I messed up. I messed up bad.

We’ve all made mistakes, I own ONE of those too....Verify trailer number, seal number, destination, even the load number.

 

I think most new truck drivers did something similar in their carrier.
I also grabbed wrong trailer and drove 200 miles till realize it.
Most companies not going to kiss you for this action. But not going to punish you that much as some sort of accident you getting involved in

 

Own it ( you did that already). Learn from it. Move on.

 

I once was dispatched on a load to pick up in Catawba, SC. I went to Catawba, NC (both are along I-77). Called in all bent outta shape about the directions having the wrong exit number, and besides, “I don’t see any stinking paper plant around here!”.

“Look at your load info again...”

“Yeah...Paper Mill at Catawba.....awwwww, (expletive)...”

Durr.....

 

I was renovating a hotel in Peoria, AZ and expecting a load of carpet from Georgia. Got a call from the driver that he had found Grand Ave but couldn't find hotel. He was in Peoria Illinois

 

4 hours into a 5.5 hr run, on a Sat., I glanced at my BOL, glanced in my mirror, and had a heart attack. I was hooked to the wrong darn container. Pulled to the side of the road and started to cry...….then I looked at my BOL, and realized that I laid Monday's delivery invoice on top of Saturdays delivery invoice on the passengers seat, so when I grabbed it, I grabbed the wrong one. Boss got a chuckle, coworker thought it was hilarious, me, not so much.

 

Not trying to pass the buck here as ultimately it’s your responsibility but most good dispatcher’s will periodically check in to see where the truck is and how things are going when it’s in route. They can do this through the QUALCOMM tracking. They can tell down to within 5 feet of where you’re at at any given moment. Just saying, somebody probably should’ve caught that before you went that distance. That said, if you work for a decent company I doubt they let you go. Probably cost him about $500.

Not the biggest screwup, you intentions weren’t to do wrong.

 

I sent one of my trucks to pick up an excavator about two hours away, and haul it to another location about 4 hours from the pickup point. driver finished the job and returned to the yard that night.

got a call the next morning, the company we were hauling for called to say that it wasn't their machine we dropped off. sure, it was a 270 John Deere, but not theirs.

turns out my driver spotted this machine on his way to the location in the directions and thought someone had made a mistake. the machine he was supposed to haul was another 3 miles down the road. the owners of the mistaken excavator had no idea it had left their site. (until we returned it to their site)

 

I had the same thing happen at our PHX yard a few years back. Now, understand that FXF has absorbed so many companies that our trailer numbering conventions have absolutely no rhyme or reason. So I'm looking for 12345 out in the yard, running 2.2 placards. Found it, hooked up and wouldn't ya know it, some jackhole put the wrong seal on it! So I go in to fix the issue, and Dispatch is adamant that the right seal is on there, so we go back and forth a bit...

...and I go back out to the yard and lo and behold, I'm supposed to grab not 12345, but P12345. Also running 2.2. Out of all the trailers in all the yards in the USA, what are the odds? LOL

 

Two weeks ago I had a live unload early on Monday morning in Memphis. Early enough that in my sleepy daze I forgot that I had a live load nearby going to Monticello, Mississippi, four hours away. I just deadheaded there. Just as I got there, my memory kicked in. Dispatch had me go back and get the load, of course I didn’t get it delivered until the following morning (fortunately it was paper recycling, not time sensitive). I then picked up a load there bound for Kansas City that I actually managed to deliver on time... only to get a $125 ticket in KC for driving on a “no trucks” street.

I’ve been a pro driver for 21 years, and I can’t remember having a week where I was so feckless. I guess it happens!