What Would You Do?

8 days waiting for a truck repair? Screw 'em.

That will only cost them $350 or so. And $350 is a drop in the bucket as to what their Freightliner bill will be.

It is not like this driver abandon his truck on the side of the road or in a truck stop. He left a disabled truck in a safe, secure place. F' em.

 

The company I'm with had me in some pretty crappie trucks with lots of breakdowns. I struggled through 3 trucks in the first couple months. Now 15 months later I drive their newest equipment and am their #1 driver (which honestly isn't saying much looking at most of their drivers but it feels good).

Perseverance and loyalty are lacking a lot nowadays. Trucks breakdown. It's what they do. Companies have older trucks that are more prone to breakdowns. That's typically what new hires get. Perservere and a good company will reward you. Give up and you will never know.

I was detained for 24 hours once. I knew from the beginning my company doesn't pay detainment. I stuck it out and got loaded without complaint. The next day they called me and apologized and added 200 miles to my run. They didn't have to do that and yet they did.

 

Sounds like there was no communication from the company or from you, it's your job to keep asking regarding your disposition, then make your decision. You don't just decide to fly home on your own.

 

Well it is abandonment but !! These cos that expect a driver to camp in motel not makin jack #### on an already meager wage is bs !
I broke down in Vegas last summer as a company driver for a week and my boss at the time paid all my expenses including beer and food
And a full weeks wages of a 1000 bucks .
That'd how it should be but I talked to lots of mega drivers that were on they're own for everything but the motel and no earnings ...that's wrong !

 

Im sorry to hear that... that puts a chill of fear into my spine.

What if the Trucking Companies intend to put Pete, KW and all the nicer rigs (In some cases BETTER rigs than Volvo which themselves show strengths in areas too.) out of the highway and all we have is a sort of a ... box with wheels stamped with a nationally approved logo of a generic truck that will not run very well and require constant maintance.

I will say I was somewhat hard when I posted on that poor fella. He's young 8 days is a awful lot waiting. Some of you have given me my medicine demonstrating agility in towing, tractor swaps, power repowring etc. So I took my bitter medicine and say.. Im sorry for being so hard.

I have waited a month in some cases out there. Thinking back I could have shown initiative myself asking dispatcher to get repowered or flown somewhere to catch a empty truck and get it's load delivered after someone quit and abandoned on the company in hunts point once.

All of you are good to me in one way or another. I feel sad for being a obselete dinosaur.

I hope you youngers understand that the industry requires a special person to deal with the bad things that do sometimes happen and try to do it in the way that keeps you making your money.

Pardon me while i drink my coffee and retire tonight. Maybe tomorrow is a better day.

 

No matter how frustrated one gets, it's never a good idea to quit without something lined up elsewhere. And it's an even worse idea to abandon the equipment, it's a huge inconvenience for the company, and they will make your future bleak.

 

Why did you quit and go home if they said they were going to pay you for waiting? Did you have reason to believe they wouldn't? If I was getting paid a fair amount to sit on my butt in a motel while my truck was getting fixed I would sit there a month if need be. Need more details on your story.

Years ago I flew to another country to do a job where I was to be paid $400 a day plus motel and $50 a day for meals. I got there and the equipment we needed for our job hadn't cleared customs yet. Client said I will pay you $200 a day plus the $50 for meals and your motel to stick around and wait until the equipment is here. I waited ten days before it showed up. No big deal it was easy money.

 

As much as I would hate the reduced pay, I hate NO pay even more. Use the hotel's free wifi to load down your tablet/phone/laptop with movies, ebooks, and games. Hot showers as often as you want them, possibly a pool to use and enjoy local "scenery", go out and have a beer or three with every dinner, I'm not really seeing the downside to this???

When I first started with Swift, my trainer's truck broke down. 8 days in Laredo at the terminal, so that really sucked. But you've got a gravy job, sounds like.


HAD a gravy job, I meant.

 

I would have found a nice married lady to have a short, but deeply meaningful relationship with on the company's dime.

 

Deep, yes. Meaningful, not so much....lol