February 2002

NO-FAULT ACCIDENT HANDICAPS JOB SEARCH

In March 2001, I quit my job as a truck driver. However, after being unable to find adequate employment, I decided to look for work as a driver again.

I filled out numerous applications, with no response until Nov. 28, when a company offered me a position as a driver, providing I could comply with all governmental requirements.

Every application asks you to acknowledge if you have any traffic citations or accidents. I would always answer “none” because I believed I had no such infraction. However, I recently learned this was not the case.

On Sept. 2, 1999, driving my parents’ car for personal business, I was struck by a motorcycle policeman. The police report acknowledges his guilt. Until this accident, I had a clean driving record, so before leaving the accident scene I had a conversation with a lieutenant. He assured me this would not appear on my driving record, and he would “take care of it.”

When I accessed my MVR for my prospective employer, I was surprised to find the accident listed. The report does not indicate I was at fault. This means I have perjured myself on every job application I have filled out, which explains why I was unable to obtain employment. It also means I will have to explain this accident to every prospective employer.

Had I known this, I would have hired a lawyer to protect my driving record. This accident will now be on my record until Sept. 2, 2009.

Mark S. Mosko
Coopersburg, Pa.



PARKING LOT NOT A GIANT MEN’S ROOM

I have been a driver for 18 years. Lately it seems that at truck stops more and more male truck drivers are stepping behind their truck or standing out on the running board and urinating in the parking lot.

This is a violation of my rights in the workplace. Women have a right to be out here just as much as men. We should not have to worry about pulling into a truck stop and seeing a male truck driver urinating, or worry about tracking urine and disease back to our trucks and eventually to our homes and families.

We need everyone’s help to change these unsanitary conditions. This change would not only improve the environment that we work in, but also the trucking image.

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Ann L. Sanders
Urbana, Mo.