How many times have you switched jobs

1st otr job was in '95. Stayed til 2000. Did a 3 month stint at JBHunt. Switched to my current employer in June 2000. So almost 23 years at current job. 3 jobs over 28 years. Previous non driving jobs, 2 over 6 years. I'm definitely not a job hopper

 

Heh I just quit again.

This job was a money maker at first getting a new ALDI warehouse running, but after that and after the holiday the freight dropped a lot and also they can never get us on a schedule. That plus the strange hassles the warehouse gives us with poorly loaded trailers leading to spills.

It's to bad it's a brand new facility with new trucks with what seemed to be a reputable company, but it's been a huge mess.

 

Been at it since '84. 13 driving jobs in that time, got downsized out of private fleet, had another close up shop and one I helped close down (you thieving, speed freak #######,) 3 were temporary gigs from the start. Been where I'm at now since '07, although I was in the office for few years after I blew out a shoulder on vacation.

Always blew my mind, when I was doing hiring, how many jobs some guys had. Oftentimes, you saw some that never stayed at a single job long enough to even learn their system before they moved on. We're talking 10 or more jobs in a year. The 10 year job history was a freaking encyclopedia! And these folks thought I'd even consider them for a job with one of the steepest learning curves in the industry? HA!

 

Wow, I feel a little less awkward about quitting. I toughed it out almost a year. I was thinking of sticking around a little longer, but I think they're about to reduce the fleet. I think ALDI gave my company an overestimate for their expected freight so we have to many drivers.

 

Is that hazmat company still around? Sounds like a fun job. I am also a little bit like you, except maybe the temper part.

I usually realize how I'm not making enough despite my efforts to be as efficient as possible. Last year I ran 150k miles. Did not quite make it to 100k usd for the year. Around 300 or more days worked out of the year and it does not seem worth it.

Time to start looking for something new.

 

I was four years at my first trucking job and only left due to wrist pain, that was unavoidable due to the nature of the work. I feel bad for you guys who are constantly job hopping. I'm pretty sure the first couple years at any place are going to suck. It gets better! After a couple years, you're probably on a second or third dispatcher, now he's the new guy and half the time you're telling him what to do and not do. A couple more years and you're getting the cushiest best paying loads there are. You know how everything works and when something isn't right, people higher on the food chain listen to you and respect you. You have equity in the company and can throw your weight around on occasion. What are they gonna do, fire you? Keep the truck out of a wreck and you're basically invincible. You are the unicorn that every other company hopes to hire when they post a want ad, and everyone knows it.

 

Slow learner. Lol.

 

You could fill a book with all the stories of alcoholic, indifferent mechanics covering they’re laziness by blaming a driver. In smaller companies you have management that can see through that but in the megas, most management don’t have mechanical understanding and will just take the mechanic’s word for it.

 

Schneider since 2012.
Hey, it ain't all that, but I learned that it's mostly the same pile of poop, just different colored trucks.