Rookie reaching out for help and wisdom...

I agree with you. As it turns out, I have worked in the dispatch environment as well, prior to the position I am in now? When I participated in dispatch, I maintained solid contact with my driver as well as scheduling he or she with ample time to handle their bathroom duties, food needs as well as travel times taking into consideration peek traffic times etc. At this organization, they are only concerned with the picks and drops at all cost and no thought to travel difficulties.
With regards to the securement process... I am always working to improve that portion of my performance. I am actually not to bad at it. I can can achieve full tarping and strapping in 45 minutes to 1 hour always. I agree that my time should be around 30 minutes, but I am being deliberate in order to achieve a well secured load. I am trying to make sure that I do not have to worry about my securement quality given all other things that I must worry about. Although, I do frequently check my securement while en-route to drops (every 3 hours or 150 miles).
As far as this operation goes... As I have stated previously, this operation has functioned and made money prior to my arrival, and they will do so long after I am gone? My chief complaint is, I was hoping to find a "home" on my first job. I really do not want to hop around from one company to another... I really want to find a home with a trucking company that promotes doing things the right way from top to bottom. For example, HOS logging, safety, not operating under undue fatigue? But! I guess I am just living in a dream? I have seen the responses saying that, if I do not "fudge" my log book they will release me, etc. That is fine too. The job is demanding, but I can live with that, no complaints. I have no complaints about the job on the whole... just the fact that dispatch makes it extremely hard to perform at a level that promotes longevity in my career. I mean, think about it? If I operate fatigued and kill some innocent people... what do you think the company is going to do? Do you really believe that they will "go to bat" for me and say "yes its true, we expect our drivers to drive this way so, please don't give him the ticket or jail time... take me to jail instead"? I am just severely embarrassed by the fact that I am two weeks on a job and already being looked at with displeasure? A rookie who really wants to make my company proud and do the right thing all the time, with fierce loyalty. I am truly at a loss?
But! here is how it breaks down. Everyone who has read and participated in this thread, knows, unequivocally, that I am loyal and willing to accept responsibility for my shortcomings. I am not going to keep whining and crying about this. I am not trying to change the world. I am simply trying to figure out where I fit in. This problem will work itself out. I will leave at some point and it will be amicable. That is just how I work. I can say however... if this was my company? I can see where I would operate much differently and provide a far different culture of planning and understanding of the difficulties that we encounter than what I am receiving.
I make my statements on this forum with complete respect to all the respondents. I think that all the support and solid advice that I have received has certainly allowed me to consider many different facets about the position that I find myself in and provide ways that I can adjust my thinking in order to make the best of this situation by growing and learning. One thing for sure? I am definitely learning from this. My goodness am I learning. The learning curve is more like a hairpin turn than it is a curve? I feel like I can definitely continue to make run at this with great enthusiasm and high level of quality. I set out to discuss this matter with veteran drivers, and I received everything I was looking for and more in the form of support from guys who were in my very place at some point in their careers.

 

I agree. The part of this that adds insult to injury is, dispatch tells me to just show up no matter what. I was even told to provide a story that consisted of anything I could say in order to convince them to let me in? In other words, I was told, in no uncertain terms, to tell them a fantastic story that would make them feel sorry for me and subsequently let me in after the cut off times. True story. I absolutely, kid you not. I have only been provided contact info in order to work this out via phone conversation with the client one time out of the three failures. The other 2 times I was not provided contact info and told to just show up and tell them that I was caught behind a wreck or some traffic or some other excuse. I kid you not. It is really strange being told to lie. I really don't like to function under that premise. Those type of requests do weigh heavy on me. Every time that this has happened, and it has happened three times now? I simply told the people, client, or security guards the absolute truth instead. I told them I was detained and that I drove as hard as I possibly could to respect there cut off requests. They all stood fast to their cut-off times, but, I had my honest pride and I was turned away and I held my head high. I called dispatch and told them I was turned away and took my lumps. Sometimes, the places will relax and let me in. Those are the "close calls" that I have not eluded to because they were not failures. I actually was granted entry after cut-off time. This has happened 5 times. So, basically I am slightly better than 50% on my pick ups. That is a terrible number, however, that will improve as I get more time under my belt. The law of averages will eventually work in my favor I believe.