Injured in a truck accident

Aflak · Apr 15, 2012

Or call her husband say this strange old man is trying to sleep in the same room as me, if the husband was any-type of a man he would have gotten that fixed asap. And she would not have to do anything but follow instructions.

pete3871 · Apr 15, 2012

TB John said: ↑

I first read this thread several hours ago and I have watched it grow over time. Yes the OP is lengthy, but I think it is compelling.

I have watched as this person was first disparaged for everything from the length of her post to the length of time and number of posts she has on this sight as if that mattered at all in what happened to her. Her point of view is just as valid if she has ten posts or several thousand.

She has also been maligned for her choice of starter company 'cause everyone knows CRST has a bad reputation" again, so what!! By whatever standards they set for a company CRST seemed to be the best choice for them.

I've also watched as this thread slipped into a "cat fight" between two (adults)? over several issues.

The bottom line of the problem is something that is called Corperate Resposibility. Unfortunately a lot, not all, trucking companies speak of it but don't practice it. I think that stems from the fact that trucking companies don't deal with the general public on a daily basis. They don't know how to treat people that they don't come in contact with face to face on a daily basis.

Corperate responsibility or the lack thereof is also shown by what sort of people they allow to be trainers/mentors or what ever they want to call them. I constantly read the horror stories on here of the way trainers are allowed to train with seemingly no oversight or standards of performance

To the people that say "well that's just trucking" that's where I call BS. If manufacturing, healthcare, education etc. can establish rules and guidelines in reguards to job performance, HR issues and pay there is no reason trucking can't also.
Click to expand...

I guess I'm on the thats trucking bandwagon.If you choose to work for a disreputable company(and they say they researched crst)and something happens,then common sense would tell you that you are going to be treated disreputably.I agree with your statement about how things should be,but face it man,these big fleets operate on a buisness plan that is geared to take advantage of people and spit them right on out on they're butt's.The big fleet's have lobbyist,lawyers and whole teams of people to keep this proccess flowing.The only change that can be made is by the people that go to sites and other media such as this one and say "No I will not work for a company like that".The big company's are'nt going to change a policy that works and produces big profits,for the sake of the drivers and employee's.These big fleets have sheep lined up every week to be slaughtered,and they never stop lining up,and that's "just trucking"!

Zoltan1a · Apr 15, 2012

This story sounds so wild I am uncertain how to respond. I cant claim to have ever been in a situation such as this one, but boy where there so many instances in which this student could have taken charge and put this all in order. I understand there is a huge desire to succeed, but this trainer was clearly negligent and should have been stopped when the police arrived. Call me crazy but I would have walked away after the trainer attempted to start the truck after the accident. Life is worth more than any job

Wicked Wizard · Apr 15, 2012

win-some-loose-less said: ↑

Fishing for a lawsuit. In no way am I taking up for crst. First time posters don't write a book for first post then slowly but surely point at lawsuit. No sympathy here. I call b.s. just because you are new to trucking isn't a excuse for pure ignorance. Lady talked like she was a prisoner to a mad man with a gun..
Click to expand...

She is definitely fishing for a lawsuit. After the week of hell she had the first thing she decides to do is get on this website and type away? Let's get real........ Probably from her phone.

kwray · Apr 15, 2012

Bikerdave said: ↑

Americathebeautiful said: ↑

, I know what it is like to be appalled by unprofessionalism, at every level of the operations of these big, well-known carriers. But let's face it, most truck drivers are blue collar workers, or straight from the Army-Navy-Marines,

YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED AT YOURSELF! How can you put down our military men like that................Your a DISGRACE
Click to expand...

Meaning that ex-military (like me) are more likely to put up with and deal with more b.s. than non military. Next time read thoroughly before jumping to conclusions.
Click to expand...

JaeBro · Apr 15, 2012

mommywing said: ↑

Hello All!

Just letting each of you know about the accident I was in while working for CRST. This is a copy of the letter given to several people at CRST. So far nobody has helped me in this situation. Just letting you know...If you are injured while working for CRST, you will not be treated well. The driver claimed he "swerved to miss a deer" but myself and others believe he fell asleep at the wheel.

Happy Reading!

