Question:
Once you start driving professionally on a commercial driver’s license, any “accidents” you’re involved in will be evaluated as follows:
Chargeable Accident:
A chargeable accident is any damage to property, equipment or person caused by you, the driver. This includes even minor damage to just your own truck, like bending your bumper on a fire hydrant. These “chargeables” are recorded on the safety record your company is legally required to keep on you, and are usually reported to the DAC information center for others to review. And of course, any chargeable that includes a criminal citation, like failure to yield right of way, go on your state CDL driving record.
Non-Chargeable Accident:
A non-chargeable accident is any involvement in damage not caused by you, like when another truck hits your parked rig. This may go on your company record, but identified as “non-chargeable” to indicate no apparent fault on your part.
So your objective e is to avoid chargeable accidents, also simply called “chargeables”.
Bonus Pay For No Chargeable Accidents:
Trucking companies evaluate drivers by their chargeable accident record. Those who maintain clean records are usually given monthly, quarterly or annual safety bonuses. The dollar value of these bonuses can be significant. At my company it’s a penny a mile for each calendar year without a chargeable accident – about $1,400. Some companies pay more for accident-free driving.
Losing the Bonus:
But if you have even one minor chargeable accident -- even if it's just cosmetic damage to your own truck and nothing else -- the situation changes. First, you typically lose that year’s safety bonus, which the company then uses to help cover the expense. Sometimes you’re enrolled in additional safety meetings or other programs to check your skill, usually at the expense of time you could be spending driving and making money. Sometimes you’re put on a safety watch list, or safety probation, which leads to more frequent drug testing, etc.
Weeding-Out Unsafe Drivers:
A second or third chargeable within a year or two can put your job in serious jeopardy. Having collected your safety bonuses, the company has exhausted its legitimate ability to recoup some cost from you. What’s worse is their fear that your evolving safety record is a determiner of worse things to come, like a catastrophic accident where you’re similarly taking unnecessary risks. The company properly reasons that if you have a serious chargeable, your spotty safety record will be hard to defend in court. One can imagine a jury questioning why a company would continue employing a driver with a documented history of at-fault accidents.
Profiling Your Safety Risk:
Now…. there’s no such thing as a perfect driver, or a perfect way to determine who’s truly at fault in every situation. We are imperfect human beings driving imperfect machines in an imperfect world. But a driver’s chargeable accident record, short of anything better, generally predicts a driver’s future risk behind the wheel. That’s why trucking companies and their insurance carriers use this profiling to determine who gets to drive their trucks and who does not.
Jesus Forgives, Trucking Companies Don’t:
Your safety record is separate from other performance measurements kept by your company. Companies do not forgive chargeable accidents to drivers who otherwise perform at or above average. A driver who never misses an appointment, for example, will not be excused from the same rigorous safety criteria as everyone else. Many otherwise excellent drivers, who make dispatch very happy with their “super-trucker” attitude, lose their jobs or even their CDL by racking-up too many accidents or tickets. While a long-term driver involved in a major accident may be evaluated in the context of his entire service, newer drivers are generally judged more harshly since they have not yet built a history of safe performance.
Safety -vs On-Time Service:
The driver is constantly pulled in two directions. The operations department (dispatch) wants to keep customers happy. The safety department wants to protect property and legal obligations, and doesn’t care much if the loads deliver on time or not. This inherent tension between two distinct departments within your company keeps you between a rock and a hard place. You can satisfy both, since most modern (large) carriers have a middle ground that doesn’t hold you accountable for appointments that force you to break the law. But be forewarned – this catch-22 is difficult to manage sometimes.
You Can Do Both:
The key to negotiating this environment is effective communication. As soon as you realize your load will run late, for example, it’s very important to communicate with dispatch ASAP and let them know what you can accomplish legally and safely, instead of waiting until the last minute. They might not like what you’re telling them, but you are the driver behind the wheel, and you must place safety above all else. Communicating with them calmly and professionally (and telling them the truth since good dispatchers have advanced “bs radar”) will usually result in a reliable reputation with dispatch, and the opportunity to operate your truck safely and legally. It varies from company to company, but a middle ground is usually possible, especially with large carriers dealing with less experience drivers.
If you can’t find a middle ground between what dispatch wants you to do, and running your truck safely and legally – go with keeping your truck safe and legal. If you quit away or get fired, you’ve still got a good record to present to another employer. The alternative – ruining your safety record to please dispatch – greatly reduces your future opportunities.
Newbies – you’re entering trucking with a virgin Commercial Driver’s License. Sadly, most of you will never have as clean a commercial record as you do right now. Stuff happens, and a little will probably happen to you somewhere down the road. But by making safe, legal operation your top priority from your first day behind the wheel, and keeping dispatch informed on what you can do legally and safely, you'll build a record that will serve you well beyond the next delivery.
Be safe and legal, and make a good faith effort to accomplish what dispatch wants. But never take unnecesssary risks or break the law just to make a tight appointment.

Answer:
That's a crap of crook!!!! First its to long and no one can understand it, I fell asleep as soon as I started reading it. Who cares about all that anyway. Just go fast and don't worry about anything else because the most important thing is to make your boss happy and get there on time. Do you really want to drive all the way back because you're late???? I don't think so!!!!

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troll

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I am not a trucker, yet, but I want to give a perspective as a father of five, that travels on the highway alot in a 4-wheeler. It is rather unnerving to be in a 4-wheeler doing 75-80 mph on the highway and all of sudden get your doors blown off by a rig. Especially when the jacka$$ can't stay in his own lane.That is just asinine. If you can't get your load where it needs to be driving at safe speed, then you shouldn't have taken it. Those of you that pull that $hit, it isn't a matter of IF you are gonna kill somebody, but WHEN. And no my thoughts won't change when I finally get on the road.
Just my 1/2 cent worth.Why do drive-up ATMs have Braille on the keypads?

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As an experienced driver, I agree with you totally. Your thoughts about this shouldn't change when you get in a truck - if anything they shoud become more firm. That attitude will help you be a good driver.
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phlegmaticjay,
Don't take this "stuffed" too seriously. He's probably a "troll" making fun of another poster -- I hope! There are some drivers who think along these lines -- speeding, taking chances, etc -- but most do their best to keep the highways safe. Best of success as you look into trucking. As highwayman pointed out, imagining your family in the place of those you drive around will help maintain a responsible attitue toward safety -- your most important responsibility behind the wheel. Good luck.

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Stuffed, do you have any factual, constructive, experienced knowledge to impart to those just entering the industry which will be useful?

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NO..

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Just go fast... LIARS SUKK