Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Evomalo · Dec 23, 2023

JohnBoy said: ↑

Thank you. I’ve debated, thought it over, spoke with my wife, and finally came to a very thought out conclusion that I’m not ready to retire just yet. I am ready, and have been for quite some time to stop chasing miles and not getting paid for a ton of free work. I just couldn’t find the kind of job that would afford me the opportunity to do just that, until the day after my wife and I landed in Venice Italy in September and started our vacation. It was then that the decision to leave was finalized. I was owed a weeks vacation when we got back, had to be employed on November 30th in order to get the year end bonus, then had to find out what was needed on my part to get the yearly match on my 401K. I took care of all that, filled out the app, went through all, and I mean all the city, state and federal background checks, took the drug test, got the approval and established my end/start date. I always said, I don’t want to end up like my old man, worked his whole life, retired with no game plan and passed away 2 years later. I’m still able and capable to work, love the job, and who knows, maybe I’ll be done in 6 months, a year, or two. Right now, this new job is everything I need in the twilight of my career.
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I know someone that is still driving at 80. He is local not otr though

MidWest_MacDaddy · Dec 23, 2023

JohnBoy said: ↑

Thanks Wayne. I appreciate your words. One thing I will disagree with though is this, Knight could care less about who I am, what I do, or what I gave Abilene. It’s strictly a numbers game to them. Now, maybe a few at Abilene that I have worked with for all these years might raise an eyebrow next week when I send in my resignation letter, but trust me, Knight DGAF.
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Oh I understand. But whether they know or care, they most certainly DID lose a good one.

JohnBoy · Dec 23, 2023

Evomalo said: ↑

I know someone that is still driving at 80. He is local not otr though
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When I was at Calex, we had a driver named Jimmy. Was the first driver they hired back in the day. My dispatcher Louie called me one day while I was getting loaded in Salinas to meet Jimmy and run back to Scranton Pa together. That lasted the first night. Jimmy was 84, worked off paper logs, no QC, had a flip phone only because he couldn’t find a pay phone to use, and ran my backside into the ground. Got back to Scranton a day and a half before me. Was driving at the time for 62 years. Only made one round a month. Last I heard, Jimmy passed at 91.

JForce28 · Dec 24, 2023

JohnBoy said: ↑

When I was at Calex, we had a driver named Jimmy. Was the first driver they hired back in the day. My dispatcher Louie called me one day while I was getting loaded in Salinas to meet Jimmy and run back to Scranton Pa together. That lasted the first night. Jimmy was 84, worked off paper logs, no QC, had a flip phone only because he couldn’t find a pay phone to use, and ran my backside into the ground. Got back to Scranton a day and a half before me. Was driving at the time for 62 years. Only made one round a month. Last I heard, Jimmy passed at 91.
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Great story. I live in Scranton and I thought it was such a shame Calex put the driver facing cameras in the trucks.

RebelChick · Dec 24, 2023

JForce28 said: ↑

Great story. I live in Scranton and I thought it was such a shame Calex put the driver facing cameras in the trucks.
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I didn’t pay attention to the driver facing cameras when they had them at Abilene. I knew they weren’t constantly recording. BUT, when you have them and you pick up your phone and a voice tells you, “Put phone down.” & then the next day you get written up for it, that’s a bit much for me. Yes, that just happened with my current company. A lot of things were misrepresented with these folks. But, as I saw what another driver in a thread that got so “whatever” that it got deleted went through with comments, I haven’t said much about my situation. Besides, unless I put the details out there for public dissection, like she did, IMO it’s NOYOB, and even then don’t dog pile on people when they’re down. Let’s just say that the last 4 years have been rough. The last 3 1/2 especially, and just when I feel I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m finding out that it’s the train. Just my current situation, not my permanent situation.

ExtremeUnction · Dec 25, 2023

Merry Christmas to all my fellow Abileenies and all you other folks reading the thread.

Finfn1372 · Dec 25, 2023

Merry Christmas everyone,let's remember the real reason for the season.

MACK E-6 · Dec 25, 2023

JohnBoy said: ↑

Worst kept secret at 1700 Willis Rd, is the fact I’m leaving. I called Steve my DM yesterday to wish him and his family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, then got into the discussion of me leaving. He heard from HR and Safety. I sat down with HR this past Monday to go over the billing in order to keep my health insurance in place until March 1st through Cobra. I know sooner left then the news spread like wild fire. He was very understanding. I’ve got about 3 phone calls from various people up the chain about why I’m leaving and what can be done to keep me. I didn’t get into the nitty gritty about why. I took the high road and let them know I will not have to chase miles anymore. There is only 2 people at 1700 Willis Rd that if they should call, I will have no problem telling them. What I will say is this, Abilene is the face of 2 very distinct companies. The one I hired on at on April 10th 2013, and the one that emerged after the buyout on March 18th, 2018.

The first company was the one I was going to retire at. The closer I got to retirement, the more obvious it became that it wasn’t going to happen. I spent 10 years and 8 months here, it wasn’t all bad, but it was not something I wanted to be involved with anymore. There was a boatload of good times, I leave with good memories. But the things that finally became important to me far outweighed the good memories and good times. I have decided to start another thread here on TTR. I will be starting it next weekend when I’m at the hotel in Humboldt Tn. Meanwhile, here is my official resignation letter I’ll be sending in on Wednesday. View attachment 497061

View attachment 497400
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Good luck in the next adventure. I know you’ll hit the ground running.

Merry Christmas everyone.

JohnBoy · Dec 25, 2023

MACK E-6 said: ↑

Good luck in the next adventure. I know you’ll hit the ground running.

Merry Christmas everyone.
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Thank you my friend, and Merry Christmas to you as well!

JohnBoy · Dec 25, 2023

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