Petty preventables scam

I don't know too many companies deliberately turning over the entire fleet of drivers for the sake of getting that extra dollar from either uncle sam or from the contracts that may or may not be payable from those who sign themselves into debt upon hire.

It is my understanding it costs a certain amount of money to put a new hire into a 18 wheeler. And it might be break even or more than what it is raked in by abusing such a policy.

I remember one company near Gettysburg called KTC, it had about 210 drivers during the time I was there. In one 6 month period, I was bottom 10 in seniority and by the time we parted ways I was in the top 20. All the rest having been replaced. The top 15 or so were institutionalized and would never be replaced. At some point the entire company ceased to exist for a variety of good reasons. It's unfortunate. It was worth a try that year. Just sorry to see it go out of business the way they did.

If that is a case it might be a form of structured abuse of the people's money if its from Uncle Sam. I don't know where to begin to have such a problem prosecuted. It might require a investigation at a DOT Committee level to start off and probably some sort of Congressional oversight to get it stopped.

What is common is that the so called newbie will get dinged for a preventable, breaking a telephone pole making a right turn for example Or running over someone's foot at the curb or some such. Usually along with the firing the bills are made available to that particular driver as well and losses are incurred by the company which owned the 18 wheeler that did the whoopsie.

 

I don't know about you, but in the one company I referenced to there was a enormous amount of firing due to tractor damage, preventables etc. Some of which Ive seen first hand. One in particular ran his cab over into a NY US 20 bridge in a village center expressly banned 18 wheelers from even approaching or entering. You had to go around this one using about a 30 mile detour in a sort of a square 10 miles each road around. He ran his tractor into the low clearance bridge and pretty much totaled it.

Last time I saw him sitting in the yard in tears after being fired gave him a audience for a few minutes to tell us how he had 8 dollars in the bank, kids to feed and so forth. But why did he ignore all those signs surrounding that particular town that are not permitting 18 wheelers to approach or enter. Maybe there was problems with english which I don't buy for a second. I supposed if I solved the problem of that particular village myself with a long detour and back onto US 20 he should have been able to do the same.

Maybe it's too much to expect of newer drivers. I don't know. When I saw the seniority updated list in the drivers room with that company towards the end of my time there it blew my mind about how many people they were cycling through. This would be the early to mid 90's time period. I don't think that was the time to bring in immigrants and make money off them back that far I don't think. But there were a few drivers who did not stay very long who appeared not to be native to America. Maybe they brought it upon themselves. Maybe no one trained them any better perhaps I don't know.

Fast forward to 2001, there is a Covenant yard in Little Rock where I was able to observe orientation or school attendees working a semi taking turns backing it in a straight line. IF that is what they call docking, then I feel sorry for the future of trucking. They were not going about it in any particularly learning. Pull up and back until thump. Next person. Then it gets hot and everyone retreats to the shade. *Shrugs. When I was in school we were backing in all sorts of ways and eventually racing the time clock itself to see which one of us was top dog. (Old instructor called Mr Adams was... he probably taught God how to drive. One of those wonderful drivers who probably will outlive us all...)

 

Turnover rates are high in the industry period, especially at megas. Too many people come into the industry thinking it will be easy and they will make millions. They either aren't satisfied with the money, the time away from home, or they don't pay attention and hit something they shouldn't have. I trained new drivers for about 3 years. I stayed in touch with all of them after they got off my truck at least for a little while in case they had any questions or needed help with anything. Of the 25-30 students I had, 2 are still driving, and 3 have come and gone multiple times, no one else made it more than 6 months.

 

I am a recovering safety rep... This is more total obfuscation of the fact that driver's skill sets are generally poor and their attitudes are even poorer. It's an old saying that "its the poor craftsmen who blames the tool". Drivers (far too many anyway) these days simply do not care that they are bashing into things or that their skills are poor.. they do not care. They do not care that they tear things up, they do not care. When a new truck is assigned, withing days it reappears with damage on it. These people see running into things and tearing things up as "part of the job". Its not and its never been. The prevailing attitude is that "if they didn't want me to hit the building. car, fence, or landscape.. they shouldn't have put it there". Preventables are pretty simple to assess.. and the drivers don't like it when they are caught being a non-driver. It's rather depressing.

 

That's exactly right Fozzy Bear,

Younger generation simply don't care, "oh Well,If they Fire me,Whatever,My Mom n Dad will still pay my Bills"

"I'll Try doing something else,Screw Trucking" Blaming a Tractor Trailer for their Sloppy and Careless actions.

When I started, I was 20 years old........I Collapsed a set of Dollies on a trailer from not putting wood under the legs on a soft dirt yard ,It Rained ,Sank,Hit it Hard like a Moron and Collapsed legs- Trailer sitting on Nose, Instead of Running from the Problem, I Was Yelled at by the Owner,My Parents and I had to Pay $1500 for replacement and Wrecker......

Nowadays, Its Smartphones,and Daily doses of Tide Pods.

 

If you have no write-ups and dings on your safety record when it is time to get rid of you it becomes much harder with all the laws protecting the workers.

 

It's a good thing you're not a labor lawyer, look up "At will employee".

 

There are no real laws protecting drivers.. they are exempt from the fair labor laws.. and of course 99.999% of trucking jobs are "at will" employment. Its states right up front that you can be fired for any or NO reason.