Hit two poles. Didn't report it

.

 

If the company you work for will fire you for it, bet your ### that the company you want to apply for won't hire you for it. #### my company hit me for something that wasn't even my fault and now I'm having a hell of a time searching for a new job. And my company DIDN'T fire me for it lol

 

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it... I guess it never fell!

Or somebody else made it fall, just not me.

 

Seriously people.... I had an account saved because I screwed up, damaged something, and told them. (now for the story)

A high end luxury apartment complex. One day it was calm out. I was emptying a dumpster. Just a little puff of breeze blew the gate for the dumpster area under the dumpster I was dumping. (was that enough dumps? ) I went to set down the dumpster and bent the gate. I went inside and told the manager. Now the real higher manager never wanted to talk to me about it. Avoided me....
Later I found out. The account was out for regular bid. We didn't bid the lowest. The higher manager said no. I want XXXX(ME) company. That guy has integrity. He told us when he goofed up. I don't know what screwball the lowest bidder is going to send me. I need integrity on this property and he has it. I want him. She went on to say that she knows people make mistakes. But too few have integrity to admit it. He did. Said I get all kinds of damage around here all the time. And nobody knows what happened?! It's so nice to know what happened for once! I want XXXX doing the trash here. I don't need no screwball.
Think about it...... I saved that account....

 

And this is why so many men have trouble taking women seriously in the workplace.

By your avatar and handle, you've made it obvious that you're a woman. We all know that, and gender wasn't mentioned once. Most drivers don't care what you're packing downstairs, it's what you're packing upstairs (as in brains and common sense) that really matters in this profession. Shogun makes a good point, that NO ONE runs very long without at least a few mishaps, even if they're minor and not worth worrying about...

..and so you pull the V Card, and accuse him of being an overly-emotional egotist with a little ding-dong. Because you AREN'T as perfect as you claim you are(no one is)and you know it. Instead of being honest with yourself and us, you get catty and spiteful, and reinforce every stereotype imaginable concerning 'why women should have been kept B,P and in the K.'

Seriously, there are a lot of awesome female truckers, combat pilots, firefighters, et al in this world. They all earned respect by doing the job and not hiding behind their gender. Witness Capt. Kim Campbell:

"I get asked that a lot, 'What’s it like to be a female in a fighter squadron?' Honestly, I never think about it. The important thing is to work really hard and be good at it, and then nobody cares what gender you are. I’m not a female fighter pilot. I’m just a fighter pilot, and I love it."

If you want the world to be about merit and not sex...the instant you pull the V Card(or the Race Card, or any other Special Snowflake Victim Card), you lose.

 

@Gearjammin' Penguin
That's right. This is a tough industry with a steep learning curve, and the G.O.A.L mantra works well when you have the time and luxury. However, when You are blocking main roads and traffic is still trying to pass you as you blindside in, concrete wall on one side and dumpster on the other, you might get a little Blue BFI paint on the inside door wall. That door wall has likely been scratched 500 times already. When I drove for Ashley Furniture, our trailers had extended sliders just so you could turn around in some of the parking lots you were delivering knowing they were way too tight.
My dad retired from Roadway, and he could tell you about the drivers with the "3 million accident free" miles stickers, and where some of them had accidents that they didn't report. There are just some impossible situations in this job, and it makes me a better driver every day. I use google "street view" all the time to see what I am getting into since our customer is constantly adding new accounts, and I warn other drivers about how tough it is to get in there if need be. We have several skirted trailers that are destroyed due to the locations we go.

I work with one woman driver and they give her the tough deliveries the same as me, and she's been here 4 years so I know she's a good driver. I am not threatened by her as a woman, but if she said she's never hit anything PERIOD, I'd tell her she's full of it too and name the places she probably has had to scratch or rub a wall or door.

All in all, the OP should have went inside, reported it and asked if he could fix it or pay for it somehow. A humble attitude and being apologetic probably would have gotten him/her a "thanks for letting us know" and "don't worry about it" or maybe "we'll have maintenance stand them back up". I hope they learn from it and report back what happened.

 

Women truck drivers are constantly "on guard". My ex-gf has been a driver as long as I have, and still does. She's the one who told me about this awesome site. The abuse she took over the years would make anyone cringe, but to this Kattie, if you are going to get that upset, and start with the small weenie thing, I immediately lost any respect for you. If you can't blow off these male comments with stride, it's going to be a rough go for you and I don't feel this way, but many men still feel you are in their territory, it challenges their manhood.(if any) Like I say, my ex-gf put up with that for 30 years. We welcome with open arms all drivers here, but please, not with that attitude. Thx.

 

Lol. Did you just compare bumping a pole with brandishing a loaded gun in the local mall? Cause it sounds like you did. Lol.

 

She said her name is Semi-Crazy Katie.

 

for the OP:
There's a couple of ways to handle this:
If your truck hits something or something hits it and its obvious (crack, busted mirror, scrape, etc) something that no reasonable person would miss - then you are much better off reporting it and telling the truth.

Now - that can be interpreted a few ways as well. At 3am a driver busted off a spot mirror on my truck (company truck). He talked to me about it - I know he just made a mistake trying to park in a poorly lit lot in the rain at 3am. So I helped him get backed in and told him not to worry about it as I was "in the shower and came out and low and behold my mirror was broke..."

One thing to remember is that probably 99.5% of drivers are not going to say anything about you hitting a pole at a dock. That is probably one of the most common occurrences - it happens - think about what you did and learn from your mistake. Most drivers have seen it happen many, many times. I've seen people hit fences, roll over signs, pull trailers over giant rocks (just ask any blue beacon wash bay worker about this), rip the swing doors off their trailer, push an unrestrained swing door thru a dock, drop a loaded trailer without the landing gear lowered (at Walmart), low hook, high hook, and several reefer fires. If for some reason I decided to say something to a company about another driver doing something stupid or careless, or whatever on their property - I just roped myself into being a witness in some sort of protracted litigation during which I may be called upon to make a statement in person - and during that time I would not be compensated for being out of work. Unless I am being compelled to be a witness by a judge - there is no way I would ever get myself mixed up in someone's folly.

Don't hit an O/O's chromed out glider. You are asking for trouble if you do.