Is this really how it is?

My first trainer quit when I was starting out. I had 40 hours to complete my training. Just dropped me in the Denver terminal on a Friday night. Had to finish with another trainer the next week. Last load that was to return us to Denver so I could pick up my truck they were going to leave us out over the weekend. That was then changed about 5 minutes later with a swap load. Sometimes things do go in your favor. I had been out for 6 weeks by then missed Christmas with my family and was trying to get home after my first dispatch for the promised 5 days off. Instead got a load going to Slowhio that ran me right past Des Moines (my home). Stopped long enough for breakfast with my parents. Then after another week out and some conversations with my fm I got home.
Your going to learn speak up for yourself and make things happen because no one is going to do it for you. There are days that will really suck and days that will be great. The bad ones learn from and chalk up to expirience.
Good luck

 

No , in the beginning you get your CDL from a CDL and find out there are 10 times more wannabes than there are job openings .

 

I'm not unhappy at all.
I'm very happy. I have a good job, a good family, and a great homelife.

But I've been in trucking for 20 years (10 as a driver) and I've seen a good industry go downhill.
You think your job is good because when you sit around unpaid waiting for loads, waiting to get loaded/unloaded etc or hanging out at the truckstop, you can bake pies, draw pictures, and watch sunsets and rainbows.

That's all well and good...but most people don't get into trucking for that stuff.
They see it as a job and a way to support their families.

You don't like what I write...fine...but I've only been here 6 months and I've got over 55 thanks to my name so other people agree with me and see value in what I say.
You can call me unhappy, miserable, etc but one thing you can't call me is a LIAR because everything I say is 100% true in regards to this industry.

You list your experience as 0-1 years...I've got more miles going backwards than you do in 10th gear.
And there's guys with 20, 30+ years who can say the same about me.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you don't like what I write, THEN DON'T READ IT.
There you go, problem solved.

 

Item one: I don't sit and wait for loads. We're on a dedicated fleet and we run 5 -6 thousand miles a week and we have a 34 hr reset at home each week.

Item two: I have NEVER called you a liar.

Item three: You may wish to toss your sexist comments at me but frankly you'll need to do better. You haven't managed to upset me.

Item four: Yes you have much more experience on the road than I do. I tend to listen and respect people who do.......but you've made that impossible for me.

Item five: That's quite an impressive number of thanks you've got. 59 in six months.
I'm ashamed that mine is so low. Only 4417 in 22 months. However.......that really doesn't matter now does it? You're obviously intelligent, experienced and most people would benefit from your knowledge. All I suggested is that you don't attempt to insult some of us by insisting that we don't know if we're happy or not.

Again......I wish you nothing but happiness. And I'll certainly take your advice and not read your posts in the future. Take care!

 

Yah hang tight, the first few weeks are absolute hell on earth, I think they do it on purpose to see if you can handle it, but now I have very few problems, or I've just gotten used to the bullcrap and ignore it hehe

 

Paddington... I am a rookie... and I don't have the years of experience in trucking as you do... But, I came into this industry with a lot of other experience and skills...

Every industry has it's ups and downs... I have a friend who is in real estate and that is an industry that got hit hard.... However, she did well, and one thing she said is that anyone can do good in real estate when the market is good.. But, successful real estate agents are the ones who do good even in bad times and a bad market... The same is true in any industry including trucking...

My company is small and treats us well, I get layover pay, bonuses and incentives in addition to my pay. You do a good job and you make money it is that simple.. I have even been bumped ahead of few drivers who have backed up more miles than I have driven forward, because I work well with others, dispatch, shippers/receivers, FM''s, Safety.. and so on...

I have only been on the forum for 4 months and thanked a little over 400 times.. I have made friends with drivers from wannabes to many, many, many years of experience...

Not everyone has such a pessimistic and dismal view of trucking... and I don't think you need to be condescending and disrespectful to those of us who share our more optimistic and cheerful view. The fact that I have been thanked over 400 times in 4 months and Nana averages over 200 thank yous a month means there are those who appreciate our positive attitudes and our enjoyment of truck driving.
I too wish you well... and hope your days are as happy and rewarding as mine and even more...

 

It what he does...Negativity personified.

 

I think one of the most important things you can do if you're going to drive OTR is to remember your life is flowing by.

What I mean is don't fall into the trap of living for your hometime. If you're working for a big company you'll probably only be home four or five days after being on the road for four weeks or something. You can't look at driving as if you're at work and the hometime as if it's a weekend where you can finally relax and enjoy yourself. If you take that approach you'll give up so much of your life waiting for a "weekend" that just zooms by in a blink of an eye. And you can't get those days you lost on the road back. I fell into this trap years ago.

Now I remind myself that it's all my life -- my only life -- and I need to make sure to live every day.

Work on hobbies. Read books you've always wanted to read but never had time for. Learn to draw. Learn to do the best chrome polishing job ever seen by human eyes. Just do whatever makes you happy. Because you're going to have days where you wait hours on your next load. Or have hours waiting to get unloaded at the receiver. You can either sit there in your truck fuming or you can take it as an unexpected chance to do something fun.

Enjoy your life. At home and on the road. Or make changes to your life so that it becomes something enjoyable... after all you only get one... unless the Hindus are correct after all.

 

To be perfectly honest, you have to take the good with the bad.

In the last two weeks, in this order, my hood has fallen off, my bumper has fallen off, my fuel pump has failed, and somehow a trailer struck my apu and tore an antifreeze line off.. Still had to make deliveries on time with hood strapped on with a cargo strap. And the bumper too. Still had to deliver without the fuel pump too! And without antifreeze! Running with a bad fuel pump didnt last long, dispatch tried to get me to run without antifreeze until I got them to realize how ridiculous that was!

 

you're so right. I used to do the same thing when i was team driving. Not no more.