No second chances

First Fleet is just as bad.
First Express is a member of the "Three headed snake" family; Averitt/First Express/First Fleet

 

double post

 

People are human and mistakes happen. That being said some mistakes are just a result of carelessness or flat out not paying attention. As an employer you can't have people who have a track record of being careless or paying attention driving around in an 80,000lb missile when you are financially responsible for their actions.

I have a small business and five employees. They drive pickups and pull gooseneck trailers but I am the only one that drives the big truck. I wouldn't even put someone who I thought was unsafe behind the wheel of the pickup. Too much liability for me. It may seem harsh but if joe blow the new trucker has been driving a month and already did something stupid why would you want to hire them when they may very well do it again? All you have to go on when hiring is a persons history.

I truly think some people are cut out for driving a big truck and others are not. Same goes for driving anything I guess. Some people are just accident prone. I know some people that have been in a dozen vehicle accidents in their life. They were not all their fault but many were probably avoidable if they would have been driving defensively. I drive a lot of miles each year and have been driving 35 years (not all CDL - just driving in general) and have only been in one wreck where I was moving at the time and that was when a lady pulled right out in front of me while I was going 70 down the highway. I braked and swerved and neither of us were hurt and my vehicle was able to drive away. Not bad for a 70 mph incident. I have been rear ended three times while I was completely stopped at a red light. Not while I was stopping but had been sitting there for a while and bam. Anyway my point is businesses are not there to give people chances they are there to make money and the odds of making money are not in your favor if you hire dangerous drivers.

 

I would say pride. No one wants to look like an amateur doing 3,4,5 pullups or constantly walking back to check, especially in front of other truckers watching.

 

Drivers don't slow down ahead of time when taking a sharp ramp till it's too late
Drivers go too fast for road conditions so yes speed is a factor for roll overs.high winds can also cause roll overs.but a little common since can go along says in this industry.

 

To become Stupid, a person must first attain knowledge.

A motorist turns down a residential street. Cars are parked on either side of the street. There are children all over down this street. The posted limit is 35. Lots of bad things can happen, right? Stupid will see all of this, acknowledge all of this, yet still drive down this street at 35 mph, because the posted limit is 35.

So Stupid watches a couple Burt Reynolds movies, sees truckers, and thinks, "Hey! I would be great at that! I really enjoy driving and I have a clean driving record." Stupid never learned "the Rules of the Road" in a car, and now he's behind the wheels a semi. Expect disaster.

Everyone says, "Slow down." Stupid thinks, "If I drive slow, I will never have a problem." Driving slow will not make Stupid a safe driver. It will just bottleneck traffic and put him in close proxy of others just like him. Expect disaster.

What does it take to roll a truck? Not much. If your rig is 35000 lbs and you have 45000 on your wagon, all you have to do is drive in a way to shift the load, and the truck will roll over on its side. There is a reason that tanker and LTL and heavyhaul and car hauling pays more money. You actually HAVE TO be able to drive. But Stupid looks and sees these drivers and thinks, "Hey, I'm a driver. I can do that too!" Expect disaster.

Back in the early 90s, a flatbed driver pulled over on the side of the road to take a whiz near BowlingGreen,KY. He had a 50000 lb steel coil on a 29000lb rig. Pulling over on the shoulder caused the coil to lean and as the driver was getting out of the truck, the truck flipped over and rolled into the ditch. The driver suffered a broken leg. Speed had nothing to do with it.

So you're here to gain some intel. Many come here looking for the same thing. But you can already bet on them being Stupid. First word out of Stupid Newbie's mouth is "pre hire". Uhoh. The gang here will issue warnings. Next thing Stupid says is "But the nice RECRUITER said....". Too late. No one can get through to Stupid now, not after the Recruiter hits him with that Sunshine Injection in the Arse. Stupid will now gladly drink any poison KoolAid. So the gang gives up and just says,"Good luck, driver." Expect disaster.

And then 3 months down the line, they post about accidents and whatnot, and getting terminated. And of course, the next conversation will be able Carolina Cargo. Expect disaster.

 

At the company I worked for, they hired a new guy, on his 2nd day, he rolled a enddump, Not paying attention, the company owner gave him a 2nd chance, sent him in for a drug screen and said if you pass you still have a job, he did pass the drug screen, but about 1 month later he was gone, We must have a OSHA 10 certification, takes 2 days to do, you could do it in 1, but OSHA time limits wont let you for some unknown reason, he just kept refusing to do the course? so they said "BYE BYE, just amazing! you total a trailer on your 2nd day with a company, and refuse to ge the cert?

 

Sounds like he didn't want or value his job very much.

 

My thoughts as well, I live in Vegas, when he started, he said he moved here from Cali, because his daughter got accepted into UNLV, and she needed the help with living expenses, guess he's not that worried about that as well

 

Sorry I have never accepted that premise. I guess it depends on what you define as (prone). I can't tell you how many times I have seen drivers (all type vehicles) with their attention inside the vehicle when it should be outside. I even seen a female driver at a Walmart DC almost hit a switch truck because she was in a loud argument with someone on the phone and not paying attention. With all the gadgets truck drivers have now. I am surprised there are not more serious accidents on our nations roads. This is why I will never agree with the accident prone argument. Its not that, its learning dangerous driving habits while on the road and maneuvering vehicles in terminals, truck stops and docks.