Told Dispatch I was feeling sick and they marked it as a load refuse. Is this legal?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by xzmpt, Feb 11, 2025.

  1. REO6205

    REO6205 Road Train Member

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    Exactly right. Too many drivers think that the trucking company is going to be their mommy and daddy. It doesn't work like that. Never has and never will.
    Sure, a company can be pleasant to work for and everyone makes an effort to get along but the only thing that really counts is performance.
    If a dispatcher has been sitting behind that desk for any length of time he's heard just about every excuse and lie and justification there is. There's really no need for it.
    Do your job. If you can't do your job, let somebody know and let them know right away. 99 times out of 100 somebody will be able to help you correct your mistake.
    If you do what you're supposed to do and they fire you you're better off anyway.
    Play it straight. Or pack up your toys and find another place to work.
     
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  3. Eddiec

    Eddiec Road Train Member

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    You screwed up when you told them to find someone else to do the load. You should have stopped talking at, "I'm sick and not feeling well." Put that in writing on the tablet and let them figure out what to do next.
     
  4. bryan21384

    bryan21384 Road Train Member

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    So you fouled up. How do you refuse a load after getting to the shipper? To all newer drivers, this is how you get fired. Lol. You accepted the dispatch so what you should have done was load it, then see if you you get it repowered. Since it picked up at 8 pm, you were most likely not going to be able to get it repowered. Most everyone is out of hours, or about to be out of hours at that point. You needed to have taken a nap, grabbed a coffee, and ran that load, especially if it had to be there the next day. This is what you needed to have done given the poo you got yourself in.

    Now in the future, communicate with dispatch before getting dispatched, if you don't feel well. Sometimes you have to gut it out on these roads. I agree with @Lonesome in the sense that if you got loaded at the time you thought, you wouldn't have "felt sick." I just think you didn't want to have to drive at night. I do think you deserve to have that blemish on your record for not being adaptable.
     
  5. Lyle H

    Lyle H Road Train Member

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    Exactly.
    The time to call was at 11 am when he found out about the appointment time discrepancy, not at 4pm.
     
  6. nextgentrucker

    nextgentrucker Heavy Load Member

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    Yeah, you're right, I'm coming up on my 1 year right now, and I've had a few accidents... I don't like trucking ( OR maybe I'm just done with Flatbed LMFAO!!!) but that's my only option right now until I find something else.
     
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  7. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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    So move out of flatbed into dry or reefer and see if that is better.
    I guess that might be a problem if you went with a flatbed only employer and you have had several accidents in less than a year.
     
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  8. nextgentrucker

    nextgentrucker Heavy Load Member

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    Yeah, I've only had one incident and a sideswipe accident at a truck stop, but I got 3 points for the incident on my record... Hopefully they won't count too much towards me, and I'm looking at Tanker, I don't think I want to do Dry Van/Reefer.
     
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  9. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

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    What don't u like about flatbed? There's alot of experienced flatbedders on this forum that are more than willing to give ya a tip or two. I've learned alot on this site that has made flatbedding 10x easier
     
  10. Stringb8n

    Stringb8n Road Train Member

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    If the OP just happened to eat something off the roller grill at the Pilot in Rayville, Lousiana, I for one believe 100% he got sick. I dang sure did. Never again, Pilot. Never ever again.
     
  11. Thrasher28

    Thrasher28 Road Train Member

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    I’m not saying you’re not actually sick, but probably 90% of the time that I have to relay a load for another driver, it’s always an overnighter or some other undesirable load. It’s weird that so few people get sick on daytime runs to Phoenix in January, but something about a 3 stopper on the 95 corridor in MD, PA, and NJ causes bubble guts.

    Considering those same kind of inconvenient loads are maybe 5-10% of our load assignments, it’s very coincidental that the numbers workout like they do.

    The other 10% are usually cut and dry breakdowns or people going on hometime and the relay was planned from the start.
     
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