Terminated For Drinking
Topic 21889 | Page 2
I went through Swifts' Training and got my CDL. I went out on the road with my mentor for a few weeks training. A week into being on the road, my mentor had to go to a court date down in Los Angeles leaving me with the truck in Fresno. I found out later that my mentor ended up going to jail leaving me alone and wondering. I called Swift to see what I should do. They informed that they would send another driver to my location to take me back to headquarters to find another mentor the following morning. That night, I went to the local casino and had a few beers. I returned to the truck to sleep until the next morning. The next morning I waited for the other driver to pick me up. He arrived and told me that he had too many hours and could not take me. After he left, Swift called me on my phone and asked me if I had been drinking. I told them last night I had a few beers but not in the morning. It turns out the driver called Swift and said that I smelled of alcohol. My mentor returned from jail and drove me back to Swift headquarters where Swift FIRED ME!!.. They do not play with the alcohol consumption. Lesson learned. 9 years later, I am looking to become a truck driver again. My CDL has not been tarnished, no incidents, DUI etc.. it is only expired. I received my DAC report today and there is no mention of the incident. ***When applying for a driving job with a CDL with no experience, How should I approach the reason for leaving?** Any sound advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
DAC:
Drive-A-Check Report
A truck drivers DAC report will contain detailed information about their job history of the last 10 years as a CDL driver (as required by the DOT).
It may also contain your criminal history, drug test results, DOT infractions and accident history. The program is strictly voluntary from a company standpoint, but most of the medium-to-large carriers will participate.
Most trucking companies use DAC reports as part of their hiring and background check process. It is extremely important that drivers verify that the information contained in it is correct, and have it fixed if it's not.
DUI:
Driving Under the Influence
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Truth is you will need to start over. Application, school, orientation, ojt, rookie driver, etc.
They FIRED YOU just as most companies would have during training. Prime gave us a strict order in orientation "No alcohol EVER during training".... said in my best Mommie Dearest voice.
I hope you learned from this.
i went and had a few beers and another driver called me in and my DM called me and asked me if i had any alcohol and i told her i had one beer and a shot
You lied about it, so you knew you were wrong. Take the class and learn from the experience.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
I think that you are going to find that whatever is on your DAC report concerning this matter will probably dictate that this is true. .
It is going to be difficult to say the least. Usually what Swift does is ban you from ever working for them again, but if you complete a substance abuse program (SAP) they will not put it on your DAC.
If it matters, and this is a big "IF"... Swift no longer subscribes or uses HireRight's DAC... So if it happened in 2016 or later, it WON'T show up there.
Now, that being said, it will probably show up on their Employment Verification as "Terminated for Company Policy Violation", and possibly on the "Drug & Alcohol" sections of the verification:
_____________________________________________________________________ DOT Drug And Alcohol History: Pursuant to US Department of Transportation regulations 49 CFR part 40, during the past THREE years has the driver had : 1) This driver was employed in a safety-sensitive function that required alcohol and controlled substance testing specified by 49 CFR Part 40? Yes or No 2) Alcohol tests with a result of 0.04 or higher alcohol concentration? Yes or No 3) Verified positive controlled substance test? Yes or No 4) Refusal to take test, including "no show", adulterated or substituted drug test results? Yes or No 5) Other violations of DOT agency drug and alochol testing regulations per Subpart B of Part 382, or Part 40? Yes or No 6) If the driver violated a DOT drug and alcohol regulation did they complete a SAP-prescribed rehabilitation program including return-to-duty and follow-up tests? Yes or No or N/A 7) Did the driver, after successfully completing an SAP rehabilitation referral, remain employed but subsequently had an alcohol test result of 0.04 or greater, a verified positive drug test, or refused to be tested? Yes or No or N/A 8) Did you receive drug or alcohol testing information from any of the driver's previous employers? Yes or No ____________________________________________________________________
But it will come up one way or another, it just won't be on DAC
SAP:
Substance Abuse Professional
The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
DAC:
Drive-A-Check Report
A truck drivers DAC report will contain detailed information about their job history of the last 10 years as a CDL driver (as required by the DOT).
It may also contain your criminal history, drug test results, DOT infractions and accident history. The program is strictly voluntary from a company standpoint, but most of the medium-to-large carriers will participate.
Most trucking companies use DAC reports as part of their hiring and background check process. It is extremely important that drivers verify that the information contained in it is correct, and have it fixed if it's not.
They pulled mine April of 2017.
I think that you are going to find that whatever is on your DAC report concerning this matter will probably dictate that this is true. .
It is going to be difficult to say the least. Usually what Swift does is ban you from ever working for them again, but if you complete a substance abuse program (SAP) they will not put it on your DAC.
If it matters, and this is a big "IF"... Swift no longer subscribes or uses HireRight's DAC... So if it happened in 2016 or later, it WON'T show up there.
Now, that being said, it will probably show up on their Employment Verification as "Terminated for Company Policy Violation", and possibly on the "Drug & Alcohol" sections of the verification:
_____________________________________________________________________ DOT Drug And Alcohol History: Pursuant to US Department of Transportation regulations 49 CFR part 40, during the past THREE years has the driver had : 1) This driver was employed in a safety-sensitive function that required alcohol and controlled substance testing specified by 49 CFR Part 40? Yes or No 2) Alcohol tests with a result of 0.04 or higher alcohol concentration? Yes or No 3) Verified positive controlled substance test? Yes or No 4) Refusal to take test, including "no show", adulterated or substituted drug test results? Yes or No 5) Other violations of DOT agency drug and alochol testing regulations per Subpart B of Part 382, or Part 40? Yes or No 6) If the driver violated a DOT drug and alcohol regulation did they complete a SAP-prescribed rehabilitation program including return-to-duty and follow-up tests? Yes or No or N/A 7) Did the driver, after successfully completing an SAP rehabilitation referral, remain employed but subsequently had an alcohol test result of 0.04 or greater, a verified positive drug test, or refused to be tested? Yes or No or N/A 8) Did you receive drug or alcohol testing information from any of the driver's previous employers? Yes or No ____________________________________________________________________
But it will come up one way or another, it just won't be on DAC
SAP:
Substance Abuse Professional
The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
DAC:
Drive-A-Check Report
A truck drivers DAC report will contain detailed information about their job history of the last 10 years as a CDL driver (as required by the DOT).
It may also contain your criminal history, drug test results, DOT infractions and accident history. The program is strictly voluntary from a company standpoint, but most of the medium-to-large carriers will participate.
Most trucking companies use DAC reports as part of their hiring and background check process. It is extremely important that drivers verify that the information contained in it is correct, and have it fixed if it's not.
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Swift Transport Advice For New Truck Drivers DAC Reports Driver Responsibilities Drivers Past Legal Issues Drug and Alcohol Testing Hard Lessons Learned Truck Driver Training
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Just a guess but seeing that his first post was he got fired for drinking, we’ll probably never hear from him again to find out what the actual outcome is.