Does every truck driver have a clean driving record?

Many companies take a tiered approach to tickets and accidents.

Feds require them to collect 10 years of data from you. Tickets fall off the Federal scoring system after 3 IIRC.

Red flag tickets would be DUI, at fault accidents, Reckless driving (including 10 over... maybe 15), not using truck route, violation that puts you Out of Service at the scale, suspended license.........

Lesser tickets would be the failure to stop with no accident, warning tickets that you can't fight in court (roadside inspection notes reason you were pulled over was license plate light out on the trailer)........

different companies have different thresholds where they escalate discipline.


Like others have said.... Inspect your equipment, be aware while driving, don't hit stuff, Avoid getting hit by others, Don't allow bad habits, and deal with any minor infractions you get.

 

Well 99.9% of the time your driving record is based on your own actions.
If you can drive responsibly 3 hours a day you should be able to make it 10hrs a day, no?
Plus....lawyers LOL

 

Great advice.
There is a spot around a year or so in where driver mistakes actually increase.
You know what you're doing and have the confidence to do it. You're a professional and don't need to do all that silly time consuming safety stuff like GOAL. Wrong!
The best drivers KNOW they are not infallible and are always vigilant.
Actively avoid letting bad habits creep in.
Good luck, be safe.

 

Not me...lol
Last speed in a semi truck was in 1980, 3 tickets in a week.
Learned my lesson as my license was suspended for automobile use but my commercial privileges were not.

Got a red light violation in Pittsburg, KS in 87 or 88 but got it dismissed.

Last speed in a car was 1995..late for work.

Last speed on a motorcycle was 2006 in NV on way to Laguna Seca races, legit ticket, and 2009 in Wyoming, not legit imho.
We were clocked after we passed slower traffic.
Both on a sport bike.
I gotta figure that experience makes you smarter but sometimes the odds catch up.
I regularly run 5 over but still am the slowest out there.

 

I don't think it's possible to go 30 or 40 years + in this business and not run afoul of some rule or law and have something coming from it. I know of NO ONE across hundreds of old hands I know that has a totally clean record lifetime record with NO violations. Anybody that tries to infer otherwise I simply will say this now, I don't believe you!

 

Yes they are avoidable. I have lots of tickets, there forgiven at 3 years generally by most companies.
If you add up the time saved, for the cost of the tickets, no they were not worth it. It used to be if you missed a loading or unloading appointment it was worse than a ticket. Now it has changed, unless you miss the appointment because you simply sat to long.

Run the speed limit, stay 5 to 7 behind the truck ahead of you, get out and take your legal breaks. No not drive while sleepy. Better to be late than not at all. Some of us have made millions of miles with no accidents atributed to driver error, others do 3 or 4 in months.

Tickets are avoidable, simple don't speed. I know a driver (Barbara) she drives out here in the west, and you will never find her above 55, shes is never late, never seems stressed, seldom out of the right lane. Runs Los Angeles / Vegas / Reno mostly. So it can be done, she is alos a 2 million mile driver, no accident, no tickets, no incidents. She runs in a set of joint pulling cement products.

 

Running a Yellow light.
Small town in GA.
Wrote up as “Failure to Obey Traffic Control Device.”
Didn’t matter it was yellow, even with dash cam proof, I still think that cop and judge have a scam going.
$140 ticket, raised my commercial insurance $1000/year and personal insurance $250/year.
Welcome to the wonderful world of trucking, where you don’t matter.

 

which is why you must hire a lawyer and fight every ticket.

the lawyer will get some of your money and the cops will still get some of
Your Money , but a decent lawyer can e the ticket off your record

 

Had 1 ticket in the big truck like 6 years ago, cop felt “took too long slowing down for an unmarked construction zone” (or some stupid ####) ended up being failure to obey or something, had my first accident 2 or 3 years ago that I was not at fault for when a 4 wheeler passed in the break down lane and lost it.

now my personal driving record at one point was horrible, 550rwhp car in my early 20s did me no favors. That being said, it never kept me from a job