I've been out of trucking since 09/2003 due to a weight shift rollover. I want to get back into the industry. I took a roadtest recently and did really well, no problems. Any one have any ideas of where I might be able to get back driving again. Most of the bigger companies have said No. Insurance rules I guess. Any help will be appreciated. I currently work nights for Kmart and it sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!no $$$$$ :roll:

 

Well, my first thought would be to try smaller companies, then O/O's. Other than that, I've not been "around" long enough to help you.

But, your post caught my eye for this reason. Are you telling me, and ALL the ROOKIES who are listening, that ONE rollover accident, that may or may not have been your fault, got you FIRED, and kept you out of trucking for 4 years?

I'm not dissing you at all for it, I just want everyone to realize how serious this can be! There's a thread on here about Pre-trips. I guess your experience might be a good example of why one should do them? (Or in your case, load checks.)

It seems that, even without a fatality, ANY accident can be a career killer! I just want the noobies (like myself) to get this into their heads!

I wish you the BEST! If I had the money, I'd start a company and name it "Second Chance Trucking." There seems to be alot of otherwise good drivers out there who just made ONE little mistake, and it has cost them dearly!

 

What you may end having to do is go back to CDL school for at least a refresher course and then hire on with a training company and spend some time with a trainer.

Out of curiosity though, how much experience did you have before the roll over.

 

I had 6 months/52,000 miles under my belt with USXpress, then a poorly loaded trailer caused the rollover. I almost got hired by a local outfit
(Niagara Falls, NY) but their new insurance guy said no. Their ad in the paper said 6 months exp. and I even passed the roadtest, but he's turning down guys with 1 year or more exp.
Looked into going back to school for a refresher, but even during prehire, companies like Werner/Schneider/etc all said no. I need current exp. they said. I'm totally frustrated. Can't do this Kmart B.S. forever. Got a family to support. And finding good jobs in this area is next to impossible.

 

Try taking a mining coures. Wages are paid by the hour and range from $20-60 per hour, plus good benifits. Mining is booming now.

 

This is the problem with these types of accidents. There really is no way to prove that you actions did not have at least if not more to do with the rollover than the poorly loaded trailer. Depending on the conditions during the crash (road conditions, curvature, weather, there are just too many things that make the whole issue a tie. If a driver rolls a truck over then the chances are that they will be involved in other accidents. I was just reading an article the other day:

http://www.heavydutytrucking.com/2007/06/008a0706.asp

And the statistics are a bit concerning to say the least. Rollovers are a lot like drivers who run off the road to keep from hitting a deer.. There is now way for the driver to prove that they avoided anything, there is a larger probability that the driver just ran off the road for some reason or fell asleep and went off the road. All the carrier and the insurance company knows is that there is a total loss of a tractor, trailer, a load of product and of course usually a bunch of property damage or even a death that they must now pay for. Why chance it?

 

That and then some.

Rollovers and jackknifes are two things that most companies will take one quick look at and say 'No". Just about all of these types of accidents are going to be listed as preventable. Even a "poorly loaded" trailer is going to come back as preventable and get you nailed as an unsafe driver because you were the one behind the wheel when it rolled. Fozzy is correct in his assertion. There is really no way to prove otherwise.

 

A poorly loaded trailer by itself does not cause a rollover. Improper speed around turnes,curves,and high winds do. Since most companies only look back 3 years on a MVR I don't see what the problem is in getting a job as long as you go thru training again. Don't even mention the rollover if they only advertise that they go back 3 years. This accident happened in 2003. The real problem here is that starting wages at big OTR companies are not even enough to support a family with unless you want to be on the road 90% of the time.

 

Actually, it's not so much the accident report showing up on an MVR, but rather that companies will usually report accidents and work records for 7 years. If a rollover or a jacknife pops up on it in the last 5 years, that will automatically raise red flags with most companies.