Attention all company drivers!!!

I was reading this tread, granted not all of it, its a long one. I am just wondering why anyone (other than the newbe like me, but unlike me, is indentured to a company for CDL school) would put up with a company they dont like. Yes there are good and bad things about all companies, and drivers have little options to change the truely horriable ones. Maybe a orginazation could be formed, (like american motorcycle association is for bikers), but the thing we have now is an aboundance of companies. The bad ones will be reduced to only haveing the verry newest drivers. That will cause more incidents and etc. leading to more operating cost thus affcting the only thing they care about (money). My point is this, If you dont like your comapny then first try to fix the problem with HR or managers or whoever, but dont stay somewhere that doesnt make you happy. If none of them can sastify you, then maybe do something else. I hate the job and company I have and with little options for other work in the area, I am going back to CDL school. This time I will be OTR. Hope I am not speaking out of turn as I have never driven OTR, but I still think that the key ideas of forming a better industry are universal.

 

Well, lets look at your message and see if I can explain a few things. You are right, there are good and bad things about most companies, but let us look at just the bad for the moment. What makes a company a bad company? Looking at 120 pages of comments can lead to many conclusions for this.

1. Remuneration. How are the drivers paid? How much are they paid? Are you paid for other chores in the day to day operations? What I am meaning is do you get paid for inspections, border crossings, deliveries etc. Are there performance bonus' available? Paid weekly, bi-weekly, per trip? Do you get paid for being delayed at a shipper/receiver? How much per mile plus what, if any, hourly rates.
2. How reliable is the equipment? Are you going to be running with junk and thus broken down all the time. Is the equipment adequate for the job they want it to do?
3. Is there forced dispatch?
4. What are the primary commodities you will be hauling? A reefer company will be fairly restrictive on the products they carry as the primary loads will normally be food/pharmaceuticals. A gooseneck trailer again limits the type of hauling you will do so you need to know the general makeup of the fleet.
5. How does management look at the drivers? That is probably a key one because if they do not respect their employees, then stay away. There have been far too many stories of shoddy management treatment of the drivers.

While this is hardly a conclusive list, it is a pretty good start I think. Some of the information you can garner from the DOT with regards to SMS scores. These numbers will come from interactions with the trucks and drivers with DOT and law enforcement and will cover many things. Key to these are equipment fail rates, OOS numbers as well as general driver qualifications and operations. Everything from speeding to thorough safety inspections will be noted. Facility audits will also uncover many sins of the companies in question.

Why would anyone work for these companies? Maybe it's because they are a problem driver themselves. Perhaps had a DUI, excessive tickets, maybe some criminal convictions. Hard to say but a more reputable company may stay away from some of these drivers. Let's be honest, if you are a good driver with a clean record, you wouldn't work for one of these guys if you knew what they're about. That is why a group like this is important, but you have to be able to read between the lines to see if it is an honest gripe, or simply someone with a chip on their shoulder and they wouldn't be happy anywhere.

 

I'm sure your right?. sad but true, the new corporate way of business I suppose.

 

"WE have nothing to fear except fear itself!" Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

HERE IN does lie "OUR" problems! Many of us go out into the world as "new" baby truckers with little or not enough "knowledge or correct ALL-weather training" and are basically "sheep" for the slaughter!TOO many due to ALL these variables quit or burn-out because of poor money first of all; too many lies that have been told to us - especially about "safety" - HAHA; POOR equipment that rarely gets fixed correctly or the company YELLS at you making us feel like WE did something (!!??); long hours out on the roads (like indentured slaves, robotic with NO feelings to consider!); poor home/Break time (many companies feel that IF we are home too long - we will not want to come back out! SO screwing us out of 5 days off is much better.); forced dispatch that takes us to areas that we are not comfortable with or really familiar with; forced dispatch that 'expects' that WE should be driving '10 hrs' per day most days (??? - WTF); driving a governed down, doggy slow truck that hauls/pulls like a ball-less mouse & 'drones' many drivers into "twilight sleeping" ON the road (and MANY wonder "WHY" we have accidents??); but the WORST offense is just "NO REAL" consideration that "WE ARE" human beings with rights, feelings, families, and OUR health - NOT there for them to "use & abuse" so THEY make big money off of our blood, sweat & tears!!!

 

UNITED WE STAND ...WE DO have ALL the value,We are the blood flow of AMERICA,and guess what folks ...LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD of every living thing on earth....lets take back what they are stealing from us by setting a date and UNITE AS ONE VOICE ,this is the only way we can save this nation from the disasters on the horizon...if not well little trucker you're on your own ..its a good thing our forefathers had the stones to unite against mother England ....i say let it be on the 4 of July 2014 it would only take about 3days before come up out of the water ready to talk

 

Good luck on getting the super carriers to go along withthis.

I think we tried this once before.

 

Yes we did back in 1985 ,when they deregulated frgt ,they cut our throats and it has gotten worse and worse since ,the only ones who made out real good was corporate America ...cut their cost so they could line their pockets with our money ....as long as they getting away with it ,they don't care.....and it continue until we do what we have to do
......we need to push to have frght regulated again ....safety is a owner operator that can afford to put new king pins in his money maker when the front rots out ...safety is a driver that inspired to care about his job ...real safety starts wih equipment and driver that cares not just some worm body to get the load there for as little as possible

 

......as long as truth is truth how much haunting can so be so scary?