Help, rolled a truck, will it stop me from driving?

We only know what he told us. So, after he had an accident in the company's truck they sent him to school and he still has a job.

The basic math here works out to: If he gets through court with a valid license he will be able to complete his school and get his CDL. And, he will have his job.

Whether his employer's insurance will allow him to drive as a job is an open question. A question none of us keyboard heroes can answer.

@Haw123 if you haven't gotten a lawyer to help with your traffic case, do so. Your goal is to not have your privilege to operate taken away. You can get your CDL as long as you are not suspended/revoked. If your company will put you back in a truck, then you can get the experience to move on.

 

I saw a lot of good advice for the OP here, I hope he heeds some of it. totally get what happened...

After being with the Highway department for a long time I once decided I needed extra work so I went to driving a dump truck nights for this guy that had 3 POS trucks doing milling and asphalt work. We are talking STRAIGHT dump trucks here as I am sure the OP was likely driving. The guys who do this work don't really have the same rules we do out here on the big road.. They usually operate under 150 miles from domicile and therefore don't run logs and they work until they can't stand up. They are required to have at least a class B CDL but they also make more money by paying a driver less and so they just want someone who can fill the seat and figure out how to get the bed in the air. Yes there are reputable companies that run safe equipment but when the call goes out for 35 trucks to feed the paver and another 20 for the milling machine.. A lot of people get in line. So I totally get how this happened, you get a 10 wheeler loaded with 20 tons of asphalt and let one side fall off the drop off or get into something soft on one side and whoops! Over she goes... It's one of the reasons they started putting pup axles on them, more stable except you can't back up with a steerable pup.

I don't think the kid has much to worry about as far as the rollover is concerned, it really does happen more often than people like and it's not really unusual. It's quite likely it was never reported to an insurance company as most of these small business operators run old trucks because they are not only cheap and easy to keep cobbled together but they are disposable. Most only run mandated liability. I know that the same guy I did some part time work for put a kid in a dump truck once and the kid promptly took it down the road and rolled it... He just parted the wreck out.. BTW this same guy never asked me if I had a CDL and/or a medical card..lol. Some of the paving and construction companies are beginning to have some standards but not for everything... You can get $75 an hour if you can put a truck that will stay started in front of the milling machine.. They could care less if it is legal. They do worry a bit about the hot mix trucks.. Can't have a truck breaking down with a load of hot mix in it.

I currently pull a frameless end dump for a famous company and yeah...If you don't respect the ritual when dumping then you are a roll over looking for a place to happen.. You have to be a little crazy to pull one of these, it also helps if you can focus on details every time. There is a world of difference between this and driving a straight dump truck or even a full frame end dump... The frameless end dump is headed for extinction though... They finally have a live bottom trailer that will do that work and is light enough to make money with... We are getting them soon and I can hardly wait... Because they can not only haul dump bucket stuff like rock, dirt, and grain but they can haul regular palletized freight too! Use your imagination... An entire trailer floor that is a conveyer belt and a tailgate that swings wide open...No more 39 feet of trailer in the air balanced on a couple super singles

 

Common practice years ago was for local guys not even get a CDL until they got caught. As long as you had your CDL by your court date, the judge would more than likely throw it out. Times have changed since then.

I don't know how it is in VA, but in TN, for local trucks that never leave the state, don't even have to have a DOT number. In other words, they aren't bound by any of the federal regulations. The only record of his offenses will only be in the state driving record.

All that being said, it will make a big difference if the company he was working for has a USDOT number. The company can actually have their DOT number suspended for allowing him behind the wheel. If the company isn't required to have a DOT number, the end result isn't likely to be nearly as harsh, probably just a fine and move on.

 

You drove a CDL vehicle for over a year without the appropriate license? Because you "needed to pay bills"?

It baffles me as to where such an attitude of entitlement could come from? You require, by law, the correct license to drive a vehicle of a particular class, otherwise, you are not only doing something illegal, you likely don't have the correct skills to operate it safely (and that's the bigger concern).

Your rollover proves a lack of skill and control, and you also got a ticket for being overweight on top of no-CDL? The chances of you getting a job at any reputable carrier are pretty much zero. You've ruined your chances in this industry, and even if you do succeed in finding a job, your attitude is going to get you into more trouble.

 

That right there is a load of crap and you know it! Have you SEEN a lot of these "professional" drivers who HAVE their CDL? They don't get trained, they are taught to pass a test without so much as the first clue what they are doing. They jump through all of the "proper" hoops and suddenly they are safe? The number of idiots plowing into stopped traffic, tearing hoods off in truck stops, collapsing low-weight-limit bridges, getting stuck under low-clearance structures, etc..., begs to differ. Having the license does NOT mean you have the skills, and I've met quite a few people who could run circles around a good number of "licensed professionals" yet they have no CDL.

