Drivers, this is what companies think of you.

I worked a state job working as a corrections officer, or prison gaurd if you want to call it that for 3 years. Yea it was a easy job baby sitting 80 to 100 inmates that all acted like little kids and i had good insurance, a union that sucked big time, but you know what the problem was? Ill tell you. It was being behind locked doors, locked gates, not being able to see or go out side unless you worked one of the yards during inmate yard time. And as long as you treated the inmates with respect you got it back and had no probems with them as they understood the rules, the big problem was the other staff that worked there always trying to get each other fired so they could get better shifts to work, or better vacation slots or trying to climb the ladder and then treat everyone like crap when they got there. When i left there i was making $2800 a month there, and that was in 2002, in one month driving a truck i can make $3000 to $4000 a month running hard and not have anyone breathing down my neck, watching every move i make on camera, or wondering if my partner who is suppose to watch my back incase something happens will run and hide leaveing me to fend for myself, yes it happens working as a corrections officer. So i would rather drive a truck and be able to see outside, step outside and not have someone constantly looking over my shoulder, Ill just stay a truck driver thank you very much.

 

good post, BUT most drivers out there today were the ones who fell into the "...more and more drivers out there will take your job for less pay and less hometime..."....yet those drivers start b!tchin' after a month like they're getting screwed over.

Look, it is what it is. and if you dont like it.....you can get your truck up to 60, set the cruise and open your left door. (or you can just wait till you're at a terminal) either way, you know what you're getting into, and if you dont like it THEN, there is only one person to blame, and it isnt the company.

 

The last job I worked at, I put in anywhere from 10-20 hours a week in OT. I did it because I like to see my work completed, not sitting in piles on my desk. My supervisor had no problems with it, the boss had no problem with it........UNTIL. The other women in the office started complaining that I had been there less than a year and had a key to the office and a door pass to get in to the building. They didn't have them and they had been there for years. So rather than be appreciative of the fact I came in and did jobs nobody else would do or I kept my work caught up, they decided the best thing to do was start making my job miserable by telling the bosses I wasn't in there working, I was just coming in and sitting at my desk, or outside smoking. These women were there in the office, getting paid OT the same as I was, but they were there talking about everybody else and setting up the next victim of their wrath. They were standing around for 2 hours visiting, rather than doing the work they were supposed to be doing. It didn't go unnoticed by management. They had their OT taken away from them. However, rather than defending me and standing up to these women, the supervisor & boss took away all my OT, also. They were willing to allow me to continue coming in as I always did, I just couldn't get paid for it. The boss referred to it as "earning my stripes".

It's a sad affair when the heads bow down to those who aren't doing the job by punishing those who are. It came to the point where I walked in the office, put in my headphones and never spoke to anybody else in the office, unless it regarded work. Funny how even then I was still being accused of talking about others and not actually working while at my desk.

I was being watched each time I went to the bathroom, being timed how long I was gone, what time I went to lunch, how long I took for a smoke. They would log in to my time clock and clock me out while I was in the bathroom. All that happened to them was they got a warning. That was when I decided I could no longer work in an office. That was when the desire I always had to be on the road finally took the forefront.

I don't like being around people anymore, especially women. No offense to any of the women here, you all have been quite warm and welcoming. I just can't deal with many people on a face to face, day in, day out level. Like Peanut Butter, I want an office with a window and nobody constantly looking over my shoulder. Yes, I will still answer to someone and there will still be someone of authority watching what I do, but they won't be in my office.

 

Drive 600 miles and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Say, Saint Peter don't call me home yet,
I sold my soul to the company store.

I don't know if this thread is about trucking, crummy bosses, or the bad economy.

So here's my $.02:

I made the mistake of becomming a Hack (taxi driver, NYC) right out of school. First thing I learned in that job is,,, "Job Security" is right up there with "Tooth Fairy" (Actually the Tooth Fairy paid better, adjusted for inflation, but I've run out of teeth to give)

Someone on Madison Ave. gives you a "seig-hail", and there's STILL no guarentee you're gonna get that fare before someone else swoops in. Or if it's gonna be worth more than $3, or if the SOB isn't gonna drag you to Greenwich Village and skip.

The thing is, that cut-thoat capitalist, mentality stayed with me even after I left the biz. I can't stand working in an office where more time is spent discussing little-league and Melrose Place than Productivity and Customer Service.

The even MORE shocking/annoying thing is when this attitude is prevailent among SUPERVISORS and Mid-management. The ammount of time wasted by white-collar cube dwellers is probably equal to the GDB of a South American Nation.

Which is why it TOTALY burns me that these are the people running the lower classes. The people who think timing an employee's bathroom break is worth 12 cents a year to the company's bottom line. That wasting 2 hours of transit time is better than paying a $2 toll. That saving 23 cents on an engine part is better than avoiding 3 years of warranty work and a customer who'll never come back.

Who ARE these people? When did they take over? And how the heck do we get rid of them?

 

So...You drove locally for 7 years and that qualifies you to judge the OVER THE ROAD industry?

I don't see the connection.

As a local driver you know exactly "0" about the OTR side of trucking but you continually come here and trash the entire industry based on what? Something someone told you? Something you read here?

No one cares about your "better paying job as a federal employee" I personally wouldn't trade places with you for whatever you make because I couldn't imagine myself doing such a dull job. So you got a good job...Good for you.

But if everythings so great in your world why are you so bitter that you feel compelled to come here and trash a job you know little about?
If you're so obsessed with this business It begs the question...Why? If you hate it so much leave it be. But no, You have to come here and constantly belittle everyone that does this for a living and I have yet to see a thread that you've participated in where you didn't get around to telling us about your "better paying job as a federal employee"

I'm just curious about the motivation that drives the obsession...

 

Well I'm guessing that someone always wanted to be a big trucker and use to fantasize about being the baddest SOB driver on the road but never got any further than a local shmuck and eventually got fired from that so now he comes here lying to himself to try and make anybody else feel as worthless as himself. But hey that's just a guess.

 

That's a reasonable theory...All the symptoms are present.

 

Local driver, huh? I guess you were the one afraid of soap and water since you would have be home every night. Shady....I think you're the shade tree, you can't talk about OTR you never did OTR so you need to be quiet about what you don't know.

Open your mouth and said you were a federal employee.....that explains more than you know.

 

With my luck he's probably the new Highway Transportation Czar.

 

###### driver!