Fired for driving accident in recent snow

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Hello92, Feb 22, 2021.

  1. Western flyer

    Western flyer Road Train Member

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    Seems to me that little stupid bonus thing
    They have,made you push it farther than
    You should have.

    It's a gimmick. Good jobs just pay you more.
     
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  3. tlalokay

    tlalokay Medium Load Member

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    That is definitely not how the trucking industry works. You decide when to turn the key on or off. It's up to you to gauge conditions- your own physical/mental as well as weather and traffic, both present and future, in order to decide for yourself whether to sit or run.

    There's no such thing as "no" in the trucking industry, with all due respect to our elder @Ridgeline.

    Rather, there's adjusting your delivery schedule and keeping dispatch updated and having good reason for doing so. It's always about the conditions. No one will reprimand you for adjusting your schedule due to fatigue, weather/road conditions, or some physical ailment- as long as it's not a habit in the fatigue/physical area.

    But it's definitely part of the job of "driver" to look at all these conditions and plan ahead for them. It's also part of the job to contact shippers/receivers to confirm hours of operation, addresses, and delivery times. That's good advice if you want your job to go smoothly. I can't say how many times I was able to enjoy some unexpected down time or get home early because I contacted receivers and confirmed they were open later or would receive a load earlier than scheduled. Many a time I was able to confirm they were not open or I would not make a scheduled delivery because of adjusted hours of operation and I was able to lighten my own schedule not having to rush to a closed facility and sleep in the middle of nowhere.

    That's not dispatch's job.

    They're just covering their own behinds and yes, it will occur at your expense.

    I can all but guarantee you that the decision changed from "non-preventable" to "preventable" when they decided to terminate you. Maybe there's something you could have done differently in the aftermath to avoid the termination.

    For me, seems like there's more to the story than what you've said. For example, you didn't mention if there was any damage to the vehicle, only that you ran off the road and weren't hit. Even just running off the road can cause a lot of damage to a tractor/trailer. You said that you had to bring the equipment in for repairs but you didn't mention any damage in your account. So, something's not adding up.

    If there were cars parked on the road and you ran off the road to avoid them, then damaged the equipment- that means you were not paying enough attention and/or driving too fast for conditions.

    Was there a dash cam? Driver facing cam?

    They might have reviewed the footage and found you negligent in some way leading to the "preventable" conclusion and termination.

    I think you mean "DAC". There are plenty of threads discussing the efficacy of the "DAC" report and whether companies rely entirely on it or not. There are also plenty of threads advising drivers on how to proceed at the point you are with an accident on your DAC.

    I don't know if you mentioned it or not, but did LEOs show up to the scene? Did you get ticketed?

    There's a big difference between having an accident on the DAC report and having an accident on your driving record.
     
  4. tarmadilo

    tarmadilo Road Train Member

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    Sorry that happened to you. Yes, it would have been a good thing if your company had contacted you and told you to park it. And it totally sucks that they fired you. But here you are now, a week older and a considerable amount wiser (at least I hope you are!).

    Shake it off, start applying for work (maybe ask Chinatown for a few leads), and start over again, knowing better how to operate out in the road.
     
  5. Road-house

    Road-house Light Load Member

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    Sorry you lost your job. Going forward with your career remember this moment! When your starting out its weird to tell your boss what you are going to do but in this industry you get used to it because you have to make these decisions! Your boss might act pissy hell worst case scenario you get fired. But if you let them pressure you into helping them or doing them a favor and if it goes bad and you wreck or get stuck out in it your boss/dispatch is going to hang you out to dry. Remember you are the Captain of the ship if it's not safe don't do it! Don't let anyone pressure you into it either (they will try). At the end of the day it's sad but this industry has turned into a big ole game you just have to learn to play it. Good luck with the job search you'll be ok.
     
  6. TokyoJoe

    TokyoJoe Road Train Member

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    If you didn't hit anyone and nobody hit you and you only went off of the road and had to be towed out then what needed to be fixed?

