am i that bad a guy?

you are a quitter. nobody likesa quitter. you need to show loyalty and a willingness to not pack it in at the very first bump in the road. regardless of what you think it costs money to hire drivers.

 

Are you eligible for rehire at any of your former employers? If so you may have to bite the bullet and return to one of them. If you do so you need to stick it out there for probably 2 years instead of the normal 1 due to your previous job jumping.

I'm eligible for rehire at Knight and after my doctor's appointment today I should be medically cleared to return to work. if I can't get hired at one of the three companies I'm applying to first I'll do what I have to do to get back in a truck and go back to Knight. It all depends on how bad do you want it.

 

Hey groucy. Look into smaller local companies say 5-25 trucks. This way youll have direct access to the owner.
I worked for a company for 10 years. they had 40 trucks when I first started with them. They were the best company I had worked for up to that point. the owner knew every employee on a first name basis. Jump ahead 10 years to 180 trucks and somewhere along the way they turned into one of the worst companies id ever worked for. The owner never came around never talked to the lowly drivers that helped him become a millionare. Things change drivers have to move on sometimes.
I do agree that you should try to stay at least a year. I wouldnt put much stock in a company that uses the DAC report since there is no accountability of trucking companies and what they put on it. My driving record and experince will speak for itself.

 

I hear ya "allow me". Things have changed. Some good some bad.

 

I see your point. I suppose thats some good advice.

 

Meeting with a dispatcher to discuss problems and solutions need not be kissing fanny. In fact, most people have no respect for, or use for a butt kisser. (And the folks that do are undoubtedly kissing butt themselves.)

But sometimes a decent conversation will go a lot farther than a "good old Come to Jesus" talk will. Although there are definitely times when the latter is needed. The key is to know when to use which one.

 

That sums it up nicely. I have been a driver and an operations manager. The guys that are willing to eat a feces sandwich on occasion to get management out of a jam usually find they are accomodated when they need it. Of course, there's a fine line between being accomodating and being taken advantage of. It's an art and sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you'll find you're on the losing end of the equation. If you find you are at a place at which it seems hopeless you will ever catch a break, then consider moving on. Remember one thing, though: that other driver who seems incompetent and makes you wonder why the dispatcher gives him preference over someone who is actively trying to do a good job has most likely just waited everyone else out and has risen to the top of the pecking order simply by being there when everyone else has quit. A sad, but true state of affairs in this business.

 

I kinda just got caught up in this problem. I was at a smaller company for almost two years. The owners son was the main dispatcher and had his hand on everything. So if you didn't run like he wanted ( usually over your hours, or come off your 10 early) you were not on the get miles list. So I finally took the leap and left. Three weeks out of four below 2,000 miles per week were enough.


So I left to a so called safe and legal company. Well, the recruiter forgot to tell the dispatcher they were a safe and legal company. They had qualcoms in all their trucks except the one I was assigned. This dispatcher tried to push every single load I was on, it was very frustrating and got old fast. I tried three different times to go through the channels to get the problem fixed. My last conversation with the operations manager before I let them have their truck back was, once you get past her bark, the bite isn't so bad. So who ever said I have to put up with anyone's bark. So I left after no changes and I was only there for 3 months.


Then after that I was offered a job that was a set salary running from WI to MN and back everynight. It was a small deal that the owners had 3 trucks and I needed something fast to keep making some money. It was a set salary based on 50 hours. The salary was kinda low, but something I could live with. It went well for a few weeks then paychecks started bouncing. I kinda got worried right then. The next thing they did was add 2 1/2 hours to each day. I told them I needed more money because that is making my wage not good enough for the hours I was putting in. They told me they were taking money from their savings to make this work and couldn't pay more. I was working a shift and a half 5 nights a week, and all I had time to do was drive, shower, sleep, eat and drive some more. So I told them I was exhausted and gave them a weeks notice and quit.

So the following week after I quit I started sending in applications. The first one told me I was over their cutoff for jobs in 3 years. Then the 2nd place I applied said I was good to go to orientation.

So, I believe that the job hopping will catch up to drivers eventually because I have a clean record. I was kinda worried when the 1st one turned me down, but didn't take long to find one to accept me. And these were both large carriers and I'm kinda happy the 1st one rejected me, it was JB Hunt.

 

That's not that big of a deal IMO. Companies will hire you based on your experience and driving record...you just have to have a plausible explanation as to why you left or are leaving your current/past employer. I've only been driving for about a year and I'm already on company #3. It's a relativily easy industry to job hop in if you're new(ish) because your first couple of companies are probably going to suck for varied reasons (pay, hours, etc), making it not very hard to find a better gig once you've got a minimal amount of experience under your belt. Eventually I think you reach a point where you're content that you've "made it" and have the good job to where hopping becomes less appealing or worthwhile.