Accidents on private property?

This entire discussion disgusts me. It doesn't matter where an incident occurs, own it. You are responsible for expensive equipment, expensive loads, and expensive property. If you want to drop a hamburger patty on the floor, say oops, and serve it anyway... go into fast food. You'll be home every night.

 

Of course those things will follow you around. I saw a guy get imediately fired on the spot for hitting a barrel garbage can in front of a security shack. This was in a foot of Texas mud that was just as bad or worse than ice. He thought it was a laughing matter while myself and a few other drivers new the company man was on his way to take the keys and drive him, in the company pickup, back to the company housing where he would collect his stuff and be escorted off property. This was for a dented blue plastic barrel and no visible damage to the truck.

Hitting stuff on customer property will at the very least get you a "fired, will not rehire" on your record. This is trucking, companies are required by law to contact previous empoyers for, I think, the prevoius ten years.

 

Cameras are everywhere. As a professional you should always report an accident or damage to someone else’s property regardless of how minor or at least make it right before leaving.

Skating to avoid the consequences is not cool. I put this type of activity right under the stealing.

Completely different story if you are unaware of the incident.

If my company fired me over an accident, regardless if it was my fault or not, they aren’t worth working for if I don’t have the chance to explain and make it right.

 

In the grand scheme of things, yeah its minor. Cosmetic damage only, less that $5,000 total damage.



These were trailers that were "bumped" in uncontrolled lots with no cameras.

The top one was loaded with roll stock, the bottom one with cereal. Both loads were complete write offs. If it were one of our drivers who did the damage, whether they were fired or not would come down to how much their manager was willing to go to bat for them.

And these were both in the last 30 days. I can go on and on my friend, for this is the song that never ends. People started hitting things and not reporting it and now it's the song that never ends.

 

I asked a question about this topic in a Facebook group yesterday afternoon. This morning I noticed some replies. One of the answers I received was in the last 6 months these safety people have fired drivers for not reporting preventative accidents both on and off private property. In almost every case they were caught by cell phone video. I quoted @gentleroger because of some comments they made. One such safety critter told me they are self-insured and go through 7 figures of money each and every year paying claims. Drivers sometimes ##### and complain about how crappy they are paid. In all honesty, if this crap would stop most carriers could give their drivers HUGE raises.

I won't hide it. If I see a driver yank a stupid I am recording and I WILL send that video to their safety dept. I hate doing it, but these jakewagons are costing EVERYBODY in the end. Think about this crap the next time you get on your high horse about a snitch!

 

Let’s talk about that snitch philosophy some.

Think I’ll start with a question. If that driver hit/smashed/ flattens your car would that change your reaction? Would you then be calling it in and snitching on him/ her as they drive away?

 

DAC / Hire Right reports are like credit reports. The companies can put or not put whatever they want in them. The fact one company MAY not report one of their drivers backing into a car on private property does NOT tell you another trucking company will not put that incident into DAC if it happen there. It's like saying "I drove past a cop shooting radar and I was doing 7 mph over the speed limit and didn't get a ticket". Even if what is said is true it DOES NOT mean every cop will ignore you driving 7 MPH over the speed limit.

 

You're not "an idiot", moron or imbecile.

When "Curbing a Tire", it's best done S-L-O-W-L-Y.
I've hit more Curbing than I can recall yet every time it was done S-L-O-W-L-Y., both sight and blind side.
Some places just didn't have enough room for a full sized sleeper and a 53' dry van on 8th or 10th wide spaced trailer holes, while "USING ALL AVAILABLE ROOM". CHEERS!!

 

Based on this comment I have a rhetorical question I want to ask. It is 8 AM on a Sunday morning and you are entering a large drop yard like the one across the Mississippi river from St Louis. When you get there as you roll in you see a driver attempting to drop a trailer in a hole too small and in the process rips about 10 feet out of the trailer you are supposed to pick up. You have the entire thing on video and the driver leaves and says nothing to anybody. Remember it is 8 AM on a Sunday you are trying to get under a now damaged trailer. You have a video. This load is is your go-home load and you need to be home for a special occasion. Yet now you can't put the trailer on the road plus the load is damaged. But, since you don't believe in being a snitch you just call weekend dispatch and tell them your load is damaged and have no idea how it got that way, right?

 

Right! Crying over spilt milk doesn't change anything.