Prior accidents?

Discussion in 'Old Dominion' started by Northeasterner, Apr 11, 2018.

  1. Northeasterner

    Northeasterner Medium Load Member

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    Scraped a company trailer backing up today. First accident. Dispatcher came running out yelling... I apologized to him and said it looks like I just did what I see yard jockeys do all the time, and he responded yeah but I saw you so we got to write it up.

    Nice thin line of shiny metal running a few feet down the trailer. Technically it's an accident. This is going to be an issue if I'm trying to get into OD in a few months? I'm 9 months in, waiting for my first year to begin applying around.

    ####. There goes my spotless record.

    And it's not like I can just omit it on an application, since the company put it in their file. :/
     
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  3. Puppage

    Puppage Road Train Member

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    Sorry to hear that. I hope it all works out for you.
     
  4. Coover

    Coover Road Train Member

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    Yup, your screwed. Should pull forward get a running start and hit it again, but harder. At least get your money's worth out of it.....

    Seriously though all you can do is try, all they can say is no
     
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  5. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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    Just because he saw it happen, doesn't mean he has to report it.
     
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  6. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    Just a little bit of rub and shine? You must have been doing something before the hit to have a dispatcher eyeballing you. Were you wriggling into that spot or something? Most of time company people who stay in the yard all day every day dont even see trucks moving unless they start bouncing, oscillating or bucking in some way out of normal....
     
  7. Northeasterner

    Northeasterner Medium Load Member

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    Yeah I was way tired and trying to hurry up and squeeze it in somehow. I should have gotten out and looked, so the fault was entirely mine. I didn't say so to him, I just play dumb but... Yeah I guess I got unlucky.

    I doubt it's going to go on any public records. But do you think od or other high-end employers I look at in the future will care?
     
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  8. Northeasterner

    Northeasterner Medium Load Member

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    Should I even mention it to them? I've always been iffy on what things to tell people on an application. I never know how much they care and how much info they even have access to.
     
  9. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    I was at a home depot in Connecticut one fine beautiful day. It was one of the biggest in the state with hundreds of cars an hour flowing into that lot.

    Needless to say, the manager could not be bothered with little old 18 wheeler making a delivery of two or three carts of flowers to his corner garden section trying to get out. Could not spare the staff either.

    The situation presented to me that day with that tractor and 53 foot trailer in that particular lot shall I say was a bridge to the river Kiwi. A bridge too far even for me, by then a very skilled driver.

    I had gotten into a hole where I eyeballed inventory lined along a hill by the curb on this side, the HD building wall on that side and the turning circle by eye was about 4 feet more than what my Century needs to do it while still hooked to the trailer.

    The problem was the tandems were all the way up adding about oh.. 12 feet overhang on the ### end. (I eventually solved that problem weeks and months later in my mind but it's water under the bridge)

    Let's say there was about 20,000 dollars in trailer inventory sent over the hillside being chained all together in that circle I made that day there.

    You can bet then and there that manager had all kinds of time for me and mine. Whereas a hour earlier he could not be bothered. The last thing I recall from him was some comment that his trucks turn in circles there all day long every day (*YEa short single screw day cab and 30 foot flats... with hitch along piggy back forks.. dum well.. no need for name calling.)

    The following day I had to return to finish the rest of the delivery to that stupid store. I rather have a root canal without nitrous or some awful medical procedure. But we had to go back the next day.

    Lo and be hold, he had 10 staffers deployed to block, herd, shoo, chase and bawl at the stubborn yankees in their cars to get the hell away from me while we did a big fat circle across 4 of his rows before coming out after the second day delivery. (This was on a sunday, even busier than the prior day...)

    Ive had accidents more expensive than that. Ive shut down billion dollar factories before. Ive had costs that were... essentially a ... sort of a fantasy beyond reality on paper once added up in terms of accidents, whoops and so on.

    Some were stories told to future employers. After a laugh they hire me. Sometimes they laugh me OUT of there. (That's ok....)

    But that one for the situation with that little manager was memorable. could not be bothered for 15 stupid minutes and lost around 20K in product at least of his precious inventory.

    The alternative? I'll tell you.

    IF I turned left. I was faced with two rows of employee cars, 40 to a side, parked hapazardly in a sort of a twisted snake pattern as if it was sick. There is no way you could snake a 18 wheeler past between all those cars without tearing every one of them off in some way.

    I don't know what the cost of the entire employee parking would have been if I totaled all of them with a simple wriggling after a left trying to get off that stupid store property.

    To this day Lowes has gotten all of our dollars. And how many thousands of that to boot over the years. It's a shame that one person has to be so snippy.

    But anyway. Your little shine and scrape will be ok. We were not fired, we were not disclipined and everything was papered over and smoothed over in those days long ago.

    I still feel bad. But... that's just the small stuff for us.
     
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  10. yessir

    yessir Medium Load Member

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    I wouldn't worried about it since it won't show up when OD runs your mvr, psp and D.A.C report they can write you up all they want for what you did. Talking from experience and when you are applying for another job don't list that as an accident or incident.
     
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  11. buddyd157

    buddyd157 Road Train Member

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    i'd not worry too much about it, it's a yard accident, not a DOT recordable and no police involved.

    you be up front when asked about ANY accidents/incidents.

    that dispatcher sounds like an acehole. he could have yelled at you then yelled some more then yelled BE MORE CAREFUL NEXT TIME....

    i'd not sweat the details.

    wiat to you go to OD and the VERY TIGHT loading docks you will be backing into at the terminals...
     
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