Nightmare co drivers thread......

Over a period of a few months, I left two co-drivers standing at the fuel island with their personal belongings. Both guys were clean cut and neat, but had other problems. One had insulin dependent diabetes and knew how to hide it with certain foods before a physical. I found out when he stopped in the travel lane of the interstate and looked like he was frozen behind the wheel. The other guy was from some super religious family, but he was some kind of pervert, always staring at girlie magazines and constantly stopping at truckstops while I'm sleeping, as he looked for lot lizards and flirting with waitresses. I even offered to let him stop for breaks at the Oriental Spas, but he acted insulted and said he's not that kind of person. No more co-drivers for me after that.

 

The very first time i started teaming my teammate and i were both live in ny i drop him in ca because i was not going to team anymore that guy call our Dm everyday to tell him he want me to drive my full 11 hours because he drove his 11 full hours i was mad and i was the primary driver because the truck was assigned under my name,,,, i know he hate me because he had to hang in the bus for a 3 days trip back home. I don't know how they expect me to drive a full 11 hours and i couldn't get enough sleep when the truck was moving plus i was getting 0.17cpm.......Werner Enterprises

 

1. I had a co-driver that would shoplift every time we went in a truck stop. We made good money, and he wasn't broke. Even worse, we were in company uniforms! I refused to go in truck stops, or even the resteraunt, with him. That meant I had to walk to the closest gas station or store every time we stopped just to use the resteroom.

Finally, one day while I was at the fuel island , a driver from another company approched me and asked if I was with the idiot in the store stuffing his pockets with candy bars. I was humiliated to admit that I was, and suggested he notify a truck stop employee about the theft (which was still in progress). The driver went to his truck, instead, and drove away a few minutes later. I figured he didn't want to get involved... until a few minutes later when my company called and asked me to verify the shoplifting report they had just received from a good samaritain! The sleazy shoplifting co-driver was fired instantly.

2. I had a driver I was training return to the truck and show me the giant bud of marijanna he scored while he was home for the weekend. I discreetly mentioned it to my dispatcher, and she hit him with a random. He tested positive for more than pot, although the pot was enough to get him fired.

 

I wouldn't want to team unless I was already friends with the person. And your stories confirm that I shouldn't team. Wow.

 

So let me get this straight. He called to complain that you would not drive your 11 even though he did his? He was in the right.

 

Interesting thread read on what's out there. Keep 'em coming.

When you can make just as good driving solo you wouldn't catch me driving team. It would have to be a close friend or family member before I even considered it. Just read all the stories of drivers dying while in the sleeper. For what? A few extra bucks. It ain't worth it.

When I first started driving one of our company trainers was killed while sleeping. The trainee hit that 15 mph ramp in St. Louis doing 55 mph and went over the wall. I decided right then and there I would never team or train.

Everyone is expected to drive their full 11 unless you have the luxury to milk the load like on a weekend trip then you can average the days out. But still you have to consider delays. It's good practice to get there asap. If you do it long enough eventually 11 hours seems like 6 hours.

How many times are you late delivering?

 

The first time I teamed was with my brother who I was very close to and who had been driving for 4 years before me. He was married w/ three (3) kids. Every where we when he had a business card of a call girl or the address of an orgy/swing bar and he would harass me all the time for not going or taking part in the services. 9 months after teaming we ended up in a peanut crop on the side of the road some where in GA try kill each other with load locks, a tire thump, a crow bar, and even our fist. It took 6 Deputy Sheriffs to pull us apart. We didn't talk to one another for 5 years.

Second time I was working with a guy they said had been with the company for 10 years, but he couldn't drive to save his life. Always grinds gears, hopping the curb clipping telephone poles, missing gears when down shifting, and even drove 9 hours in the wrong direction twice. One day when I was sleeping he layed the truck over down a river bank. I broke both my legs, my left arm, and cuts all over me. The news report said the driver had just got his CDL the month before he started teaming with me. I called the company and asked why they said he had been with the company for 10 years and they said he has been but not as a driver, he use to work in the warehouse as an inventory clerk.

Third time was with my wife. We hit a few little bumps in the beginning, nothing major and then it was smooth sailing. It was the greatest trucking experience in my whole life. Wish we could do it again!

 

1) recently arrived from russia and had trouble with english. He'd wake me up to deal with every shipper, would often get lost, etc. Last straw was when he turned down an off-ramp despite two big "do not enter" signs, a sea of oncoming headlights, and interstate reflectors that shone red.

2) Recently arrived from phillipines, couldn't speak much english & had to wake me for every human interaction. Jumped ship when he attempted to exit the interstate at the sign for our exit (1 mile before the actual exit) @65mph

3) Was a good guy but smoked 1/2 pack a day which he thought was trucker for "I don't smoke"

4) Good guy, sang horribly off key & loud, but at least to the same music I like. Ran hard, spoke english well, could do paperwork... So I just kept ample earplugs in stock. We might still be out there making a killing if the dumb ####### hadn't done speed on hometime & failed a drug test

5) 30 y/o former gangbanger who never previously held a job. Ran hard, was starting to understand the paperwork. He'd steal hot dogs and sodas, never left a tip at restaraunts (but always sat by me so it'd be one bill), couldn't back, and after 6 months still hadn't figured out the concept of offtracking. His "incidents" included: leaving ruts in a lawn of a upper-middle class house in a dense residential area2 miles away from the nearest truck street (gps told him to deliver there), taking out a hedge, sprinklers, & stop sign at stanford university (trying to take a 4-wheeler campus exit), taking off half a peterbilt hood pulling out of a truckstop, & driving over a guardrail trying to make a tight turn onto an onramp after missing his turn (last straw).

6) Creepy ultra-religious kid who just gave me the heebie jeebies. Felt like the sort of fellow with a collection of taxidermied cats. Nicknamed "grunch" for the sound & lurch he elicited fron the transmission at every shift. One day I woke up to him staring at me and decided it was time to go solo -- even at 26cpm

 

Wow! Just from riding in the truck with 3 other guys, no way I want to team!... one got his license thru a "Rent me for your cdl", he tested in an auto with a 28" pup and doesn't really seem to catch the concept of shifting... One is driving off and on for a couple of months because he doesn't' have gas money to get to school, and the third is kinda the nervous type... his shifting is getting better but he doesn't seem to be able to drive in a straight line...

Hey, I've only driven two days (one was backing) and no idea how I drive. But all three of them have been is school since at least the beginning of May.
I will say that Troy (driver trainer instructor) has way more patience than most guys! This is thru North Texas Institute in Ft Worth (sponsored by Goodwill, there's other types of training as well.) They really want people to succeed, and it shows.

I have managed to run over a few curbs, tho... but at least it was slowly! I totally suck at backing, hasn't quite kicked in yet...
Y'all drive safe!
Mary