Advice to new drivers

OR SOME BUM WHO BIT#### AND STILL STRUGGLING TO MAKE IT IN THE INDUSTRY

If Im struggling I would hate to see those that failed , my MOTORHOME is worth more than any truck CHUMPI ever leased , live on a lake in a 3800 sq ft home ( own the lake ) 8 highway tractors , 20+ trailers , heavy equipment / dump / log trucks, nice shop / office , have 17 employees for the trucking , roadbuilding , logging work I have.

 

Another "SUPERTRUCKER" going over his dream inventory!

 

bs.............if there hurtin for drivers they'll still hire ya, chances are the other guy they hire would do the same...............unless he's a desperate #######, and i guess those are pretty good odds from the quality of drivers i've seen lately and what they'll put up with

 

Hey Flatbed!AND any other "small business owners" who would like to jump in here!

Lets talk hiring for a minute!

You and I both have been through the "mill" so to speak and you own your own but lets get down and discuss how you read and apply real world to an applicant to your company?

Lets start with the OP's "job jumping". Would you look at that and say.. Looks good to me or think WHY has he jumped 3 times in a year or do you look and see Prime and go that's a given, it's ok then, then UPS and that other which I've never heard of but that's nothing new!

Do you look at DAC? And if you do how much would you actually believe a DAC report? Do you look at his job history before trucking and how long he survived before trucking?

Next is when you do your background check and hear that the driver had an accident and it was:
1) DOT Reportable but not the truck drivers fault
1) Not DOT Reportable but was the truck drivers fault (yes people these actually do happen!)

Or a driver has a great driving record with say 10 years experience BUT has a mouth that can have both feet inserted in it at the same time (spelled Billy Big Rigger) or as I have been known to phrase it a moron with "that big blow hole under the nose"

Or a rookie fresh out of school trying to learn the ropes that maybe has a mechanical aptitude or even some shop work?

How do you or any of the other owners with a fleet base your hiring standards?

I ask as it seems that a lot of whats happening in the industry and having guidelines set by insurance companies it could have an effect on new hires and even older drivers.

Does OTR figure any in your search for drivers or just being able to drive 20 miles and make it back to the yard in one piece with all of the paint on the truck good enough? (That was MY driving test for my first trucking job! I was fresh out of the Army with 3 "cards" in my pocket with all the equipment I could drive and operate!)

This could shed some light on the "rumor" that you "must" have OTR before you can get a local job OR if you go local you'll never get an OTR job.

I believe the name on this thread could handle this discussion!
OH? How is the snow figuring in on you right now in upstate NY? Do you have a nice state contract?

 

yeah, if you bounce around it's like having a bad credit score, no one wants you, they think you are not reliable

 

This is whay I did my homework here and other places while and even before I was in CDL school.
I wanted to land a job I could at least tolerate for 6 months to a year and promised myself I'd stay on my first job at least 6 months as recomended by the school I graduated from.
I hope to land a decent paying local or dedicated run job eventually so past employment history will be important.
I held down my last job before trucking 24 years at one employer before the recession made it dry up and blow away.
So many of the better driving jobs out there are asking for 2 years OTR experience but after 6 months I figure I'll start trying to get my foot in the door.
I landed at May Trucking and have been almost 4 months with them so far,only a few complaints would come to mind but I keep them under my hat and stay the course of a company man for now.
Some of the poo in this industry is hard to swallow no doubt but you know what flows downhill and the longer one hangs in at a job the further up the hill you reside.

 

your not helping anyone out, theres reasons ppl leave just as you, these companies just save you the time and them the money, by saying were gonna screw u2, so don't come here