Please Advise my DAC reported as a preventable accident

Hireright (DAC/USIS) will never look at anything but the word of Martin. Here is how their "appeals process" works; they send a letter to the company that "dinged" you and ask: "did this happen?" Some goof-ball at the company writs back: "YEP".....Hireright (USIS/DAC) says: "appeal denied".
Been there/done that the difference being, in my case the goof-ball decided he better not answer.

And I couldn't find a lawyer to sue DAC/USIS and the "goof-ball" before the two year statute of limitations. I had their ##### over a barrel.


Don't bother contacting OOIDA about it either. They won't help an individual driver in such a cluster-####, there isn't any money in it.
Yep, I said money; OOIDA is more interested in $ than getting justice for a driver.

 

Unfortunately there are a lot of posts like this.

Any company's safety department can (and will) make their own conclusion regarding any accident/incident that a driver is involved in. Reardless of any legal disposition by the courts or law enforcement.

Ok.... the ticket was dropped. What that means is that there was no legal liability on the driver's part. It has nothing to do with the accident being preventable or not. Wright or wrong, if safety says it was preventable then it was. Safety departments tend to look at any accident/incident as being preventable.

So they have the right to report it to DAC or HireRight or, what ever they call themselves now.

They will never withdraw their comment from DAC unless you can prove that it was absolutely untrue and reported to DAC to harass you. Otherwise it will stay.

It's just like a credit report (as was mentioned earlier in the thread). If you don't pay your bills your credit gets dinged. It doesn't matter why you didn't pay, it just matters that you didn't pay.

Same with DAC, the details of the accident/incident that you were involved in don't matter, it only matters that you were involved in it.

Your only recourse is to contact DAC (or HireRight) and file a response to the comment listing the details of the accidednt. This way at least potential employers will get to see your side of the story as well.

I don't mean to sound harsh but, the situation is what it is.


............. Jim

 

It was easier a few years back...back when there was a driver shortage and ANY warm butt that could fill a seat could get hired, and drivers with clean MVR's and a year or two experience could have their pick of jobs in the industry. Last few times I've been job-hunting, 1 phone call was all it took...and if I made 2 or more phone calls looking for work, I'd have 2 or more job offers.

These days, there are more drivers than there are trucks....and competition for those trucks is fierce. You need a spotless MVR, clean DAC, and a few years experience to have a decent shot at a job...and even then, it's questionable. Especially with CSA2010 getting ready to roll out, drivers with mediocre MVR's or a few bad notations on their DAC don't have a chance. Carriers are looking to hire drivers with as few points as possible so as to keep their overall score under the DOT's radar.

I made my mistakes over 9 years ago. Worst I do anymore is tear a mudflap off or occasionally get stuck and need a pull. Both go with the territory, though...I take my truck places most of you wouldn't even take your cars.

My favorite kind of "truck route"

 

I like your "truck route"! Reminds me of the goat tracks I drove down when I was in the oilfield in my 4x4, I really miss the driving part of that job when I was a well surveyor. Getting lost at night in the oilfields with the low fuel light on wasn't fun though..

I admit that I still make the odd mistake, mostly not sizing up a situation adequately. I'm a careful, courteous driver, but my tight backing skills have a way to go. Unfortunately this industry has a steep learning curve and doesn't tolerate mistakes kindly. I think the super trucker cowboys are becoming a dying breed. You know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that follow too close, blast through rest stops and truck stops with reckless abandon, pass on the right and don't move over for emergency or disabled vehicles when they can.

I'm not so new to trucking that I can't tell the difference between trucking done well or badly

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Speed** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Reaction/Braking Distance**[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Total Stopping Distance[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]30 mph** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]33' / 67' **[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]100'[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]40 mph** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]44' / 125** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]169'[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]55 mph** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]60' / 275' **[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]335'[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]60 mph** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]66' / 360' ** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]426'[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]65 mph** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]71' / 454'** [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]525'[/SIZE][/FONT]


According to this chart I found, your reaction was slow or you were doing 60 I think reaction time is right around 2 seconds to react and move your foot. But has anyone checked other variables like brake adjustments or tire pressures?
There are many other truckers where the results would of been alot worse. I had a similar incident once in Atlanta. Luckily I stopped 6 inches short.

 

Nancy,

Glad to see all is on track for you. Stick around on this site and keep us updated. I would like to know how everything works out. Till then, be safe.

KH

 

Good Deal Nancy on getting the job...Good Luck...