may be looking for a new job...

[FazdaBoy4ever]

well after 3 years of service to this company (total over the last 4 years) I may have ended my career last night. I hostle, put semi truck trailers up to the dock for a crew of dockworkers who then unload the trailers. I drive one of these:

well last night i pulled the wrong trailer (5 door instead of 4 door) and this trailer happened to have an unmanned forklift straddling the dock and the trailer, that QUICKLY made its way to the ground when i pulled out. Because no one was hurt i didn't run in right away and notify management, FORTUNATELY that delay is not the reason my job is in jeopardy, the fact i pulled a forklift off the dock manned or unmanned is going to a conference call tomorrow with the head safety guy for the company, my terminal and regional managers pleading my case to the even higher ups... Also fortunately the fact I'm one of those employees that does his job right, shows up every night, and doesn't cheat the company by taking too many breaks and what not it FINALLY might be helping me, the rest of the year I'm just the clown who has to work harder than others who flake and do nothing, to pick up their slack, well now this relationship has all the local and regional management going to bat for me to try to save my job for me.

Best case scenario i get an unpaid 3 day vacation (my coworkers and I don't call them suspensions at my job, ANY day off is a vacation, job on the line or not... I'm sure others understand ). Worst case scenario looking for another job.

possible good out of this though, just this last Friday I decided I was going to get into an auto program at the local community college. I need to retake my placement tests as its been like 2 years since I've attended the college, not to mention I need to get applications for the program and fafsa stuff in and speak with advisor's... We have been especially busy this week and Ive been coming home at 11am exhausted and not having the energy to even take a quick power nap and get out to do the stuff... I'm now free till Sunday afternoon (fingers crossed) to crank all this stuff out to get into the program.

sorry for the Novel, mid post i got a call from my regional manager telling me i need to call the safety guy... so now more than ever I'm stressing trying to swallow this.

[Beerizfood]

**** happens ,it just does,people are not perfect and WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES,Whoever here has not phu-ked up at work -raise your hand .
If you are a compulsive screw up they would have dealt with you long ago.
Its a "black mark" and thats all.I am confident the powers will see it this way.
They have to give this incident the required amount of attention because it is indeed a safety issue,however they should see it a lesson learned and that you have gained valuable experience and will be that much better because of it.I have always found in the past if I did something resulting in a negative result that was completely obvious ,the best policy was to go straight to the brass and report it.
Good luck,hope it all turns out OK
Beer.

[martiniac]

so now more than ever I'm stressing trying to swallow this.

What? So you mean you are human? I have found from my past work experience that being an over-acheiver at most jobs does not get you very far. I have learned that in the corporate world you really have to slow down to go faster. Take a look at the big picture and test your options to get to where you want to be whether it be personally or professionally. This is a pretty big **** up but as my opening sentence says, you are human! It is a damn good thing that nobody got hurt. I would like to know what led up to this? Did you get hit by a massive amount of work to do very quickly? It seems to me that either you were misinformed or misled? Or did you simply pull the wrong trailer? And what the heck was an unmanned forklift doing sitting halfway inside a trailer? Get ready for the OSHA ride of your life if you do get to keep your job.

Congrats on the decision to further your education!!

[Turpro]

Good luck. Hopefully they just slap a drug test and then bring you back. It was an honest mistake. Do you guys have dock locks? The place we pull out of has 3 different modes of safety. 1 dock locks, 2trailer stands(the ones that go under the front) and 3 air hole lock. You're not that far off from my job

[downtube]

Everybody screws up. IMO what separates people is how they react to their own screw ups. Learn from it, make or suggest changes that would prevent you or anyone else from repeating it. If you keep the job, it's an opportunity to show not only was it unlike you, but that you want to ensure it never happens again.
That's my $0.02 worth.
Either way it goes, sounds like you're on the right track with school.

[FazdaBoy4ever]

as for the education... ive been a car guy since i could sit high enough to see out the window of my parents car... Ive refused to be a tech because i dont want to loose my passion for my own cars, plus the median salary of a tech is nothing to brag about, while a career is not for "bragging rights" i don't want to raise my kids like i was raised knowing alot of money was going onto the card, there is too much stress living like that, so ive held out for something else to hit me that would pay better, 4 years out of high school and nothing has hit me, not only that nothing even remotely touched me in that time. Im married for almost 2 years now and am excited for the thought of kids, but i dont want my wife to work and am tired of waiting for a job to come out of nowhere... so im going to just be a tech. afterally its not like i will never want to touch a project, and i would rather have a job i like (for being a job) that takes some of my love for a hobbie than a job i hate and have to suffer with every night to keep my hobbie.

as for the situation, i knew the door was shut on the 4 door... I litterally JUST walked past it, i went straight to the yard goat, hooked up and pulled..... the wrong trailer. I wasnt feeling good last night, i had a pretty decent headache and my stomach was bothering me... I just spaced out for a second, and pulled the wrong trailer...

as for why it was there, because where i work doesnt inforce rules, people dont get introuble for not wearing their seatbelt, or not setting their parking brake, because of that ALOT of things happen every night that are small issues to the dockworker that cannot grasp why you do the stuff... because of things like this that though i was throughly in the wrong and deserve whatever comes to me could be avoided.

[cojsl]

There's a story (can't find it) about a businessman that made a mistake that cost the company $$$$$. He had been a good employee, but expected the boss to fire him. Instead, the boss said "Why should I fire you when it just cost me $$$$$ for you to learn a lesson?"
Good luck!

[FazdaBoy4ever]

my shift manager just called me to find out if i was coming in (great communication eh?). He was in a great mood, which was awesome because he can be a complete dick... he told me the regional manager (who is based out of our terminal) told him "everyone makes mistakes, thank god no one was on the forklift, thats saved him his job" so i think they are fairly certain that im not canned...

I just need to use this time off to rest and relax and get ready to go back Sunday afternoon.

[me19875]

what school are you planning on going to? clark? i'm actually starting the automotive program in the fall there.

[Turpro]

my shift manager just called me to find out if i was coming in (great communication eh?). He was in a great mood, which was awesome because he can be a complete dick... he told me the regional manager (who is based out of our terminal) told him "everyone makes mistakes, thank god no one was on the forklift, thats saved him his job" so i think they are fairly certain that im not canned...

I just need to use this time off to rest and relax and get ready to go back Sunday afternoon.

That's good to hear