Fleet Owner horror stories

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by TheLoadOut, May 18, 2021.

  1. TheLoadOut

    TheLoadOut Road Train Member

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    I was just curious about other fleet owners experiences with whacky drivers.

    Got any stories to tell? I guess I'd like to hear I'm not alone in this department.
     
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  3. Badmon

    Badmon Heavy Load Member

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    Get it started chief! Give us a good one or four :happy1:
     
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  4. jamespmack

    jamespmack Road Train Member

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    I was only a night shop forman. Had to send a tech to a customer to pick up driver who was "clucking like a chicken" on a break room table of facility.
     
  5. slow.rider

    slow.rider Road Train Member

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    Got one to start yalls off with with from a YouTuber I watch. Dude gets a call from a shipper who takes ID's, telling him your driver is trying to pick up a load using a regular drivers license, not a CDL. He says whaddaya mean no CDL, tell him to call me. They say whaddaya mean him, it's a her.

    Turns out its the driver's GF, she's following him around the country in her car and handling all his paperwork.
     
  6. lester

    lester Midwest's #1 Feed Hauler

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    My dad, brother and myself used to have a fairly large farming and manure relocation operation. Would have i dunno 15 ish employees around in busy season. Heard enough stupid things said and saw enough equipment tore up or abused that I learned to trust no one and it is very unlikely I will ever hire an employee for my own operation.

    Thing is a lot of the time when people screw up its just ignorance to what they are doing or they are just plain stupid or they just aren't mentally or physically capable of doing the job. How do you combat those things? You can teach someone who is ignorant, ignorance is just not knowing. But stupid you can't fix
     
  7. bzinger

    bzinger Road Train Member

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    I. Could tell u horror stories about the fleet I'm leased to and no way I'd put a driver in my truck.
    I'd sell it first ...and wouldn't find a driver anyway.
     
  8. Flint1

    Flint1 Road Train Member

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    Sigh. I own a school bus company. Had a driver (female) stop the bus, run out the door, drop her pants and take a whiz. Yes there was kids on the bus.
     
  9. Dino soar

    Dino soar Road Train Member

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    The first one I used to be at lease driver and on Friday I would do this account where I would start at 5 in the morning and I wouldn't get done that route until 8 or 9 at night.

    I asked the owner of the leasing company what do I do if no one is there when I get back. He said just don't do what the other guy before you did. I said what did he do? He said he got back there at 9 at night and no one was there so he backed up to the fence put the truck in reverse tore the fence down got in his car and went home and never told anyone.

    At that same company there was another guy that would pick up a tractor-trailer at One account, drive around the corner and go to the diner and have breakfast for an hour and a half. Then he would go and make a few deliveries and in the afternoon he would go to the gym and he'd work out for 2 hours. Every day.

    When we were Paving I had an ad looking for drivers and wow that was difficult. So I find this guy and he's telling me he wants to come to work for me and he can't wait to get started and I tell him I have jobs I have to go look at and the guy keeps talking and talking and talking and he won't let me go. I said look man I got to go I'll see you in the morning. He said yeah but I got to tell you this and I got to tell you that and I'm going to do this and this is going to be like this and this is the way it is and I'm telling you this and I'm telling you that I... wait wait wait! don't go anywhere! I got more to tell you because this is like this at this is going to be like that and this is like this and bla bla bla bla bla. I can't wait to work for you man I can't wait to see you tomorrow morning and let me just tell you this and I got to tell you that.. I said look I got to get out of here now! So I still had a hard time getting away from the guy.

    Next morning comes he doesn't show up. No phone call he disappears Into Thin Air.

    Then I had another guy driving for me and he did okay for about 2 or 3 weeks and then all the sudden he disappeared. Didn't show up for work I called him called him called him couldn't get ahold of him I had his pay to give him could not get in contact with him.

    Two weeks later the guy gets a hold of me. When he did his voice was so groggy and so Gravely and he was almost delirious. The guy went on a two-week Bender God only knows what drugs he did or what else he did but that guy was effed up for two straight weeks. He wanted to come back to work and I had a big job we were working on and I really needed the help but no way I had to fire him right on the spot.

    Then when we were Paving I had a really good guy that drove for me. But unknown to me he decided to teach one of the laborers how to drive. So at night he would have the guy back in and park the truck.

    Well at that time I shared a yard with other contractors and I got a frantic call early on a Sunday morning.

    Apparently the laborer parked the truck got out of it and went home. I can't tell you exactly how it happened but a little time went by and he never put the truck in gear and never set the parking brake and it rolled down the hill and crashed into someone else's truck. The guy's truck that got hit was really an a-hole anyway but that was a headache I did not need.

    I'm rather enjoying being in a business that I don't have any employees...
     
  10. slow.rider

    slow.rider Road Train Member

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    Slightly off topic I know, but won't take long. Just a little OCD hair splitting to get out of the way.

    Naivete is not knowing. Ignorance is not wanting to know. Stupidity is not able to know. But you're right in your overall point. Stupid can't be fixed.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2021
    Dino soar, gentleroger, Coffey and 2 others Thank this.
  11. roundhouse

    roundhouse Road Train Member

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    I knew a o/o that kinda did that,
    He couldn’t read or write and his wife did all the paperwork, including doing his log book every night when he got home .
    When she went with him she would ride in his truck, she didn’t drive her own car .

    I started with one truck, and made so much money that I foolishly bought three more and at one time had four trucks and drivers and I made more money with me driving one truck than I did with me trying to drive one truck and drivers in the other three .

    My mistake was thinking that a hired driver would work as hard as me .
    They got paid a percentage. 33% of the gross to the truck.

    my wife is an accountant and she did the math, the hired drivers worked almost exactly 65% as hard as I did and the maintenance costs went through the roof.

    I’d get years out of a clutch, a hired driver would get maybe nine months out of a clutch.
    I don’t think I had a hired driver ever get a twelve months out of a clutch before he fried it.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2021
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