the good thing about a down economy is that lazy people who dont perform,or constant complainers will,find out what the waters worth,when the well runs dry.

AMEN... thank you...

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You have to do what you love to do, not get stuck in that comfort zone of a regular job.
Life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it...
Lucinda Basset

I just love these witty replies from people who haven't got a clue what they are talking about. Get some experience under your belt (like several years worth) and then get back to me about driver complaints.

Life experience counts just as much. Just because someone hasn't been in the seat of a truck doesn't mean they don't know about it.

Whiners are whiners, no matter what industry it is.

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Dynamite comes in small packages, Nitro comes in smaller ones, take your pick!

Think you are very right about that... Thanks so much.

Have you ever heard the phrases "hitting your head against the wall" or "you cant whip a dead horse back to life"? Those apply to anything that you would say to some people, cause they just arent going to change no matter. Even if they are wrong.

Thanks anyway

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You have to do what you love to do, not get stuck in that comfort zone of a regular job.
Life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it...
Lucinda Basset

So people who haven't got a freaking clue what the industry is all about should be telling the rest of us how to do our jobs? What alternate universe does that idea come from? That makes absolutely no sense at all and I am surprised that a moderator would even suggest it. Unbelievable.

If you haven't been out here earning a living in this industry for several years you have no right to tell those of us who have anything!

Fine, then I'll chime in. I have 24 years experience, and am an O/O. Hope those are good enough qualifications for you.

I too have observed many drivers complain about their situation at any given driving job, and it almost ALWAYS comes back to a bad attitude on the driver's part.

We all know life can throw lemons and manure. It's up to each individual to decide to make lemonade or plant flowers. Our jobs can do the samething, and if we allow situations and cicumstances lead us, then we are doomed to fail. We must be the one in control, not our circumstances.

I find that most of the complaints driver's have could be solved with communication. If not satisfied by the answer your immediate supervisor gives, continue up the ladder. If no satisfaction when you get to the top, then maybe it's time to seek other opportunities. I also have found a driver's dissatisfaction is due to poor planning on their part. This can happen in many ways, but I want to relate to you a story to illustrate my point.

In the early summer of 1998 I began my relationship with Crete as a company driver. I had been with them for about a month when I ran across a driver in Winslow, AZ at the old Pilot. We were having a bite to eat in the Taco joint, and he began to bad mouth his FM and Crete in general. The reason? He had missed his bouns by a little over 100 miles. He said he communicated his need for a good weekend run to his FM so that he could obtain his bouns, however the longest run available at the time of his dispatch still left him over 100 miles short of that goal. His FM said "tough, take it over leave it".

As a new driver with Crete, after hearing his story, and his FM's response, I was asking myself "what did I get into?". AH, the rest of the story.

A few minutes later after we moved on to another subject; home time; he told me he had just finished three weeks at home because he didn't feel like working. SAY WHAT!!!! He's complaining about not getting his miles to obtain the bonous for that quarter, but yet it's NOT HIS FAULT he took all that time off. If a driver wants that much time off in a quarter that's his option, but don't blame your FM and bad mouth the company because you missed your quarterly bonous!

I learned a very valueable lesson that day. THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY DRIVER'S COMPLAINT! While Crete had to quarterly bonous program, I never missed it. Even during the quarters when I would take vacation.

So longbow, you give us only a small view of what may be happening in your world, and not the entire picture.

As an O/O at Crete, I too see the ebb and flow of our current economy and how it can negatively affect a driver's ability to earn a decent pay check. In '07 I ran 151K miles, in '08 144k miles. Why? The economy! Now days our ability to get good runs dependes on where in the country we are emptying out in. The East Coast and Northwest areas have been the worst.

So keep in mind, if you can't get the satisfaction you want, seek other opportunities. However, I think you will find most all other dry van and flat bed operations are having just as tough a time as Ctere is when it comes to finding freight for driver's to haul.

I've looked, and I'm still leased to Crete. That should say something.

Be Safe

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Thank you Christ & Veterans for the blood you shed for my freedom! Hope is knowing that Christ will not let failure be your final resutl.

Hey, luvtheroad, how about a brief rundown of the years you have spent in the industry . . . basically just the highlights. Isn't your hubby in the industry too?

I personally have been involved in the industry since 1999 when I was a driver for a few years. I've been involved with the industry in other ways before and after my time as a driver. My hubby is a driver, had his CDL for over a year now.

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Dynamite comes in small packages, Nitro comes in smaller ones, take your pick!

I got stuck on a Target load that our dedicated account couldn't handle. Good thing was it was delivering 1/2 mile from my house, so I said what the hell, I'll take it. I didn't have to unload it, thank god, it was just a drop and hook. I opened up the back doors to bump the dock, and freight literally rained down on my head. I don't know how they load those trailers, but it looks like they put the trailer on it's nose and pour the stuff in when you open the doors.

I use to work for a local outfit that ran mostly airfreight. We had one chain store that we delivered to a couple of local stores for and everything was 'floor loaded'. Those kind of loads are miserable!

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Dynamite comes in small packages, Nitro comes in smaller ones, take your pick!