Finding OTR after Termination

FilthyMcNasty · Jan 31, 2012

Ok guys just as the title says. Don't feel like explaining it again so here goes:

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...-advice/168149-how-do-i-fix-series-goofs.html

FilthyMcNasty said: ↑

Ok guys. I've been driving for right at a year. I was solo for about 8 months and after months of haggling from my dispatcher about being a trainer I relented and said yes. For months I had told him what he should have already known as an experienced driver himself. No one should be a trainer under 1 year of experience because they are just as new as the students they are training. Finally one say I asked him on the phone 'As an experienced driver, do you really think I am ready' and he said yes. So I went to become a trainer. WOOHOO!! That was a ####### nightmare! First student looked no more than 500 feet in front of the hood, he didn't last long. Second student was great, didn't know how to shift because his dumb school trained him in an auto (not the mans fault) and got nervous all the time (understandable) all in all he was a good student and I still keep in touch with him to this day.

Then comes the 3rd student......

I picked the kid up in Atlanta. Ran 50 miles are had a belt burn up on new years eve and then had to wait 6 days due to holidays and weekend for dealership to get parts to company. Ran back and forth to NC and down to GA and TN. Short runs. On a multistop run he got into an extremeley tight spot he obviously couldn't handle. I was out of hours and logging line 1. I had him get out of the seat so I could get the truck into the dock. In the midst of me backing in I brushed a low concrete retaining wall with the right front bumper of my truck. I scraped about 3 square inches of paint off my truck and left no visable damage to the wall. During the course of unloading I asked someone at the customer if they we worried about the incident and they said no, 'it happens all the time' Apparently it did because the wall had all kinds of marks on it from other drivers.

The next day I went on hometime and put this kid the same hotel I was staying at (I had property in the area to check on and didn't want to sleep int he truck) He had no money at all, no money for food, smokes, drink....nothing. Using my own personal money I made sure the kid had food, drink and I was giving him smokes right out of my carton. The following is how he repaid me.

upon being routed for a drop in Atlanta I found out upon arriving at our terminal that I had a hard safety hold on me. The next day I found out that the kid had apparently called in and reported me for the incident and also started saying I was having him do unsafe things in the truck such as for instance kid was doing 50 in a 70 in rainy weather. To clarify it has already rained and the roads were almost completely dry but it was still overcast. I instructed him to do 60 because I felt he was going to become a rolling hazard and he wined to me about being uncomfortable. I then told him I don't want you doing something your not comfortable with so do what you are comfortable with within reason. Suddenly when we got to the terminal that incident had morphed into 'it was raining hard and I felt uncomfortable and he told me to do 65. He's always time management time management time management. I never saw him do a pretrip on anything. He's making me do unsafe things!'

Funny how I have never been complained on or gotten a ticket for unsafe driving, never had a complaint from any other student (actually had very good things said about me as a trainer) blah blah blah.

All this came up in the investigative process. When previous company fired me and I signed the paperwork it listed the following 2 reasons I was terminated: DOT Violation - Driving on student logs / Company policy violation - failure to report and accident.

First off let me say that yes I should have reported that incident to my previous employer. To be honest, I did the 2nd best thing I could think of. Ask customer if they were worried about it and when they said no, swept it under the rug and wasn't going to worry about it anymore further. OPPPSSS Actually I would have been ok if the guy wasn't a total narc and secondly driving on the students logs: I was in a situation in Chicago where my student pulled down a dead end and we had to call the police to back the truck up and go one road down to the customer we were supposed to be at. At that time my student said he was uncomfortable driving the truck so I called safety department and asked them what do if I was out of hours. They stated that I should 'explain to the officer that you are out of hours and your student does not feel comfortable driving the truck to the next driveway down. Also explain that this is why our company has a student/trainer relationship for instances such as this' Ok so based off that I assumed (I know ### U ME) that getting my student out of a tough spot would be fine. That's where the driving on student logs comes in because technically you're supposed to be on line 3.

Anyway now I have that sitting on my record. I'm wondering what can I do about getting hired on with another company. The way previous employer lists it is the technical details of it but not the circumstances. Hell would that even matter at this point? Point is that it is a blemish on what was a clean record until that point. What can I do guys and gals? Advice or suggestions anyone?

Sorry for the long post. Unlike other recent posters I have seen I wanted to put the details out there so I could get accurate information from the community and not leave everyone guessing. The better information I give you the better information I can receive. Thank you all.
Click to expand...

I am now at the point where I have been sitting for almost 3 weeks unable to find any type of trucking work. I really want OTR preferably something where I can stay out for 4 weeks minimum. I have tried many companies such as: CRST, Prime, Western. Celedon, USX, JCT, Marten, Melton, and a few others I just can't remember.

My MVR is relatively clean. I had a ticket for toll violaton but no moving/reckless citations period EVER. Clean criminal history. Only thing I had was a at fault preventable (long story read through the other thread it is explained there) and that minor accident at that stop. Most people I call tell me I can not have a recent discharge. Ok I understand companies want to cover their ### but holy crap, how the heck is a guy like me who is a safe driver and just made a mistake supposed to find a job in the field of work they yearn for?

Any ideas/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. First person to come up with something that works for me will in time be rewarded dinner of your choice at truck accessible location of your choice dependent on our schedules/routes overlapping.

twentyninetimes · Feb 4, 2012

That is the problem with working at larger companies. They make a big huge flippin deal about EVERYTHING. Look sideways and they flip out. Try looking for a job at a small company. They are more flexible and don't string you up and hang you for silly stuff.

cadillacdude1975 · Feb 4, 2012

you can challenge the DAC report and even pay money to have that garbage removed.

rockee · Feb 5, 2012

Just gonna have to keep hitting the bricks. Look at the smaller companies in your area. There is always local and ltl. FYI, it's pretty hard for people to give you help if they dont know where you are located. Dont forget Craigslist.

NavigatorWife · Jul 30, 2012

Just read your post and hope you have found something already. Have you tried someplace like CR England?

Son in-law got on with Newell paper company a few years ago after a wreck at Swift and it didn't seem to bother them.

Bumpy · Jul 30, 2012

There is no magic answer to your problem.With trucking-as in life-you have to find your own way. However the companies I saw listed you have tried for are IMO,nothing but more trouble for you. I agree with the woman from ND;I have always found smaller companies to be better by far than the "corporate" ones. I thought this before I found this forum,and since being here and reading story after story on the "mega" companies there is not a doubt in my mind of what one's search and choice should be.

Still....To each their own.I do wish you Good Luck.

bre · Aug 13, 2012

did crst turn you down,ive just bought my first truck and going to lease onto malone,im needing a driver,but must pass thru malone first,id be interested in taliking to you if malone would let me hire you

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