Comments By Boomtown

Thank you to all of you who responded. It means a lot hearing the advice from all of you that you have to offer. A few more accidents happened that night in the parking lot with other drivers … it didn’t help I don’t think that everyone was parking at odd angles etc and it was a small flying J lot so it was just one of those truck stops Im going to definitely avoid at all costs haha and stick to more open lots and other areas where I can safely and easily park a split axle trailer. From what it sounds like my Schneider DTL is going to review the accident and try and schedule any training if necessary, but so far I haven’t heard anything else so I guess that’s a good sign. I’m happy to do whatever Schneider needs me to do and I definitely will be working on better trip planning and all of that which I’m sure comes with time. Again appreciate all of you,

Brayson

Well first let me start off by saying GOAL is extremely important and even though I knew I should have done it … I felt confident that I was able to back into a tight spot at a Pilot and scrapped the paint on the truck on my blind side with the corner of my trailer. I didn’t get too far into the spot before causing the damage on the trucks drivers side cab. The damage was extremely minor , no denting just paint damage but was 100% preventable. I was low on time and there was only a few spots available to park at in the truck lot … all of which were tight spaces with limited room to maneuver or get a good set up. Not making excuses, but I just needed a place to park before my time was up on the clock and should have got out and looked still but didn’t and made a dumb mistake. I’m a new driver with a month of solo driving under my belt. I drive a split axle flat bed for Schneider and sure enough this spot that was left was one of the harder ones to get into… I feel confident in my driving with the split axle and haven’t had any issues with backing up or tight maneuvers at all until this incident. Now all of my nerves are going to get the best of my when it comes to backing up. I called my company and reported it. The other driver reported it to his company as well and no police were involved due to it being a private property accident. I know my mistake and am willing to accept the consequences of my failure to GOAL.

My DTL/ Leader is off and won’t be on till the morning so I’m not sure what’s to become of me.

I’d love to hear about what happens with a preventable like this being on my record? I assume it will for sure go on my DAC. Are my future options now limited?

What does schneider do with new drivers who have a preventable ?

Any advice or other comments are appreciated…

I’m grateful the guy whose truck I hit was calm about it. He honked his horn as soon as I hit his truck and at first was a little aggressive but calmed down and we handled it like adults. He was a young driver like myself ( I’m 21) and I felt really bad because he has a nice new volvo so I would have been upset too…

A few other drivers came over and had some stories about mess ups they’ve had in the past and to just remember to GOAL so that did make me feel a little better knowing these things happen and to learn from them. They also all spotted me so I could finish backing up into this tight space.

So i’m grateful for those truckers out there that are happy to help us inexperienced drivers learn.

Brayson