Does this count as an accident?? Advice!

I to have pulled thousands of trailers out without an incident ever.

But sooner or later, you’re going to have one. Case in point, backing into a hole in the wall. A very dark hole. Doors have plenty of clearance, you just can’t see any further behind you than that wall. Sloppy lose latches fall out when exiting said hole, door gets ripped halfway off.

Thankfully our trailers have secure anchoring now. And it’s no longer possible for that to happen.

 

I had that happened when I was a new company driver. I told them that I hit a big pothole and the door fell off and they believed it.

 

It's Dot reportable if a vehicle has to be towed away, there's a hazmat spill (including fuel) or personal injury.

 

No,,,I didn't. I've seen how some drivers, possibly upset at the dock, get in the truck, punch the buttons and let the clutch fly.( dragging the tire chock) I had route jobs, 10+ deliveries or pickups a day, and yes, into black holes and never tore a door off, I'm sorry, it's unacceptable. The OP whines, "it was dark, it was raining, my dog was in the way", sorry, I don't buy it. I'd make a tough boss, as I'd fire anybody that did that. To me, that means worse stuff could be on the way. At my union job, there would've been an investigation into that.

 

You have it wrong, you are a driver, you can be fired and replaced, don't count on this idea that you make money for the company and nothing can happen to you.

See to me this is a crappy attitude, the cost of the repairs in your mind is just the cost of repairs but if the damage was more than a hinge, then that means that trailer is off the road and losing money by the hour.

There is no excuse for you NOT TO GET OUT AND LOOK. I have docked trailers where I couldn't even get out of the truck with less than an inch on each side between doors and I never hit a thing, it isn't hard to get out and look to see what clearance you have and how you need to line up the move into the dock.

 

I would highly suggest the OP pull his own DAC report. It's easy and it's free. I pulled mine about a week ago and was surprised to find a reported "not at fault" "non preventable" accident listed. It's no big deal, but I was surprised to see it listed there. The incident was about a year ago....I was asleep in the sleeper when another driver hit my mirror and knocked it off while trying to back into a space beside me at a truck stop. There is also a lot of other info that might be valuable, including dates of employment with a carrier and the reason for no longer working there...ie: I wasn't fired, but left on my own free will. I like knowing in advance what a company can see about me...no surprises!

 

Well, it's probably labled "incident" and may not even show up on your "DAC" untill after you leave the company. DAC isn't all that anyway.

I wouldn't worry about it unless it keeps happening. If it is a recurring problem then you may want to pay for the repairs on your own.

 

Maybe it will
Maybe it won't
Maybe they will forget about
Maybe you should not bring it up
Maybe I am out of ideas

 

Maybe if I was watching my mirrors, none of this would have happened,,,

 

there is a reason G O A L is out there. You screwed up be honest and take the consequences. Sounds like that is the plan and then just do better in the future. I team drive and get out all the time. My partner with about the same experience level doesn’t and has hit 4 trailers. He doesn’t think it’s a big deal but he lacks professionalism.