Is 10 months too short for my first trucking job?

I could see that. But the OP said they got in trouble for busting the line. Broken lines on a truck are pretty hard to pin on a driver unless someone sees it happen or they go out of their way to imcriminate themselves. I'm still waiting for the OP to answer whether or not the electrical line was on the truck. If they pulled down a power line or something similar with the truck, not only will that be an incident on their DAC, it could also have resulted in a citation from law enforcement. That would definitely explain why their FM is riding them.

But I'm just speculating until the OP gives more details.

 

That's nothing. They shouldn't have even given you grief when it happened, much less now. If replacing a single cord is such a big deal to them, I'd be looking for greener pastures.

 

"Company Driver" is different than most jobs. It's such a segmented industry that companies don't really look hard at how long you stayed at this or that company. It's kinda understood that there is something f'd-up about every company, and the driver is going to look for the company that's least f'd-up for him. Long as you don't have any preventables or tickets and don't get fired, you're always in the driver's seat when it comes to job-hunting, no pun intended.

Also, yeah, many companies require 1 year experience. But a seldom-discussed benchmark is the 2-year OTR experience point. THAT is when your insurance rates go down for the company hiring you - the insurance industry believes that if you're going to be an accident-prone driver, it will show within 2 years and no less. The 2-year mark is when there is no question about whether you'll be hired as an experienced driver or a newbie. That's when you've got enough experience not to worry about whether you've got enough experience anymore. And it doesn't make any difference whether that was with one company, or several, as long as you keep your record clean.

 

I used to bend the clips inside and worked, sometimes not.

 

Applies to all CDL holders, it's an insurance industry standard. Once you hit 2 years you cost your company less and should be paid more. Maybe saying OTR was misleading, just ON-the-road driving experience, local counts. Wherever you are when you get to the 2-year mark, be sure to bring this to someone's attention and let them know you're aware that your market-value just went up. I've never dealt directly with this business so I don't know exactly how much they save on insurance for experienced drivers, but it's probably a few hundred a year. No reason that few hundred shouldn't be re-routed into your pocket instead of theirs, you're the one who stayed clean for 2 years. I didn't know this when I hit 2 years.

 

Right, plus spray some hand sanitizer or alcohol into the connection before plugging it back in. That stuff is great because it has alcohol in it.

 

My first job was 8 months at swift. Found out long haul wasn't the life for me. Applied for and landed a local job during my next home time. I've been local ever since.

Leaving now could be a great move for you.