Current Drivers - USA Truck

Yes sir, it is, if driving a big truck is what you want to do. Even with all the problems this is still a great job.

 

I am very sorry that I took so long to get here Retribution. There is a great deal of mental illness in the truck driving world and I'm getting to each case as quickly as I can. Your case was brought to my attention by Choo Choo who is a dear friend of mine. I'm going to help you but first I need to admonish those big meanies who have been just awful to you on this USA Truck thread. I'm ashamed of you all. Can you not see that our Brother Retribution is in pain! I took one look at his profile and I recognized the symptoms immediately. Retribution is suffering from Arrogant Stupidity Syndrome and this is a very serious affliction. Now I am not a doctor but I do play one in the bedroom and any layman should be able to diagnose this guy. The horrible misspellings. Being afraid to put even a fictitious name or state in his profile. Arrogant Stupidity Syndrome is most often caused by one having been spoken to sharply by an adult in one's childhood and it can result in an inability to face Grown Up Reality possibly for the rest of the sufferer's life if they do not receive help. Retribution my name is Ralph Haile and I have driven for USA Truck since 1992. I run a web site for those like you who live with the pain of ###. It just kills me when I think about you spending night after night alone in your darkened closet hunched over your keyboard sitting naked in a puddle of your own urine trying to deal with the grown up world the best way you know how. It doesn't help though does it Retribution? You're still controlled by that scared little child inside you who only wants a little understanding and maybe a hug. I understand you Retribution. You've been reduced to the internet equivalent of a bathroom poet or Radio Rambo by that thoughtless adult who verbally abused you all those years ago. Was it your Mommy? If you just add dotcom to my screen name you will go to my online clinic and I can help you further. I can get rid of your fear. I can get rid of the bed wetting. I may even be able to help with your inability to satisfy a woman. I know it must be very hard. Sorry, poor choice of words. I have that big ol' hug just waiting for you Retribution. Just come on out of the closet. I know how to end your misery.

 

While you think this Retribution character has a problem and try to make light of it, who cares? If he/she wants to be mad because of his/her lot in life, they should be mad at themself!

I come across trainers all the time who could care less about their students, how do I know this? THEY STATE it, out loud, in front of drivers and their own students. And the company allows it, students complain, nothing gets done. So who care what this person, I would say clown, but Im not allowed to insult anyone here, says.

USA Truck has done its very best to diminish its driver pool by its own actions. After 19 years you must admit this is not the same company and your are on a different plain than the run of the mill driver. I have spent my time being diligent, accident free, and very focused on being on time yet when I asked 2 weeks in advance to be home for a specific event for my daughter I was met with so much crap that I had to threaten to quit in order to be sent home. I had to threaten to quit, are you serious?
And I think I have a decent fm, he says its his boss.....I dont care. So here I sit at home, trying to decide what Im doing now, when I knew all along I never wanted to leave, but now? When I have to beg and threaten in ordto be with my family, for a specific event, makes me madder than hell!

 

I've been in the same boat goodchoice, slightly different circumstances but same choices and decisions to make. I'd say get your year done... A big weight has been lifted off my shoulders because I don't have that contract hanging over my head anymore. (I didn't need any more debt then I already have). But like anything, its your decision... just create a list of positives and negatives of leaving, then the same for staying.

 

I couldn't care less about Retribution. I do not believe for a minute that he's a Trainer with USA Truck. I was just having a little fun with this tard and I thank you all for indulging me. I do care about the honest hardworking drivers out here like yourself however and here's why. Power for truck drivers comes from Tenure not Turnover. Over the years I've watched as the company's focus has shifted from driver development to driver recruiting and now this is coming back to bite them in the butt. I have been training for USA Truck since 1994 and started with them in 1992 and since that time witnessed a sea of faces passing through our doors and watched as driver pay and benefits slowly declined. I'm making less money now than I did a decade ago and I'm working harder for it. This is not a slam on USA Truck in particular however. This is an industry wide problem. There has always been a driver shortage and the new CSA standards are going to make that worse. Some company is going to figure out sooner or later that the key to future profits lies in it's average driver tenure. Great drivers make for a great trucking company not the other way around. Your quote above really pisses me off. Not because it is a negative remark about a company I've grown to love ( you don't have a relationship with anybody for 19 years without developing some strong feelings and if you stick with that relationship I guess you have to call it "love") but because I know it is absolutely true and from the heart. Been there brother. Got the T-shirt. Not a week goes by that I'm not putting out an APB to everyone I know in the company who has some power to try to rectify a situation like the 1 you describe above and keep a driver from quitting. Many of these drivers I don't even know and I would be lying to you if I told you I did this because I was Mister Sensitive Who Cares About All Creatures Great And Small. No I am a nuts and bolts kind of guy and I read the company's quarterly financial statements. Driver turnover is a huge waste of company resources. Resources that would be better spent on trying to develop the workforce that we have. That would of course include better benefits and pay for drivers like you and I. This would include of course putting an end to the kind of crap you described above. We can't afford it. Maybe USA will be the first company to figure all this out. Maybe you and I will still be here to see it. I hope so.

