Terminated for turning left at yellow arrow?
Posted by SomnambulistPilot@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 64 comments
I was terminated from a mega for turning left at an intersection when the left turn arrow was yellow. I tapped the brakes at the turn when it switched yellow, but made a split second decision that it was better to turn during yellow than hard stop. I was into the intersection when it was yellow but it turned red before I completed my turn. They clocked me at 13 mph going into the turn and 8mph exiting. This was at 1 or 2 AM with no other cars in sight and green light for traffic going straight. They called this a safety violation and terminated me.
I only have 8 months OTR, but this seems like a ridiculous overeaction, especially next to some of the stupid and dangerous shit I've seen from other drivers everyday. Still, I have learned from this experience and wont be repeating it, but now I'm untouchable by every company I've talked to.
First, does this seem like a normal reaction from the company? Do I need to walk away from trucking or is there a way I can spin this to get back on the road? Any advice from seasoned drivers would be appreciated.
NoFuqsGiven101@reddit
Don't give up on applying. Something will come along. Just try your best not to take a offer like western express. Never worked there but they are bottom of the barrel. I mean you could probably roll over and still have your job there, so that's a plus. Good luck driver.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Thanks, but even they already turned me down. I might be done.
I_hold_stering_wheal@reddit
I did way worse than what you did before I got fired. I took a different job and used my truck driving experience to leverage it into a job that is going to pay as well or better than trucking. Keep ya head up.
awr90@reddit
Find your closest intermodal terminal hauling containers off the rail. They will hire you and you will likely be home most days. If that doesn’t work jump in a dump truck for a local company. Drive around your city and look for companies like this.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Thanks. This seems like good advice. My passion is in OTR but if I need to 6-12 months local or even class B, maybe that's my path.
awr90@reddit
That’s what I would do. I’ve seen guys get DUIs or get in a couple wrecks and run dump trucks or work for intermodal local companies for 2-3 years then get back out on the road. In the Midwest and on the coasts there’s lots of intermodal stuff and it pays good.
NoFuqsGiven101@reddit
The market seems slow right now. I do have a few buddies sitting around more than usual. Slow time for trucking. Not for everyone but alot. I can't recommend my company because they require 2 years.
Easyd26@reddit
I failed my driving test for turning on a yellow. I entered the intersection on a green and by the time traffic cleared for my turn it went yellow and the instructor failed me
Spankpocalypse_Now@reddit
When I was in school, they told me if there’s traffic coming to wait at the line. If there’s still traffic when the light turns yellow, just wait for the next green. Obviously that’s not how the real world works, though.
Agamemnon323@reddit
Varies by location. In BC we are supposed to enter the intersection when it’s green, we start moving while it’s yellow, and when it’s clear we go.
Snookfilet@reddit
Same thing where I’m at if you’re on 4 wheels. In a rig they want you behind the line.
Demichef1@reddit
I got my CDL in June with the hazmat. Started delivering fuel locally 3 months ago and am terrified of getting fired for something. There is so much to learn and keep track of. What happened to you is definitely my worst nightmare.
Independent-Fun8926@reddit
That's just fucking stupid. This is what micromanagement gets ya nowadays as a driver.
Start applying to jobs. Lots of them, if they're half-way decent, give them an application. With a recent termination, it might be hard to get interest. Hopefully someone will and you can explain what happened. Just tell them the truth. I don't see any issue with what you did. I've done it plenty of times, even with driver cameras and all, and never had anyone bitch at me. But you might have to settle for something lame for a little bit, at least long enough to get experience and time away from that termination.
Sorry this happen to you driver. Most megas are fucking scumbags
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Thanks. Rejected by at least 2 dozen so far but still applying. Fingers crossed.
I really like OTR. If the only thing I can find is local, I'd rather just get out of trucking altogether.
Pretty_Key_3714@reddit
Are they all saying that you have to have 6 months to a year of safe driving to reaaply?
Independent-Fun8926@reddit
Just keep trying. I've been trying for the last two months. 2 dozen, 3 dozen applications. I lost count. Finally have two promising opportunities, should have a job by the end of the month. I hope it happens for you too!
