First Load Went Terribly Wrong! Please Help!

I was in a similar situation. Your career is absolutely not killed. Your options have narrowed down, but still there are plenty of them. Western Express is a good one, give it a try. I would suggest to be honest and tell your recruiter the whole truth. They have enough ways to find it out, so why take the risk of being a liar?

Thanks for the information! Many of you guys keep saying to go with Western Express so I’ll just go ahead and give it a shot. I’ll tell them everything and see how it goes. I appreciate the help so far! Wish me luck!

A couple of things. First, if I don’t set the brakes and open the door, my horn sounds until I set the brake. I’ve had 3 trucks and they all had this safety feature. But not yours???????????

Also, I see Western Express trucks a lot. They always look to be newer units, both tractor and trailer.

I’ve had 3 trucks and they all had this safety feature. But not yours???????????

I've never driven a truck with that feature. There's like a million ways to customize a truck when ordering it, every company has different priorities and budgets when doing so.

We can tell you this...

If there was no ticket and no damage, then there was no accident.

But, wait a minute...

It sounds like your employer was being very kind to you to ask you to resign. What we don't know is if they are putting this information on your DAC report, If they do then you have an accident you need to discuss with your next employer.

Here's my advice: You are going to have to explain why you left your first company. I guess you could tell them you got scared on your first load, panicked and decided to quit. I don't know, maybe you can come up with something better. If you tell them the absolute truth you are probably not going to get hired. Just the fact that you resigned on your first load will scare a lot of them away. I don't think your first employer is intending on putting this on your DAC. I just don't know why they would tell you to resign and then do that to you. There is no way for me to know what they intend.

Give that a try and see what happens.

You learned one valuable lesson that I hope you will never forget. Set your brakes when you exit the tractor!

One piece of information that you are forgetting...

Insurance.

If there was an insurance claim then there WAS an accident.

You are right Kerry, and that is why I included "no damage" in my statement. If there was an insurance claim involved then any trucking company doing their thorough background check will find this accident.

Hello, So I’ve been hesitant to make a post about this because It’s embarrassing and I don’t need to leave here feeling worse than I already do about it. But, I’m desperate, so here goes nothing.

I got my CDL earlier this year, did my training with a trainer, and finally got into my own truck. On that day I got my first load, and I also had my first big accident. It wasn’t a driving accident. It was a rollaway. I got out to get the bills of lading paperwork and forgot to set the emergency brake. I know, dangerous. (First load jitters, probably.) Luckily for me no one got hurt, and the police never gave me a ticket. I DID lose my job though, but I was asked to resign so that I “could find another job” instead of being terminated. And I signed the paperwork because that sounded good to me at the time, not realizing that this accident pretty much killed my career, and I didn’t even start it yet. Needless to say, no one wants to give me a job offer (except for 1 company. They saw the accident as a fluke and managed to talk their safety team into giving me a shot. But they’re a flatbed company and i’m terrified of heights). Now that you know the backstory, here’s where I hope I can find someone that can help me answer a question, or at least point me in the right direction for a job. I recently went to the DMV , months after the accident, and requested my driver’s abstract including all my records, and it shows up clean. No accident. Nothing. Now, I know I have to tell any company the truth about any accidents, I don’t want to be a liar, but Swift told me that no one has claimed the accident yet (but couldn’t hire me because I already admitted to it.) and my driving record shows that it’s clean.

Is it possible that It won’t show up if I tell another company that I’m clean? The police did take my license and name down though. That’s why I’m confused as to why it’s not showing up on my record. I just want to figure this out before I admit it to anyone else. I’m desperate, jobless, broke. I need a way to get my foot back in the door. I just got my CDL and didn’t even start my career yet. Please help.

I have dealt with something similar, albeit my accident was in a personal vehicle. The timing of it (right after starting CDL school) had companies not wanting to touch me. Just the same as you described, my accident has never showed on my MVR.

Here is what you risk by not disclosing the accident:

You risk any company giving you a chance finding out about the accident. You would then be fired for not disclosing it on your application because it is during orientation that this would be discovered (more than likely). At that point, your career would be as dead in the water as ever. Not only would you have an accident on your record, but a dismissal from orientation on your DAC. The reason that a company is likely to find out about the accident is just the same reason that an auto insurance company knows about all accidents for which a claim had been filed, whether on your MVR or not. So, much better to disclose it ahead of time and see who is willing to give you a shot than try to play games with it.

We have a member that had limited experience and was ultimately terminated due to not setting their brakes. He ended up getting hired by May Trucking. Its been a while since he stopped by but last I knew he was doing quite well there. They may be worth a look.

We can tell you this...

If there was no ticket and no damage, then there was no accident.

But, wait a minute...

It sounds like your employer was being very kind to you to ask you to resign. What we don't know is if they are putting this information on your DAC report, If they do then you have an accident you need to discuss with your next employer.

Here's my advice: You are going to have to explain why you left your first company. I guess you could tell them you got scared on your first load, panicked and decided to quit. I don't know, maybe you can come up with something better. If you tell them the absolute truth you are probably not going to get hired. Just the fact that you resigned on your first load will scare a lot of them away. I don't think your first employer is intending on putting this on your DAC. I just don't know why they would tell you to resign and then do that to you. There is no way for me to know what they intend.

Give that a try and see what happens.

You learned one valuable lesson that I hope you will never forget. Set your brakes when you exit the tractor!

One piece of information that you are forgetting...

Insurance.

If there was an insurance claim then there WAS an accident.

I kinda realized this a little later. You’re right. The paper trail would be in the insurance. Guess I’ll just keep making phone calls and see what comes up. Thanks!

I was in a similar situation. Your career is absolutely not killed. Your options have narrowed down, but still there are plenty of them. Western Express is a good one, give it a try. I would suggest to be honest and tell your recruiter the whole truth. They have enough ways to find it out, so why take the risk of being a liar?

Thanks for the information! Many of you guys keep saying to go with Western Express so I’ll just go ahead and give it a shot. I’ll tell them everything and see how it goes. I appreciate the help so far! Wish me luck!

Don't just stick with applying at one company. I have put in applications with over 80 companies to see where I might be given a shot. One company that has shown an interest in me (felony from 2006, spotty work history, resignation from TransAm, and 2 personal vehicle accidents in the past 5 years) that is a pretty decent company is Pride Transport.

Put out as many applications as you can. On this site you can fill out one application and send it to several companies. An app that I use is called Driver Pulse by Tenstreet. The fewer applications that you submit, the less likely you are to find yourself with a job that works well for you. Simply having another driving position shouldn't be the only goal. A driving position that suits you and your personal needs is the ultimate goal. Maybe Western Express provides this, or maybe there is another company out there that is in desperate need to fill driver vacancies, which better meets what you are seeking in a position.

No matter what field a person is working in, it is always better to cast as wide a net as possible when submitting applications. Always fill out applications online and then call the companies one or two days later to follow up on applications. Be totally honest about everything and make sure that any sticking points on your application have been cleared with a decision-maker before agreeing to go to orientation. You are going to have to be a bit more diligent in securing this next job than you were with the first. This may require physically going to areas where smaller trucking companies are located (ones that may not even have an online application process).

You are right Kerry, and that is why I included "no damage" in my statement. If there was an insurance claim involved then any trucking company doing their thorough background check will find this accident.

Yes, of course if there were no claim involved (no damage, no claim) and no police report, then there is no record of an accident to find.