trying to turn things positive.

Hope ya'll are doin OK. Looks like good advice is to be had here, I read a lot of patient, considerate advise.
I drove for the same company for three years or so. I subcontracted to a truck owner who could care less about maintaining the truck. Slowly but surely I racked up equipment violations. It got to the point where I let the owner know I could not run his junky truck anymore -- to risky as I was now on the DOT blacklist. He put me in another truck. The company called me in and asked me if I would like to do a dedicated run. I always picked up and delivered on time usually ahead of time. I agreed and life was pretty good. I left every Saturday and returned sometime on Wednesday. I was running good -- under the radar, making about $800 a week. I figured I was good for a while I could run till the points dropped off. I ran clean for about three months. Then I got creamed by another truck in Brunswick,GA. The truck was totalled... I managed to walk away. No fault was given to either driver -- no citations, no DOT. The truck owner would not replace the truck. The company said no truck no job.
I applied to every company within 100 miles of my home. Had a few interviews... always the same "sorry your csa score is to high". Went 5 weeks no work. Applied to Shelton Trucking -- they are paying for me to rent a car and drive up. They run the southeast. Flatbed. I figure I can run with them and keep my nose clean for a year I'll have options. Now I read a lot of bad reviews and all around bad talk about the company. I am pretty concerned about what is in store for me but I feel like something is better than nothing. I figure time will tell, I have a family to feed.

 

You may be right, something is better than nothing. Just prove your a good driver and stay and let those points fall off. Good thing is you will definitely stay south!! Just stay positive and remember you aren't stuck there forever……it could turn out good and you wrecking that truck may have been the best thing that could've happened to you….

 

Keep the load tied down and you will have it made this winter running runing the south.

 

Hope everything turns around for you man.

 

The company that I work for doesn't bother with HireRight or PSP data. I'm sure there are many of them out there that ignore those information sources while making a hiring decision. Stick to companies with 250 trucks or less and you should be fine.

 

so you didn't find the violations during your daily pretrip?
It's your responsibility to pre / post trip your assigned truck daily, and report problems to your office.
It is also your responsibility to refuse to drive a vehicle that has any violations. If you are threatened to be fired for refusing to do so, you can inform the FMCSA, and have your job safe under the Whistle blower law.

 

Actually, you should be prepared to change careers should you choose to go the 'nuclear' option. You probably won't find another company that will hire you. And you'll only get a maximum of $250K plus back wages if you prevail. And if the company goes bankrupt before they pay, then you get nothing. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it, but you should carefully consider things...

 

This is very difficult.

On the one hand, I sympathize with your predicament. Drove for a contractor to USPS that had an attitude, "there's nothing wrong with that truck," and it didn't matter whether lights, bad tires, exhaust leaks.

I'd write it up and the shop would just shove it back out because we slip-seated. Finally started writing up the shop, the 'head' mechanic for claiming he'd fixed things he hadn't.

Now, understand. The company supported him, not me, thought I was a PIA--which I was and figured I needed to be. Other drivers had various reactions. Some privately supported me and even supported me to the company.

One, who had 25 years with them and would drive it with a loose wheel if they told him to, actively opposed my equipment write ups. I'd leave him a list of what was wrong and didn't matter. He'd sign the truck off as fine.

Another, who was a mechanic himself, would put up with the company negligence just so far, then he'd break whatever we needed fixed so badly they had to fix. Or he'd 'create' a break down since we were paid hourly and he'd fix what we needed.

Most companies are starting to wise up. You need to, too.

If the company won't fix what you're driving, you need to find another company.

Fast.

 

small companies that run junk equipment can not afford to pay DAC fees to blackball you,,

 

what company is that don't run hire right/psp or DAC?