Who's The Worst Of Them ALL to work for?

Recent news has stated that there is now a waiting list at alot of Truck Driving Schools in the US due to the economic meltdown....alot of people are figuring that
driving is the last "safe haven" for employment.
What alot of them do not realize or bother to find out about is not only the lifestyle involved in trucking but actual and real starting pay at the bottom with the above mentioned bottom feeder training companies.
The schools advertise that in a short 3 weeks you can get your CDL andstart a career making upto 45-70k a year.That is the scam they use to pull drivers in,and that is why these companies will never have a shortage of "newbies" to grind into paste,and some to just ruin their lives.
The turnover rates have dropped, but if and when this economy turns around there may just be a fallout of immense proportions in trucking.
Some I quess hope that they will make great money,be home on weekends,see the kiddy's,and make astronomical amounts of cash.....
Reality is like a PITBULL that has latched onto you behind and will not let go.

 

I know that home time is a major concern of most drivers. It certainly has been for me over the last 20+ years. But if you're considering going with Prime just because you see alot of their trucks going by your house, you really don't understand how to do your homework before choosing a company. How companies operate with respect to the drivers is very complex. Easy to understand, yet complex. I would recommend very strongly that you do more homework and include research on some other companies that service your area. There are always exceptions to the general rule, but as a general rule, Prime is pretty hard on drivers in a number of ways. Choose carefully.

 

I drove for Werner from late January 2004 to late July 2004. I loved it. I wanted to get away from the East Coast and New Jersey. I hired on with Werner over the phone from Virginia, put everything into a U-haul, drove out to Nevada, put my stuff in a storage locker and then drove Western Regional for six months, living in the truck and saving money for my eventual permanent relocation to Nevada. I left Werner when I had accumulated $15,000 in cash, went back to Virginia, readied a few other things and an old pick-up for the big move, and that was it for me and Werner.

I can't say too many bad things about Werner. Werner gave me a new 2004 Classic XL; it had just 18,000 miles on it when I got it. Gotta love that! My dispatchers were top-notch. I was Western Regional but if I wanted to go back to Virginia to visit my parents, it was no problem. I didn't have to drive hard and I didn't sit around much, either. All in all, it was a good experience. I needed Werner to get out to Nevada. They will not hire someone to drive West if he lives in the East. All that is needed to become a Western driver is a P.O. box in the Western state of your choice. That's it. When I had earned and saved enough money to set up a permanent residence, I resigned over the qual-comm. They were not enthused. Rather than just dump the truck at the nearest truckstop, I offered to take a load down to Fontana and give the truck back at their facility there. They agreed. I loaded the next day, drove down, turned the truck back and that was it. I flew out of Ontario airport the next day.

But I was smart. I unloaded my stuff from the truck into my storage locker, then I sent the message that I was hanging it up. I knew that if I told them a week or two early that I was quitting, they'd route me into a terminal and then I'd have to find a way home with all my stuff. This happened to another driver when I was in Fontana when I hung it up. He had 500 miles to go, no transport and a car full of stuff to carry. I had a small duffelbag and a briefcase. He ended up renting a car with another driver and they got home that way. I rode Werner's limo to the hotel, then the hotel's limo to the airport. Cost me nothing.

Moral of the story: Unload your stuff, then quit. Not the other way around...

 

stealing money from paychecks(forced to by there stuff,run there rought then docked for it) and throwing drivers out of there trucks in the middle of nowhere because they took a day off after working 3 months then putting abandmont of a truck on that drivers dac and yup i saw it happen

 

Here's an example of someone who really needs to focus on vocabulary and grammer on their off time.

 

I agree in large part of what you have said. However, there is one other consideration that most newbies forget to investigate before jumping from the frying pan into the fire. The cost of living on the road. They don't seem to be able to factor into their family budgets the fact that they have to pay a grocery bill at home, yet pay to eat on the road day in and day out. They have to pay a water bill at home, yet may have to pay for an occasional shower now and then, etc.

 

This is what a man told me at the city park yesterday .I ask him about driving a truck.Quote- Hey when you been layed off from a job you had for 20 years ,your unemployment is about to run out,you can't feed your family.about to loose everything you worked all your life for.Should I move my family under a bridge .
The Gov. is gonna help with the schooling hell yes I can drive a truck.
I can eat out of a trash bin at a truck stop if I have to . My family comes first.
Have you every heard your kids crying because there hungry? (end quot )

I am a retired trucker 40 years driving .I have never got an unemployment check after I learned to drive a truck my family has never gone hungry after I learned to drive a truck.
Now what should I have told that man stay away from driving ?Well I set him down and told him the good and bad of driving a truck and there was a hell of lot more good then bad.
So when a man walks up to you and say's he's thanking about driving a truck please help him ,he don't need all your horror stories just some friendly advise.
Take car fellow truckers. Danny
PS I thank we were all newbe at one time.There is a lot of good driving schools out there.Check them out .

 

Hey they can eat out a wal mart store 1/2 of what it cost to eat in a Truck stop.

 

What company did all this?Or are just a (screw up). Tell us the full story.

 

The point of my comment had nothing to do with where you eat, simply to illustrate the fact that the driver who has a family at home is paying 2 food bills instead of just one. Sorry you missed the point. Better luck next time.