Subject: CRST Employee injury statement and concern.
Attention: CRST Owners, Staff Members and/or Employees,
Intent of letter:
· To express concern over lack of company communication.
· To provide information which demonstrates a lack of ability for CRST to provide correct and rightful working conditions to CRST truck drivers.
· To provide detailed information regarding an injury incident of this CRST truck driver
· To provide detailed information of an ongoing employment issue of this driver.
· To provide an update of current and ongoing injury concerns of this driver.
· To provide suggestions for policy and procedure improvements within the company.
· To provide CRST with suggestions, and information, which may enable appropriate implementation of changes, where necessary.
This is not a document meant to belittle CRST, or any of the people who work for the company. It is simply meant to explain the details regarding the lack of appropriate company communication to drivers, while giving a detailed account of the injury accident which occurred to this driver on March 31, 2012, as well as the current status of the ongoing injuries to this driver. The intent of this document is to provide information and make recommendations for possible changes to future policies and handling procedures in similar cases.
Let me begin by first saying Thank You for the chance to become trained and licensed to operate a commercial vehicle. CRST has the potential to provide people, who dream of becoming truck drivers, the start to that dream.
In September of 2011, my husband and I made the decision to become OTR truck drivers. We spent six months investigating various companies, planning, dreaming, goal-setting and discussing our future as team drivers. Both of us were very excited to begin a 5 year plan of action, with CRST which included: selling all of our belongings, giving up a lease on the place we were living, minimizing all of our bills, and stock piling as much cash as we could, in order have money to live on during our training phase, leaving our friends, family and pets behind.
Our dream, and goal, was to get ourselves down to only three bills. A small car payment we still have, our cell phones and our insurance. Since we would have no other bills we looked forward to doing nothing for the next five years but working as a team for CRST, stock piling our money (since as a team all of our earnings would be going into the same household account) and then taking our savings after 5 years and purchasing a new home for ourselves. Of all the things we were most excited about, we would get to spend time TOGETHER! Not many couples want to spend that much time with one another but we do.
Through a serious of regrettable circumstances, imposed upon us by no fault of our own, our dream has turned into a nightmare. A nightmare that could have been reduced to a bad dream, but was not handled properly and has now turned into a living nightmare.
After completing our truck driving training at Kirkwood Community College, on March 7th, 2012 my husband and I completed our orientation and became employees of CRST. We agreed to the terms of the 8 month contract and were eager to begin our careers. Mark (my husband) was placed with his lead driver within an hour or so of receiving our employee ID cards and Comdata cards. This was a good thing. I, however, was finally assigned a lead driver who, not only did not show up to get me into the truck with her, but did not call and tell me she was not coming. When I was finally able to get in touch with her she simply said Oh, Im not coming to get you. I guess I should have let you know. This set me back several days. No problem. Thats life. So I was assigned another lead driver, and a week after coming out of orientation I was paired up with my new lead and finally on the road. The only hiccup in our dream was that we would be a week apart in the completion of our traininga minor set-back at the time.
Things felt a little stressful, but that was to be expected. We had been mentally prepared for the new changes we would have to face. After all, it is stressful to change careers and life style all at once. As out of my element as I may have felt during the schooling, orientation and training, it seemed normal that there would be an adjustment period, and my husband and I simply coped with the changes we knew came with the career change (tis the nature of the job).
What we were NOT prepared for were the nightmares that followed!
Approximately two weeks into his 28 days of training, my husbands lead driver became angry with the company for not giving him his home time, and abandoned the truck and trailer.along with my husband.in the middle of downtown Topeka, KS. He handed the keys to my husband and said Youll need to move the truck its parked in the middle of the street. Hope you dont mind throwing away my stuff. Off the truck he went and onto a bus home. Realizing the truck was parked in the middle of the street, Mark moved it to the most reasonable, safe location he knew of.a nearby rest area. He let the fleet manager know that the lead driver had abandoned him, and that he had moved the truck to a safe place. The Qualcom message he received back was in all capital letters (all capitals are the indication of yelling to make a point), stating:
STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE WITHOUT A LEAD DRIVER.
Feeling as if he had just been scolded for doing what he thought was the right thing (CRST does not train students on what to do if a lead driver abandons them in the middle of a downtown street), he sat, be-wildered, in the rest area for nearly a full day. It was a very long time before anyone acknowledged where he was. He had no idea of what to do next. He offered to drive the truck back to Cedar Rapids. (Approximately 5.5 hours from where he was stranded). They said he couldnt do that because he was just a student. However! The next instructions were to take the truck to Liberty, MO to a secure yard there. Liberty, MO was about 2.0 hours from the place he was stranded (even though students are not allowed to drive without lead drivers).
