Ignoring good advice can backfire pretty quickly.

So, what would you do if you were trying to help someone in your same industry, but they weren’t interested in listening to you? Would you keep trying to explain? Or would you leave them along and keep going?

In the following story, one truck driver finds himself in this predicament. Here’s how it all played out.

Won’t let me help you with complying with DOT regulations? Have fun with that Out of Service ticket and fees, buddy!

I, a 38-year-old male over-the-road trucker, was at a truck stop about 150 miles from my destination, and about 30 miles from a DOT weigh station.

This other driver was getting fuel, and as he was, I noticed he had hazmat on his trailer, as evidenced by the placards displayed on it.

Upon further look, however, I noticed that he had one placard displayed sideways, 2 others upside down, and 4 others mounted with duct tape.

Being friendly, he tried to warn the guy.

As someone who has been in the industry for over a decade, I knew the above was incorrect and wanted to help him out to make sure he didn’t get dinged by the DOT (Department of Transportation) for incorrect display.

I approached him, was friendly about it, said his placards were mounted wrong, and (since we were in my home state and I knew how DOT operated around there) told him he might want to fix it before he left.

He asked me how long I had been driving, and I told him I had been driving for a decade.

Apparently, the guy knew better and wasn’t interested in help.

He scoffed and said he had been driving for only 2 years, but “knew better than me,” and said, while he appreciated my advice, that he wanted me to run my own truck the way I see fit and “let me do my job my way.”

So, I complied. Wished him well and went inside to grab something to eat.

Fast forward a couple of hours, and I go to take off. I head south, and right before I get to the state border, there’s a truck weigh station. As I’m approaching, my stomach starts turning cartwheels, forcing me to exit to use the restroom.

Then, he spotted the man.

There, in the parking lot, is the guy I spoke to at the truck stop, ripping his placards off his truck, with a DOT officer standing beside him with new ones and a roll of clear tape. I asked him what happened.

He scowled at me and said, “I got an improper display out of service ticket.” I asked him how much that was. He said it was $2500, 15 points to his CSA score (the scorecard used for truck driver evaluations and company evaluations), and 15 points to his company’s CSA score.

The officer approached me and asked me how I knew the guy. I told the DOT officer that I tried to help him avoid that situation, but he said he knew more than I did, even though I had 8 years more experience than he did.

The officer laughed and told the guy, “Maybe you ought to listen to people, especially when they are trying to save you money.”

Yikes! It’s really hard knowing everything like that.

Let’s check out what the people over at Reddit have to say about this story.

It would be great footage to see.

These are good questions.

Let’s hope so.

Here’s a previous hazmat driver.

The guy got what he deserved. Next time, he won’t act like such a know-it-all.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a staff who banded together to get an awful assistant manager fired.