USA Truck ( Never Go Home )

I drive a truck...I own a house...I was married and raised 4 kids..sent 2 of them to college. I worked hard and picked my companies VERY carefully and I didn't work cheap..It's pretty simple. It's called UPS..Now, I pull tankers to supplement my retirement and to stay busy. And I still don't work for cheap companies. Value yourself, value your license and don't sell yourself to bottom feeders..

 

Something you must realize, Trucking for the most part is like the military. The driver is a grunt, expendable. These so called Mega-Carriers are using their most valuable asset, you. They will use you, they will abuse you, until you can't stand it and jump off their merri-go-round from hell, or you become a drone. I like to think of trucking as a giant ant farm. We (the Drivers) are just moving stuff from one place to another for various reason. We haul F.A.K. (freight of all kinds) from construction materials to consumable products. Just like tiny ants move one grain of sand at a time to build a Colony. You my freind are finding out that sometimes Humans are nothing more than ants. Is it Savery? No. you are just being paid slave wages. Giving yourself to a Master 24/7/365 for 10 bucks and hour or less. Knowing this has made you angry because you are an intelligent creature. Your mind visualizes a perfect world, but you live in a different reality. This is the paradox of Trucking in general. They Promise you one thing, but deliver another. In retrospect, I have been to several Mega-Carriers, building my resume (experience) only to find they all seem to operate by a "Model" that earns the shareholders the bulk of the revenues. The drivers, staff, and others are paid the least amount possible in order to show earnings that please the "Fat Cats" sitting in their Leather Executive Chairs and Hand Rubbed Cherry-Walnut Desks.

Man Verses The Machine

Thanks to places like the TTR you can stand up to the Machine, But be careful, The Sword can cut both ways. You have many rules and regulations (FMCSA) too learn and many miles to drive to pay off that truck. Your earned income is directly proportional to the work you put into it. As a business owner(not a lease operator) you might find rewards above and beyound the almighty dollar. You might find personal freedom and the joys of being your own boss and home time. Are you willing to stand up to the evil Giant (become and O/O) or continue to be a Ant?

You can always go back to being a corporater slave wage prisoner living in their truck, waiting for handouts. Warming up canned food and peeing in plastic jugs hoping to make next months bills.

 

I gotta say, the stuff that trucker is reporting as fact regarding USA is suspect.

I have been driving here since last fall. I work hard everyday, maximize my HOS (we're still on paper), and communicate with my fleet manager. I drive an old truck, yet bring home $ 700/wk. I'm paid detention, breakdown, layover, etc..

Is this company great? It has it's issues, yet what place wouldn't that has so many inexperienced people? The drivers who make these statements
regarding their treatment at this company, fail to include what their involvement in the outcome was. What did they do? Most will say nothing, but it just don't work that way. I see it often- as I go and pick up loads that people just leave wherever they quit, then these same folks complain that their DAC report is skewed, yet its the companies fault?

Since I have been here I have realized that I started here, but will not necessarily end here. Last week I took the dbl/trpl, tank, hazmat test and passed, submitted my information for the background check. I'm making plans and preparing for the next step. I will not let a company dictate my future by causing me to make a decision that could impact my future earnings.

USA is not a perfect place, yet people, via free will, start and quit here everyday. They make the choice, then after reality sets in and its time to realize the consequences, they start to "colorfully justify" the choice they made. Its funny to me now, where as when I started here I thought these people were right..WRONG!

 

I read you response and I beg to differ. USA is #### equipment sucks dispatch sucks and they could care less about their drivers ask around. I run hard. And legal I also scan my trips as soon as I'm done yet I still get no miles. 700 bucks a week? Not with USA you don't.

 

I certainly will agree to disagree. I have a good boss and he keeps me moving. I stay busy, maximize my HOS. You seem rather hostile towards USA truck, that's understandable, given your circumstances as you stated them. However, my circumstance is not that way.

Seven years driving experience? You sure? Most experienced drivers don't come here, unless there is something wrong that would inhibit them from being employable with other carriers, or didn't I read that right?