After arriving in Liberty, MO he was instructed to get onto a bus for Oklahoma City. Since the bus was not going to leave until the next morning, he called some friends we have in the area to come get him. They graciously picked him up, took him to their home and got him safely to the bus terminal the next morning.
Un-foreseen things happen in life. CRST certainly could not have known his lead driver would abandon him. They did, however, know that he was new at the job, and unsure as to what to do. CRST missed the opportunity to demonstrate professionalism with a new driver. Someone could have called to check on him and make sure he was ok, and at least find out what the situation was before scolding him.
Life goes on though.
After getting on the bus for Oklahoma, the bus stopped for a break at a gas station. Mark got off the bus to buy a soda. He placed his soda on the counter to pay for it, the bus driver was standing next to him at the time, but by the time he got through the line and paid for the soda, the bus driver AND THE BUS were gone..with all of his belongings on the bus.
It took several hours, but he was FINALLY able to get another bus. Not because CRST helped him out, but because the Greyhound Bus company went to great lengths to make up for their mistake. It took two days for him to get his belongings back (he still never got all of them). It was not CRSTs fault that the Greyhound driver left him.it was, however, CRSTs responsibility to demonstrate some professional consideration and assistance. Instead, He made it to Oklahoma City, where he was then stuck waiting for a new lead driver, and no real communication from the company.
After finally getting a new lead driver, the drivers truck was broken down and in the shop for repair for several days. This left Mark sitting for ANOTHER week of no training. Trucks break downunderstandable, but here is a student who has just gone through the ringer and the company doesnt assign someone to help him through this process. Instead he sat a total of two weeks with no load to take at all. At one point a Student Liaison had called ME to see how my training was coming along, and I had to ASK him to call my husband (why didnt someone automatically call him when they realized his training was going awry?) After explaining everything to the liaison, my husband was told they would find a load for both him and I, going through Cedar Rapids, so that we could at least see each other since it was going to take longer than the original 28 days to get us trained..As of this date an attempt to do that has NEVER been made. I do not wish to call people liars, but you can understand why my husband and I both feel we have been repeatedly lied to by one CRST employee or another. In fact, no liaison or representative of the company has ever called back to help out in our situation.oh well.life happensright?
The financial loss he experienced, coupled with the frustration of having to sit and do nothing for two weeks, was somewhat tempered for him, by the knowledge that at least I was getting a few miles in with my lead driver.
Until the morning of March 31st, 2012 when my lead driver, whom I had been with for only a little over 2 weeks, ran the truck and trailer off the road and into a deep median, totaling the truck and damaging the trailer. I was asleep in the bunker when all of the sudden I was woken up to the realization that we were going off the road. The sensation in the pitch black bunker was that we were going over a cliff of some sort.
I screamed for the driver and got no response from him. I screamed again as I instinctively unhooked the one latch I had latched on my harness.no response. I continued to scream out for him as I tried to sit up in the bunk.no response from him at allthen I simply screamed. My first belief was that the driver had died at the wheel, and I thought we were going over the side of a cliff and I was going to be killed. (Perhaps you can understand this was fairly traumatic for me).
People respond to stressful situations differently. I went into denial and survival mode. Apparently my lead driver went into some mode I am unable to put a label to, because his behavior from the moment of the accident until the moment he was terminated, was.for lack of any other termdisturbing.
When the truck was forced to stop by the impact of the trees it hit, I was thrown to the cab floor where I sat dazed and confused. It is clear that the impact caused my body to slide against the bunk where the left side of my back, hip and arm were injured (medical documentation has been provided by the work-comp physician to the work-comp department). It was pitch black except for the dash lights. I threw the curtain to the side and found my lead driver trying to restart the engine. (Thank God he is alive I thought) I said John! Are you ok? Still no response from him, he was busy trying to restart the engine. John! Are you ok? What just happened? His first words (as he was starting the engine and trying to back the truck up) were, and I quote: There goes my perfect record. I asked again: What happened? He said We went off the road.. There are times in my life where I tend to be sarcasticmy knee jerk reaction was to respond to his statement with No kidding CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!But I refrained from the sarcasm and simply said I can see that. WHY did we go off the road? He said A deer jumped in front of me. I said Are you ok?? I could see his hand was bleeding.no answer from him at all. At no time did he ever ask me if I was ok.
