I Ran A Red Light But No Ticket. Who Will Hire Me?

I just recently got my CDL A. Did my 200 hours but was let go because I ran a red light that was yellow and turned red a second or so before i passed the white line. It was raining and road was not level and was cautious of jacknifing..They caught it on company dashcam. Got no ticket, no accident. Who will hire me?

Was there anything else going on? Any previous incidents? Speeding? Cell phone in hand? I doubt if it was as close as you say it was the company would terminate you over it unless there were other things going on. Did you get your CDL through swift (assuming its swift due to 200 hours training comment) or did you go through private school? Why did your camera trigger?

It was raining and road was not level and was cautious of jacknifing

All the more reason why you should've been approaching a "stale" light with heightened caution.

I too want to know why the dash cam triggered. Did you brake hard? And if so, is it possible the cam recorded you at a speed not prudent for the conditions? That would surely put you in a dangerous category.

As for who will hire you, I'd suggest you put in applications everywhere and hope someone is willing to take a chance on you. When explaining this incident to them, take full responsibility for your actions, and explain how you've learned a valuable lesson through this. Through humility comes redemption.

Good luck.

What company were you driving for that has a dashcam constantly recording or monitoring you? Just wondering since you didn't mention a hard brake, or a hard lane change.

I agree with you Turtle... It was hard breaking that triggered the cams and I ran the red light. I did learn a hard lesson. At least I tried my best... Hopefully I'll get lucky and given another chance to prove that I am a better driver.

What happened with the meeting with safety to discuss this incident? Were you able to explain what happened or were you told to come to terminal and immediately let go? From our experiences here most often if you are honest and explain what you've learned you're able to keep your job. Apply everywhere you can and be completely honest about the incident, what you learned and how you will avoid repeating it. A couple months ago I was issued a ticket for a railroad crossing violation. That ticket would have resulted in mandatory CDL disqualification of 60 days and I was completely honest about it with my employer as soon as I got it even though I'm allowed to wait 30 days past conviction. I met with several members of management about it and told them all the same. I explained what happened, why, what I learned and how I'd avoid it. One thing I told them was I'm embarassed about it, I hope to never have another issue but I'm thankful it happened with no damage or convictions. It renewed the sense of how quickly things change on the road and how quickly my livelihood can be taken away.

We can't change the past but we can prevent it from repeating. You should Apply For Truck Driving Jobs and see if anybody bites. How long were you a solo driver after training before this happened?

Also how is your driving record? If its clean that will help show you're a safe driver that made a mistake.

What else did you have on your sps? Swift usually does not terminate for one occurrence. However running a relight is a major violation worth 21 points on your sps. If you had other things even minor it could have raised your score into termination level.

It is going to be tough. When potential employers contact Swift they will be told you were terminated for violating safety policy. (I'm also assuming swift based off the 200 hour comment).

Here is what safety saw though:

1. Too fast for conditions 2. Failure to identify potential hazards (stale green/yellow, wet roads, etc.) 3. Hard brake in hazardous conditions creating a potential jackknife hazard

When you talk to potential employers you should address that and what you should have done differently. Take full responsibility and you may have a chance.

I think you will find a thousand companies to take you. It might be for the best that you got fired. If they are willing to fire you over this one little thing your days we're numbered anyway.

My ex teammate just went through this. At Swift a certain number of safety points generates a notice and after so many accumulated points you go up for review. My ex teammate was also not involved in the safety meeting it was held without him overall he was terminated for the red light. Trying to get a job with a mega carrier is going to be hard because of insurance purposes however look into smaller companies. He just got hired with one although it had to be approved by the head of safety at his new company they still hired him. So it isnt too much a career killer, it's just going to be an uphill battle but all you can do is try and do better. Best of Luck to you.