WRONGFULLY TERMINATED FROM SWIFT

you had better "rethink" that BS about "most jurisdictions" saying NOT stopping a foot or two over the stop line to be not running a red light. or even a stop sign.

for us CDL holders, we are held to a higher standard of obeying the traffic laws. maybe the dumb 4 wheelers can "get away with it", but we as CDL holders are held to higher standards for obeying traffic control devices. if a cop had been nearby or a traffic cam caught a pic of this, they possibility exists a ticket will be issued.

i can also assure you that a mega-carrier would have fired you for running a red light, maybe driving distracted, or speeding...(when the event cam was triggered by the hard braking)

don't go around thinking that you will always be "in the clear" of traffic violations.

stop lines, are painted on the roads for a reason, you are supposed to stop AT them, or just BEFORE them.

"what if" that intersection was small/narrow/tight, and the other vehicle that HAD the green light, hit you..??

and you are OVER that stop line..??

guess who gets NAILED for the accident......would that new boss be laughing then..???

you had said in your original posting which i quoted by the way..."i probably shouldn't be posting this"

but you did, and THAT opened up a can of worms for you.....

 

I don’t need to “rethink” anything that came straight from my attorney, he stated the laws are actually written differently in different jurisdictions as to what constitutes running a light. I’m not here to argue with you and in fact I’m not even talking to you. I realize this is a public forum so my posts are public and open to comment and or criticism but I honestly only read about half of that post because at the point you said “don’t go around thinking” I stopped reading because you can clearly climb inside my head and know what I think/my opinions on things. I guess I shouldn’t respond I’ll just let you use your supernatural abilities to figure out the rest of the conversation.

 

Already talked to a lawyer about red lights ???? Ongoing problem ???? Done this before

 

Over a decade ago in my personal vehicle yes and the case was dismissed. Not necessarily that I beat the charge, I lawyered up and he kept requesting continuances and it was dismissed by the state.

 

Stale green light ever heard of it?? .

 

I know now to watch for a light that’s been green too long. Everyone makes mistakes.

 

@copperdome
Obviously I don't know you, how old your are, the amount of time you've been driving, the actual circumstances of the event mentioned in your earlier post with a new boss and smoking tires, etc.

However, I do have a question based on the statement quoted above:
Did your driver's ed class cover stale green lights? And how long ago was your driver's ed class?

The reason that I ask is I am teaching my son how to drive (parent taught driver's ed) and there are several things that have been left out of the curriculum that I feel are basic safety items that need to be covered in a beginner's driver's ed class. This is one of them!

The way that this particular course material has been written leads me to believe that it is 'safety based on stats' focused and not on practical common sense driving techniques. It's actually disturbing!!

 

I agree with the people saying to just move on and look for other work. Yes, it is a bad experience that you got terminated, however, it happens, and you've got a year and a half which opens up a lot of opportunities for you.
People have suggested oilfield work, and there are lots of refineries in the Houston area so you may be able to get work hauling tankers. Gravel hauling is needed just about everywhere. Containers come out of Houston a lot as well, however I'm not sure how good that gig is these days.
Here are some experiences I've had:
Got terminated in 1997, just before Christmas. Had to get from Michigan to Texas, and had no place to live at the time and no money. I had some health issues that caused me to have difficulty with fatigue, and things just didn't work out for me to work with the company on that. I ended up with a bunch of late deliveries and was let go for that. I got to Dallas, and angels must have been watching over me because I ended up overhearing someone looking for local drivers, and was able to get that job. I ended up in a rollover when I had to get on the brakes hard when someone ran out on the road towards me late at night, and the truck went into a drive-tire jack-knife. They let me stay on after that too, and I didn't get a ticket for it either, since there were no other vehicles damaged and no property damage. I drove until 2000.
In 2004 I went back to driving, and in 2005 I was driving for JB Hunt and sideswiped a lady who put her right turn signal on and then came into the oncoming lane as I was passing her while she slowed down to turn. I had a legal plan for commercial drivers but it still ended up as a careless driving ticket. JB Hunt let me stay on with them, and I left a few months later.
In 2012 I got clocked at 107mph in a 4-wheeler, no CDL at the time. The ticket was written for 100mph and I wasn't able to get deferred disposition in court, so it stayed on my record. In 2015 I went back to driving, and they found the 100mph ticket but it was about a month past 3 years from the date of the offense, no other tickets since, so their insurance accepted that and I was able to drive again. I only drove for about a year and haven't gone back, and have let my CDL lapse since then. I've got sleep apnea and use a CPAP, and between the trucking lifestyle and trying to have the CPAP in the truck with me, and DOT needing the history of it, it just isn't worth it for me personally. Lots of guys do it, though, so it's not a huge obstacle. Just personal preference.

It will probably just depend on the company you go with. You made it a year and a half with Swift, so that says you can hang in there with a company that has a reputation for not treating their drivers as well as other companies. Just a suggestion, what I might do in your situation is make sure to research companies and see what you can find that is a good fit. Someone mentioned driving jobs that require labor, I know someone that hired on with Sysco delivering frozen food locally, and made $1600/week 5 years ago. It's hard work, though. He worked from 4am to 2pm 5 days a week and the boxes are pretty heavy, plus the metal ramp will be wet from the condensation in the reefer.

Good luck to ya. Let me know how you fare.

 

I went to Fred Eberley tech in Buckhannon, WV a few years ago. Honestly, no it was nowhere at all in the material surprisingly. No mention of it in the test that I took either... I think I was told there was 3 versions of the test at the time (don’t qoute me on that one)... BUT we had a good teacher and he mentioned it every day at a specific light we would pull up to.

As far as when that man retires and they get another teacher I wouldn’t be surprised if the new teacher doesn’t teach it since it’s not nessecarliy anywhere in the material. I guess it wouldn’t be a requirement for them to teach that without it being in the material... but I don’t know and I don’t want to sound ignorant because I honestly have no idea so I don’t want to speak too much on it. That was just my personal experience.