I Hit Something

I don't want to be dramatic, but I'm beyond frustrated. I had to turn around in a parking lot and I accidentally cracked my driver side fender on a bobtail truck's rear driver side drive tire. Thankfully there was absolutely no damage to the other truck and the driver was very nice about it. He just told me it could have been much worse--at least I wasn't going 65 mph. Unfortunately, because of the damage to my truck I have to report it. There goes my accident-free first year and probably the opportunity to get on the dedicated account I just got on a waiting list for.

Here's how it happened. I picked up my preloaded trailer and drove to the nearest scale to scale my load. The scale was in a dirt lot with horrible potholes, and it was still dark this morning. Everything was fine until I tried to leave the lot. I was focusing so much in the potholes I accidentally turned the wrong direction towards the parking section where there was no exit. There wasn't enough room for a U-turn so I pulled forward into a spot and started backing out to do a three point turn. There was a bobtail parked on my driver side facing out next to the spot I pulled into. There was plenty of room so it shouldn't have been a problem. As I was backing out, I accidentally swung my tractor too close to him and caught my fender on his rear drive tire so it ripped the fender forward.

I stopped by the Gary, IN, terminal on my way to the delivery and they're fixing it now. I'm always very careful with my backing and have been getting better and better, and I get out and look as much as I need to, whether it's just once or ten times.

I've been trying to figure out what was different on this back than all the other ones I've done without hitting anything. I've narrowed it down to a few things. The parking lot wasn't lit--I almost never maneuver in non-lit parking lots. I just got a GPS last week and mounted it on the left side of the windshield--I think that played a part. I just moved it next to the Qualcomm so that won't be a problem again. I don't know.

Sorry for being all crazy about it--I know it's not the end of the world and it's not likely I'd lose my job over this one thing, but I'm just super bummed. I just want to go home and sleep for a long time and forget about trucking right now...

I know exactly how you feel. I hit another truck 2 days solo. It was a completely stupid mistake and I was going forward!

You made a small mistake. You're human like the rest of us. We've all made our fair share. I'm really glad that it was a small mistake. You just have to make sure you never make a big one.

One of the things that's easy to do is to focus on something that just happened, causing a chain of events. You get frustrated about something so you're fuming about it a bit, then you make a mistake cuz you weren't focusing like you should have, and the downward spiral gets worse. Sounds like you're saying that's what happened when the potholes distracted you which led to missing the exit which led to having to back out in a tough spot and then the mishap.

The most important thing for you to do right now is to put it out of your mind so the cycle doesn't continue. Are you aggravated with yourself? Of course you are. We all take pride in what we do and even small mistakes are frustrating and embarrassing. But you have to clear your mind, try to relax, and keep it in perspective. You didn't accidentally trigger a nuclear holocaust. You didn't cause a quake that demolished the Hoover Dam. You cracked a piece of fiberglass. That's it. Nothing more.

Thanks for having the courage to stand up and say something about it. You can be certain that others will learn from it which will help make everyone safer, more aware drivers.

Now pretend it never happened. Go out there and work hard, enjoy yourself, and count your blessings. You're driving a beautiful American Big Rig for a living...99.9% of the human population would give anything just to see one in person.

I know exactly how you feel. I hit another truck 2 days solo. It was a completely stupid mistake and I was going forward!

And the same with you ChickieMonster. You've been a ton of fun to have around. Keep that great attitude and let the small stuff roll off your back like it's nothing.

Thanks ChickieMonster and Brett, I was going to quote you but realized I was just gonna end up quoting the whole thing. You're right, it was a small mistake but it irks me because, as you said, I take alot of pride in what I do. I'll get over it. Thank you for providing a place to post things like this where I can receive positive, helpful feedback.

I got the truck fixed at the Gary terminal today and I'm already preplanned for a load tomorrow. I haven't heard anything from anybody yet, so I imagine I'll be getting some messages/phone calls tomorrow. I'll post updates on here for anyone who wants to read.

I don't know if you do this or not but rolling your windows down when backing helps to clear the vision to the mirrors etc. You are also able to hear if someone yells. Dad taught me this at an early age. You may think your windows are clean but they can still have a light coating of dirt on them making things even darker at night.

I don't know if you do this or not but rolling your windows down when backing helps to clear the vision to the mirrors etc. You are also able to hear if someone yells. Dad taught me this at an early age. You may think your windows are clean but they can still have a light coating of dirt on them making things even darker at night.

I do this every time. It makes a huge difference especially when you are lazy about cleaning the windows like me...

I don't know if you do this or not but rolling your windows down when backing helps to clear the vision to the mirrors etc. You are also able to hear if someone yells. Dad taught me this at an early age. You may think your windows are clean but they can still have a light coating of dirt on them making things even darker at night.

Totally agree. It also eliminates the reflection of dash lights at night. I always roll mine down before I back or if I am in close quarters.

I don't know if you do this or not but rolling your windows down when backing helps to clear the vision to the mirrors etc. You are also able to hear if someone yells. Dad taught me this at an early age. You may think your windows are clean but they can still have a light coating of dirt on them making things even darker at night.

Thanks Pat. My trainer taught me to do this, and I almost always do. I'd say always, but oddly enough I didn't do it yesterday on that back...go figure.

So I talked to my DM today. I will get a write-up and be assigned close quarters training. I also will be given risk analysis points, either 8 or 12 depending on what type of accident they decide to call it and lose my Platinum status for a while. She's still working on details.

Last week I applied for and was approved for the Miller Coors dedicated fleet here at Swift, and they put me on the waiting list behind two other people. My DM thinks I should still be all right, but I will have to call the people in charge of that account once I get more details to find out if I'm still eligible.

It sucks to suck. GOAL and take your time. It's worth it.

Paul, I ran over some debri like a month ago, it crack the plastic that covers the fuel tanks in my international model in the drivers side and I still haven't gotten to a terminal to fix it, it's cosmetic but I get you on taking a hit on your trucking ego, it really made me think on how much of a rookie I am, and I still get that feeling everytime I am walking back to my beautiful truck and see that, I've been driving hard that's why I have not take it to a terminal for repairs but I think I will get some time today actually, thanks for sharing,....out

I don't know if you do this or not but rolling your windows down when backing helps to clear the vision to the mirrors etc. You are also able to hear if someone yells. Dad taught me this at an early age. You may think your windows are clean but they can still have a light coating of dirt on them making things even darker at night.

Thanks Pat. My trainer taught me to do this, and I almost always do. I'd say always, but oddly enough I didn't do it yesterday on that back...go figure.

So I talked to my DM today. I will get a write-up and be assigned close quarters training. I also will be given risk analysis points, either 8 or 12 depending on what type of accident they decide to call it and lose my Platinum status for a while. She's still working on details.

Last week I applied for and was approved for the Miller Coors dedicated fleet here at Swift, and they put me on the waiting list behind two other people. My DM thinks I should still be all right, but I will have to call the people in charge of that account once I get more details to find out if I'm still eligible.

It sucks to suck. GOAL and take your time. It's worth it.