First week first wreck

*Sigh*, i'm truly sorry to hear about the loss of your hard work. I'm wondered how the jury would have felt if it was their hard earned money. I'm all about fairness in taking care of others which your insurance took care of, but being forced to be a socialist/charity is not. Best of luck to you and thank you for your advice!

 

Not quite sure I understand..
I had hit a cow out in Oklahoma back in August and it ended up on my PSP "accident with a tow away".

I was found not at fault and was actually told by Highway Patrol that I did a great job keeping the truck out of the ditch. He also commented that I couldn't have been speeding.

No inspection was done on my truck..was given a basic report and sent on my way with the wrecker driver..

I was under the impression that all accidents in a CMV have to be reported...luck of the draw I suppose.

 

No affect on my job or insurance, I was a company driver at the time and later became a leased operator paying the same flat rate insurance as my peers.

 

Don't confuse PSP with MVR. One is a state database and the other is maintained by the FMCSA. With some very limited exceptions the only way for any data about you to go into the FMCSA database is through the inspection form issued by a DOT cop. The FMCSA only recognizes one type of accident. If said accident falls into what is in 390.15 it must be recorded in the carrier's accident register. Unless the FMCSA asks to see this register it just gets filed away.

 

I haven’t confused it with my MVR.

I've actually paid the $10 fee twice now to keep track of my PSP. I do have 3 blemishes on it from actual level 1and 2 inspections and now the accident.

 

From this website!
Q: What data will CSA use to track, measure, and evaluate carriers?
A: The CSA systems will use the following:

• Crash reports provided by the states for DOT recordable crashes.
• Roadside inspection reports provided by the states, and all violations listed on the reports.
• Violations discovered during interventions conducted by state or federal investigators.

What is a DOT Recordable accident?

§390.15

For YOU to have an accident on your PSP said accident MUST have been listed on an inspection report or have been reported by the state. <<This is very rarely done. Carriers DO NOT report accidents. they maintain the accident until asked for. If said accident data is being asked for by the state there is a hell of a lot more going on then just a tow.

Your telling me something that is not possible outside of those two things. Accidents don't (just) get reported to the FMCSA. Read those 3 reasons data gets reported again. Quite honestly if you have an accident on your PSP and there was no inspection 99% of the time there was either a Federal or State intervention.

 

My accident was "recordable"

1. At least one of the vehicles involved in the accident had to be towed from the scene

 

I don't doubt that. If there was anything towed. §390.15 is clear about this. I think somehow a CVSA/MCSAP/DOT officer filed paperwork. Sometimes these officers are city cops. Last I heard some St Louis Mo cops were DOT cops. They don't go around with DOT cop on their cap. In the case of an accident your not thinking clearly and it is possible you just forgot this part of it. The only other real way for CSA data to be sent to the feds is through either State or Federal enforcement actions. I have seen this things and they are not pretty. Outside of this these carrier accident registers stay in house.

 

I just don't understand why so many of you think that unless a DOT officer was standing there in coveralls and a baseball cap, with a van and a clipboard conducting an inspection, that nothing is going to get reported to the feds. It has not been that way for a long, long time.

Any accident report or ticket written in most states gets sent in to the state office tasked with recording accidents and violations (Usually the DMV). That office maintains the database where you MVR comes from.

It is also the office that helpfully reports to the feds ALL reportable accidents and tickets involving commercial motor vehicles. There are spaces and check boxes on both accident report forms and traffic tickets to helpfully identify whether a commercial vehicle was involved so it can be recorded and properly reported to the feds. You may or may not see these fields on the copy of the report or ticket that is issued to you, but they are there.

That is one of the reasons why some tickets and accidents don't show up where they should: The officer didn't tick the box indicating commercial vehicle so it never made its way to the feds. But there it is on your MVR because it appears to be just a normal ticket or accident. This is most likely to happen when a non DOT trained cop writes the report or ticket because checking that box is not normal for him to do and he flies right by it as he does the form.

Ever wonder how some driver managed not to get destroyed on a ticket or accident that should have been a career ender? If the commercial vehicle box wasn't ticked, as far as the system could see he was driving his personal vehicle when he hit that bridge. The report never made it to the feds.