I sense someone who would be unhappy working for any company, for any price. Sadly, the U.S. is full of people like this. Think they should get the best jobs at the best pay with little or no training, little or no ability. They fail miserably and blame everyone except themselves. That is why the mexicans flood over the border, because too many people in the U.S. today don't know what it means to actually work hard and to start at the bottom and work their way up.
It's sad.
Really it is.

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Well, you hit it on the head. The person who started this post is a sad representation of the lousy candidates for work who fill up the U.S. labor pool. Rookie drivers have put their CDL on the shelf because of the dehumanizing policies of the Major Carriers, but it's all their own fault. They just spent thousands of dollars of their own hard-earned money, or went into deeper hock and are now facing bankruptcy or home foreclosure, so they could pay tuition, keep their families going, drink overpriced bottled water and hotdogs on the road, shell out for airfare and taxis they were never reimbursed for, plus single supplement rates at company hotels waiting for trainers, required because of personal sexual orientation -- all this because they never really wanted to work in the first place. Right, and they were so ignorant, they thought trucking had nothing to do with long hours, fatigue, tension, planning, self-discipline, and self-denial. They thought it was all driving through the Grand Tetons looking at the view. Right, and I think people who insult others on these forums give themselves away with their avatars or tag lines... something about real intelligence going up the leash of your dog, not the other way around.

First of all, lets look a little "deeper" than simple "tag lines", lets look at over all investment, participation and augmentation of trucking; in General and this Forum; Specifically.

I don't remember anyone who has been trucking as long as you have that has been on this forum has spent so much time bad-mouthing everything about it. I don't remember reading even one of your posts where you were not calling for a BOYCOTT of something.

It is quite simple, actually. If you don't like your job; QUIT and find another one that suits you.

And it is a FACT that most people really don't know what it means to keep their heads down and do their jobs. That is one reason why the trucking companies perceive a "shortage" of drivers. Too many drivers are too quick to walk away whenever things get a little too tough. Too many drivers are too quick to blame everyone, except themselves.

Just like buying a car or a home one can't afford, people investing "thousands of dollars of their hard earned money" and then finding they are unsuited for this profession have only themselves to blame.
They only have themselves to blame if they buy "overpriced bottled water or hotdogs" when there are far less expensive alternatives.

They only have themselves to blame if they don't fully investigate just what kind of investment this job requires, and what it eventually pays. Instead, all they hear is how much money they MIGHT make....someday.
And they constantly complain when they don't start up at the top....

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Well said, RoadKill. Over and over I read people saying on this forum, "I don't want to work that hard." Man, I am 54 years old going back into OTR now that my son is graduating and am even considering flatbed as it usually pays better. And it should, there is a whole lot more work involved. I do expect an honest wage for an honest days work but I am not afraid to work for it. But I do expect to work for my wage and in this industry that involves more than just drop and hook. Sometimes we have to run a pallet jack in the back of a trailer. Sometimes it requires unloading every box in a 53' trailer onto a conveyor. It is part of the job and those who do not expect to have to do stuff like that should look somewhere else, like you said.

And in turn that’s there problem that China has. My wife was born in China in the Hebei province in the city of Langfang. We took a trip there about 1 year ago she was amazed at how much freedom they have. Granted not like us but my wife left in 1985 with her sister to come here. They actually have a middle class now and if they stop the pipe line of goods to here that would sink them and the back lash of people would be devastating to the communist power. they are actually holding on barely to there power. So it’s a double edge sword that cuts both ways .

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We Know Tip Swift is the antichrist.

And Americans are different from people in every other country in the world, who want to pay as much as they can for everything they buy?

Everyone, everywhere, wants to pay as little as possible for anything they are buying. That is simply human nature and household-economics in action. This does NOT, however, mean that Americans favor, or are personally responsible for, the outsourcing of American jobs to foreign countries where labor is dirt cheap.

The corporate drive to maximize profits for shareholders, regardless of the cost to this nation, is the worst offender. America has stopped producing wealth, and now exports wealth in return for goods that can be sold "at a profit" several times over. Our wealth is flowing out of this country in exchange for "consumer goods" which are quickly used-up and tossed into the trash can, only to be replaced by more foreign-made "consumer goods," ad infinitum.

Until America returns to being a nation which PRODUCES and CREATES wealth, taking simple raw materials and turning them into products which are worth far more than the sum of their parts -- products which are highly-desired not only by our own citizens, but by those in other nations -- this downward spiral will continue. And in the end, America will become just another once-great nation with paper currency that has more value as toilet paper than as "money."