Worse case, give Western Express a call. It will be awful but at least you're getting the OTR experience you want. In 3-6 months, maybe then you can try for something better again! There's some local jobs that have an OTR component too, might be something you can find.
Really hope you find something, driver. Your career shouldn't be over for this. Good luck
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Thanks and congrats.
Are your opportunities small outfits? Local? Any job board you found most helpful?
Independent-Fun8926@reddit
One's a medium-large size company. About 700 trucks, doing food grade tanker out of Florida. The other's a small flatbed company, pulling Landstar's freight, mostly equipment, vehicles, and machines. Not sure how many trucks proper for them but I know it's not a lot. Maybe a few hundred at the most. Both OTR, 3-4 weeks out.
I found a lot of jobs off of Indeed. Monster, ZipRecruiter, and Craigslist are also good sometimes. Look for names on here as well, that's how I found the flatbed company. The Trucking Report forums also has good leads. Also, whenever you see a truck around your area, see what company, and if they're hiring. Found some jobs like that too.
If you got freetime, maybe take a ride to your local industrial zones. See what companies are pulling freight to your warehouses and whatnot. Lastly, get on Google Maps and start scrolling your area. Look for big warehouses, see what they are, see if there's a truck there, what company. Some warehouses have private fleets too
Always check out the big names and see what's around. Other megas, Ryder, Penkse, Ruan. Google "trucking companies in [your state]."
Good luck! Fingers cross for ya!
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Good stuff. Thanks!
Pressure_Professor@reddit
How's your service record and performance for the last 8 months? Because getting shit canned over something like that is ridiculous.
So, it appears like they were perched looking for a reason to get rid of you.
I loathe the megas, and really don't trust sharing the road with y'all. Sorry, nothing personal - but it's just by habit and experience.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
I get it. My training was awful. I mostly had to teach myself how to back. But clean record, no accidents, and driver leader always praised my performance. Rarely had any coaching for me. Bad luck I guess.
lord_nuker@reddit
Sounds like a mego who is downsizing and just looks for any opportunity to fire recently hired people too shed some drivers.
Zodi88@reddit
Is this a Prime nanny-cam?
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
No, only forward facing. Must have triggered when I tapped the brake? Not sure.
yourlmagination@reddit
Where I'm at, we have forward facing cam only - AI driven babysitting through the cam though. If the camera thinks it's red, it'll flag it. Thankfully where I'm at, they only pull us in for egregious things.
rollon34@reddit
I don't know how you guys are a legit to put up with this kinda babysitting.
I guess I've been lucky to not work for places like this.
The place I'm at now doesn't have cameras. I don't even think they have a safety department. At least the year I've been here i haven't heard it mentioned.
I'd be so paranoid working for a company that would fire you for something this minor.
I don't even sound like it was against the law
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
How do you find companies like yours?
With only 8 months experience, I probably should have been driving a bit more cautiously, but I think I was safe and legal in this turn.
supermarble94@reddit
Reminder that a yellow light, legally speaking, means "stop safely if you can, otherwise clear the intersection." You did exactly what you were supposed to, considering your first instinct was to brake.
rollon34@reddit
I don't know. I think private fleets tend to treat their drivers better. That's just a hunch based on my limited experience being a company driver
functional_moron@reddit
I work for a smaller private fleet and while we do have all the cameras and a safety guy but he's not going to bother you unless it's something egregious.
Spear994@reddit
I did something similar to OP, except the light was red. One of those split second decisions where I thought I had more time than I did, hesitated, and was halfway in the intersection before I realized my mistake and figured it was better to just get out of the way. Boss pulled me into his office and showed me the video and said "what happened here?" I replied "I fucked up is what happened." He laughed and said keep doing a good job.
I truly don't understand what is going through the minds of some of these megas. Shit happens and we're not all perfect. I bet you whoever made the call to fire op has run more than one red light in their life on accident.
Bdhsudydheex69@reddit
That's stupid. They're probably trying to downsize. Or maybe they really are a stupid company. That's just ridiculous.
RepresentativeNo6665@reddit
Fired for Turning left on a yellow arrow or a flashing yellow? By gosh they're going to cause a wreck. It's no wonder why they're featured so much on bonehead truckers.
