How do you build your self confidence back up again?

I was driving for a small LTL outfit awhile back. I was a quarter mile from home terminal, empty 53ft box on a single axle daycab. Made the last right turn onto a highway overpass and spun out on black ice, wrecked the crap out of the tractor. Had to sweat it the whole weekend, was told not to come in on Monday and got fired on Tuesday. Only true FMCSA-defined accident I had ever been in, and first time fired from a job, ever. You know the feeling I had, you're feeling it now.

I was able to get a fuel hauling job thanks to my terminal manager's recommendation, and drove a truck for a couple more years until I went back to school to be a mechanic. Now my youngest is heading off to college in the fall, and I'm looking forward to driving a truck again.

I guess I'm saying that you'll be alright, and you'll find another job.

Actually, if I hadn't been fired from the LTL job, I would never have gone back to school. The clues for what you should do next are all around you. Quiet down, and listen.

You're gonna be okay. Good luck.

 

Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody. Learn from them and keep going.
One of our senior drivers forgot to raise the landing gear on a trailer. It was the first time in over thirty years that he'd done anything reportable. The damage was expensive but repairable.
He 'fessed up to what he'd done wrong and his only punishment was the ribbing he took from the other drivers. That hurt.

 

Are you a safe driver??
From what you have said I believe you are. Safe driver does not mean you have never had an accident.
You need a job and the road needs safe drivers.

 

10 years of driving with no accident? Now that's something to be proud of!

If you can work that local job without having accidents, you can go back on the road and run another 10 years accident-free. Just develop a routine that includes double-checking everything, and smile when you earn that safety bonus again.

You got this.

 

We have all been there done that. You just gotta keep it moving. Chalk it up to experience and go start the next chapter in your career.

 

Finally one of these threads with a happy ending, good deal man.

Now can someone explain the coke can high hooking trick?

 

Drink the coke while cooling down from being upset you over shot the fifth wheel, then drop the air from your bags, lift the back of fifth wheel up tipping it forward, insert empty coke can under the back of the fifth wheel to hold it up, pull forward and the trailer will ramp up over the fifth wheel.

 

We all make mistakes its just time to move on, try not to dwell on the past and move forward .

 

Tin cans work better, like an old spaghetti-o's can (or ravioli if you're @Boattlebot ) ... but :

Sometime or other, you'll want to hook into a trailer that is actually set too high on its landing gear and you're stuck with the kingpin on the wrong side of the fifth wheel.

The fifth wheel automatically tilts towards the back, and that doesn't help you any just now. You could slowly grind the landing gear up until the k.p. clears the fifth wheel. And your arms and back are wore out.

Here's a method to tilt the fifth wheel forward, and maybe make your life a bit easier.

Get something to jam in under the fifth wheel. I think the best tool to do that with is a big ball pein ("ball peen") hammer. You can use it mostly for bumping tires and breaking ice off the steps. But here's where it comes into its own.

Look at this photo:
You can see the kingpin straight up from the right end of the hammer. You might need both hands. Manually tilt the fifth wheel forward with your left hand, and set the hammer in to hold the plate up.

It's important to put the "ball" end down on the frame and the "hammer" end up under the plate. When you pull the tractor out, there may be too much weight on the plate, and the ball pein hammer will simply pop out when the kingpin gets over it. No other tool will work like this. An empty tin can (its better than a coke can,) will work also. Coca-Cola customarily has thicker cans than other brands of pop/soda, and is professed to work also, though I've not personally tried this.

The fifth wheel is now tilted so the k.p. should move smoothly back to where it should be.