When I went to my very first orientation, the house was packed. Not only was it packed, but there also weren't any experienced drivers to be seen among the vast herd anywhere. They were all like me--green as a week-old tea leaf. These facts didn't register until the smoke of the disaster that was SwiftQuit dissipated about four months later. Yeap, when I sat down and tried to figure out why I was so badly treated there and ended up quitting, it all hit like a bolt of lightning. Never again did I sit through a crowded orientation.

I went to Builder's Transport orientation not too long after quitting SwiftQuit, and ran right into the crowded house problem once again. When the class became standing-room only and I was forced to bunk with three other sausages in a two-person hotel room, I just headed back to my car and drove off into the sunset. Actually the sun was still high in the sky, as I was gone before noon on the first day.

It all adds up. Help wanted ads in papers every day of the world, crowded orientation classes, empty cleaned-outs sitting around in terminal lots, abandoned rigs out in the world, websites like this filled with negative testimonies........There's really no excuse for being sucked into a bad company, given all the clues bad apples leave that shout to the world "we suck".

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Yea I remember my orientation at USA Truck in 98! There were about 100 people there in that dirty cramped loud place they called, well I really don't remember what they called it but it was where all the people in orientation stayed! It was nasty to say the least! Couldn't get a decent nights sleep because of the noise always going on when orientation wasn't going on and seemed like the later into the night it got the louder they got in that lobby where the TV was! Funny how I never thought about that until now! I may be developing post traumatic syndrome now!......
Funny how I really never thought about it much then! I just kind of shook my head and dealt with it but it’s true! Now looking back I more than likely would have got in my vehicle and drove away if it were like that! BTW JBH has sent me some kind of package with the orientation information in it! I guess I’m gona have to call em back and tell em to listen to what I’m saying……….. I’m not going to your orientation! Maybe I'll tell him to log on to thank his JBH buddy and all you guys for that!

Yeah, definitely make that phone call to the liar's den that is J.B. JobHunt.
It's called "JobHunt" for a great reason--you hire on today, and then you're looking for another job tomorrow. No thanks.

Man, I'd go to a rathole dorm for newbies today, take one look, and be back in my vehicle a minute later. I'd probably even leave my car running when I showed up at an orientation on morning number 1 as I checked the company over. This would give me a head start by a few seconds if I had to run like hell, understand.

You're making the right move by not letting JobHunt get its hooks in you. Deny JB_buddy that bonus he'll get from your playing his latest fool.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Tip you're killin me dude! LMAO! That's pretty good! You know today things are so much different than they were when I first started driving legally in 98! I have so much more junk that helps me that I didn't have when I was driving for USA Truck! I was bussed there on a Greyhound and I've always tried to do what I said I was going to do and I did up to the point of quitting them! I didn't have a cell phone so the only method of communication for me was the qualcom. Since then I've turned into a real geek but one who can play a mean version of... well just about anything that's rock & roll. Anyway with the things I've had now for several years that I didn't have in 98 I would have another driving job before I even left the orientation! I wouldn't want to go with out those things that make it so much easier now! I love my GPS! It's the greatest thing ever! I keep my drivers atlas only for a backup incase the GPS goes out but it hasn’t happened for the few years that I’ve been using them. And the cell phone that I never leave home with out! My laptop is a big help too as far as keeping records and such! I always make up to date copies on a disk just in case!

GPS units are great. I don't have one in my own car (yet), but I've seen them being used in others' cars. They are awesome.

And the GPS thing began back in 83 when the Soviets shot down that Korean airliner. Reagan was so pissed off at that he got the GPS program up and running. Today even a guy on a hike in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming can tell where he is in the world. Who needs a map? Nobody with a GPS.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Oh, please...

GPS is for those who don't know how to read a map and a compass.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

I agree. It's much more fun to use a map and a compass. Planning is half the fun of any trip. Well, maybe a quarter of the fun.

But sometimes when you're lost in a big city and can't pull over, it's good to have a GPS. It's also good to have a GPS if you're in a foreign country and you can't read the maps there. I'm thinking of Asia, but you guys may have the same trouble in places like Mexico when you start going there in rigs. Big, mile-long rigs.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Well MACK I'm sorry you feel that way! This is my opinion..................along with some facts..........

1. I KNOW you're full of **** because I can read a map very good and rarely need to use a compass!
2. Usually drivers, er uh people who talk out of their butt like that are among those annoying loud mouth drivers/people trying to belittle others because of their own inadequacies and idiocies which is a pretty sad thing because you usually realize your inadequacies which make you feel stupid or small in some way but you never realize your idiocy because it relates to your ego which is making you look at yourself too much so you never realize the fact that everyone has some kind of inadequacy because your ego is busy fighting with the fact that you don’t know something that someone else does which in turn causes you to start making up negative remarks to people in order to make yourself feel like you’re just as good as everyone else which brings in the idiocy! The definition of idiot is "Void of understanding." If you understood what made you belittle people you'd stop doing it because you'd understand that your ego gets in your way of realizing that you're no different or at least in most cases because there are some out there who are, well as they say, "special" which is fine because they have their place too which actually makes them no less than anyone else.
3.
I like GPS because I like technology AND I know how to use it like I know how to use most new technology! I also build my own computers, setup my own home automation system, video surveillance & security systems, multi-track recording, etc. I won’t get too much into that because of your insecurities and I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything. I'm only self taught and still learning.
4. More than likely most technology is beyond your grasp as it is with a lot of people. So what? But for you, well it takes us back to #2 you have to belittle anyone who is talking about something you can’t understand because it makes you feel inferior so you start with your retribution which shows your idiocy and your insecurities!
That’s why it’s called an insecurity problem!
But there is hope! You can change that and you wouldn’t believe how much better you'd feel about yourself and how much better your outward appearance would be. Hell your total look on life in general would be better! Although you do have to be a humble person to start with but all you need to do is start thinking that you’re not better than anyone else but you’re not any less either!

Remember ignorance just hasn't been taught yet so if you’re ignorant about something but you’re of at least average intelligence you can learn about it and then not be ignorant in that subject. Idiocy is ignorance that can’t be taught usually because the ego and stubbornness won’t allow a person to learn because they’re too busy thinking up reasons in their own mind how they’re just as good as others. So as long as you’re of average intelligence and you can humble yourself you can escape that insecurity problem!

Those were opinions, man.

In addition, i'd like to say that I am completely open to anything that will accomplish the job and/or make it easier. There will always be hard work, so if there is something to take just one task off your hands, why not embrace it?

Well, I must say I'm impressed by that rather long-winded speech.

Only problem is, you're the one who's full of it. No, I am NOT one of those ignoramuses with the radio's you can hear on EVERY channely who has to belittle people in the manner you describe. I don't think too highly of them either.

You, Sir, don't know me from the man in the moon, so your thoughts in your last post are mere assumptions. I'm sure you know what they say about assuming, and you've certainly accomplished that.

Now, on to more practical matters. Technology such as GPS is too unreliable for me to trust it. If you use it and like it, well I say enjoy.

The problem is what do you do when for whatever reason the GPS ceases to function. I fear that rookies who have come to rely on this newfangled technology that you seem to love will be S.O.L. in such a situation, since what use did they have for navigating the old fashioned way? After all, they were never taught that. They'd look at a compass and say "What's this?" They'd look at a map and wonder which side is up because they were never taught the basics and the fundamentals.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.