His phone was not working in that area of the country so he barked at me to get my phone. I kept on asking him where we were and he wasnt sure. He knew we were on I94 but wasnt exactly sure which state we were in or where on the interstate we were. He called the accident hotline to tell them we had been involved in an accident. It was pitch-black outside and we were in-bedded in-between some trees. The only door we were able to open and get out of was the passenger side door. At that point the only obvious damage I could see was that the windshield had been shattered out and there was glass on the drivers seat. I over-heard John on the phone with the hotline person and he was telling them It starts. I might be able to back it out of here. No serious damage that I can tell. I said John, you cant drive it, the window is broken out. He hushed me. He was attempting to minimize the amount of damage there was to whomever he was talking to on the other end of the phone.
We sat there for what I think was about 10-15 minutes before anyone found us in that ditch/ravine. The first person to find us was a passing truck driver, who pulled over to the side of the road, hiked down to us and asked if we were ok. John told him to go away. I tried to ask him if he knew where we were, what Interstate we were on, what mile marker were we near, etc. (remember, I had been asleep at the time of the accident and had no clue as to my where- a -bouts). He tried to answer my questions but John kept telling him Were fine, you can go, Ive already called someone, just go ahead and go. I could tell the driver didnt want to leave us alone but I sensed he really didnt know what else to do and he left..I was devastated! Here I was, in the pitch black, with no clue as to where I was and the only person I had to depend on for my information, had already been less than forthcoming to the hotline person, and had now run off the only person who was kind enough to stop and offer help.
CRST did not cause my lead driver to go off the road, but what happened to me during and after the accident was NOT handled professionally or with consideration to my health, safety and well-being at all.
Eventually a state trooper arrived and a tow truck came. The tow truck driver took us to the nearest hotel, which was in Tomah, WI. When we arrived at the hotel I wanted to get my own room, but my lead driver said: The company didnt give me enough money to have separate rooms. I knew he was wrong and that I could put money on MY Comdata card, but he was insistent and I second guessed myself. In fact, at some point I DID get money put on my card, but he said he had to keep all of the receipts together because they would only reimburse one of us.
So here I washaving freshly been in an accident, completely disoriented, scared, confused, unsure and totally manipulated by this lead driver. I landed in a room WITH him. I was certainly uncomfortable with the situation, but not as uncomfortable as my body now started to feel.
I had a horrible headache and my back was starting to hurt, along with a general feeling of all over aches and pains. I wanted to go to the hospital but John minimized it and said Youre probably ok. I was unsure at that point of how I would even GET to the hospital. I knew something was wrong with my head and I knew I should be checked out but was disoriented and in shock. When an insurance adjuster showed up at our hotel room to take a statement from the driver, I expressed my concerns about being injured and he encouraged me to get a taxi cab and go to the hospital I wanted to go by myself, but John insisted on going with me, got into the cab with me and waited in the waiting room of the ER. The nurse asked me, about an hour into them treating me, if the gentleman in the waiting room could come on back to see me. I said NO.
CRST was not responsible for the drivers inappropriate insistence of sharing a room with me. They were, however responsible for informing me that I had the right to be in a room separate from my lead drivers room.
We live in a day and age of fabulous technologythank God for cell phones! Because my husband and I are fortunate enough to each have good cell phones, I was able to call him and tell him I had been in an accident. Let me say this for some emphasis hereremember.I am well aware that CRST did not cause my lead driver to go off the road, thus injuring mehoweverCRST did have a responsibility to make sure that I was okSo let me reiterate this:
I CALLED MY HUSBAND TO TELL HIM I HAD BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT!
Nowwhy does that seem significant? Perhaps it seems significant because upon being hired at CRST, each employee provides emergency contact information. These are names and numbers of people the company should contact in-case of an emergency. Now Im not sure about your thoughts on this, but my thoughts are that this situation certainly constituted an emergency.
At some point after the accident, someone from the company called me. I was still shaken up from the accident and I cannot recall who it was that called or exactly when, or even WHEY they called, but I do remember asking: Can someone please call my husband and let him know I am ok? This person called back to inform me that he was unable to reach my husband. Sort of a half-hearted attempt if you ask me. Perhaps they did not reach him on his cell phone, but am I to believe that CRST didnt even know his where a bouts? (Oklahoma waiting for a broken truck to get fixed). Who called the hotel he was staying in or the terminal he was waiting at? Nobody. My other emergency contact person is my oldest daughter. She never received a call from anyone at CRST to let her know that her mother had been in an accident, but that she was ok.
