Have you been terminated for a minor incident?

I have been an over the road driver a few years ago, and I was thinking
about going over the road again, and what I have been reading, well, I
am not so sure. a few years ago, I would never have been fired over
for some of the issues I have been reading lately, not only that, the
trucking company abuses dac with something so silly, so that no one
ever hires you again or for a long, long time...

"I borrowed the company car, when I was late returning it,
I was fired, and it was placed on my dac report"

"I backed up, bumped into a car, only bending the lic
plate" no police report, was placed on my dac, now I
am no longer hirable...

"I was fired for a log book violation" no accidents, nothing.
it was placed on my dac, can no longer find a job.

"I bent the bumper on my tractor or trailer, and I was fired"
now its on my dac report, can not find a job...

to be honest with you, I think I did most of these when I was
driving, and I was never fired...I guess the trucking industry
has just gotten tougher. They seem not to care who they fire
over nothing, then report it to dac making sure you never drive again.

JohnS in Denver, Colorado said: I have recently run across this post:

I STARTED WORKING FOR A TRUCKING. PASS THE PRE-EMPLOYMENT DRUG SCREEN. TWO WEEK LATER MY DOT PHYSCIAL WAS DUE. I WAS CALLED IN TO DO IT, BUT I KNEW ME BLOOD PRESSURE WAS UP SO I WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE THE KEPT ME ALL DAY. BY THE TIME I WAS RELEASED THE DOCTOR WAS GONE AND THE COMPANY FROWNED ON THAT AND THE NEXT DAY THEY TERMINATED ME. THEY THEN PUT ON MY DAC THAT I REFUSED MY RANDOM. FIRST OF ALL IT WAS NOT A RANDOM I HAD JUST TOOK MY DRUG TEST TWO WEEKS EARLIER. IT WAS FOR MY DOT PHYSICAL CARD. I DID NOT REFUSE I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL ALL DAY AND I HAVE PAPER WORK TO SHOW IT. WHAT CAN I DO TO GET THIS OFF MY DAC?

If what he said was true, then this is a clear misuse of DAC reporting,and
not only that, a dishonest trucking company using DAC as their toy
to ruin the lives of truck drivers.

The realities of the trucking industry nowdays is becoming all to evident. Its become a matter of economic survival, who will work the cheapest with the least amount of complaints and screwups. They show their true petty extent to which drivers are expendable and replaceble when the driver finds his voice and talks back about their treatment.
I ride around as a passenger with my husband now(we both drove for said company, seperate trucks due to no team freight), who still works for the same company that fired me 9 mos ago for not reporting a light i replaced at my own expense too, on my truck when an idleaire unit cracked its mounting. I was parked for the night, the unit was strapped to a pole, i pulled the bunjee securing it, it swung and struck truck. They violate their own passenger policy(no cdl holders allowed as ride-alongs) but yet put me in a catch 22 position from marking my dac as a preventable incident and termination. Ive turned in over 200 apps from local to alaska, the few responses ive been given is 'no, sorry cant help ya' etc. they never tell me why.

ladydragon9669 in Ogden, Utah said: The realities of the trucking industry nowdays is becoming all to evident. Its become a matter of economic survival, who will work the cheapest with the least amount of complaints and screwups. They show their true petty extent to which drivers are expendable and replaceble when the driver finds his voice and talks back about their treatment.
I ride around as a passenger with my husband now(we both drove for said company, seperate trucks due to no team freight), who still works for the same company that fired me 9 mos ago for not reporting a light i replaced at my own expense too, on my truck when an idleaire unit cracked its mounting. I was parked for the night, the unit was strapped to a pole, i pulled the bunjee securing it, it swung and struck truck. They violate their own passenger policy(no cdl holders allowed as ride-alongs) but yet put me in a catch 22 position from marking my dac as a preventable incident and termination. Ive turned in over 200 apps from local to alaska, the few responses ive been given is 'no, sorry cant help ya' etc. they never tell me why.

i know the feeling, jb hunt lost a dedicated account, gave us 11 drivers from that particular division pulling freight for the account a 30 day advance notice of the lost dedicated account with customer, which was the right thing to do. JB hunt also ask us to stay and finish out the term with their automotive customer, also the proper and honest thing to do. however i was told that no other position was availabe to me at the end of the term on account (this was on the day after it ended) so i had no choice but to get my personal possesions out of truck, go home, start looking for another job, thinking in my mind at the time i was leaving on good terms. jb hunt had did everything honest. i have a clean driving record with no accidents or moving violations, also a 3 year saftey award from jb hunt.
hey guess what's on my dac record? TERMINATED!

