Getting a job after accidents.

Antinomian · Mar 29, 2016

You can get hired with accidents on your record. People do it all the time. What matters is what kind of accident. Unfortunately, this is where you have gotten yourself in trouble. Both of your accidents were tow-aways. That means they were both DOT reportable and anyone who hires you now will have to eat big CSA points when they bring you on. You old employer got the points and is stuck with them for two years. Anyone who hires you will also get the points and be stuck with them until the accident is two years old - even if you quit.

zaroba · Mar 29, 2016

I know I got some points for the first due to the citation.

As for the 2nd, while still preventable, I'm guessing I was considered not-at-fault *legal-wise* as I didn't get ticketed for anything (nor inspected, cop didn't even ask to see my logs). So no clue what it would fall under in regards to CSA.

Can't find anything on the CSA listing for a not-at-fault accident.
http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/sms_appendixa_violationslist.xlsx
The only stuff in regards to accidents is followup stuff (ie, keeping records, drug/alcohol testing)

randal02lee · Mar 29, 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 up 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.
Click to expand...

My brother in law had 2 preventable accidents within his first 6 months, was fired, regrouped, took 6 months off from driving, then found a driving job with a small company and has been working with them for the last 15 years, accident free.
The biggest difference now is he never drives if he feels unsafe (tired, or too foggy, bad road conditions) because any accident still comes back on him.

zaroba · May 11, 2016

An update after over a month.

The Mesko yard jockey job never happened. They were only hiring for night shift and there was no chance of switching to days in the near future so I had to turn it down. It may seem petty or whatever, some might turn around and call me a 'solar' trucker or whatever. But I just can't handle nights. I simply cannot sleep during the day and even if I am up till 2am, it is rare that I sleep past 7am. I am an early morning person, I have no trouble waking up at 4am and immediately going on-duty to pretrip and head out. If I was forced to drive nights I can guarantee I would fall asleep behind the wheel within a week.

Had applied to over 2 dozen other companies and even Werner turned me down.
Finally got hired with Western Express, starting on Monday. It may not be the best company based on reviews here, but I gotta restart somewhere right?

Moose1958 · May 11, 2016

You know in the end all the advice in the world is not worth a tinkers #### when you boil it down. You need to put applications in and be honest with them and see what happens. Grow up, put your big boy pants on watch what your doing. It does not take an advanced degree to get from one point to another in a CMV just some common sense. Do you have this? Or will you become just another SWH!

zaroba · May 11, 2016

Yep, I believe in being very honest, even if something is my fault.
Hence why I didn't even lie about that 2nd accident. I might not have been terminated if I lied and said somebody cut me off. But I believe in taking responsibility for ones actions.

All of those companies that turned me down was due ot the accidents, and I was very clear and detailed with them when talking to recruiters. Pretty much every conversation with a recruiter started with "I don't want to waste your time so before we go any further, I want to make sure you are ok with the accidents, one of which was my fault and resulted in two tickets". Then we'd talk about them. Many places needed 3 months of driving after an accident or no accidents in the past year. Some were denied due to insurance limits. One was ok with the accidents and tickets but couldn't hire me because my termination was the result of an accident. Each time I didn't argue or get an attitude with them either, I simply told them that I understood and thanked them for their time.

Jubal3 · May 11, 2016

Well, Kudos to you for not making excuses. That's a HUGE deal to me, and yes, *I* would hire you, though I'd require you go out with a trainer for a few weeks. You screwed up. So have we all. You did it in really bad places with bad results, but the first one with the other driver cited shouldn't even BE on you. You should have caught it, but foggy and over-speed drivers, that's a NASTY combo because fog screws with depth perception and distance perception.

You can get a job out there. You might have to work a substandard position for a while, but that's the world. And YES, you DO need more training. You took a chance when you shouldn't have, and were obviously going too fast for conditions in the other incident.

You seem like a standup guy. I wish you the best. Just SLOW DOWN. There is no such thing as being in a hurry on a big rig. EVERYTHING is SLOW. Because slow is safe. That's just a baseline I think you don't get yet.

Finfn1372 · May 11, 2016

Congrats on the new gig,it's a foot in the door,learn from your mistakes and all kinds of opportunities will open up

zaroba · May 12, 2016

Now it's not going to happen.
Just got a call back and they said they can't hire me because the November accident is reported on my DAC as a 'rear end collision' and is thus DOT reportable and they can't hire me for having 2 DOT reportable accidents.

Coincidentally, I just got a copy of my DAC in the mail today and it does indeed say 'rear end collision'.

Wonder if I can dispute it and have it removed or at least make it look less severe.
I broadsided the car (if it could even be called that when I was only going 5-10mph), clipping it as it tried to go past the front of me, I didn't rear end it. Even have a picture of my truck that shows the bumper took impact on corner of the drivers side. The bumper got pushed sideways, from the drivers side towards the passenger side, the portion of the bumper that wraps around to the tire got pushed against the frame and pitman arm, and the center of the bumper buckled and pushed out a few inches in front of the truck. This all makes it look more like he hit me. And if it was a DOT reportable, why didn't schneider send me for a drug test? Isn't that required by law?

Raezzor · May 12, 2016

If it was DOT reportable it'll say so on the accident report. The criteria for that are any one of the following:

1) Anyone involved died.
2) Anyone involved required medical attention away from the scene of the accident, IE required transportation.
3) Any vehicle involved could not leave the scene under it's own power, IE required a tow.

DOT reportable does not mean a drug test is required. Those requirements are spelled out here. To wit:

1) There's a fatality.
2) Injury requiring treatment away from the scene AND the CMV operator was cited.
3) Any vehicle required a tow AND the CMV operator was cited.

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