So now I am injured, stuck in a hotel room with a man who is NOT my husband, scared, dismayed and removed completely from my family.
Not only did CRST fail to notify my husband (whom they already left sitting with no communication of what was going to happen with his training) of the accident, but nobody even made an attempt to OFFER him the courtesy of being able to get to me to make sure I was ok. Something as simple as: Your wife was involved in an accident. Shes ok, but we are making arrangements for you to go to WI or at least meet her in Cedar Rapids was never extended to him..nor to me. I really question why we, as employees of CRST, bother providing emergency contact information at all.
Since I was now stuck in a room with my lead driver, injured, scared and disoriented, I was unable to make one single PRIVATE phone call. That man sat at the edge of the bed and monitored my every phone call and EVERY move. At one point I was on hold, trying to get through to the CRST student liason.he asked who I was trying to talk to then quickly ordered me to hang up and make a phone call to Comdata for him instead. I snapped! I yelled at him that I wasnt going to end my call and lose my place on hold, and that he could wait until I was done with my call to call Comdata, and that there was a perfectly good phone in the room he could use instead. So he inched his way closer to me and invaded my personal space (in what felt like a threatening manner) and said Oh you can all comdata now, its no big deal.
In retrospect, I sense his over-all goal, from the moment of the accident until he was finally terminated in Cedar Rapids, was to keep me from talking to any one official about the accident. I know he was afraid I would tell someone that I thought he fell asleep at the wheel instead of swerving to miss a deer..You know the pathetic thing about all of that???
Not ONCE did anyone call to take an official statement from ME! Nobody asked me how I perceived the events of the accident.
CRST did not cause Johns behavior. The company did, however, have a responsibility to realistically and thoroughly check on me and provide me with help and care.
Instead I was shuffled into a taxi cab for a rental car company 45 minutes away from the town I was stuck in, so we could get back to Cedar Rapids, IA. 48 hours had not yet passed since I had been in the ER (The ER Dr. said no working for the next 48 hours). I dont know why or how, but I managed to pack my bags, lift them, and get them loaded into not one, but TWO vehicles (the taxi cab and the rental car), before getting back to Cedar Rapids. (lifting should not have taken place for me).
THE COMPANY INGNORED THE DRS ORDERS AND HAD ME TRAVELING BACK TO CEDAR RAPIDS IN LESS THAN 48 HOURS FROM THE TIME I WAS RELEASED FROM THE EMERGENCY ROOM!
After arriving at Cedar Rapids and being placed at the Red Roof Inn for the night, (April, 2, 2012), I INSISTED, this time, on having my own room. John tried to argue with me that I should just share a room with him, but having stayed at that hotel before, I knew I could pay extra money to get a private room, and that is exactly what I did!
However, we needed to get the rental car back to the rental place (Airport at Cedar Rapids). I was fortunate enough to have my own personal vehicle at the Cedar Rapids terminal, so I followed John to the rental agency, and gave him a ride back to the hotel. Exhausted, sore and stiffall I wanted to do was go to my room and get some sleep..but he would NOT get out of my car. He kept insisting that I either, come to his room and watch t.v. with him, or hang out with him for a while. I said NO, Im exhausted and I want to get some rest. He said What will I do without you? I said I dont know, but Im going to get some rest, and you need to get out of the car now. He said OH NO! Im going to walk you up to your room. I insist! (My room was on the other end of the hotel). I said, No youre not! I want to go to my room by myself now please get out of my car. After a few more minutes of him arguing with me and not getting out of my car, I finally screamed at him and told him to Get the HELL out NOW!
You need to understand.I dont use that kind of language and I was uncomfortable with the confrontation, but I felt threatened by him.he finally got out of the car and I got to my room as quickly as possible.
We had agreed that the next morning (Tuesday April 3, 2012), I would go over to the terminal with him at 9:00 a.m. We had discussed it several times and there was no reason to think the plans were at all unclear! However, at 7:30 that morning I began receiving phone calls from himboth to my cell phone and to my room phone. I refused to take the calls because he had made me feel terribly uncomfortable. I received 9 calls on my cell phone from him between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. At 9:00 I called him back and told him I was ready to go to the terminal. He said: Where have you been? I need you here for moral support! ( he had already made his way to the terminal to meet with the safety people).
I got to the terminal, and met him in the lobby. He kept telling me: I need you to help me. I think they are going to fire me. I need moral support. Youre all I have. (Yes! It WAS creepy).
Finally we found ourselves standing out-side of the door way of one of the safety managers office (I dont recall which office) and I nonchalantly said Let me go talk to the fleet manager real fast, while you wait our turn, and see if he can extend our hotel voucher.
FOR THE FIRST TIME since the accident I was able to get to someone in the company that I could have a private talk with, and I told the fleet manager my thoughts on the accident. The fleet manager listened respectfully and got me set up to receive a new lead driver (which, as a result of my injuries, was futile because as of this date I am still not physically able to return to driving).
