Knight

I think Crete demand more experience i only have like 5 months

 

No offense but seems like in this economy we wouldn't want to turn down anything ? Arent most like that, if you turn one down you go to the bottom of the list ? I am not sure , so asking really

 

No offense taken. Like I said, it was my second year driving big rigs and I was still learning the ropes. I found out quickly that the best way to keep my cdl and DAC clean was stay well rested.

I remember a specific load that picked up in Reno NV and delivered north of Salt Lake UT. My dispatcher at the time, the bald guy who taught fire arms classes, knew it would push me over my service hours but kept hounding me to take it. Guess what? About 15 minutes before arriving at the Smith's I ran out of hours.

When I was driving, my goal was to pay my dues and eventually work for a top notch outfit. But it was impossible to do that if my cdl record and DAC suffered just so I could make some a-hole dispatcher happy. These guys just want to fill quotas and they know there's fresh meat of drivers coming in every other month.

I asked the terminal manager for a new dispatcher but this next guy, Tom, was no different. I mean they all sit together in the same area of a small office so you just know they swap notes on who to screw.

 

that makes since, haven't thought about the dispatchers getting their quotas at the drivers expense.

 

This reminds me of another story. I did a load where I picked up hay in some small town in Utah to deliver to Ca. By the miles on the Q-com, it looks like they calculated it zip code to zip code. But once I drove into the town, I had to drive another 40 or so miles ONE WAY to pick up. That's 80 miles of unpaid driving.

After that load, I tracked actual miles and paid miles and wouldn't ya know it? Knight ALWAYS figured out a way to short me on the miles I got paid for. Again, this is nothing new for experienced drivers but newbies should know as much as they can before signing on the dotted line.

 

good info there, thankyou.. All the big companies treat you that way don't they ? Get the experience and find a good small outfit sounds like the best bet. Knight hauling hay ? I haven't heard that one.

 

AZsteve don't settle just because they offer you a job. I've had to turn down jobs due to family deaths other sickness a shoulder injury, and it's going on a year since I graduated. Been turned down many times since then but have been accepted also and it's with a flatbed company that I previously withdrew from. Never heard of going to the bottom of a list. Just saying ,keep going for what you want you might find the perfect fit. Good luck.

 

I drove dry van so I did two hay runs during my short time there.

And yes, all the experienced AND happy drivers I met did their time with garbage outfits and then transitioned to a smaller outfit that treats drivers like hard-working professionals. But alot of these mom/pop operations have a hard time competing when bigger companies will take freight for pennies on the dollar. So another career path I had in mind was moving onto something like Walmart company driver.

But I have to start from square one if I get back into it.

 

thankyou RDA I appreciate that, Knight seems to be a good starter company for my area , AZ. I am definitely keeping my ears open though.

Minotaur, best of luck to you ! I know it sucks starting over, hopefully you will find a good fit, and get that appreciation all drivers deserve

 

Out of curiosity, what reason did you refuse loads?