Had a trailer come off truck do I need to tell my next employer

Downside of resignation is unemployment pay issues. Combined with the incident, nobody is fooled. If they fire you, next interview tell your story and see what happens Probably not much different than if you say you resigned, and by the way, I dropped a trailer.

 

If you had said any state but California I would have said BS. How on Earth can the police not have a record of a fatal accident? And it was only four years ago?

See if the insurance company can get a copy of the report for you, or at least a case number. I'd want to have it just in case.

 

The person I spoke with at the CHP said it was more of an incident rather than a crash/collision which they keep on the books for four years. Incidents like the one that happened would be more of a suicide which probably explains why it was purged from their records.

Of great interest to me, is that stuff like this is supposed to stay on a commercial driver's PSP for 5 years. For some reason it was not listed on my PSP at all (I didn't know that til I got my copy back from the background checks). I made the mistake of telling the recruiter all about it. She called me back later asking for a copy of the report because they found nothing on my background checks about it at all.

I'm kinda thinking PSP is only interested in vehicle to vehicle crashes/collisions? as to why it fell off after three years? Anyway, I really don't care, the good news is that it's not on my record.

 

I've never filed for unemployment in my life so maybe I dont think about that. I dropped a trailer once and reigned as policy was termination. Didnt have a problem getting another job. I do know a safety term could not only hinder getting a job it could also be a career killer.

 

I dropped twice, but only to the back of my tractor. Both done on a tug test.
First I can't remember anything but having to crank it up. Second time it was colder than a witch's tit. Tugged when I hooked - fine. Tugged again before I took off - thud. The lock had frozen, even tho it looked to be engaged. Owner and safety guy came out to the yard and figured out how to loosen it up.

I always did two tug tests before leaving. I almost always crawled under to check the lock. And when leaving after being parked at a ts, I checked the handle AND did a tug test.

 

You didn't drop a trailer IMHO. You did a tug test and the 5th wheel lock failed. Well done driver, you avoided what could have been 2 very costly accidents.

 

Only if you have the trailer welded shut should you not do a tug test and the tug test is needed short of that because people have a axe to grind against truckers in general. Had one company small company that welded them trailers to the truck only thing your need watch is the weld itself because not all welders are good...

 

FYI. Did a drop & hook at a company terminal. Pretripped the new set after coupling and tug test. Good to go. Yeah I visually inspect 5th wheel Jaws. I leave nothing to chance. Couple of blocks down the road I lost the 2nd box. The short of it...after a review, the spring was defective that held the jaws closed. Not operator error. The End. CYA

 

The ego maniacs get into shouting matches at the truck stop then wait until it's dark and then screw with each other's fifth wheel. It happens too often. People get cheeky and screw around.

 

Anytime I park and leave sight of my truck, set the trailer brakes, let off the brake and put tension on that pin then set tractor brakes, if someone tries to pull it you will know because they will be holding their shoulder, even then I still crawl under and check the jaws and handle before I roll out