[Yogurtz]

Hi Y'all,

This last month has been absolutely terrible for me . The reason I came back to PC after a long hiatus was because this month has been so difficult for me that I am finding it difficult to cope.

To start with I finished two months of Professional Transport Driver Training to obtain the equivalent of a CDL here. I decided to take this route because I am unable to afford higher education and need to find some way to support myself. Moreover, the training where I live is free, so I thought I could do this and find somewhere to work to be more independent .

After I finished school I had to deal with the issue of not having experience working in this field. Companies refuse to consider me as an employee unless I have at least 2 years of OTR experience, but, of course, how do I obtain that experience without having worked in this field? Unless a company hires me, I can't obtain the necessary experience, but until I have the necessary experience, a company won't hire me. How do I get out of this rut?

Now this is where the true life wrecking fun comes in…

In October I was in a car accident on a major highway where I live. The front of the car was almost torn off, and everyone – the occupants of the other vehicle, my mother and I – were taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, with everyone except me in a neck-brace. The car was written-off.

I am legally at fault for the accident and have to be at the court tomorrow because of it . Never before have I been in an accident, had a speeding ticket, or even a parking ticket. My driving record was perfect! Now because of one accident my life is falling apart before me.

All month I've had to deal with insurance, the banks, police, etc.; however, what really makes me wish I had died in that accident is that this accident will be known by all prospective employers . If I couldn't find work with a perfect driving record, how am I supposed to find work now with an at-fault accident on my record?

This accident of mine will continuously haunt me while I search for a job. I feel like all the work I did, the 12-13 hours a day of schooling for 2 months, is now useless to me because I had this one accident .

Now what do I do?

[Travelinglady]

Do prospective employers actually ask if you have been at fault in an accident? If not, then can't you keep that info to yourself?

What were the circumstances of the wreck? Were there bad road conditions? Weather? Perhaps there might be something you can say that suggests that you aren't normally someone who causes wrecks.

I totalled my car a couple of years ago. I blame it on road construction, with all sorts of traffic cones around, no signs, etc. But I just went ahead with the report that I was at fault......

I sure hope this accident won't cause the problems you are concerned about.

[Perna]

I would look at other, smaller driving jobs and try to get some experience; bus driver, small local moving company, store deliveries, that sort of thing. It may be harder with your recent accident, I don't know how your points and accidents are counted in Canada. Maybe you can drive other people; recreational vehicles (RV's, a whole lot of Canadians go down to Florida for the winter, you could drive them down and fly back) or something like that.

[Yogurtz]

The companies – ALL of them – require a driver's abstract when I submit an application or resume. No one will hire a person to drive multi-million dollar equipment, or even if it simply their equipment, without looking at their driver's abstract. How do they know I haven't had a DUI, a thousand speeding tickets, etc.? It's like an employer wanting a criminal record search when you know you have been convicted of a crime in the past .

The circumstances of the accident are 100% my fault. No construction, no bad weather, nothing like that. It was simply an issue of having driven this route a thousand times before and not paying attention when I should have been .

Honestly, Perna, some of those companies, especially bus companies, are among the hardest to find employment at . When I met with an intercity bus company last week, they require a criminal record search, a driver's abstract, drug and alcohol testing, credit history, moving history, driver safety rating, a physical examination with one of their doctors, and a disclosure so a private investigate company can investigate me and everything about me. The local transit bus company requires about 2 months of background checks, abstracts, testings, etc .

What I fear will be the biggest challenge for me is to first find an employer that will call me back or consider me (most of the time I am ignored), and then be able to accept that I had this accident . I feel like I have so much working against me .

[Perna]

Here in the United States, school bus subcontractors are often privately owned; some guy with 7 school buses in his back yard, etc. and it can be harder for them to get drivers so they are more lenient/personable and not so automatic with all the paperwork and rules.

Have you applied anywhere, even with the driver's abstract (or gotten your abstract to see what it actually says?) and maybe talked to them to see what they recommend? In X years our accidents are not on our record anymore, maybe you could work in a trucking office for awhile (since you know how to drive so "understand" trucks and trucking a bit better than others) and maybe getting to know someone better will influence a decision; could be they will have drivers call in sick at the last minute, etc. and with your license. . .

[StrongerMan]

That is a really tough break to say the least. BUT, no one was severely injured? or killed, you weren't under the influence and you certainly aren't the first person to suffer this fate. Don't give up because people will admire your perseverance in the face of adversity and maybe you can build some contacts. As Perna mentioned, you can get a job as a dispatcher, shipping clerk, materials handler etc... until the accident clears off your record or you gain the trust of your employer to overcome it. With that in mind, acquire or brush up on your computer skills like MS Office, popular shipping software or mobile scanners. This is not the end of the world. You can overcome this.