 

Waisted alot of time with swift & marten trans came to USA cause I didn't want to run regional USA told me I could run. So yea I've been driving 7 years (3 companies). As me being hostile, yea I am cause I'm not being treated with the common curtesy I give. I'm no angel but no slacker either. With the exception of you and maybe 3 other people everyone I talk to is fed up with USA. Maybe you know something I don't so please educate me.

 

Sir I don't know the answer, as I have a long time friend, that would share a completely opposite experience as I have. He and I speak daily and sometimes listening to him I stop and think; are we working for the same company?

The one thing I consistently see here is the impact of the fleet manager. As I said before, mine is good (30), yet my friend, his is not so good. That is a huge factor here, from all the reading and driver interactions I have had. But also, a large amount is attributed to newer lazy drivers who feel as though they are entitled to the world.

Luck of the draw or whatever you will call it, the fleet manager determines your fate from what I see. I truly hope things get better for you. Things are not always rosy for me, but what ever is? My boss makes it pretty consistent for me, which makes my journey a little easier.

 

dude i dont know where ur located but i haul trash up here in the north east ma, me, nh i can be home everyday if i want to cook the books i drive a 05 kenworth w900L with a 72 in bunk and and i average right about 1000 a week take home running legally theres a bigger company in maine that does the same thing and all there drivers average 700-1300 a week take home and thats be home every weekend so the money is out there just stick to the smaller companies and you'll find it

 

Begging to go home after 14 days and then they keep you out longer than that? That is the reason you have a nice credit card in your wallet. With that Visa or AE in your pocket home is always just a phone call away!

All it takes is for a BFI like USA to keep you out, that's when you find a place like a wrecker yard where your truck can be parked with a deposit of cash from your pocket safely, securely and the only person who can get it out is you after paying the deposit. Go on line and purchase a flight home, park the truck call a cab and go home!

Do NOT answer any calls from the company until you are finished with home time and are heading back to the truck when you close the taxis door!

If you want you can cover the dome so no pings to the QC or whoever they use get through. When you get back to a truck stop uncover the thing and your reply is "I don't know what happened to it?" That's right it quit working but I didn't notice it because I also was very sick and have been asleep since whenever!

Why didn't I call? I did call but you people don't seem to hear what I tell you so that's your problem as I sit in a truck not in an office where my job is to screw with drivers with your lousy operating procedures.

OR you can tell moron dispatcher that here's the deal. I am looking for a secure place that will hold the truck and trailer and not allow anyone to get it except me. I am then going to the airport and I'll be on flight # and give the idiot the information on when you'll be taking off and returning to be ready for a dispatch.

OR

You can get my arse home as I requested 10 to the 20th time squared that I have asked your sorry arse to get me home. Which do you want to do? I will NOT take any load that does not go by my house. Did you hear that? Do I go home on my own or can you do your job as a dispatcher and get me home? If you can't then you really are not fit fpr the job of dispatcher. Maybe the carry out window of BK or for the clown but you make a sorry dispatcher!

While talking to moron be nice but firm. Any human on the planet can actually talk to people in a very sarcastic way without dropping any F bombs or one single cuss word! That really pisses them off when they realize that you have no respect for them as a human and you are not falling for their crapola anymore!

NOW: This is a good reason not to have a bunch of crap in the truck! You could be fired on the spot and having a bunch of Bull Crap as if you actually need all that junk is going to cause a problem with you as to sell on the CB, trash or pay stupid money to ship it home! Or they can bring you back to the yard and fire you!

Me? I would have NO problem with USA firing me be cause for a company like them to tell me I can't go home they can all kiss my royal red arse! If they can go home every night but think the ones who pay their paychecks can't then from the CEO on down they can all pound sand where the sun don't shine! Yes without the drivers not a single cent comes into the company. To treat the backbone of the company like trash is how the "trash" should treat the company!

Stop knuckling under to morons! Yes I am calling ALL dispatchers, and all the other alphabet people in any company like this morons.

Take your life back from these people. Tell them you will be home on such and such a date and tell them how and if you really care if they say you can't do that.

Hey where is the idiot at that is going to stop you? HMMM? Sitting in a office 500 miles away? Yeah he'll be able to stop you with a sentence on a Qualcomm screen! If they are going to keep you from home like this then there is a better company out there.
Now go home for the weekend and screw those who do it every night on your dime!