So here's a thought, what is "an accident"?

To me it's simple...Accident = Any object that isn't supposed to come in contact with the truck coming in contact with the truck causing any kind of damage.

If the object is stationary, It's the drivers fault every time!

 

Blackw900 is right, you hit anything with your vehicle you are at fault, no matter how minor.

 

Any time your truck comes in contact with any other object it is an accident. Pulling on a soft shoulder and getting stuck etc. is an incident. The main thing to watch for is preventable and non-preventable. Many drivers confuse chargeable and preventable. You can have a preventable accident that is not chargeable. I'll give you an example: You are parked in a truck stop but not in a marked space, and your truck is hit by another truck weather the other truck is backing or whatever, you just had a preventable because you shouldn't have been parked there. If you are in a marked space and your truck is backed into it is a non-preventable. Another example is say a deer jumps out and you hit it. That is a non-preventable. If you swerve and roll your truck or hit a guardrail or nail your brakes and jack-knife that is preventable and most likely chargeable.

 

On and application it is always best to be honest. If you fail to be up front your application will most likely be disqualified or if you get to the point of getting the job and it is found out latter that you lied by omission you will most likely be fired. If you had an accident no matter how small it will be on your record from your previous employer.

 

In other words, if your truck comes in contact with ANYTHING, it is an accident. Unless, of course you intended to hit it. (But that is a different ball game altogether.)

If there is ANY damage incurred by anything or anybody, then you should not leave it off an application. Better to get it all out in the open, right away. If they don't give you a chance to explain what happened, then you are better off not working for them.

If you have had a lot of "little" accidents, they really may not look at you. I know the safety department at Knight used to say something to the effect that any driver involved in three or more "little" accidents was very likely to be involved in a MAJOR accident.

 

My thoughts are about the time frame of it all. If the company uses the new "prescreening" database then it's 5 years. At what point is a driver finally forgiven by the industry if there was a preventable or chargable accident and will they be hired again at some point?

 

I was written up for having a "backing accident--struck another vehicle" because I was backing into a dock and my trailer struck my APU. the APU is considered another vehicle at Werner. Still have a job though.

This is my last trucking job so i dont care about my DAC. But i'll still be pissy if they put that on my DAC when i leave.

A while back a team of safety guys came to the Dollar General South Boston, VA Werner Dedicated Office. These guys followed drivers around watching their driving, backing, unloading. (i have to say, you'll never get away with following ME....i'll call 911 as a suspected hijacking attempt). Someone was fired for doing 3 over the speed limit (a freightliners speedometer isnt even accurate enough to tell if youre doing that), someone was fired for touching grass backing into a dollar general. OMG. SOMEONE TOUCHED GRASS AT A DOLLAR GENERAL. no damage. fired as an accident.