After the conversation with the fleet manager, John continued to follow me around the terminal. He kept asking for my help. He even asked if I would help him write a letter of resignation (which I gladly did). Then he asked if I would walk back to the safety department with him and see if they would just let him take a safety course so he could keep his job. Still feeling controlled and afraid of this man, I walked back to the safety department with him, where I then met the V.P. of Safety, who asked to speak with me in private. I told the V.P. of Safety my side of the story and even explained that I was having difficulty getting away from John. He noticed John was waiting outside of his office for me, and tried to make arrangements to have John distracted so I could make a clean break to my car..his attempts failed..No sooner did I get from the Safety Department to my car when there was John again, knocking on my car window for a ride back to the hotel.
A few people from various departments related to CRST during the days leading up to John being terminated, had called to see about my injuries for insurance purposes, etc. I told them Im doing surprisingly well! I felt I HAD to say that because I did not want to upset John and have him harm me in some way.
Every person responds to pain and stress differently. I was so busy trying, not only to get through the stress and physical pain of the accident, but also trying to SURVIVE the pressure and control I was experiencing from my lead driver. I went into survival mode where he was concerned first and foremost. Remember, he had been my only source of information and help immediately following the accident.
As soon as I found out John was terminated from CRST my body relaxed and I spent that night in my hotel room in complete shock. I had not really slept since the accident and I certainly didnt sleep that night either. I fell asleep, only to wake up repeatedly with nightmares that I was going over a cliff in a semi.
By 4:30 on the morning of Wednesday, April 4th, I was crying so hard I began throwing up. The accident finally caught up with me. I started to feel some of the bruises that had shown up on my arm and lower back/hip area. I had not really felt those before.they were there, but I was just too busy trying to survive Johns controlling behavior to realize it. (By the way, as of April 6, 2012 John has continued calling and texting me.even after my husband called him personally and asked him to STOP calling his wife.)
At this point I am still having headaches and the left side of my back is still stiff and sore. I have been unable to control or stop my crying since then. I went to the Workmans Comp. Dr. on Wednesday April 4, 2012 that CRST sent me to, and cried there. I had another personal appointment after that one and cried at that appointment as well. I cried in the Workmans Comp office at CRST, and I have continued to cry at the most inappropriate times each day since. Sitting in a restaurant, the hotel lobby, my friends house.all I do is cry.
When I see a CRST truck on the road I feel a sense of anxiety and panic. The thought of getting into another truck, and putting my life at risk for a company that took a lack-luster and ho-hum approach to making sure I was ok, and that my family was informed of my situation and condition, makes me sick to my stomachliterally!
The hardest thing of for me, about this entire training experiencefrom the loss of my husbands first lead driver, down to the accident I was involved in.is that I believe our dream of spending the next 5 years together, saving money and working for a company we can be proud to say we work forhas been destroyed.
Not one single person of authority from CRST (Im beginning to wonder if ANYONE has authority) has said to me We are sorry this happened to you and we would like to know what we can do to make it right.
At this point I have not been released to go back to truck driving, due to my injuries and until my mental condition is better I am not even ready to handle light duty. I have an appointment with the Workmans Comp Dr. again and then also an appointment with CRSTs EAP Mental Health Professional to help me over- come the crying and helpless feelings of anxiety.
The smallest consideration of at least getting my husband back to Cedar Rapids to be with me during this difficult time, would have made a world of difference, in my opinion of how CRST treats its employees. Instead he is once again stuck in Oklahoma City with no lead driver and no way of getting to me. As of the date of this letter he has spoken to a random fleet manager whom he is coordinating with in order to provide me with the necessary assistance I need, by getting back to me and taking me to my dr. appointments in Cedar Rapids. He has been met with resistance to him doing this.
Since his request to provide care to his wife, who is ALSO a CRST employee, and who is in need of care by a family member, comes at a time when he has no lead driver, no load, and is unable to drive for the company anyway.then allowing him to get to Cedar Rapids and help his wife will not, create an unnecessary hardship on the company. CRST is not utilizing his current driving abilities at this time anyway.
I do not want to bash CRST. I think the company experiences enough bashing from disgruntled employees. I simply wish to be heard. Since it is unclear to me as to whom I should be being heard byyou will notice this letter is going out to a variety of people. When you know exactly which party I should have directed this letter to, let me know.
Prior to making the decision to become a team truck driver, I was a professional counselor and life-coach. One of the things I have always told my clients is: If you are going to complain about something, try to offer a solution with the complaint.
