Good Companies or Bad.. my thoughts..

Being in the position as many others, having to find some type of employement, and as it seems, a tremendous amount looking toward the trucking industry to provide this. One of my many resources in researching possiblities for me, is TTR. What I'm finding thus far.

1. No matter what name is on the doors, there's always something on both sides of the arguments. Posts I find that are speaking badly about a company, I ask Why, and pursue a possible reason. I find that there is almost always an underlying reason, they had a bad experience. It seems that the fault is always the company, and the poster/driver never has any part of that fault. Does that one-sidedness tend to taint the information, slanting it to play in their favor? I tend to dismiss such posts, and view them as less than truthful. I'm fully aware that there are companies, both large and small, that do some of things they are accused of. Drivers that post positive things about the company they are, or have worked for, tend to have more credibility. Why, because even though they may have had a bad experience, they still acknowledge that the company is just not downright bad. They don't try to paint the company or people working there as some evil entity, just out to take full advantage of them, to steal from them, at all costs.

2. I read a lot of posts where the "office personnel" are the evil ones. They just lie, lie, lie. I'm sure there are some, but I think that those are not that widespread. These people are DMs or recruiters. What are their jobs? Does anyone supervise them? Are they trained when they are first hired? If so who trains them, and how? First I think these people are not at the top of ladder, in fact they may only be one step away from the drivers. They must follow policies and procedures set out by the company that hired them. When they are trained, is it possible that this training dictates what they must or must not tell drivers, both currently employed or prospective employees/drivers? I think it is what may be going on. A DM may not be able to disclose things, doing so and getting caught could cost them their jobs.

To provide some foundation, I come from a law enforcement background. I've spent numerous years in a wide array of the various fields a law enforcement officer can work in. Working in smaller departments/agencies lends itself to this. Interviews or interrogations that are conducted, are done so using proven techniques. Everything falls into play during this. It's not just listening to what is said, or how it is said. It involves knowing how a human body functions or reacts in given cirucmstances. There are some things that people can not control. Next to that is being able to really read what someone writes, sort of reading between the lines.

A LEO also has be able in certain circumstances,not telll the truth, ie; protect confidential information. This is done so the suspected thief, or drug-dealer, ect., do not catch on and do things to elude you. You also may be charged to withhold information to prevent an adverse reaction by the general public. I mean if you provided information to a LEO, that could result in a bad outcome for you, if the wrong people learned of it, wouldn't you want the LEO to keep it confidential?

Ok with that, I'll pose a question, Has anyone else noticed and questioned how the trucking industry has been able to constanly hire, hire, hire, when the economy is in the state it's in? I mean rollover is one thing, but this seems beyond a logical or common rollover of drivers. I keep reading the constant preaching against any new student drivers doing a L/O. I agree that if you don't understand Business AND Trucking, then the last thing you should do is try to start a trucking business. L/O is just a glorifed means to finance. It's been used by car dealers for years. It is designed to provide someone that can not otherwise AFFORD a car.

Next aside from the company making additional money through a leasing program, why would they push it? What other options are presented to a new hire, O/O , company? With an O/O, the company would not have a lot of risk involved. Company driving on the other hand, a company assumes most of the risk, and expense. Maybe they are just trying to minimize the expense, and reduce their risk. There's one more thing that I recently was able to confirm, does a company have enough units ready for all new hires? Could it be possible that since the economy has dumped the unemployment into the trucking industry's lamp, that the companies only have XXX number of available company rigs? What can they do to help those seeking employement with them? Offer them an L/O. If not then you wait until a company rig opens up. That might be a few days, weeks or more. But until then you wait, or go somewhere else. I think they are just providing some options for people.

If you are in business in this current economy, with uncertaintanty being the only thing certain, and someone wants to come to work, drive for you. You have a truck/trailer, but not knowing if next week you will be able to get loads, or next month, knowing that the expenses will be there, would you be a little more secure if that person shared some of this expense? Of course they also are able to share in the profits. That person drives the truck (company) all that expense is on you, most of the risk. The driver could dump the truck, get upset for any reason, and it's on you. With an L/O at least you can ask that the driver has something at stake, some risk.

I've read the posts where company drivers make more than L/Os, where company trucks seem to be favored over L/O. Maybe this share the risk, share the expense plays into that. If a business is trying to minimize expenditures, that would be one smart thing to look at. With L/O, the business' profits are far less than that with a company, so is it not smart business to increase the profits? How is a company going to pay anyone if they constantly opt for less profit? I wouldn't entertain working for a near-bankrupt person.

One other concern has been, I drove for XYZ company as a L/O, or I hired on and took the L/O, and found that it would not work out. So I wanted to change to a company truck, and was declined. If they don't have a home for you, ie; company trucks, where are they going to put you. If you agreed /contracted as an L/O, then you should be expected to uphold your end of that contract, just like any other contract. If someone opens a brick and mortor business and 6 months, a year later the business just can't make a go at it, what happens? It closes or sells.

Lastly, I've had the privilege to talk to someone on the inside of a trucking company, someone that I know would not lie to me. One thing that was pointed out to me and it would be at the peril of their job, if they were caught promising such things as changing from L/O to company, when it is clearly company policy that can not be done. DMs, and recruiters alike, have their bosses, and those bosses are also looking for the littlest of reasons to keep the unemployment/employment cycle rolling. So give some thought to what that person might be telling you. Was it policy, policy that you should be aware of when you signed that contract, ie; it was in the contract. Are these people the ones that are at the top, or are they really not that much different than you. Trying to make a paycheck, and in doing so, just doing as they are told.

Am I way off on my thinking?

 

I agree that there are plenty of whiners and worse in law enforcement. It's bad when the higher-ups are involved, even to the extent of corruption and there's nothing you can do about it. Kinda how I ended up out of law enforcement.

I might appear through my writings that I'm looking through rose colored glasses, but I assure you I'm not. I just lack the first hand experience with the trucking industry. In just one run with my brother, I've seen where companies do these things. What I was trying to address is the blaming of perhaps the wrong people for a company's actions or policies. I can't obviously go into great detail, of where or whom provided me with the insight, but the person would have no reason to lie to me. They are also very concerned about the industry, and what goes on. It's just that, they are also treated in much the same manner as the drivers.

As far as the pay being so much lower now, I would say the amount of trucks on the road competing have a large play in that. My brother has noticed how much of an increase there has been in a real short time. The companies must compete for those hauls. The construction industry is much the same. Companies are actually bidding projects for less than cost, just to get the work. Doesn't make sense at face value, but probably plays into the overall economic game being played on us now.