I was in an accident which wasn't my fault. The other driver claimed fault and there were witnesses. However the truck was wrecked and had to be towed this was on 10-14-11 in Carthage, Tx after the truck was fixed they had another driver drive the truck to Mondovi, Wi without my consent or knowledge (most of my things were still on truck) while I was driving a "loaner" truck. On 12-08-11 I was in Phoenix and was under a load going to Ky. I had already left with the load and was called by dispatch and told there was a problem with the load to take it to our Phoenix term. When I got there I was informed I was terminated when I asked why they said because an unopened wine cooler was found in the truck when the shop guy was "cleaning" it out. 1 the truck hadnt been in my possession in 2 months. 2 another driver had been driving it. 3 they were "cleaning" it out to fix the hood. Now I cant get a job and Im sole support for my household of 6. I was with Marten for a 1 1/2 yrs. had passed 4 randoms that included breathalysers and just in the last 4 months had passed 2 level 1 and 2 level 3 inspections by the DOT but they dont report that!

Truckn4Cash in Baton Rouge, Louisiana said: I was in an accident which wasn't my fault. The other driver claimed fault and there were witnesses. However the truck was wrecked and had to be towed this was on 10-14-11 in Carthage, Tx after the truck was fixed they had another driver drive the truck to Mondovi, Wi without my consent or knowledge (most of my things were still on truck) while I was driving a "loaner" truck. On 12-08-11 I was in Phoenix and was under a load going to Ky. I had already left with the load and was called by dispatch and told there was a problem with the load to take it to our Phoenix term. When I got there I was informed I was terminated when I asked why they said because an unopened wine cooler was found in the truck when the shop guy was "cleaning" it out. 1 the truck hadnt been in my possession in 2 months. 2 another driver had been driving it. 3 they were "cleaning" it out to fix the hood. Now I cant get a job and Im sole support for my household of 6. I was with Marten for a 1 1/2 yrs. had passed 4 randoms that included breathalysers and just in the last 4 months had passed 2 level 1 and 2 level 3 inspections by the DOT but they dont report that!

That's too bad.So they automatically accused you without even questioning the other driver?I'm strongly convinced in this industry whether the company or the law,there is no such thing as innocent till proven guilty.You have a bad mark on your DAC or mvr,you the driver are guilty.Some justice system we have.Maybe find a small company that does'nt use DAC.There's plenty out there.

ladydragon9669 in Ogden, Utah said: The realities of the trucking industry nowdays is becoming all to evident. Its become a matter of economic survival, who will work the cheapest with the least amount of complaints and screwups. They show their true petty extent to which drivers are expendable and replaceble when the driver finds his voice and talks back about their treatment.
I ride around as a passenger with my husband now(we both drove for said company, seperate trucks due to no team freight), who still works for the same company that fired me 9 mos ago for not reporting a light i replaced at my own expense too, on my truck when an idleaire unit cracked its mounting. I was parked for the night, the unit was strapped to a pole, i pulled the bunjee securing it, it swung and struck truck. They violate their own passenger policy(no cdl holders allowed as ride-alongs) but yet put me in a catch 22 position from marking my dac as a preventable incident and termination. Ive turned in over 200 apps from local to alaska, the few responses ive been given is 'no, sorry cant help ya' etc. they never tell me why.

It would be better for the us common people to operate a network of day-cabs to transport this freight, for these greedy company owners. Since they wanna pay us low prices. Who only got lucky by starting up companies when the dinosaurs where still alive. We should refuse to go on long overnight hauls for these companies. With their horrible pay; occasional bad dispatching. Trucking companies seem like their just trying to attract the low-life scum of the earth. Make it seem as though their seeking people that are trying to hide their faces, or have become bums. To drive their trucks and become part of an unknown disgusting world. Similar to what some people think a traveling fair might be like. Lastly, let owner operators go on long hauls if they want and company drivers get home everyday, for whats being paid.