Overweight tickets don't matter. It is only to pay the fine, and at most companies the driver is responsible to pay that fine...so how would an overwieght ticket prevent anyone from getting hired anywhere? There are no CSA points for the carrier, nor on your psp. That is a non-issue.

The rollover, as has been discussed, is far less serious of a matter in vocational work where it tends to happen occasionally. He still has his job, so whether or not YOUR idea of a "reputable company" would hire him is irrelevant. He even said they are paying for him to get his CDL...which means his job is pretty safe. They aren't going to put out that kind of money just to turn around and fire him for this.

And where do get the idea that there is any sense of entitlement just because he was doing what he thought was necessary at the time to provide for his family? An opportunity presented itself, and he ran with it. Maybe he knew better, maybe he didn't. Read these forums for a while and you'll find plenty of people blissfully unaware of what is legally required of them...and others so sure they know what the law says that they refuse to listen or even read for themselves where they are mistaken.

And yes, if I was hungry with bills to pay and a family that depended upon me for support, I'd jump at any opportunity that presented itself to start making money right now instead of turning it down like a fool to watch my family starve and lose our home...especially if it appeared to be legitimate work. Do you really think the average 9-5'er knows the first thing about the regulations? I'd bet 95% of the general population have never heard of the FMCSA, and yet you think a guy just trying to make a living has a sense of entitlement for daring to drive a dump truck that the company (which SHOULD have known better) tossed him the keys to and said "Have at it!"? I can't say that I blame the guy, because I would've done the same thing, especially if I didn't know any better.

 

Many years ago, I was driving trucks some at 16 years old. I didn't think I was entitled, the trucks just needed driven so I drove them. Granted things have changed some since then. Also, just because you have a license in your pocket doesn't mean you can drive a truck, just because you don't hold a license or went to driving school doesn't mean you don't know how to drive either.

The fact is, the OP broke the law and got caught. Now he just has to move forward the best he can. Plenty of smaller and local outfits will still hire him.

 

Couldn't have said it better. Road construction is hard work whether you're on the paver or in a dump truck and it is honest work. A man does what he has to do to feed his family as long as it's honest then it's to be commended not ridiculed.

 

Except driving a truck that requires a CDL without having one is not honest. It's the definition of dishonest.

Whether the process of getting the actual CDL provides adequate training for the job at hand is irrelevant. It's required- in order to "honestly" do the job.

 

So you'd prefer him to be on welfare or out stealing to provide for his family? Get off your high horse. Chances are he didn't know he was supposed to have a CDL, and took a job that was offered to him by a company that SHOULD have known better. Isn't much different than a company saying "firearms in CMVs are illegal" or "the safe haven regulation allows you to drive to a truck stop after you're loaded/unloaded when you're out of hours" or that "you're covered by the adverse conditions exception" when you knew full well you'd be driving into a blizzard when you were dispatched? All examples of common misconceptions drivers have because the company said so. A guy who has never had any reason to pay attention to the laws and regulations we work under who gets hired by a company that says "Sure...you can drive that truck! No, you don't need any special license!" is just as prone to believing the BS as the driver who ought to know better because he's been given a copy of the FMCSR regulations.

If you want to be upset at be mad at the company who put him in the truck...not the guy trying to make an honest buck. Yes, I said honest buck because it is. He's putting in a full day's work for a full day's wage, and paying taxes on his income...doesn't get much more honest than that. And I guarantee YOU aren't "perfect" either...whether fudging a little here or there in your log book to "save your hours" or riding a little heavy on the throttle to "get there" a little quicker, or obstructing traffic as you attempt to pass that other truck governed 1/4 mph slower than you, you're doing less-than-honest things in your own quest to earn an honest dollar.

 

Dude, are you serious? You think it's ok for a guy to drive a truck that requires a CDL without one (never mind that he flips the truck) because 'he didn't know'?!!

Hey, my mother in law was a crazy #######- so I killed her! Wait, I can't do that?! But the ignorance defense worked for the untrained guy flipping trucks he's not supposed to be driving- why not me?

Hey, I respect you (the high horse remarks not withstanding, you clearly don't know me. Lol) so I'm just gonna agree to disagree on this one. Having bills to pay just isn't an excuse to break the law- especially not in a country of laws. Feel free to have the las word in this one. My days of arguing on the internet are long gone.