 

Dead on...Couldn't agree more.

The worst part is, they look at us like the dumb drivers. But the bad thing is, you talk to all of the drivers and they all say the same thing. Instead of blowing thousands trying to get more people with 0 experience, why not invest that money in trying to keep your good drivers there. I mean, they don't even think they should pay detention pay, but they are ok with $3000 sign on bonuses to everyone plus a new laptop and GPS which is another grand. At 40 students per orientation, they hire in 2000+ drivers a year. They have 2500 drivers, so when 80% of your company wont ever stay, you need to look at your business model and think, whoever thought of this is an idiot, and we are fools for not trying to fix it. We are losing money every year, but let's keep hiring more newb's. Don't get me wrong I'm glad they did hire me, but they are killing themselves along with all the other companies.

 

I blew off reporting back today.....Im gonna sleep on it tonight. Make a decision when I open my eyes in the morning. Im just so disgusted with this whole thing I cant even see straight.

I'm not a young man with young mans experiences. I value a good days work and expect to be paid for it. I also understand that starting a new career you have to work your way towards a goal (or higher wage) thru tenure. I'm ok with that too! What I'm not ok with is someone telling me that I don't matter, by diminishing the very thing I work for, my family. My last 3 trips home have been late and filled with so much crap I can hardly stand it.

I saw a new USA driver today, in a new Cascadia, back into a parked car at a local T/S near my home. He tried to drive away but was spotted and pulled over outside on the road. I seen the incident and asked how long he was on the job (after he was cited for leaving the scence of an accident), one month out of upgrade. Brand new truck, less than 3300 miles on it. Yet after almost 9 months, driving a truck with limited a/c no cruise, tilt or functioning ICON system (a 9400)......mind you I have done this accident free, traveled 104K paid miles, never been late....I get a new truck? Nope. Even though I keep asking........here's what I got:

I get a fuel counsel, why am I only getting 5.8mpg.

Unbelievable, I should just wreck the darn thing and get a Pete, ya, Ive seen that happen here too!

 

but I'm not gonna just moan, I'm taking some sort of action.

 

I am very glad to hear that. Action is what is called for right now. I run a blog elsewhere that is by and for the driving professionals at USA Truck which I am not allowed to advertise here but if you add dotcom to my name you'll get there. I just started blogging last month but already we are starting to get some positive feedback from the company about ideas that we drivers have developed there. It's an uphill battle brother. I am not immune from the BS because of my tenure either. Just a few days ago my dispatcher tried to move me from my 09 Pro Star which has 535,000 miles on it into an 09 Pro Star with 485,000 miles on it because they wanted me to run it up to 525,000 miles which is where these trucks are supposed to trade. It's been a very long time since I've had a new truck because I got this 09 used because my 08 Pro Star died on me in a big way and there weren't any new trucks available at that time. Them asking me to take yet another POS pissed me off so much that I immediately gave my 2 week notice which I quickly regretted doing because I hadn't tried anything else to resolve the situation before I did this. Fortunately my dispatcher did not accept the notice. He knows that I am sometimes prone to knee jerk reactions and we did get the situation resolved although I am still waiting on the new truck. The point to this meandering story is that we do need to band together as drivers to insist that the company improve our conditions and now that drivers have available to them truly mobile (no wifi needed) and truly affordable high speed web conectivity we can band together as never before to improve our lot. Tenure and Unity. Keep the faith my friend.

 

I found my way to your place, good stuff over there. Thanx a lot.