different angle from most

forgive me if i make ur eyes bleed, ima driver, not a typist and i dont want to expend the excessive brain power to hit the shift key and use proper grammar, im tired lol

i drive for a company(local) where my job security is the least of my worries, make great pay/benes

anyways
i am different from most drivers that ive come across. alot of the drivers ive met consider us drivers and state troopers like the cat chasin the mouse. others have reffered to this as "playing the game".
never liked that prospect, i grew up with 3 sisters, i dont play games

here is my problem
i follow the law to the letter
and my dispatchers hate me LOL because i have to tell them to reload the trailer with 4 broken crossmembers, or it needs brake pads, or the leaf springs are shot and the tire clearance is 1.5 inches, etc
i catch alot of heat from them(slip-seating, they give me the CRAPOLAWTF trucks) because im not "the other driver that said it was fine"
ive been told my standards are far higher then DOT FMCR laws, i dont think so
when the brake pads are 1/4 the thickness of my pinky finger? come on guys....
and the kicker is....one of the dispatchers used to be a driver(14 some years)

so...up stairs management LOVES me,and really respects me for the job i do. everyone else, including other drivers, dont like me too much. most talk alot of smack and its wearin me thin. i know, i know. that lesson from grade school, but what really gets me is

are my standards higher than DOT because i make them change a tire at 2/32 tread? i understand thats the minimum, but whos to say if i get lvl 1'd it might be under at "some" part of the tire.( law states under 2/32 in any major tread grove at the lowest part of the tire deems OOS)
ive told em im not gonna drive it till it gets fixed and they evenutally fold, but not without contempt

law is black and white
my world is black and white
i dont deal well with areas of grey
90% of the drivers i work for pre-trip like this
put key in, turn key, move truck forward IT WORKS!!

lol, then the sign off that everything is good.....and i get a loaded trailer...thats not

ive been told things like "o thats trivial" and i stand my ground and im the bad guy
dont get me wrong, this is a good company and i know im not painting a pretty picture lol, but this has happend to me close to 40% of the runs ive done in the 5 years ive worked for em

so am i trippin? am i "over" following the law? not asking to lax DOT or my standard but

how should i handle this? it driving me up the wall and its getting old

thanks for your time

 

it is a good company, but the management has sucked.
corporate has replaced the management 3 times in the 5 years ive been there

its not just this company ive had this problem at
my philosophy is this
its my license, its my ticket, its my life
DOT isnt my enemy, they're my friend
i dont want to run an unsafe truck, and if i miss something on my pretrip i beg them to find something

god forbid i kill someone and survive with that on my heart, that and im trying to pay this house off and have a stable home for my family
im not calling these other drivers/dispatchers bad people, just having a problem with the level of immature attitude i have to deal with

i think my problem would be fixed if i had my own truck, but thats wishful thinking with this company lol

slip seating sucks

 

never said my company was small, my DC employs 100+ drivers but the company isnt small. its just the ppl with the "dont cause me problems because i want to retire with all my hair" mindset lol