Dirty DAC Report

What happens if you have an abandoned truck on your DAC report? I have a fr8end that has happened to. I don't know all the details other than apparently he had a licence suspention the company fired him....or at least told him to park the truck and now he has an abandoned truck on his DAC.

Oh, I guess you meant "dirty DAC report". Anyway, if something on the report is inaccurate it can be disputed, although I have no idea what the chances are of actually having an inaccurate record removed. If it's accurate then I guess you'd have to live with it and apply in as many palces as you can and hope for the best.

DAC reports are regulated under the same rules as credit reports - and you can DISPUTE ENTRIES - same as a credit report.

The dispute procedure is here on thier site.

If the negative reporter stands by their story - you are "supposed to be permitted" to add your statement to their entry.

But as we all know - abandoned equipment is right up there with failed drug tests, when it comes to the most difficult problems to overcome in the industry.

And chances are - if his license was suspended and he was instructed to leave the equipment - they had to send someone out to recover it - hence the abandonment report.

Essentially though - it's only a HALF TRUTH - but they legally couldn't allow him to operate the equipment once they discovered he was not licensed to do so. So technically - he did "abandon" the equipment.

Once option would be - to contact the company and see if he can negotiate to repay them for the cost of recovering the equipment - in return for removing the negative report.

The bigger (or just as big) issue I see here to overcome - is how he allowed his CDL to get suspended, and did he knowingly operate a CMV under suspension?

Had he been pulled over, and this was discovered - he would have likely been locked up on the spot - HUGE FINE - and loss of his CDL for quite awhile.

Driving without a CDL, or suspended CDL, incurs a civil penalty of up to $2,500 or, in aggravated cases, criminal penalties of up to $5,000 in fines and/or up to 90 days in prison. An employer is also subject to a penalty of up to $10,000, if they knowingly permit a driver to operate a CMV without a valid CDL.

Explaining this away is going to be just as difficult as the abandonment IMHO.

Rick

Abandoned truck is a serious offense and very difficult to overcome when applying for driving jobs. If a person gets fired and is told to park the truck then they need to park it at a terminal and get some photos with enough evidence in the background of the photos to show that it is at the terminal.

Surely your friend knew his license was suspended, or knew the reasons why it was likely to be. He should have been able to handle this a little differently so this didn't happen to him. I'm not trying to be the judge here, but a CDL license is worth taking some pre-emptive steps to protect when it is likely to be in jeopardy. Now he's not only dealing with getting his license back but trying to overcome a big black stain on his DAC.

If he just parked it at the nearest place convenient for him, he will not be able to get that removed. His only hope is to go through the process of protesting the complaint and if the company fails to respond in the required amount of time then Hire Right will remove it. That's a long shot, and still not a fix because anyone who tries to verify his work history will probably hear about this whole scenario one way or another.

Thanks forme the replies. Again, I don't know all the particulars about his issues, I know he isn't trying to fight it.

As in my original reply here - as soon as he notified the company (I'm assuming he notified them), or they FOUND OUT - he was immediately DQ'd from moving the truck another foot.

As soon as the company had knowledge of the suspension, if they allowed him to drive the truck back to a terminal , and he got caught along the way - $10K fine for the company.

So the company did what they had to do, by having him park the truck. And having to go out and recover it, means they could write it up as abandoned. Which may or may not be better than firing him for driving on a suspended CDL.

Either way - depending on the ACTUAL CIRCUMSTANCES of the suspension - like, forgot to pay his child support and got suspended - or forgot to send his Med Card into his DMV and got suspended - at that point, it is INCREDIBLY ILLEGAL for him to be driving a CMV.

So Old School, on this point, we have to agree to disagree:

Abandoned truck is a serious offense and very difficult to overcome when applying for driving jobs. If a person gets fired and is told to park the truck then they need to park it at a terminal and get some photos with enough evidence in the background of the photos to show that it is at the terminal.

As soon as the company finds out he has no license and tells him to park it - GAME OVER. If he continues to drive, even to a terminal - and gets pulled over - the COMPANY GETS THE FINE for him operating with their knowing he had no CDL.

Could he have tried to make it to a terminal, and evaded the abandonment charge? Not knowing where he was, or where the terminal was - or the fact that they probably shut his fuel card off, or the fact that as soon as the QC/GPS saw the truck moving, after he was told to park it - the company calls the truck in STOLEN. I (personally) wouldn't drive a CMV with no/suspended CDL - the penalties are way too severe to even contemplate if caught - even if it means catching an abandonment. I would have parked the truck and asked them to send out a driver/recovery so I could accompany them back to a terminal and turn in the truck - since it is ILLEGAL for me to continue to drive it.

Hindsight is frequently 20/20.

My suggestion still stands. Absent any other "problem child issues" we aren't aware of - if he contacts the company to try and make good on the recovery, he might persuade them to forget about the abandoned equipment, and just say he was terminated because his license got suspended and he was no longer able to perform his job duties because of that.

Rick

I agree with you completely Rick.

The driver in question should have taken some pre-emptive steps to avoid having no option but to abandon the truck.

I was wanting people to see how you can avoid an abandonment black mark on your record.

Update: my buddy did get a driving job. I'm not sure of the company. He did score a 2015 T 660. He has had 2 driving jobs recently. The first one for some reason they le him go and the second one he quit in orientation because he didn't like some of their policies. Of course he SAT through the holidays with no job or money. So I guess we will wait and see what happens with he new company. Stay tuned for updates.

Sounds to me like your "Buddy" probably won't be with that Company very long either. A job history like that just won't hold up too long. Your profile says " Considering a Career". I don't recommend following in his footsteps! Good Luck

Considering a Career". I don't recommend following in his footsteps! Good Luck

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Thanks tractor man my thoughts are the same as yours. When I am able to pull the trigger and move into trucking I will be successful. His work ethic and mine are on opposite sides of the spectrum.