No second chances

So you were multitasking while driving then because of this you failed to see a hazard well before it became a problem? Trust me this is what just about every safety person in the US is going to be thinking when they see this. Next question, what was the speed limit? Were you looking out your right side California mirrors to make sure you had the clearance to make such a move to the right or did you (just) move to the right before clearing the area? Another question a safety person is going to ask! Lastly why did you not slow down as expeditiously as possible as to try to limit the damage? These are what trained safety type people look at when they make blame assignments. As a 15 year vet with 2 million + miles these are actions that should come naturally! Yes chinatown nailed it. You might well need to find a 2nd chance company. These safety depts around the country are not there to hold your hand. They are not there to blow sunshine up your butt either. They are not ever going to be your friend. Their main job is to safeguard and protect that carriers DOT operating authority and try to keep costs down. Yes when they hear such a story they are going to assign you a preventable and these preventables in almost every instance are legit!!

 

BTW just on a hunch I googled the subject of how much a roll over accident costs a company. I saw this webpage and found it interesting and in line with what I have been told for years now.

And people wonder why drivers don't get paid better. sheesh!

 

I am currently in Omaha,Ne,home is Indiana

 

Try some 2nd chance companies:
USA Truck
TransAm
Tiger Truck Lines - New Albany,Indiana
Senn Freight Lines
Roadtex
Covenant Transport
Navajo Express
PI&I Motor Express
Western Express
All the above have been know to hire drivers with a rollover on a case by case basis.

 

First of all the car had just turned down the road I was on.secondly,I don’t need to fumble around for seatbelt to lock it
, I have the seatbelt at the right length to grab it and lock it.speed limit is 50mph.the driver of car was about 75 ft from me when he started to veer towards center line.yea natural reaction is not kill anyone with the truck.there was not enough time to react any other way. I was focused on the road unlike the car coming over to my side of the road
.

 

Gray Transportation, Waterloo, Iowa
OTR Division
Gray pays .40 cents per mile and drivers are paid both loaded and empty miles.

Gray also pays a monthly mileage bonus:

10,000 miles = an additional .01 cent for all miles.

11,000 miles = an additional .02 cents for all miles.

12,000 miles = and additional .03 cents for all miles.

 

I want you to pay close attention to what will be my last comment on your issue. In this regard I am thinking like a safety person will. You still were multitasking. It does not matter if it was for 5 seconds. It was 5 seconds your attention was split from safely operating your vehicle. 2nd knowing your clearances is not about a sudden look right at the point of impact. It is ALL about your scan. As a driver it is CRITICAL you maintain a scan of that right side and know these clearances. Then you have attempted to justify allowing your rig to move to the right to such a degree the rig fell over AT 50 MPH by saying you did not want to kill anyone! Thing is once that rig started that rollover it went out of control. Most likely there was other traffic behind both of you. What about an out of control truck rolling over in regard to their safety? I have several safety dept types as facebook friends. last night I sent them links to this thread. So far only 1 has replied and that reply was a thumbs down, nothing more. IF I were in charge of safety and was presented with this situation AND my carrier had a terminate policy I would assign you a preventable and terminate your employment. If my carrier had no such policy I would give your qualification jacket a good going over. Then call you in and do two things. 1 crawl up your rear about how you disregard scans and not being aware of your rig placement in regard to clearance and 2 make you stay in my office somewhere taking remedial training. Speaking of training. There is many training aids that clearly tell you as a driver to do you best to avoid a head on crash. These things are deadly. However in almost all of them they also clearly teach avoid as long as it can be done safely. It is clearly obvious this movement to the right not only could NOT be done safely it should NOT have been done at all because you put EVERYBODY at risk by going into an out of control rollover. Yes in this situation as much as it sounds horrible you can only slow down as much as you can, hit your air horn and try to get the drivers attention. Most likely this driver was also multitasking too. One more thing that just occurred to me. If your rig had not rolled over but just went out of control and came back onto the what might have been a busy road and killed someone? If so you would be looking at more then just a preventable.

Hand, i'm hoping you will read this and understand I am not trying to be a dick. My comments to you are also hopefully a teaching tool to green drivers on how quickly a situation can go south. How you MUST prevent this from happening if you can.

 

A few things.

First is this part I can't get really past - "I had just fastened my seat belt when I observed a motorist coming down the opposite direction veering towards the center(line) of the road."

OK I am not going to be nice about this but everything you said about the accident does not matter to me and would not with many safety people. YOU know the rules, and ignored the rules because we all have to assume that you were on the road, driving when the other driver's behavior was observed. It negates all of your actions after that because of the insane BS that the seatbelt laws have caused.

Second, as far as the camera thing, and Chicago, if the company wants to get rid of you, then they just can. They don't need an excuse, they can just ... well fire you. You are not under a contract like a personal services contract, you are not a "professional" who has a union to back you, you are just a commodity to the company. Sorry to be harsh but that's the truth.

Third is something else in my own company, I have hired a few who have had what their former employers considered a preventable accident, one was done so to take the hit of a suicide by car driver who was hell bent on killing herself and her husband. They survived and so did the people next to him in the RV who were shook up but alright. It all depends on the situation, yours is hard to judge because of the opening salvo of info that you provide the insight into what you were doing in the cab at the time and how that impacts everything after you said that.