One thing I have said on this forum many times; it isn't the driver's responsibility to unload the freight, especially at the slave-labor wages the trucking company pays. I DO NOT believe that is included in what is expected of a driver. There were no questions on the written part of the test (that I remember) that dealt with unloading, nor was it discussed during the truck driver "School" that I attended. The REST of the job is hard enough.

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I was a drywall finisher till work got slow,I took great pride in my craft just as I try to do as a trucker. Our problems as blue collar workers is those calling the shots do not respect those of us that take pride in our job.Sooner or later something got to give,I just dont see the present system lasting.I dont think George Washington had this in mind when he was building this great country.How is it possible for a guy that doest drink,do drugs or gamble to drive a 80,000 pound truck for 100,000 miles in a year and still be struggling financially? Something just aint right..and what about our kids? Do I tell my to learn kids spanish and chinese to survive?I know people on welfare that live better than me and my family.Their houses are really warm cause they dont have to pay utilities and they eat really good too.Dont get me started on the medical..Us truckers run this country...No trucks no nothing..Hey I got bills to pay and I apologize for going all negative with this but one more 1000 mile week is gonna break me..My kids are proud their Daddy is a trucker.Most of their friends dont even know where their dads are at so all eyes are on me.I work too hard to be behind the 8 ball.

I agree with KingPawn. I've been in the lawn business for 13 year's and still am and I take great pride in making someone's lawn look beautiful with freashly edged sidewalks and nice even cut pattern's in the grass. I work my ##### off for only $6.00 a yard. I don't make s*** but I stick with it because I love what I do and I couldn't ask for a better boss man. The man has to force me to sit down and take break's because I push on and on doing my best making sure the job get's done and done right while I watch other people come and go off the crew because they b**** about the pay or the work is to hard. I tell them if they can't make it there then how will they ever make it in a real job. I make extra when one of my boss man's customer's ask's me for what is called a "dimond" cut in their front yard and the customer pay's me directly and he isn't bothered by this because I do custom grass patterns with a push mower on a peaon grass crew as to a big landscaping crew just get's out there and mow's it down with a rider just to get it done, collect and move on. Like me getting into truck driving. I don't want to do it just because of the money or the drive to want to drive a truck but to serve America with good's providing this country a service as the military does. Driving run's through my vains just as much as the blood does.


I agree about all these people on welfare who never work at all but have it better than a truck driver who stay's away from home working his ##### off to earn an honest living for his family and have something to show for it. Just because I'm young doesn't mean s*** and that I think like the rest of these youngin's driving trucks who don't deserve to be there because they have there wrong idea and mind set about driving. So while you sit there and "assume" that every young person has the same mind set about driving only being there for the money thinking it's an easy job and removing your foot from your mouth, I'll continue trying to get into a career working hard being away from home tryin to make a difference in the world while making an honest living doing something I love to do rather than sitting back on my ##### drawing welfare living off of hard working tax payers like myself and most of everyone else on the forum. It only take's one person to take the effort to try and make a difference but it take's more than one to show result's.

When you put down these young driver's because they are dangerous behind the wheel, your also putting me down because your making me feel that my age make's me one of them and that's discouraging. If you have kid's, I don't see how in the hell you ever raised them because of discouragement in thing's they want to do to better themselve's.

King, hang in there brother and don't give in because that only let's them win and let's your kid's down. They support you and that's hard to get from a family in the trucking business. Keep your head up high and all the BS down below (careful not to step in it lol) and thing's will get better one day.

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"I'm not a truck driver. I'm a non refrigerated load relocation engineer".

10\4 on the unloading driver,i hear these guys b#### about 30 and 34 cpm,when i started back in the 70's i got 6cpm,and thought it was a lot,wrong! true the kc turnpike was 80mph then but that didn't last long,the feds said no way kansas,so they dropped it to 70,these drivers today have newer trks,more hp,and someone checking their logs to keep them stright,some pay you to unload the freight,some pay for bumping the dock,we didn't have it back in the day,that was part of calling yourself a driver,deliver,unload,ha to the next load,and if you forgot to log you day ,throw it out the window and get a new one started,i know they can't do that today,it's a high tec world today so get withit and do it sorry about blowing of guys but it gets old hearing these young drivers gripping and they haven't even started good yet!!!!!!!!!