Why do most new drivers quit?

Culture shock and lack of work ethic. I knew the meaning of a hard days work before I got into trucking and jumped right in with a food service company instead of going otr. I will never live in a truck bless those who do. Behind the drivers seat is a napper not a sleeper

 

I think when it comes to new drivers and megas it is pay and hometime most otr don't pay much more than 20 years ago. If you are making 30k a year and living in a fartsmelling stinky box on the back of a truck you start thinking about home and Sally Rottencrotch and you are making about $2 an hour. Then a new driver will think a job at Subway doesn't sound that bad and they can live with Sally and be happy and put all stinky truck, low pay and not at home behind them.

If he made $50k or more and home a few days a week they wouldn't mind it so much. He could enjoy the money, Sallys companionship and feel like he was making a great wage without being enslaved to some enity that will not reimburse him, care about his wellbeing or think he is anything but a low wage turd waiting to get flushed because the industry is waiting to push out more newbies into the cesspool of drivers.

You guys see what I did there??

 

The recruiters do some damage with their subterfuge... So many people have NO idea what they are in for. They don't understand that they won't be home or they won't be making enough money to maintain their bill structure.

Some people are homeless, just out of jail, or job hoppers. So they are already an iffy employee to begin with. Add the stress of truck living—and you have a recipe for disaster.

 

Best advice i can give is get your cdl yourself if possible. I got mine at Sage driving schools for 3300, if you qualify for financial aid you can possibly go for free or very low cost. At a bottom feeder food service company I brought home about 850-950 sleeping in my own bed 5 nights a wk. Now im going to a better paying food service gig where I'll still be home 5 nights a wk and put up in a motel the 2 other nights. I have just shy of a year experience still

 

I don't have mountains of data to back this up but it seems to me that some of the best pay an employee can get with a CDL is not an actual driving job but rather a job where you do something else but need a CDL to do it. For example I know some guys that operate heavy equipment and are required to have a CDL to get their equipment to the jobsites. They may only actually drive a few hours a week but they get good pay because they have the CDL and they know how to run the equipment.

 

I wouldn't even consider OTR unless the pay was in the 75-80K range, such as Walmart. Anything less than that is not worth all the hardships.

 

You are correct for the most part. On a 36hr trip I may only drive 300 miles but im unloading a 48 with a 2 wheeler. A good food service gig you can clear 65-70k your 1st year. Even a bottom feeder like my 1st job you still gross 50k at the bare min, more like 55-58k doing a 4 day work week with 2 30-36hr trips

 

Besides the culture shock of life on the road and not making enough money, two main reasons why newbies don't last in trucking is
1) They pick the wrong company to start with.
2) They don't do their homework to see how bad a company is.

But what gets me is the individual who has options (clean driving record, spotless criminal background ) that chooses CR England, or Werner after reading all the nightmare experiences others have had. Then coming on this forum and saying "It will be different for me, because I'm going to stay positive and I'm a harder worker than most people". Then they soon realize they made a fatal mistake and it costs most their driving career.

 

Getting ready to be sent out solo,without proper training.Screw you guys,I'm going home!