    Where is the rest of the story?
     
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  7. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    Sorry dude this really is the problem, you got the cdl, you are the professional at that moment, you are the one in charge of the truck and it isn’t the company’s job to guide you on anything. Most of these companies do not give a crap and it is your job, your profession to say no. If you get fired for saying no, then so what? This isn’t important as much as you not getting into a serious accident and killing someone.
     
  8. Woodys

    Woodys Heavy Load Member

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    So it seems you are learning the lesson the hard way. Your accident was absolutely preventable. You are the professional driver. If the roads were slippery and icy then you should have been driving that much more cautiously. If it was beyond your capability to safely travel, then you park it and let dispatch know. As a truck driver you have to learn to cover your ### (CYA) because you will be blamed for everything. Stop blaming the company, you are beyond naive if you expect them to monitor the driving conditions for every one of their drivers. That is YOUR job as the driver.

    Having said all that. Good job on not hitting another car. And as long as this is your only incident, you shouldnt have an issue finding another company to hire you. Next time be more cautious when youre driving in conditions you arent familiar with. Just cause Bilbo is driving 70mph on an icy road doesnt mean you can.
     
  9. bryan21384

    bryan21384 Road Train Member

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    Memphis, TN
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    Ain't nothing extra to thr story man. Companies decide who they can keep or not to keep. If the OP was experienced, they may have kept him.....experienced as in been with the company for several years. Their insurance probably said it was a no go. You tear up equipment, which I'm pretty sure happened, then it's a chance tou get let go.
     
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  10. Moose1958

    Moose1958 Road Train Member

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    We can do the shoulda coulda woulda thing all day and debate this all day long, but in the end, we return to the FACT when you operate ANY vehicle (even a dang bicycle) YOU are responsible for that vehicle when it is in operation! Your company is NOT responsible and neither is Safety as has already been mentioned.

    You might lose a job with outlaw trucking for refusing to operate, but a legit carrier that does it the right way WILL NOT fire you. The exception being if you are a problem driver. (I won't go there because it's a different dynamic).

    In almost every carrier operations dept the politics are horrible. The account managers and load planners in most carriers are the ones with real power. The fleet managers are just that, they manage these fleets and try to keep their drivers moving. Woe be unto that fleet manager that can't get those loads picked up and delivered. I have seen fleet managers fired for less. This is why most will make threats when told by a driver they will NOT operate because of bad weather. When you learn the internal politics of a carrier's operations dept you can see this. This is why you are actually doing your fleet manager a favor when you call safety. When a high-ranking safety critter enters operations with blood in their eyes EVERYBODY gets religion. I have seen cell phone videos of safety critters screaming at people in operations because a driver complained. You make that decision to park, stand by that decision, in almost every carrier safety will have your back.
     
  11. Long FLD

    Long FLD Road Train Member

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    I didn’t read all the responses, but the OP needs to learn to take some responsibility. He chose to leave and drive into bad weather. He didn’t call his delivery to even verify if they were open or not. He made the choice to drive into even worse weather. A couple days of poor decisions considering the easy access to weather and traffic reports on your phone.

    That being said, the dummy typing this was in Tulsa last week right in the middle of all that because one of our customers was out of product. It was not fun and no way would’ve I headed to AR in that mess.
     
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  12. Cobrakaiguy

    Cobrakaiguy Light Load Member

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    Don’t be afraid to name a #### bag company, ever..... with that said, Always ask the policy for bad weather, when I know the roads are going to be #### even when it’s two inches of snow, I stop, period.

    I was in Texas last week when the storm hit, and there was plenty of idiots running off the road. Some companies send out a shutdown message on what ever ELD they are using, others will advise you not to drive, but tell you that load has to be delivered on time, and companies like yours don’t care until you hit something or go off the road, and they just fire you.
     
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