Newbie wants to get back in the game

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by hobbypassion21, Aug 1, 2010.

  1. hobbypassion21

    hobbypassion21 Light Load Member

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    Aug 1, 2010
    Grand Prairie, TX
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    Hello. My name is Stephan. I am a newbie who's been out of the game for 7 months and now I want to get back in.

    The reason why I got out the game was because I was dismissed from TMC for a little minor accident I had at the yard. I barely hit the front bumper of the truck with the side of my trailer. The driver of the other truck easily bended it back into place but he reported it anyway and thats when my brand new trucking career started taking a nosedive. I was a trainee at the time and I already had 2 weeks out on the road with my trainer and I was loving it. After the incident was reported, I was told that I had to go to North Carolina for testing. That was going to ruin everything for my trainer because we already had a load to deliver. So TMC decided that it was best to let me go. And that's when I got out of the game.

    Well, it's been 7 months after the incident and now I want to start trucking again. I never wanted to get out of the trucking industry. It's just that I was so disappointed because they let me go for something so small. Well, now that I've had time to think about it, I want to get back in the ball game again but it hasn't been so easy. Many companies don't want anything to do with me because of this minor incident. I don't understand. I'm not a criminal. I have a clean driving record. But for this one little incident, they are making it almost impossible for me to get my foot in the door. Companies are saying because I was terminated within the past 3 years, they can't help me. So far only 2 companies are willing to work with me and I'm not sure if even that's the case. Do they know about my incident? Should I tell them? I mean, if they do all the background checks, they should know about it right? Well, as I was saying, USA truck & CRST are the only ones considering me right now. My only concern is if I do decide to work for them, will they use my past as a reason to terminate me? Now there is a saying, "Don't ask, don't tell." This accident was so small, so I even bring it up if I'm not asked about it? What can I do to increase my chances of getting hired because I really want to start trucking again?
     
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  3. rich_t

    rich_t Road Train Member

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    May 28, 2009
    United States
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    Tell any company you are applying to about the incident. Most companies ask about prior accidents on the application.

    TMC likely put it on your DAC report. No reason to get started at a new company only to be fired a few days/weeks later for lying your application.

    Also... If you've been out of the game for 7 months, many of the larger companies will want you to go to a refresher course.
     
  4. Bigarmin88

    Bigarmin88 Road Train Member

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    Tampa Bay Fl
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    You going have to be up front about it they will find out.What you need to do is to check your dac and mvr,that may cause issues.Best bet is try to find a company that doesn't check dac but that will be hard also.
     
  5. jimfletcher7

    jimfletcher7 Light Load Member

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    Jul 21, 2010
    Danville Ky
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    Tell them, and then go from there, dont give up it this is really what you want to do. CRST is teams i believe but that might work out being new. Even if you dont want to run team it might be what you have to do for the time being. Do whatever it takes, it will pay off later.
     
  6. Hitman

    Hitman Mr. Gamer

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    Tioga, PA
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    DO NOT lie and tell them exactly what happened. Let them know how minor the incedent was. I don't know, but shouldn't there be a report on exactly what happened? If USA Truck and CRST can review a report and see just how minor it was, it might not be a big deal.
     
  7. Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    May 28, 2009
    Rancho Mirage, Ca.
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    All I can say is the other TMC driver must have been pretty strong to bend a Pete bumper back to it's original position..........
     
  8. Teaforone

    Teaforone Light Load Member

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    Nov 16, 2008
    In the Sandhills, NC
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    Make sure, if the company does recognize refresher courses, that you ask how many hours they need in a refresher. I went through this over a year ago. I took a 40 hour refresher and found some companies recognize it and some don't at all. Those who did recognize refresher wanted you to have a certain amount of hours. I know TransAm wanted 60 hours, and some companies wanted as much as 120. KLLM recognizes refreshers. Swift does too I think. Try PAM trucking as well. They used to offer their own refresher for drivers who didn't have much experience. I know they get put down a lot on this site, but CR England has a program for this too.
     
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