Why do so many newbies disappear after they hit the road?

so after driving 600 miles i still find time to get on here i am doing it wrong?

 

We use to run into an Aussie that had been working here in the states for 15 -20 yrs who still wore his kilts.

I'm not sure what ttl means, what was the conversation about that you saw it in.

It sounds like your country has the same nitwits that we have with the cdl school mills, newbies teaching other newbies. It is a scary thought with so many inexperienced drivers on the road, I think the accident rate is self explanatory and the public doesn't have a clue.

 

Aussies wear KILTS

 

No, it's just not a priority to them because of all the things they are learning, running, sleeping..etc. It might be to you, but maybe not to them. They have a lot more to learn and it may escape them. I'm on now and when I go back I will be too, but my situation has changed and I won't worry about running as hard now as I did then.

 

According to husband it is hard to get them out of the only thing I have to do is sleep mode and drive with no thought work on anything else. His student didn't think about having to have the trailer washed out after an onion load and passed by the Blue Beacon's and they had to pay an extra $10 for the washout at a local place; load called for no load locks so he put them in, the load was a drop and hook. He may get it together soon..... with some more gentle instruction as to you don't make money if you give it away.

 

Me too but I ditched OTR after 6 months of "starter company" blues. Found a local job with a small LTL outfit for a few months and now have a gig lined up with a bigger/better LTL in town. Paid hourly is the way to go IMO.

 

Whoa there... are you telling me not to bother getting a Monkey? I thought I just got a one and the hot chicks would naturally follow...

 

It is a very tough career! Also they are painted a totally different picture by the recruiter then what it is really like out there. Newbies think they are going on an extended vacation in which you get to toodle around the country at their own leisure and get paid heaps of money to do so and go home whenever they like. Also in this economy you now have all walks of life wanting to get into trucking (as seen on those late night commercials) guys from the tech world to construction, to regular pencil pushers all have lost their jobs or quit do to low pay or a better more fun career. It is a very unique job and very few can handle it once they realize what it actually all entails.

Though the absolute biggest factor is home time. Even if you have no family at all 2 months in a tractor trailer is a long time in a small box! If you want to make the money advertised or even come close you need to stay out. Also these mega-carriers all advertise 2 weeks out. When you get there you find out they have flat out lied. Now you don't have a choice. You can quit, stay parked at a truckstop, or stay out and make the money. They know once you have spent $6000 on school and have quite a bit of time invested in training that they can pretty much do anything at this point and your decision to quit will be a lot tougher.

For the ones that do fully accept they have to stay out and are prepared to do the time it is still a shock once you are physically in that truck and realize you will be in there for two months until you go home. Once you do finally get home you are allotted 3-4 days off and then have to do it all over again! It is very, very tough! If you don't want to live, sleep, breathe trucking you are wasting your time.

Then there are the newbies who sign up and pay the $6000 to go local. Once they have finished school they also get a dose of reality only to find out its next to impossible to get a local gig as a newbie and that you are at the end of a line of experienced drivers who have all put their time in that now want to come off the road and drive local. If you do luck out and get that local gig you will find the sweet pay rate of about $8-$12 an hour. Oh yeah, and you still have to pay off school!

Yes I know, people have gotten local gigs and yes I know a few of them do pay good... THEY ARE VERY FEW AND FAR BETWEEN THOUGH and where you live makes a big difference!!!

So now that we have gotten past the home time and that it takes a certain individual all you need now to finish the equation is adapting to life on the road. Like I said even if you are fine with being out, there are a lot of other obstacles that can really be sticklers. Public restrooms! Yes, you now live out of them! Ever brush your teeth in the morning with 20 other guys dropping the kids off at the pool after all of them ate the buffet the night before? Sounds like a men's maternity ward and smells like a Peruvian prison!!! After a long 14 hour day at work have you ever had to wait (and pay) for a shower in which you have to wear flip flops so you don't get the "Body Karate" on your feet? Have you ever had the butt flu while living in your car, having to sprint across a mall size parking lot every time you start to rumble? Not to mention the 20 grit sandpaper they offer in an industrial size roll in the stall!

Sorry to get carried away but these are just all things that can really upset a brand new driver into running home to mama!

Really the only thing that comes close that could prepare someone for a career like this is if they were in the armed forces or prison.

 

You should not stop driving to get on here is the problem!!!!!!!

 

Though I lease my pickup to a hotshot outfit I still find time to get on here pretty regular.

YES! I stayed out generally 5 to 7 weeks for 4 -5 days at home.

YES! While paying back school you get some real skutwork runs.

I set my truck up with a battery powered fridge. Kept me from eating QUITE as much truckstop junk.

I shot myself in the foot with the companies help. MOSTLY in the wee hours of the morning when I would normally be sleeping I rubbed my trailer enough times that I got fired just about the time I was SERIOUSLY thinking about quitting!

I COULD have gotten a company tractor with the outfit I'm leased to. But I didn't WANT to.
I had enough of putting 53' trailers in places where 28' was the design criteria!!!