Fired for drinking off duty while on the road?

Ive said it before, Ill now parrot it once again, Swift really needs to get that training program fine- tuned and operating at a higher level......

 

we do not know the WHOLE story....

for all we know, the 2 of them were at odds with one another.....

and the mentor, had, had enough of him.....

 

Okay......Kablerat.....you need to get your DAC and see what everyone else is going to see......first and foremost......I think this wont be as bad as you think it may be.....afterall, you have one thing on your side......its SWIFT thats making the report......lol......not much weight there......at least in the minds of most carriers, mgrs, drivers etc......if it details this incident as being alcohol related its gonna sound really bad......yadda yadda yadda.......but , honesty is tge best policy.....just own up to the failure , and talk about what youve LEARNED from it......tgat you needed to pay more attention to the policies , and did not......regardless of another co- workers failure to do the same......that will get u back in the saddle......no BLAME GAME STUFF THOUGH......it wont work....okay?

 

Somebody will salvage your career.....afterall, u havent driven while under the influence, you had no ill- intentions, just a failure to pay attention to policy......u were in TRAINING.......they will understand and have some wiggle room on this one.......

 

You Kablerat, are gonna be relying on your ability to now "sell yourself" .......after this incident.....you have to speak the language of " SAFETY" and appease the SAFETY department- any indication from you that you have not taken away what is valuable lesson from this, and they will not give you an opportunity ......get it?......I hope you find a new job and go in with a right attitude regarding this.....GOOD TRAVELS!

 

I'd think that @tucker would be an expert on this topic, and his opinion on this topic should be counted as expert.

What I've always wondered about is how the empty beer cans, bottles, 6 packs, and 12 packs find their way to the fuel island, and the trash cans at the fuel island.

 

@shogun , I remember that. That guy that fired you, was that the same guy that fired the entire staff at the Mexican restaurant while he was having lunch there. The one next door to the Swift corporate office. I remember they kept calling him Pablo instead of Paul so he fired everyone?

 

There are some other things to consider.

• Even though you were Off Duty, was the truck under dispatch and/or loaded?

• You stated you were operating as a team (Mentor was playing video games instead of sitting up front actively training you...).

• Did you guys haul hazmat freight?

There was another Swift driver here who reported he was under a load but at a hotel taking a 34 and having a few drinks. Swift called him and asked him to repower a load, he stated he had a few drinks, Swift went ballistic and sent a driver to the hotel to swap out that load and had the driver come back to the terminal for a big sit down, I will flag his name and hopefully he will come explain @blsqueak

Oh and I have TTR set at 100 posts per page. I don't have to sift through 99 other posts I've already read; they automatically take to the newest post when I revisit the thread.

 

Sorry no dice, bud. P!ss poor excuses are p!ss poor excuses and they don't hold water.

Fact of the matter is: you knew company policy, you knew the possible consequences. You still made the decision to violate company policy, and you got caught. Cut dry and simple and that's exactly what the company saw, and they followed through.

Regardless of what your trainer said, YOU are responsible for knowing and understanding company policy. YOU are responsible for adhering to company policy at all times. YOU choose not to do so. YOU and you alone get the consequences of those actions.

 

Anyone who has read the safety regulations know that it is permitted to have alcohol in the vehicle when you are off duty, but there is virtually no mega carrier who will knowing allow a driver to drink at any time or place other than home. This happened to a guy here on TTR who talked about how wasted he got at the hotel while his truck was being repaired. It wasn't even done the next day, but corporate found out, and invited him to leave their company.

Yes legally you can drink off duty, but unless you are working for the most laid back owner, virtually every carrier will not allow it!