I am going to try to do just that. I realize a company the size of CRST cannot take to heart every whimsical suggestion made by someone who has experienced an individual circumstance with the company. However, let me preface my suggestions by telling you that my past professional experience, as well as the fact that I am still the owner of a business, which not only provides employee training, personal and business coaching, but also provides workplace and efficiency analysis to both small and large businesses, makes me qualified to put my proverbial .02 cents worth in!
The question was asked of me by one of the insurance adjusters Who is your immediate supervisor? I realized that I was unable to answer that question. Now I understand that currently I am on Workmans Comp and am not really assigned to a fleet at the moment, so that complicates the question for me. Under average conditions, I would have answered my fleet manger. That is the correct answer to that question.I think?
Why am I unsure? Because, when a situation, such as the ones I have described to you, occurs, the fleet manager is not always able to make decisions in the drivers best interest and has to go ask someone. As a driver (at least a new one), there is no sense that someone is actually supervising or managing the department you work in.
My suggestion may be to implement a system which provides the individual fleet managers with more protocol and skills necessary to handle a wider variety of situations that may arise in their fleet. If more or different training is necessary, then perhaps provide that training. For example: Maybe the fleet manager should have been responsible for making sure my emergency contacts were actually contacted?
If it is unrealistic to have a fleet manager handle these duties, then there should be a system in place to handle, what I call One Page communication. This is a system by which an individual employee is guaranteed their communication with the company will go to one person who is then responsible for making sure all necessary company parties are apprised of the communication, and that the communicated information is delegated to the correct department, so that the individual employee does not have to guess or worry about exactly who it is they need to contact. A medium, if you will. The system only works if the medium responds back to the employee within a specified time frame, with information that is both relevant and productive. If this is currently the fleet manger, then from where I sit, there is something seriously wrong with how they handle the communication, and someone has dropped the ball!
I am further curious as to why CRST does not provide first aid and CPR training to its drivers? It may not be a required course, however, as someone who just experienced sitting in the bottom of a ditch with a bleeding co-driver..had things been worse, the first aid and CPR training may have come in handy. Perhaps there are liabilities reasons I am unaware of? If there are no liability reasons for providing this training, then I would suggest making it part of the student- driver, orientation program.
Aside from looking at the experience and safety record of someone, what testing and/or personality exam is required for someone to become a lead driver? One of the suggestions I can make is that CRST administer the Whats Your Shape? working personality test to ALL of its employees. This test is extremely in-expensive and takes about 5 minutes to administer. It quickly identifies a variety of personality traits by assigning a shape to each personality. For example: Some people are introverts while others are extroverts. Some are emotional thinkers (circles) while others are logical thinkers (rectangles).If you put an extroverted logical thinker and an emotional introverted thinker into the same truck (or cubical) for a period of more than a few days???? They just may become angry, disgruntled employees. This could be solved with a 5 minute test! (If you need someone certified to administer the test, let me know).
In the future, knowing who is responsible for notifying the emergency contact of someone who has been involved in an accident with CRST, may be very helpful. What protocol is established for that currently? If none is established then I would suggest establishing it. This can be done by analyzing the chain of command and response time for all situations. Adjust where need be.
CRST has the ability to be not only a good company, but to be a GREAT company. My wish is that CRST profits and continues to profit greatly. Realistically the individual drivers, and other employees of the company, will not make money if the company doesnt make money. I wish the company nothing but the best.
In the mean time I am going to work on recovering the lost financial, and personal dream I had before signing a contract with CRST, as well as recovering from the bodily injuries I have sustained. I am tired of the constant run-a-rounds, lies, deceits, and un-necessary imposed stressors by CRST. I cannot imagine there is much anyone can do at this point to both restore my faith in CRST and help me feel safe getting into a semi (assuming I will ever be able to drive a commercial vehicle again). My world has been turned upside down and all of it could easily have been prevented if better policies and procedures had been established and implemented. I am willing to discuss ways CRST can do the responsible thing and help compensate me fairly for the losses I have experienced, but I have no confidence, what-so-ever that, based on past behavior, they are a company with enough integrity to have such a reasonable conversation with.
Your time has been appreciated.
Respectfully,
Click to expand...