Their camera thinks you're a red light runner, and that's clearly not the case here.
It's clearly not about safety anymore, it's about money.
Unless there was a regulatory sign that said no left turn, I think your safety guy needs to get his head out of his ass, or he was looking for an excuse to fire you, because he got tired of you being late to appointments and such.
It's stuff like this that is causing the NTSB to investigate the FMCSA for their lack of safety culture, and for their allowance of so-called safety guys to do this to a driver, even though the safety guy has never driven a truck himself.
Good luck with the job search. Most places want a year of experience, and a clean record. Apparently Swift doesn't understand that, and they're unwilling to keep the record clean, for such minor issues that don't even result in a ticket.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Yellow arrow.
I've heard that their safety is cracking down trying to clean up their reputation. Never a late appointment caused by me.
Thanks.
LastMongoose7448@reddit
I do this numerous times at my company with outboard facing cameras, and never had an issue. Back when I was at a megacarrier, I also did this, and never had a problem ( I think I had all of two camera violations in my 14 months there). Seems like they’re looking for any reason.
mrawesome46@reddit
It's a real hard habit to break. But I would advise not to beat lights especially turning at intersection lights if you do not have to. Megas are really cracking down on this plus many cities are putting up red light cameras.
SnooChipmunks6620@reddit
FUBAR. What you did was legal.
rollon34@reddit
I think it also helps that everyone of the hireups where I am now are drivers that got promoted to management or dispatch
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
That sounds awesome. It seemed like at this mega no one i dealt with directly has driven except the drivers.
I kind of got the feeling like their primary business is selling trucks and training drivers. Moving loads was just a side project to support that other stuff. Maybe I'm imagining that.
PlantsNCaterpillars@reddit
What terminal were you based out of?
My driver leader is a former driver…but he’s an ass with zero leadership skills and a massive ego who thinks wage theft is ok.
Don’t overlook class B work. I was getting paid better day one of being a city bus driver years ago than what I make working for Swift currently. My highest weekly check at Swift is less than what I made in two and a half days starting out driving a bus. And I was home every night and had 1-2 weekend days off each week.
Swift is trimming the fat where ever they can because they had a much slower fall/winter season than in years past and it’s only gotten worse into the new year. The schooling is definitely a big money maker for them. $8k a head and every week multiple terminals have upwards of a dozen new drivers starting or graduating every week. They are currently 430 loads underbooked but bring people on nonstop…not something any corporation would do unless they were making money off it.
THExPILLOx@reddit
I can't see them doing that unless it was a convenient excuse to get you out the door.
I've had the ole nanny cams go off at multiple companies in a similar situation and my answer was always "changed yellow, I evaluated the situation and determined I could not come to a complete stop quick enough, and made the executive decision to complete the turn as safe as a manner as I deemed possible at that moment" and it was usually followed by "yeah, looking at the footage, that's exactly what happened. You did good but in the future... Blah blah blah stale light talk"
Keep applying and worse case scenario, go do some bottom of the barrel second chance companies or pivot to class B
yak_danielz@reddit
your number came up and unfortunately you made it easy for them (even if it is stupid). go home, regroup and let this bs define them, not you
Unfair_Fisherman_605@reddit
Mega carriers are trash. Stay away from them. Find a small trucking company that will give you a shot or look at a city position.
duhrun@reddit
They made an issue over something due to other purposes or other minor incidents.
Saaaaaaaammmmmmmm@reddit
You’re damned if you do damned if you don’t. You go through the yellow and it turns red, you get reprimanded or fired. You have a hard brake you also get reprimanded or fired. As long as I didn’t hit anything or cause any damage, leave me alone.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
100% And I bet that left turn signal was only installed within the last 5 yrs. Before that, literally no problem here.
I listened to Adam Carolla rant about left turn arrows for years. I guess I took all his rants to heart.
nikifullerton@reddit
Which employer? I've been running for a mega for most of 15 years and never got fired for that.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Swift.
