J B Hunt Transportation Services Targeted and Wrongful Termination Lowell Arkansas

27 May 2007 while employed by JB Hunt, I was dispatched to Metals Management Inc in Phoenix, Az to pick-up a pre-loaded trailer of scrap. When I arrived, the only other person there was the security guard. The yard in general was a cluttered mess, piles of scrap metal, intermodal containers, and equipment everywhere with limited space for manuvering a 75-foot road vehicle in. I was instructed to drop the empty 53-foot trailer in the back area.

After about an hour of moving back and forth I finally managed to put the trailer in an area where it would be safe to drop it, out of the way. The pre-loaded trailer was located in a spot with two intermodal trailers on the left side, the closest was not more than 4-feet from the trailer I was to pick-up. On the right was a large yellow portable dock used to unload trailers when no dock is avaliable. Not more than 50-feet across the drive (50-feet of space for manuvering) was another line of intermodals and stacks and bales of scrap metal as well as concrete barriers. The ramp base of the dock was in-line with the tires of the trailer on the front line.

There was no way possible I could have moved the portable dock so I manuvered the trailer to close the space between my trailer and the intermodal on the left side but not close enough to hit the intermodal with the back-traler swing. I estimated I'd miss the ramp's lower edge by about an inch (hard to see that small a distance at 50+ feet in a mirror). The edge hooked the two right tires (#14 and #18) and tore the sidewalls. I called "Safety" to report it and reported the incident. I was in and out of the truck looking not to hit anything so often my legs hurt.

The company (J B Hunt) coded this incident as an "accident". Never heard of tires being coded as an accident before. I was terminated over this incident. I later contacted another company for possible employment and found they coded this "accident" as an intersection collision". Absurd!! How can this incident be coded as such?

I feel I was targeted for termination since my wife and I were wed on 12 May 2007. I needed a few days off and the upper mamagement gave my fleet manager alot of flak saying I hadn't earned the time off.

Scott
Turlock, California
U.S.A.