Comments By Optical

A bit of necro'ing the thread...but should be final update.

Finished up orientation and will be heading out with my trainer this weekend. Also got my payment plan with CRST setup. Super excited to get back out on the road and behind the wheel again.

There's about 3 quotes that I tend to live by. I know they aren't from here...and this is supposed to be quotes from the forums...but I really like spreading these out.

"No obstacles. Only challenges." - From an old movie called Groove. Just means that you have NOTHING that can STOP you, just things that are challenging you to pass.

"No use getting upset and throwing stuff at a situation you can't control. Spend that energy on trying to fix it and find the solution." - A good, close friend of mine said that to me when my car broke down. Stuck with me ever since.

"Time is all we have in this game we call Life" - A quote I came up with when I was about 13yrs old. A way to remember that you only have a finite amount of time in life and you never know when it's going to end. So enjoy and make the most of every moment.

This is a really cool idea...I'm a HUGE sucker for good quotes.

Hey guys,

So I am supposed to leave tomorrow evening to head to orientation with Dutch Maid. Nervous as all get out...only because I'm expecting a call or an email pulling the offer. They know about everything that's happened so...I SHOULDN'T be nervous...but I am non-the-less.

Plan is to be with them and learn everything I can for the next 3 years or so...then see where my career takes me. Maybe another shot at OTR, maybe home for a local gig....we'll see when the time comes.

Thank you Anne for shooting me the name.

Here's hoping by this time next week I'm back behind the wheel.

So, woke up today to about 7 phone calls from various companies. Talked with most of them and the 2 that I'm still talking with are Dutch Maid and Knight. Still se more to hear back from, but today's been a busy day so far.

Also found out that I am eligible fore rehire with CRST, so going to look at that possibility if not for anything else than to fulfill my contract.

I'll keep this thread updated with how things progress.

Welp....just received an email from CFI pulling my job offer due to the accident being marked as preventable. Back to blanketing out applications to see about getting back behind the wheel somewhere.

Super sorry to hear, Op. Dang.

Have you looked into Dutch Maid Logistics, in Willard? I don't remember where you are in Ohio ... but they gave Marc Lee a 4th chance, after SNI, JBH, and Veriha....unfortunately he had a mishap driving.

Worth a try!

LMK....

~ Anne ~

I'm in Columbus, and no I didn't but just put an app in, thank you.

I've spent the last 4hrs scrolling through Google and putting applications into different companies.

Welp....just received an email from CFI pulling my job offer due to the accident being marked as preventable. Back to blanketing out applications to see about getting back behind the wheel somewhere.

Sorry to hear that. Get in where you can, stay safe for at least a year, then you can go somewhere else.

I'm trying...

Welp....just received an email from CFI pulling my job offer due to the accident being marked as preventable. Back to blanketing out applications to see about getting back behind the wheel somewhere.

Did you pay off the contract with your (former) carrier? That particular carrier has been known to sue other carriers for hiring drivers that are under contract from their schooling.

No, I did not....not yet anyway. It is something I plan on doing though. So, we'll see how it works from there.

Hey guys,

I'm sorry for the lack of response, and am really sorry for being a little close to the chest with the details of what had happened. This whole time, I've been in a kind of holding pattern of sorts with the company. I was being kind of closed with the details due to there being a lawsuit to the company over the accident that had happened. Some more information had come to my attention in these past few days though. Unbeknownst to me, the company marked me down as voluntarily quitting back at the end of December. So, I was thinking I was still officially hired on with them until this past Monday when I was on the phone with a recruiter from CFI who had informed me that I was not.

To answer some of the concerns that had risen up and questions in the thread....

I know I've much less than forthcoming with the information about this whole incident but just being able to vent it out and get some sort of feedback had helped me work through this mentally.

Are you willing to share a satellite view of where this occurred and explain it so others just starting out are able to avoid the same thing happening to them? Thats what this forum is all about.

This is a satellite image of the road I was on. The blue line is my path, the green arrows are the other vehicles travel direction. The little red line is where I stopped my tractor to check each direction before going on my turn. This image is also before they had done the construction on the road. The road was recently widened and a center turn lane was added into the middle of each direction of travel.

This image shows what the road layout is like currently. This is a little further north of the same road.

I was doing everything my trainer had told me to do. Having this time to think about it and work it through, I know now I should've told him no and just kept going straight until I found a MUCH safer place to turn around at, and that is my mistake. It is a mistake I've learned from though, and will not allow this to happen again.

As for what's going on NOW.....

I was pushing to get on with my buddy's local route curtain side company(Palmer-Donavin), while also this past weekend I had blasted out about 6-7 applications to various companies. After talking with a couple of them on Saturday, I received a call from a recruiter at CFI on Monday. I was open with the recruiter, and stated on my application that I was involved in an accident and was cited for failure to turn while safe. The recruiter was ok with it, and I signed a conditional job offer with them. I have gotten my rental car information and will be leaving to go to orientation this coming Saturday.

Again, I can't apologize enough for my lack of being forthcoming with the information, but I was nervous about my future and what details I could release at the time. I also apologize for how long it's taken for me to update this thread to you guys, but with the time it's taken for this all to unfold, I've gone through bouts of depression between trying to keep my head and get back out there and get back on my feet. I understand the lack of information and the lack of timely responses was frustrating.

I hope you all have a fantastic day and drive safe.

Optical

So, it seems the company is taking it as me making a u-turn which is why they are reviewing my employment. Though the turn I made was not technically a u-turn as I was completely off the road before making the turn that resulted in the accident, they are still considering it a u-turn. I did communicate that I was following the instructions of my trainer they are saying that since I was ultimately driving it's still on me.

So I am in talks with a close friend to get hired on at his company that runs local routes here in state.

Feeling a lot more relaxed and less stressed as now I know WHY. Now it's just down to getting back to it. I know I've much less than forthcoming with the information about this whole incident but just being able to vent it out and get some sort of feedback had helped me work through this mentally.