Evaluating A Motor Carrier - Advertising And Recruiters

They didn't do a review with you and determine it preventable or non-preventable? No, of course not..that's what you are saying.

They did finally do a review and I got a letter stating that they had "determined it was a preventable and in the boards opinion, the driver failed to assure proper clearance & take proper precaution to avoid the accident." During my review, they asked questions that would lead any reasonable person to understand that I did not hit the vehicle. We talked about clearance concerns, etc. I know that I did not hit the vehicle, as I stopped and looked the entire time while making the turn and I could always see clearance (at least a foot or more) until I was completely past the vehicle.

Did you submit ANYTHING in writing to them, in the form of a statement of the events on that day? Did you fill out a form provided to you for reporting accidents?

I did provide a 3 page written statement of the "events of the day" to the accident review board. I was never provided an accident report form, they simply took my statement the day after the alleged accident. Where they stated that I told them that I hit the vehicle. I have NEVER acknowledged hitting the vehicle, as I know that I did not. The accident department at my previous employer was always accusing and somewhat threating each time that I talked to them, i.e. if I said black, they said white.

If this is not the case, then the company has no right to report the accident on your DAC report. You can challenge the report on the basis that the company has never declared the accident to have occured, nor reviewed it with you, nor had you acknowledge a finding of the disposition of that accident upon review, as to whether it was preventable or non-preventable.

The company however, can reduce it to the status of an "incident", but cannot disclose the details to others.

That's a minor sticking point, and nothing that would necessarily discount the accident report. Officers make mistakes too. If the license plate was recorded correctly, it is an alternative way to identify the vehicle in question.

I do understand that Officers make mistakes too. I am sympathetic to their jobs as well as ours. However,in follow-up conversations with the Police Chief where this alleged accident occurred, he states that the lady says that she gave the wrong registration to the police. She gave the registration & VIN of her husbands vehicle which is on the police report. I checked the police report and they did not record her driver's license number or the license plate number of her vehicle.
In order to help you with a specific law, I need to know what state you live in, and what state that the former employer holds your personnel file in, as in where the office is located. Most, but not all states have laws on the books mandating employers provide copies of their employment files.

Or you can bypass this, and contact your local Department of Labor for their assistance and advice. If you reside in a state that mandates this, and the employer is also in the same state, they can get results faster than you ever will on your own.

Notify them in writing that because they have reported negative information about you to a consumer reporting agency, and that you have reason to consider part or all of that information to be either in error or false in nature, that unless they are forthcoming with the contents of your personnel file that have been reported to such an agency, you intend to file a complaint with the FTC for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

I live in Tennessee and my previous employer is in Nebraska. I did send a letter to the Chief Operating Officer of my previous employer requesting a copy of every page in my personnel file, return-receipt requested, which he signed over 30 days ago, and I have not received a response of any kind since then. It sounds like I need to send another letter as you suggested, and see if that will move them to action. I will be interested in what the laws are for Nebraska and Tennessee as to whether they are required to give me a copy or not.

Then you DEFINITELY need to start challenging this information with USIS. A copy of your log is enough to make a legal challenge to this false reporting, and to have everything else removed due to doubt.

I have sent a return-receipt requested letter to USIS challenging this information and the 30 days is up on 4/23/07. Based upon your posts, I will continue to challenge this with USIS to the bitter end. As of this last week, still waiting on letter stating that the 3rd alleged accident in CA which the review board (previous employer) have ruled that I did not do anything there and should be getting it removed from my DAC report.

NEW QUESTION -- Along with the alleged car accident in GA, I did not hit the vehicle accused of and therefore went on down the road. The lady in the vehicle apparently called police stating that I left the accident. I was pulled over by approx. 6-7 Sheriff's cars. (Short version) They said that I had to go back to town, no problem, but they then said I needed a place to turn around. This was two-lane, narrow highway and they informed me that there was some private property nearby and I could turn around there. When I arrived at location, it was extremely dark, no lights, and was a small semi-circle drive. I assessed the situation, and refused to enter the property two times, then Sheriff Deputy told me if I did not go onto property and turn around that I would be arrested. They told me this was the only place for me to turn around. I then went onto property, got out of truck several times with flashlight (officers would not help me) and upon leaving the exit, ran over a small tree and flattened it. After business with car in town, I was ordered to return to property to try to upright the tree. I was then led back onto this property a second time, where I ran over another small tree at the entrance. I was charged by my company for this property damage as a preventable accident. The review board letter stated it as a preventable, and stated, In Board's opinion, the driver had the option to refuse to enter property and failed to check proper clearance. Turbo, I did refuse to enter property twice, but as a new driver I was intimidated by all these police and felt that it would be better to do best I could, even though I informed police that there would probably be damage done due to area too small to turn around in, as opposed to being arrested, which I would then probably be fired for. Your thoughts!

 

Great Point! That is one of the reasons I like this forum. There are fewer hidden agendas and the info has so much more credibility with me than a recruiter and to a certain extent drivers who are looking for a bonus to get me through the door.

 

Good information to know. Thanks