demand for jobs as truckers

I'd give my Lego Kingdom and a My Little Pony to find two guys around Minneapolis to get some stuff to Seskatchewan for me right now. We can't find the capacity that can go into that part of Canada.

 

I'm in my 2nd week of CDL schooling. We had the safety manager of a smallish (~100 trucks - power, with dry van, reefer, curtainside, aggregate, pretty much hauls everything) local company drop in and explain how CSA affects them and what they use it for. He showed us their actual CSA data, as well as the records of individual employees. They haul for customers that are now asking to renegotiate because their CSA score has been climbing. They will not only pass on applicants with CSA points, they have actually started to FIRE drivers with high CSA scores. Mainly the ones with violations that were in the driver's direct control. Like the drivers that racked up 2 or 3 seat belt violations within a few months. While CSA points won't get your license revoked, a high CSA score can and will flush you out of the industry.

 

Call them up and get their DOT number, then look at their CSA score. Particularly in the maintenance category. I think you'll find that it's high. What that means for you is that they're expecting you to run with trucks that won't pass inspection. Consequently, your CSA score will suffer should you decide to accept a position with one of these companies.

I'm told that the trucking jobs that are worth having are never advertised.

 

It'll only happen when all the other vehicles on the road are "driverless" too.

No reason you couldn't do it today actually, but a 80,000 lb robot isn't going to be able to stop in time for the idjit in a minivan that cuts it off either. And idjits, if they survive, tend to sue.

Whole conversation reminds me of this poster, btw.

http://www.despair.com/adaptation.html

 

I feel for your loss. Sounds like a good man....however

Many of todays recruits are professional people from other lines of work, forced into trucking through downsizing and other "stressed economy" related reasons.

One of my classmates was a police officer for 30 years.

Another has 20 years in the IT field.

Another is from Morocco....a legal immagrant who came to America with $100 in his pocket, trying to make a life for himself here.

Another is retired from the Army starting a second career.

Not a single one of the people I've met since I started this journey are like what you described.....probably over 50 people, and they have all been good decent folks.

 

I feel for your loss. Sounds like a good man....however

I don't share you opinion.

Most of todays recruits are professional people from other lines of work, forced into trucking through downsizing and other "stressed economy" related reasons.

One of my classmates was a police officer for 30 years.

Another has 20 years in the IT field.

Another is from Morocco....a legal immagrant who came to America with only $100 to his name, trying to make a life for himself here.

Another is retired from the Army starting a second career.

More than half the rookies I have met are over the age of 40.

Not a single one of the people I've met since I started this journey are like what you described.

Perhaps you have become a bit...jaded, over the years?
Happens to the best of em...

 

There are plenty of nice and decent people on here, goes to show you that they must also exist on the highways. "I'm tired of people who come here and yap about IQ's and degrees and stuff as if that makes them better than the rest of us" I am not sure about all the IQ stuff as I dont know who is still administering such tests; however I can say we are all on here trying to work towards the same thing under the same circumstances out there. All my college degrees show me and others who care is that I am willing to work hard to achieve a goal. Maybe I picked up a few minor details along the way, but I learned a lot more about myself as I pushed myself to finish work at 3am after a full day of work and classes.

 

Good points all. But again, you completely missed the point. The objectionable phrase.... force the companys to lower their standards.

Jaded? Not hardly. Y'see, you guys are nothing new in the trade. We've seen the cycle over and over. But every so often comes a rash of people who appear, cause havoc and then leave. Too often these "temps" wind up in "headlines" and "exposes" and leave us all in a bad public perception for years to follow. Yep, I do get tired of the "smart folks" tarring me and my contemporarys with their hasty brush.

 

Kittyfoot...your friend you mention...from what you say he was pretty smart...not everybody with a high IQ gets the chance to take the test. That doesn't make them dumb, only uneducated (to a degree).

I'm sorta the same...MENSA and school teachers used to aggravate the hell out of me...Got tired of their crap and quit school in the 10th grade, got my GED and never looked back.

Took the IQ test 3 different times...first time was in the 5th grade...the only thing Stephen Hawking has on me is an education. I chose to be "simple" because that is the life I love (hunting, fishing, etc.)...a decision I do not regret one bit. I darn sure didn't want any part of sharing ideas in a group (MENSA)....that sounded stupid then, still does now, LOL. I didn't mean for my previous post to sound like I thought I was better than everybody else...only that I find myself trying to see why many people feel (especially people in suits) the need to do things the way they do...it can be painfully obvious that they are simply on a power trip and really have no insight into the next few moves. Its hard to explain...really it is...I've been trying to explain it my wife for 10 years now...she is not like me, her genius is good ole common sense...something I often lack.

I'm just trying to say...your brush was a bit broad too. I'm a truck driver and #### proud of it...maybe a bit of a perfectionist, but still just a truck driver.

 

Not all educated people are #####. I qualify for MENSA membership, but am not a member nor do I care to be. And, other than Military training courses and my Merchant Marine, I have nothing more than a frayed and waterlogged High School Diploma.

I'm new to this industry, but not to the transportation world. I don't hold myself above anyone else, and have learned some sorely needed things about driving from people that have trouble writing. But they #### sure can drive a truck!

Yes, there are people coming into the industry that are flat out dangerous. But, for that matter, there are some folks that have been behind the wheel of a big truck for years that are just as dangerous.

And there's a lot more of them driving Toyotas, Chevys, bicycles, and Adidas walking shoes that are outright imbeciles.

You can't fix stupid!

And stupid has little or nothing to do with education, or IQ.