used it to back a trailer in.... Well guess what? Until I went to use it, that mechanic was the only one that had moved that truck that day. Pretty easy to figure out.

It is people like you that want to sue for things that they are responsible for like the lady with the coffee at Mc Donalds or the guy that put his motorhome on cruise control then got up to make a sandwich. Grow up, learn from it and move on. Oh and quit whining.

My first day I took a right hand turn too sharp and took down a stop light... $1200... That was 2 years ago and the only thing I have hit (except the elk but he was moving... LOL) Now I pull things that are 90 feet long and do not hit stuff. I don't care how much you watched your mirrors, with that kind of turn you CANNOT see what the back of your trailer is doing. You would have better visibility out your passenger window. Sounds to me like one of the doors swung open and scratched the hood rather than the back of the trailer. I don't pull vans but I would have made the turn THEN opened the doors but that is just me. I don't want the possibility of crap falling off my trailer.
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I am not whining. Trying to help other drivers learn from my mistakes.

And my door did not swing open. The door handle was secured in the slot on the side of the trailer. I would have seen it had swung open when I got out to look the 3 times while making my pivot maneuver. I would have seen it when I set up to do my 90º back and got out and looked (i went to the back of the trailer and looked on both sides, do it every time).

Despite my very early 2 mistakes back in April and June, I am a very competent driver, I learned from my mistakes and moved on. I have a system every day, same system, I stick to it, and I don't deviate unless circumstances call for a deviation.

Not all drivers are equal. Not all driver training is equal. Not all trainers are equal. So comparing what you did when you entered the industry or whatver, is not equal to my experience or the training I have received. You may have had a better trainer who was more in depth. You may have an instructor in CDL school, that was more strict or in depth in their teachings.

texasbbqbest · Feb 28, 2015

X-Country said: ↑

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.
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Why did you quit Werner before you knew FOR SURE you'd be hired at night? This is completely your fault! Sorry to hear about your luck. Hopefully you get hired somewhere else!

flyingmusician · Feb 28, 2015

everything else said notwithstanding......

I am sure of one thing and that is that you may indeed have learned a thing or two about both the operation of the equipment and the workings of the industry given what you've been through and hopefully been given plenty of things to think about as well by the responses given here.

first year is tough. the learning curve is immense. some adapt quicker than others. you did make it past year one into year 2 now and that's farther than most entering the industry get.

the fedex gig will be a different animal than what you've been used to and for sure there are at least 2 mistakes you WON'T make again lol just remember they don't call doubles wiggle wagons for nothing. it's going to be a whole new learning curve.

texasbbqbest · Feb 28, 2015

X-Country said: ↑

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.
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Whatever the recruiter told you doesn't mean squat if it wasn't in writing....

SLANT6 · Feb 28, 2015

The whole issue here is the OP not wanting to admit a responsibility in all this. A lot of you chalk up her incidents to just No Big Deal. Let me assure you all. They are a big deal to just about every trucking company out there.
So you either learn from your experiences, or go through your career saying to yourself you got screwed. By the way, Male or Female driver makes no difference to me...You screwed up multiple times and are now paying for it.
Welcome to the real world.

Have a nice day

RetiredUSN · Feb 28, 2015

teflondave said: ↑

I hope she can and does make $65000 at knight trans so all the nay-sayers will get off their high horses and STHU...she made a few rookie mistakes like we all did but all the cheap shots at her are unnecessary. watch where you throw them stones huh. smh..........
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Buy a truck a truck and hire her if you think that. When the check book bumps up against reality......you may think differently. If she would have thought things through......she would have realized that Werner was a pretty nice deal under the circumstances. When you add up the 3 incidents, trusting a head hunter without verifying, flippant attitude, and what ever else she may or not have done out there........it all adds up to a potential train wreck. Knight was right to kick her to the curb.

street beater · Feb 28, 2015

Wow guys you all must #### gold that smells of pine and roses. shes pissed avout being lied to. So would you. She feels defamed by a false acusation (yes i know we only have her word) you would be also. She owned her mistakes like any good driver. And just for tbe hell of it ill add no matter your miles or OMG 3 whole years! Your miles arnt hers or mine so claiming she is reckless or any of the other insults are childish. She came here to vent and warn others who are fresh and inexsperianced and only gets atacked...... real professional...

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