You NEVER SWERVE to avoid hitting a deer, or even another vehicle just for that reason.
You wrecked the deer galloped off with no physical evidence to show, he was around.
Hitting a deer is a "non preventable accident" with just about any carrier.
Another vehicle enters your space, and you make the adjustment to control your truck to avoid the crash, which isn't enough ?
This happens everyday in any "Big Metro Area" am or pm rush hours, with construction.
A good detailed statement of the events before the crash, along with the police report will go further then you, swerving to avoid a crash, which you wreck all by yourself.
No I'm not suggesting that you handle your truck with the mindset of "stay out of my way or I'll run you over".
If you drive to "GET THE BIG PICTURE", then you would have seen the vehicle approaching the intersection, and made the "speed adjustment" for the "just in case".
That's any where somebody "pop's up" and could impeed your forward travel.
Your a truck, and the public, along with "some other drivers" out there will always challenge you.
So be a professional at what you do and slow down, stay in control of your truck at all times.
You'll never have to explain in paper work why it happened, which could lead to you getting an injury.
Be Blessed, Live Well, Be Safe..!

formertaxidriver · Apr 15, 2012

Disparaging posts. Ha! My hand was horribly crushed at work and the best most of you could do was "I'd keep my hand away, you loose". Now a chick cries when she sees a semi, and you buckin' broncs step up for the little lady....That makes me sick. She is a LIFE COACH! LOL! You corn and cheese eaters don't even have a clue as to what that marketing scheme is!
Why on earth did she have any illusions about CRST or any other training company? Do you not think these companies are prepared for the rookie who hurts themselves cranking down landing gear or climbing into a trailer? That's why they do the physical agility tests. They've seen it all before.

I am a chick. Dude acts wrong toward me and: 1)Knee to balls; 2)Cops get called; 3)Everyone in hearing range knows what's going on.

Trucking isn't for sissies, or chicks that can't navigate a man's world.

TB John · Apr 15, 2012

formertaxidriver said: ↑

Trucking isn't for sissies, or chicks that can't navigate a man's world.
Click to expand...

In other words if you can't don't bother being a trucker

Zoltan1a · Apr 15, 2012

It appears the company was not truly notified of the events taking place as all the urgency was taking place behind closed doors and no calls were being placed.

Bikerdave · Apr 15, 2012

kwray said: ↑

Bikerdave said: ↑

Meaning that ex-military (like me) are more likely to put up with and deal with more b.s. than non military. Next time read thoroughly before jumping to conclusions.
Click to expand...

I am also Ex- military I did not jump to conclusions You should re-read the post!
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Forums

Find Trucking Jobs

Injured in a truck accident

Aflak Light Load Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

pete3871 Medium Load Member

Zoltan1a Road Train Member

Wicked Wizard Heavy Load Member

kwray Medium Load Member

JaeBro Light Load Member

formertaxidriver Heavy Load Member

TB John Company Shill of BYOB & CBD

Zoltan1a Road Train Member

Bikerdave Light Load Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Find Trucking Jobs

Injured in a truck accident

Aflak Light Load Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!

pete3871 Medium Load Member

Zoltan1a Road Train Member

Wicked Wizard Heavy Load Member

kwray Medium Load Member

JaeBro Light Load Member

formertaxidriver Heavy Load Member

TB John Company Shill of BYOB & CBD

Zoltan1a Road Train Member

Bikerdave Light Load Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!