H4rdboi1ed@reddit
About 2 years ago they started to double down on these and red light runs. Sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately they can get away with this even without coaching you.. Even if it was a first offense. They just started taking it that much more seriously.. because 1-2 am no traffic or not its the action that matters more to them. They see it as this drivers action could have caused an accident given there was enough traffic around because you’d have less reaction time of someone decided to run the red light waiting across from you. I hope you find something but trust you are gonna have to apply apply apply apply and apply some more! Good luck.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Thanks.
It just sucks that I get passed by maniacs doing 80 downhill in rain and see trucks riding bumpers and all the other crazy we shit we see all day everyday, yet this is what I get called out on. Crazy world. At least my vacancy will open up a truck for another driver who doesn't speak or read English. 👍
nikifullerton@reddit
Wow. I've never been hit for that with them.
FilthyNasty626@reddit
Legally, if you enter an intersection before the light turns red, yiu are obligated to clear that intersection. From a safety stand point, remaining in the intersection blocking it is a safety issue. 0200? How many drunks or texters would be blowing down the road and not seeing a big ass lit up vehicle stopped in the intersection and total you, your equipment and themselves? Then, some attorney is going to say if you had ckeared the intersection yiu woukd never have bern there and the accident would hsve never happened which makes yiu and the company liable for the accident. Sure, we can talk about smith system and stale lights all along, but at the end of the day you dealt with a shitty situation and dealth with it in the safest possible way. Did the light have a red light camera? Well known fsct that those places reduce the yellow time diwn to 2.5 to 3 seconds to generate revenue. Exactly why TX outlawed them. They generated hard brakes and unsafe manuevering. I think what they did was utter bullshit. Unfortunately finding another job in this economy is going to be difficult for you with your experience. To out that in perspective, I have 16 years and right at 2M miles without an at fault accident. My company laid off my division bsck in October. Tried to get me to commit a safety violation (driving while ill or fatigued) and I refused, then proceeded to silently fire me. Wouldnt communicate with me in writing as I requested, and would't give me another load which they had for the remainder of the month. I loaded up my pov and left. 3 days later I got an email stating my 'employment was terminated due to voluntary resignation' cant draw unempmoyment, cet get someone to hire me, cant do shit. Companies at the end of the day care about no one but themselves and will toss you to the wolves in an instant.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Ouch. Sorry that happened. Hope you find something. I would think 16yrs would buy you some kind of cred in the industry.
Bullshit system. Not sure how much I want to get back in a truck knowing they can just demolish your whole life over such small nothings.
jmzstl@reddit
If you’re snitching on yourself, stop it. Make something up like you had to be home for personal reasons or they lost the dedicated account you were on and forced you to take a pay cut/stay out for 4 weeks at a time. If it’s on your DAC and the new company checks it, play dumb and stick to your story.
xenodine@reddit
It's swift. It'll come up in driverfacts, twn, and nexus reports during the background checks. Swift no longer reports to DAC.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Several recruiters I talked to said they would have found out anyway once they went to verify previous employment. Seems better to get it out front instead of the roller coaster of getting an offer rescinded once they make a phone call. Right? Or am I screwing myself?
DonBoy30@reddit
As someone who started with a company that used the smart drive system as a tool of attrition (giving out coaching and write ups during high volume parts of the year, terminations for the same offenses during the slow part of the year), I would definitely chalk this up as your former company has 0 respect for working people.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Lol. Well, I already knew that when I signed on!
LongHaulinTruckwit@reddit
Are you positive they weren't just looking for an excuse because they already wanted to for you. They just want to be able to fire you with cause.
RepresentativeNo6665@reddit
This is what I'm thinking happened to him.. He and his dispatcher weren't likely getting along.
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Anything is possible. I thought I was doing well and all my performance numbers were good. Driver leader said she wished she had more like me. She even said this company would probably take me back in 6-12 months. But who really knows?
homucifer666@reddit
This is why I let my camera get a nice view of the ceiling. 😈
lonelytrucker86@reddit
What speed did you approach the light at?
What were you pulling?
SomnambulistPilot@reddit (OP)
Intersection was empty and straight and left lights were green with no cars in sight so I approached the intersection at 15mph.
Pulling 53 ft dry van, about 37000 lbs.