How would your company treat you if...

From a business management perspective (people who are oblivious to what truckers go through, and ONLY know what college teach them), the primary and main objective is PROFIT and keeping the client$ happy. Truckers are machines or productive units. When management brings up the driver's number (not his name), he FOCUSES on miles driven, loads delivered on-time, loads delivered late, customer complaints, etc… all data pertaining to PRODUCTIVITY. When a driver doesn't meet PRODUCTIVITY quota, he/she is a liability, meaning not generating enough $$ to meet the minimum PRODUCTIVITY quota. I've taken management classes in college, and the textbooks and class lectures ONLY focuses on maximizing PROFIT. The human aspect of business, such as morale, employee job satisfaction, compensation to retain loyalty (part of job satisfaction) will depend on "supply-n-demand" within the labor pool. For example, there's a nurse shortage across the USA, and its not easy to fill these vacancies because nurses have to undergo 2 years of formal training (including classes in biology and science) AND pass a stringent written exam. The failure rate of students taking this nurse exam is high. Most pass on the 2nd or 3rd attempt. This forces hospitals to give a lucrative compensation package to attract AND retain nurses.
In contrast, even a high school dropout or a person with a 4th or 5th grade intelligence can become a trucker. I know for FACT that CA and other states accept fake birth certificate, fake social security cards, and other fraudulent documents when applying for a CDL, which is why the CDL training manual are available in Spanish. This is to accommodate CDL applicants who claim they were born here (as shown on their FAKE documents), yet speak little or no English. The number of illegal aliens with valid CDL, plus immigrant truckers who come to USA on a working visa, plus indigenous Americans (born and raised in USA) had resulted in a glut of people with valid CDL license. However, the vast majority of these people prefer to be local hourly paid drivers. Next time you're at a truck stop, ease drop and listen to people's conversation, and take note of how many foreign languages you hear, or truckers who speak with a heavy foreign accent. This is why management see's you as a PRODUCTIVE UNIT, not a human person.

Further proof you're a machine. Most trucking companies will schedule a weekend barbecue or social get together of truck mechanics and administration staff. Has your company sent out flyers or posted bulletins to announce drivers and their families are invited to attend these company sponsored social gatherings ?? Truckers are not invited to these events because it makes it easier to fire you. When the decision is made to lower your miles (you've been with the company too long and earning high mileage pay) or terminate you because you've not met the productivity quota, they don't know driver Jim (or Jane) Anderson, married and supporting 3 kids, caring for his/ her elderly parents, paying a mortgage monthly bill, and a provider to his/ her family and elderly parents. They only know him/ her as driver number XYZ123, a productive unit that has become a liability because he/ she has failed to meet corporate profit objectives, or his/ her mileage pay is too high, and it would be "cost-efficient and cost-effective" to replace him/ her with a newbie driver. When your car (or any inanimate object) breaks down and suffers a system failure, you don't ask "how are you feeling. I'm sorry to see you're no longer fully functioning." You simply replace the defective unit and either junk the old one or sell it on Craigslist, Ebay, or at the next garage sale. But with carbon-based, organic machines like truckers, you replace them with another similar machine, which is why the driver turnover is very high.

My first internship job (training program for low management), I brought up my concern for trucker's lack of sleep in a meeting. I prepared charts of truck accidents and showed how they followed a pattern of occurring between 11pm and 7am. Top management admonished me, saying "…in warehouse operations, we don't concern ourselves with drivers' safety issues. They're under contractual obligation to deliver the load on-time. When the carrier fails to meet their contractual obligation, we find another carrier who can do the job." Bottom line, truckers are not people, they're machines. Human Resource department selected me for their internship program, but when top management learned I was an ex-OTR driver, I was given my final paycheck and told "…there's been a mistake. Though you have extensive background and know the psyche of truck drivers, we realized your priorities do not meet the primary objectives of this organization." Meaning, at the management level, we're not allowed to look at subordinates as humans; they're organic carbon-based machine productive units.

 

I can't say for sure what my company would do but I guess it would be safe to assume that I would be terminated because it was a preventable accident for following to close. Now as far as the company getting me home I would not know how to answer that. It is a sticky situation with some companies.

 

If it was deemed a PREVENTABLE by all parties and law enforcement ( charges ) and depending the $ amount of damage , my insurance provider would tell me to terminate the driver

 

I disagree that all Drivers' are treated like numbers & as profit generating machines - but I think that some companies can act like that if we allow them to. My company would do the due-diligence required when investigating an accident/incident, and I would have to have been and continue to be totally honest about what I do when I am working. Respect. honesty, communication are key aspects of how we will be treated when we are in a "situation". I have complete confidence in my company, as they have complete confidence in me - regardless if we are only human & make mistakes on occasion....

 

Couple things:
1) Nursing shortage: There's been a nursing shortage for decades. Nothing new here.
2)Cheap foreign labor. Once again, nothing new here. Waaay back in the 70's, as a teenager, I worked at a cabinet/furniture factory in Canada (which has long since disappeared) and I was the only one who spoke English. Legal/illegal, there's always going to be a source for cheap labor. That's just reality.

However, your point about tired drivers is well taken. These mega DC's like Walmart and Kroger don't care about the HOS rules. If they take 7-8 hrs to unload you and then force you leave in the middle of the night tired, with no hours,, no place to park, that's "not their problem". That's a big problem.

 

Sounds like your friend was going too fast and following too closely.Your friend is at fault for not leaving plenty of following distance and especially in a construction zone.You should always be prepared for anything thru construction.My company would fire me.Cases like this,more times then not the drivers are always at fault.Thats just how trucking is..Glad your friends are ok but this may end their carreer for a long time to come.

 

Here's the cold hard reality. As soon as your safety people hear these words, odds are you're going to be fired.

Doesn't matter why you did it, you did it. Remember what I am saying, YOU DONT CUT YOUR WHEELS. Cut your wheels and roll your truck, not only are you fired, but you have a massive black eye on your record. It's easier to fail a drug test and find employment.

"I don't want to kill anyone, I will gladly take the ditch."

I understand. I just want everyone to understand the consequences for cutting your wheel and rolling your rig.

 

Those words are exactly why my company would fire me and no questions asked.Which makes me think too fast and/or following too closely.I have a couple long construction zones which is a one lane with pilot car.Hopefully they'll be done before winter sets because this construction sucks and very annoying.

 

Well like mentioned, he is just a means to an end, or to a result of money being made, If he messes up the equipment and so forth and cost the company moey then he is not needed, He will be fired, but I would have put him on a bus or plane home before these proceedings.