also, not meaning to be rude or disrespectful....but it seems like there may be more to this story...drivers quit all the time....
Sounds like a pretty absurd company he's coming out of. If I was training a driver and something happened that had them spooked or they needed to calm down a bit to get back to safe driving you bet your ### any day of the week I'd want them to get me out of the sleeper and have me drive while they calm me down. I see what he did as a moment of good judgement. He knew he wasn't in the state to be driving so he decided to not drive. That being said, missing a shift and stalling a rig shouldn't get to him that badly. Every driver has to learn to shift properly and there will be screw-ups. But, even so, I think he showed proper judgment in the situation. I can't assure you of what Averitt will say, but, if I were in that situation I certainly wouldn't view that as an inherent negative. Spend the time for him to get better at shifting and maybe work on stress management. Bad days will happen, and the more important thin for him here is to learn to manage the stress of driving.
It sounds like he was on a hill and the truck rolled back. Everything went wrong, he could find the right gear. Traffic and all. He panicked. Sounds like he had the good sense to know he had things to learn and didn't want to hurt anyone while he was learning. I give him an A. Lots of folks come close to killing someone without even knowing they did it.
Honestly, I would be suPrised if averitt accepted him after he did what he did. Also, I would be blown away if you trying to be her is really you. Either way, very dumb on his part. Always finish what you start.