Accident on my third day driving!

Star transport Morton Il

 

I'll fess up here . . .

First week, missed the entrance to the flying hook in Indy , twice - no parking . . . Spotted one, round we went again , so happy to find one . . . swiped the trailer across Werner's front end. Yeah I know. Let the blows rain down.

Lost 30 lbs the first month I drove, 195-165. Sheer panic, stress, nervousness.

I was honest and upfront about it and they kept me on. Other guys lied or denied and got fired.

I'd make a personal appeal to the BOSS, not the despatcher, and if not - that chap from maverick sounds like he might have a lead. Surely Schneider can let this one slide.

Accidents happen, you learn. Good luck.

 

Also pleased to see no douchey replies here - like "Nyaaah, you're so dumb you shouldn't drive, that could have been my grandmother . . . ",

Also good to see 40 odd members and guests viewing . . . good advice on a possible scenario for any newbie.

 

I said it, not you . . . deny all association with me

 

Originally Posted by CaptainX3:
And KW, your avatar is freaking hilarious. I had to look at it closer to see what it said and I spit tea all over my iPad.

My BVDs needed reassignment after dealing the 17% grade on OR 205 just east of French Glen. Thank God there was only 4 tonne in my pup trlr w/ a single screw. Helluva way to find out the Jake don't work.

Good thread y'all. Thanks for helping a trucker out.

 

I admire your honesty Blair. Back then you could have easily said Werner pulled out and hit you.... and EVERYONE would have believed it.

 

Happens to all of us at some point. I was tired as hell one time and went to drop a full 6300 gallon tanker and grab an empty, forgot to throw the dunage pads down and the #### thing sank into the mud to the crank on the landing gear... OOOPS! One crane pick later and all was good, thank god it did not roll over. Stuff happens, keep your head up and blow up some phones.

 

On your own after 5 days? If you're a brand new driver, that is no good. Your company gave you the seasoned trucker treatment instead of actually training you. It takes a lot more than 5 days to get your road legs if you've never run a semi before.

If you want to keep trying semis, you don't need to wait to apply to other companies. Be honest about what happened because the company will find out, anyway. This goes for either straight truck jobs or T/T jobs.

It might be smart to go with straight trucks for a while just to get some money coming in. It'll also get the weight off your psyche so you can get your courage back up. Winter is coming, anyway. I don't think it's necessary to wait three years. You can try again next Spring and then you'll have Spring through Fall to get really comfortable before you have to get the chains out.

If you decide to just drive straight trucks for a while, you still won't be able to apply that experience to a semi job. You would have to take a refresher course before a company would consider you for another tractor/trailer job. I'm not against training at all. It sounds like you were dipped in steak sauce and tossed to wolves, as opposed to training. Three weeks is a much better training period than five days.