Getting winched out, how does your company view this?

The Amish, Hutterites and similiar people have different ways of following their ways. Some use engines to drive farm machinery, like a combine or corn picker, but still use horses to propel them down the field. Some have and use all the machinery available including cars and pickups and small trucks. Some do not use electricity in their homes and others have all the latest electrical gadgets. Some still travel to town in horse and buggy, they buy old racehorses and the buggies are fast. My father used to haul Belgium draft horses to some of the Amish across the midwest, I have hauled a trailer full of Alside siding to a Hutterrite farm near Abby Sask. Everyone had a job on the farm, one guy maintained all the cars and pickups, one guy made furniture for everyone, one guy maintained farm equipment. I was invited to eat the noon meal with them. In the center of the establishment, they had a dining hall. Men sat on one side, women on the other. They rang the bell and everyone started getting the food, buffet style. No one talked, just ate. In a few minutes, they rang the bell again and eating was finished. This happened in 1980 or 81, I will never forget it.

 

The only Time(s?) I Recall Getting "Winched Out" Was When Some Mechanical Operation (Engine or Transmission) Ceased Function.
I Do Not Recall ANY Time From Late '98 To Early '19 Whether In A 6-10 Wheeled Straight Truck Or 18 Wheeled Road Combo When I Successfully Became Stuck In Mud, Snow, Ice, Cow Pies or A Dry Pond Full Of Diapers.
I've Done Some Spooky Paved 2 Lanes In Mountains As Well Dirt Roads Off Mountains And Long Flatland Backing Maneuvers Yet NEVER Became Stuck To Where A "Winch" Was Needed.
Guess I "Paid Attention To Surroundings", Even The Ones That May Well Have Been Hallucinations From Lack Of Energy Regenerating Sleep Mostly During The Paper Logs Era.

>>I Didn't Get To See The Thread "Poll"<<>>Guess I Missed Nothing<<

 

For my company, it is very much circumstances based. Pull off on a shoulder and get stuck- preventable. Stuck at a customer, generally non preventable, but it can depend. Stuck on snow/ice is one thing, but I know of one driver who tried to drive through a mud pit to get to the mt trailers and buried himself up to the differential. That one was a preventable, mainly because I and two other drivers were sitting there waiting for our company to force the warehouse to pull the trailers to a dry spot or find us a different trailer. Dude tried to get some speed and just power through, didn't work out.

I think it can also depend if the carrier is looking for a reason to fire the driver or how knowledgeable the DM is in company policy and procedures.

 

Most plant/factory jobs are the same way. If the screw up results in an invoice, someone's making a record of it.

Most companies won't fire you over one bad day or one stupid decision. They do want some kind of record so they can see the pattern developing and dump the guy before the guy flushes the while company down the drain.

We had a guy who switched from vtl to a dedicated account. He'd been on his own for about 2 months total when he dropped his tandems into a ditch while making a right hand turn. We brought him in for a standard "post incident training" and he massively failed the first check ride and was a marginal pass on the second. His new driver manager (former driver) saw the massive red flags, but couldn't do anything because the previous manager hadn't written up his previous two incidents. Three incidents inside 2 months is grounds for termination in almost anyone's book.

They put him with me for a week to see if I could "polish his skills". His issue was critical thinking and making connections between separate ideas/events. After 5 days he was still making dumb mistakes like missing the truck entrance to the plant that we are based out of. I can fix skill issues and fill in knowledge gaps, but there is little I can do about behavioral issues, so we cut ties.

The guy passed initial training because he did understand the core concepts and would likely be able to grow into a decent driver, but his inability to internalize learning made him a danger. Had his first driver manager done their job and documented the first two incidents, it is unlikely he would have passed his PIT, and then would not have dropped his tandems in the ditch.

I understand how the "safety" mindset of large companies can be (rightly) viewed as petty and non-productive. It is. But is also is the only way to get guys like that off the road.

 

I drive for a mom and pop now for about 7 years. About 2 years in I got this bright idea that it would be better to drive into what I thought was a dry field instead of backing out into the the street from the L shaped parking lot. Got about 10 feet in and she sunk in. Wrecker comes in so I'm thinking this is going to be at least a $2k #### up. Boss shows me the bill a month later. $450 and some change (and I was in deep after trying to get out). He said you owe me, and took a trip up to the big corporate DC/Terminal (that he knows I hate going to, but duty called in a pinch) in Dallas and it was never spoken of ever again.

Moral of the story? Getting winched out of a tough spot really depends on who you work for. Smaller companies let things slide (unless it's a really bad thing). Bigger ones? You're just a number.

In other news? If you don't want to sleep in your truck, drive one that doesn't have a bed in the back of it. I'm here all week. lol

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