Diary of a New Tanker Driver - Comcar CTL

First, I want to thank all of you guys, especially ethos, for taking such an interest in this! You guys have been great.

Now, the news...I've been suspended, and I stand a good chance of being fired shortly.

On March 10 I loaded out of Savannah, checked that the dome lid was tight, and went to Kiswire in Newberry, SC. I got there and no one was there to meet me, so I did a lap around the building to make sure I was in the right spot (I was). When I got back and got out of the truck, I noticed I had tracked through a bunch of liquid. What?! Where did this come from? Was it me? Of course it was.

I notified the guy who met me who told me not to worry about it, but that the lab guy would be by shortly and he might have a different opinion. The lab guy told me the same thing. So I started to unload and couldn't get any air pressure. I went to the dome and saw liquid everywhere! And there was air escaping from the dome. I tried tightening the dome but it still leaked air. I stopped everything, opened the dome lid, and saw the gasket all askew. The loader somehow screwed it up. Great.

I fixed everything and finished airing off and left the plant. This morning (the 14th) I report for my trip to Rhode Island and noticed my paperwork missing from my box. Weird. So that's when I was told about the spill and that I am in trouble for not reporting it as per company policy.

I am 100% guilty as charged. We're supposed to report any spill, no matter how small and no matter what the consignee or its reps say. But here's the deal. I trained at various times with four different trainers. Each had some spillage at least as often as not, and every time I was told it was no big deal. I said this, both to Safety in Tampa and our terminal manager. So I figured when the Kiswire guys told me it was no big deal, it was no big deal.

When I explained things in detail to our terminal manager, he told me that the spills the other guys had were "minor" ones and that the one I had was one of the worst he'd seen in his 20 years of doing this. So I said, "So now I'm confused; is it ANY spill we're supposed to report (as per company policy) or does the amount determine it?" He had a sheepish look and knew he got caught with his pants down.

Ethos, I may take your advice and quit (if I'm not fired first), since basically I threw my fellow drivers under the bus (I was ticked...boy was I ticked), and I don't see how I can continue working there without them ostracizing me or ever worse. And with all you experienced truckers telling me about this Rhode Island trip (first time NE, no EZ-Pass, etc.), it makes me realize CTL's training and operations leave a lot to be desired. Once again, I am 100% at fault for this. I got caught up in the culture of drivers not reporting spills, telling me not to worry about them...and even the consignees telling me the same thing.