First Accident
Topic 31661 | Page 1
Glad it wasn't worse. That's why the hinges are made of aluminum--to break away before the door itself breaks.
I was very surprised. I thought it was toast seeing it on the ground. I had a delivery late last night and they let me park in the door. Birmingham to ATL back to Birmingham today both just a swap. Then ironically I have PM at the TA tonight.
Been trying to get on top of that to not disrupt my weekly route and just let too much cloud my mind today. I had no reason to rush I was not behind
Glad it wasn't worse. That's why the hinges are made of aluminum--to break away before the door itself breaks.
Your not the first one to do that, it is why they are designed to break away. If they didn't it would rip the back or side of the trailer off.
Glad it wasn't worse and was a good learning experience
Yeah, it was. I’ve been at it for a little while now. I’m around ATL all the time and it was two drop hook locations that are very painless. While I was in the yards I felt almost on autopilot.
I’m not trying to beat myself up over it but still reflecting on the day. I’m shocked and thankful no one at my company even blinked. Very understanding.
Getting it fixed in the morning. Get to hold this door while TA gets it attached. I was surprised how heavy that damn thing is putting it in the back of the trailer.
Your not the first one to do that, it is why they are designed to break away. If they didn't it would rip the back or side of the trailer off.
Glad it wasn't worse and was a good learning experience
Hey I did that once! it’s a preventable but maybe you’d get lucky and they wouldn’t put it on there. I’ve only had two incidents in 4 years and that was one of them but my fleet manager on the account I was on at Swift at the time decided to have the mechanics throw it back on and she swept it under the rug so it never showed up on paper.
It’s a valuable lesson in GOAL but thankfully nothing serious as long as it’s a one time thing
Fleet Manager:
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.
They documented but didn’t make a deal out of it. I’ve been with the company for almost a year and a half and we treat each other well. I don’t plan on leaving til maybe the three year mark.
Hey I did that once! it’s a preventable but maybe you’d get lucky and they wouldn’t put it on there. I’ve only had two incidents in 4 years and that was one of them but my fleet manager on the account I was on at Swift at the time decided to have the mechanics throw it back on and she swept it under the rug so it never showed up on paper.
It’s a valuable lesson in GOAL but thankfully nothing serious as long as it’s a one time thing
Fleet Manager:
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.
Hi CM59,
You'd be surprised how little repairs costs if it's not a mechanical failure. A truck backed into me at a truck stop and ripped a hole in my hood. It only costed $1k for a dealer to bondo the hood up. So i wouldn't beat myself over how much putting a door back on would cost.
In the future, one thing you could think about is not tell your company and go to a TA and ask them how much the repair is going to cost. I've done that too. I drove out of a bay and bent the rim on a company truck. Instead of reporting it, i just told them i'd pay for it. The whole thing costed less than $300 and i didn't have to deal with anything put on my DAC.
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.
Good point by Sid V.
Carry extra small parts if you have some tools and mechanical ability. Wrecked trailers on the back lot have lots of useful spare parts on them.
Just be careful with the "off the books" repairs, some companies will terminate you for doing it. Even if they wouldn't have for the original accident.
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I’ll be damned I broke something. Pulling an empty out on a drop and hook into the stage yard to close doors and do paperwork.
I was being shortsighted and pulled through a tight spot. I had space and stopped short of a pole that would of hit the trailer door. I backed up, turned, looked again. Still close. Turned more and went. I knew I made a bad choice there. Pop goes the whole door.
Snapped all 5 hinges. No structure damage thankfully. Company was very nice about it but I also felt like an absolute idiot. I offered to pay for it but they declined. I asked if it would be on my DAC. The person didn’t know but said it probably wouldn’t.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
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.