Getting a job after accidents.

tinytim · Mar 28, 2016

zaroba said: ↑

Make money, buy my own truck, live happily driving around the country.
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That sounds great.

zaroba · Mar 28, 2016

Wheeler0811 said: ↑

And none of that is meant to be rude but really wake up and view reality. Your not safe on the roads and I don't want to be out here with you.
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Oh, I don't disagree with you at all nor think it was rude. Main reason I posted instead of just searching is because I don't see why somebody would want to hire me. I don't like wasting time on pointless endeavors.

Just kinda at a cross road right now.
Back to forklifts, or try to continue driving (even if class b) just for the sake of making use of my CDL.

Driving forward is definitely considered the easier part.
But the funny thing is that backing up was far easier for me. lol
Myself and one other person while going through the CDL school had no trouble at all with backing up, pretty much got it on day 1, we think it was due to having to drive forklifts around with reverse steering and having to watch pallets from a distance when they were elevated to slide them into racks.

Was also thinking possibly yard jocky work.
But the few companies I know of had really horrible reviews.

pattyj · Mar 28, 2016

zaroba said: ↑

I had posted a bunch in here last year about getting my cdl and an OTR job, so to save everybody from having to search for and read my old posts, here is a recap:

After spending 15 years in warehouses, an opportunity came up for me last year to go to school to get a CDL with my employer paying 90% of the cost. I had always liked trucks and thought it could be my ticket out of warehouse work. Make money, buy my own truck, live happily driving around the country.

Had no problems getting the CDL at all. Started working for Schneider in August last year, had no trouble going through orientation at all. Shifting, backing, road driving, etc all fine.

Got an OTR position and went out at the start of September.
All was fine and dandy for a while.

Then while driving through Mississippi in November I had an accident.
I had spent the night at a small gas station off the hiway. At 4:30 AM I was heading out. It was foggy, dark, the roads were empty. I came to the stop sign and was about to make my left hand turn onto the hiway. I saw a vehicle in the far off distance, no big deal I thought, he's a couple hundred yards away. Started pulling out across the hiway with my 42k load. Road onto the hiway was an incline so it was slow going, get my nose just about across the East bound lanes when there was a bang and sparks across the front of my truck. Looked over just in time to see an SUV rolling in the grass center median. The guy admitted to the cops that he was doing 90 and tried to go around the front of me as I was pulling out. I bumped his passenger side as a result and sent him spinning. He was uninjured (was out and walking around, refused a checkup from the EMS) and although my bumper was a mangled, my Columbia was still drivable. I didn't get any citations from the police for it and after an officer got my info I was free to go. Safety department yelled at me, saying it was preventable because I could have stopped to let him pass, which I agreed with. Had some minor retraining and a road test, which impressed the trainer.

Then in January I had another accident. Had been running for about 4 weeks and was running recaps. I was a bit burnt out, even planning to take a 34 after completing my load and decided to not run more then 2 weeks without a 34 hour restart since it didn't feel safe. But, I didn't make it that long. Was driving though a construction zone, there was no shoulder and the lane was narrow with the guard rail right against the line. I drifted a few inches to the right and brushed the guard rail. I recovered with no trouble, but the steering was messed up. Was able to continue a mile down the road to an emergency pull off, leaving skid marks the whole way from my front tires. The tie rod got bent when the lugs on the passenger side steer caught the guardrail. When the drivers side tire was pointing straight, the passenger side would point towards 1 o'clock. Tires on the passenger side of the truck and trailer had gauges in the sidewalls as a result of the guard rail and the skirting on the side of the cab was scraped but intact. Heard the officer talking on the phone saying the guard rail didn't need to be replaced, it was just 'chewed up'. I did get cited for lane control as a result of the accident and the truck had to be towed to a nearby OC.

I got terminated for safety violations.
Can't get unemployment either due to 'disregarding company safety rules'

Now, I live in South East PA in an area with dozens of major warehouses 15 mins away so finding a new warehouse job wont be hard (yes, I know it's already been 2 months, lol). But, I really hate the thought of going back to a warehouse. I was hoping to get out of that kind of work.

But, is there even any chance of me getting back into rig with 2 preventable accidents in such a short time or would it be better to just wait a few years before attempting?

If the only option is a company that treats drivers like crap and pays less then I would make just driving a forklift at a warehouse, then I'd rather wait.
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Thing I like about your post is you didn't come up with all kinds of excuses ,you admitted it's your fault and not giving Schneider a bad rep like so many do when they get in accidents or receive tickets.Now the bad news is I don't see you as hireable for a few yrs because these were back to back preventables and they occured not too long ago.It's not the motor carrier that won't hire you but their insurance company has the final say so.

Finfn1372 · Mar 28, 2016

If you want it stick with it,when I first started driving,had 2 accidents in 6 months.I came off the road and found a yard driving job for a couple years.After that been back on the road for 4 years clean record.The thing is to learn from your mistakes and not keep making them.

zaroba · Mar 28, 2016

pattyj said: ↑

Thing I like about your post is you didn't come up with all kinds of excuses ,you admitted it's your fault and not giving Schneider a bad rep like so many do when they get in accidents or receive tickets.Now the bad news is I don't see you as hireable for a few yrs because these were back to back preventables and they occured not too long ago.It's not the motor carrier that won't hire you but their insurance company has the final say so.
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Yea, I tend to be very detailed and honest. Often annoys people, lol
Unfortunately those seem to be increasingly rare traits in this day and age and as a result has caused me to get screwed over on more then one occasion as SOBs who like to back stab and suck up come out in front of those who truly believe in hard work and dedication.

pattyj · Mar 28, 2016

zaroba said: ↑

Yea, I tend to be very detailed and honest. Often annoys people, lol
Unfortunately those seem to be increasingly rare traits in this day and age and as a result has caused me to get screwed over on more then one occasion as SOBs who like to back stab and suck up come out in front of those who truly believe in hard work and dedication.
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I'm an honest person too and not afraid to say I messed up.My situation is my job history.But whether honest or stretch the truth it really doesn't matter in this field,companies either want you or they don't there's no in between.With your preventables they see you as a high risk and chances are your mvr probably doesn't even get sent to their insurance company.With me they see me as a person that can't hold a job even though most was good reason why I didn't stay.All I can do is keep applying and hope someone will hire me so I can show them they didn't make a mistake and prove to them I'm a dam good driver.

Moon_beam · Mar 28, 2016

According to Transport Topic News, Zurich and American International Group have dropped insuring trucks in the US citing high profile accidents. Rates have been going up because of the WalMart accident in New Jersey and the FedEx accident in California which killed 10 people.

Wheeler0811 · Mar 28, 2016

Might be cut out for a dispatch position now that you do have real world CDL experience which already puts you above 90% of the ppl dispatching freight

Woodys · Mar 28, 2016

I just wanted to throw out there. Yard jockey (in my opinion) is a super fun job if your even half way decent at backing. If you could make a decent living driving a yard horse I would probably never drive the road again. Unfortunately unless you work for ups I think most jobs pay a little more than forklift work, some pay the same.

zaroba · Mar 29, 2016

I have an interview with Mesko tomorrow morning

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