Random LTL Rants (all are welcomed)

I have a small ant problem at my house, so far since Sunday I've killed 3 ants. There scouting I don't know where there coming from it's not a full blown thing, at any rate it's not as sexy as a gopher problem, but I can relate.

 

When I came out of driving school, I knew I was a rookie and didn't know squat. I made it a point to talk to all the old hands, and most importantly, listen. Given that they were truck drivers, it was sometimes hard to sort the truth from the BS, but one thing they all told me was:

"Son, the day you think you know everything, hang up your license and go do something else. That's when you're dangerous."

I've been driving 21 years, and when someone wants to tell me something I don't know, I ain't too proud to listen. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom, but humility runs a mighty close second.

 

My kiddo shoots ants (whatever's left, LoL) with a pellet gun; it seems fun, try it ! (?!?)

 

That's why I stopped stressing and rushing to fix the terminal's routing mistakes on my end. When you get into a stressed out hurry that is when you forget things and make mistakes.

 

Hi, I have a question about my son. He got his CDL in January and has been working for an LTL company on the east coast since the middle of May, so we're coming up on 3 months. He was first hired to do a very local hub run with multiple stops within the same state. Around 3 weeks ago, he agreed to accept a different run that passes through 3 states up the east coast. The man that had it wanted out of it desperately, and the terminal manager asked my son if he would be interested in taking it (he was truly asking, this wasn't an offer my son could not refuse. I don't think it's that kind of a company. If my son had declined, I'm guessing they would just have had to hire someone from outside).

So after asking around for opinions, my son took it. He does 2 hours of yard jockey work each day, and then heads out.

A number of things have happened over the past 2-3 weeks, nothing too dramatic. My son has been sent on additional short side runs back and forth from his destination to other terminals before his return to his home terminal. He says he is learning a ton. He was supposed to have been given the opportunity to work the dock at his destination starting Monday night (he normally just sits around for up to 2 hours waiting for his load to take back to his home terminal, and this was an opportunity for him to get dock work on his resume and not just be sitting around unpaid while waiting).

He hasn't done the dock work yet because they have needed to have side runs done from his destination. I guess it's just a busy, busy freight time and they need the runs. Monday night was a little nuts, he made 3 additional hub deliveries on his way back to his home terminal. Last night was his first visit to a side terminal up north that he hasn't been to before.

My son's run is a really complex, stressful and demanding one and people have said that after a couple of years it burns people out. He is fine with it now, and was told that he can move into the linehaul division later this fall, after he's been with the company for 6 months. He is looking at it as a learning opportunity and b/c it's with an LTL company it pays well so he is very happy with it.

He often calls me from his car on his way home, while I'm at work. He called today and was a concerned because the person who I think you would call the dock manager or yard manager asked him to sign a paper about arriving an hour late. He wrote down that the police had closed all but one lane of one of the highways he took, which caused the delay (which is the truth). When he was on the phone with me he was second-guessing the route he chose, and said that if he had picked an alternate for that segment, maybe he wouldn't have gotten stuck, but under the circumstances the only way he would have been able to be on time would have been to speed or to be checking his phone or other device for traffic while driving.

Before the job change came up, the Terminal Manager told him that he was 50% of the way towards becoming one of their best drivers. He also told my son he was a monster (in a good way). My son has convinced himself that the terminal manager was just being nice/supportive. I don't find that plausible at all, but of course since I'm his mother, my views are suspect at best. Would the paper he signed affect his performance review or anything like that? Do you really think the company will find him at some kind of fault in this situation? Sorry for the long-winded message. Thanks for putting up with me.

 

I can tell he has changed so much! After the wreck they put him back on the dock for six months. the rookie has become good driver. Somtimes you you have to learn the hard way!