When You Goof

"Come on. Big village. Be Quick. Bring packs."

       —George Armstrong Custer.
             He sent this message to Captain Benteen just before his last stand.

Sometimes what sounds like a really good idea to start with turns out not so good. If you have ever had one of these really good ideas when dealing with an employer that turned out not so good, what are your options?

Much of it depends on just how good an idea you had at the time. If your great idea was to abandon your load, trash your truck and call up the owner's wife and cuss her out, or, see if the DOT drug tests really work, you may have had your last trucking stand for a few years. Assuming you haven’t stubbed your toe quite that bad, there are a few things you can do.

First, know what's being said about you. You want to know if a past employer is providing negative information about your employment, sure. However, you also don't want to explain all these problems you had with a past employer to a potential employer if the past employer isn’t reporting anything negative. Don't apologize, explain or protest about something that’s not there.

Second, if what is being reported is negative and not accurate, contact the employer. If he refuses to change the information, you now have the right to insist that the employer include your version of events with any future reference provided. (Details about this here: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/391.23.htm )

Third, list the employment on your application. Not only are you required to do so by DOT regulations, failure to list an employer will usually be discovered. The discovery that you have omitted an employer will almost surely stop the potential employer from even listening to what you have to say, let alone hire you.

Finally, while it feels good, it probably hurts you to trash your prior employers. If you've got a good work history from multiple companies but there was one company that was really a knucklehead, you can probably let loose. On the other hand, if you've had big disagreements with all or most past employers, the potential employer is going to wonder whether they were all bad or the problem is you.

To summarize, know (don't assume) your employment history, make an effort to correct errors or add your version, don't falsify your application by trying to hide the employment and don't make every past employer a villain.

Derek Hinton is the CEO of TIES, LLC, better known as www.DOTJobHistory.com. DOTJobHistory allows drivers to check and verify their employment, driving and public records. They may then make this information available over the web to employers who can access the information instantly.

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