Truck recovery and when to say no to the company. (with pictures)

“If you all would get outa my way, I’dhave been home by now. You know how difficult it is to see you there in my blind spot?”

 

I had to recover a truck when I was with TMC ( I was broke down ), when I got to the wrecker yard, I pulled 11 bags of trash out of the truck just to have it clean enough to drive. Called dispatch and told them that they would be covering hotel until I returned. Started to balk until I sent pictures to Safety. Got a call a few minutes later, Save your receipts for the hotel and turn them in at the end of the week. When I got to the terminal I show pictures to shop foreman. Sad part, he stated that it wasn't even in the top ten for worst trucks recovered. Shop Forman stated that they actually had to code out a truck because it wasn't able to be cleaned. Stripped it for parts. Year late I recovered a truck from a driver after I took the summer off, Driver got hurt on the road and made it home. Doctor put him down for a couple months to recover. When I got there I thought it was a brand new truck. Floor mats were not even dirty. Some drivers take pride in their ride and others are a POS.

 

My neighbor has 3 trucks and that's all he does is restaurants and sewage. Could not put up with that smell. If I'm behind a trash hauler I pass em every time Lol, smell em before you see em

 

If I owned trucks, it'd be explicitly stated in the interview that if at any time I seen so much as a cigarette butt, piss jug, trash etc in the truck then that's it. Driver would be kicking horse turds down the street.

 

I have seen company drivers with a tablet scanning barcodes for pre trip inspections

If I had drivers I would also get a cab photo each day

 

I’d ask for 5k to move it or find new job. It’s the cost of doing business. When your new job asks why you left your last show the pic. Good luck.

 

I've never been asked to recover a rig and I've now decided that I will not being do so under any circumstances.

 

Depending on why you have to recover. A driver gets hurt or has a family emergency, probably not that big of a deal. I recovered one from a driver that got hurt and was down for a couple months. You could have eaten off the floor. Truck was kept beautiful.
I will NOT recover a truck that is abandoned because a driver quit's. If he is not man enough to take it to the terminal and quit on good terms, more than likely the truck is treated like a trash dump.
Last company driving job I quit, I put in two weeks notice, drove those last two weeks like my first two weeks, clean the truck real good, gave Maintance a list of every little thing I could think of that should be addressed, shook everyones hand and wished them well. was told by the boss, if things didn't work out I always had a job there if I wanted back. Act like a adult, be treated like a adult.

 

Bottom line is that recovering a rig is the company's problem and will only become my problem if I'm willing to allow it to become one. It's a cost of doing business for the company. As a company driver, it's not a cost of doing business for me. I see no relevance with respect to the various possible reasons that may have led to the company being put in the situation of having to recover a rig.

 

With a large fleet, things happen. I understand it is not my job, but if I can help I will. Both times I recovered trucks I was paid very well for the recovery along with the full pay for the load on the trailer. I have no problem being a team player as long as it doesn't negatively affect my wallet. I don't work for free.