Success or failure

I think this advice is enough to get me to change mindset. Without a rock solid driver it would be tough not to lose a truck load of $$

 

Can you PM Me?

 

I will say that from my experience in the one fleet shop I wrenched at, a lot of drivers (well the ones driving there anyways) are morons. 3/4 of the driver's there talked the talk but couldn't drive a straight stick up a dead dog's ###. Always breaking trucks, not doing the jobs they were paid to do (like post trips, winterizing the boilers/pressure wash pumps, etc). But then again, when a company is paying 75% of what the company down the street is paying, all they'll retain are the dummies no one else wants.

 

I've got my own authority and down to five trucks now. The weeks I make money are the weeks that I log more miles than my drivers. Also remember, the paperwork involved would take someone more time to do than you'd spend working in the truck over the course of a year ten fold.

 

What will you do when you are balls deep in a clutch job at work and one of your drivers has a problem you need to fix. My two cents would be to buy trucks that need mechanical work, fix em and flip em.

 

Why?

Because a lot of drivers are truly crap drivers and think just because they drive a truck, they deserve wages that good drivers get. The attitude is all over this forum, they cry about not being paid for sitting, not being paid for wiping their butts but they are just there to steer the truck with absolutely no other responsibilities.

This is because the CDL licensing process is like opening up a box of crackerjack and digging for the prize, it can be found but with little effort.

It takes me an average to find a driver that fits my needs three weeks to a month. This includes background checks, calling previous employers and a few other things like a road test. I take this seriously while you have drivers who expect to fill out an app and then hop right into the truck. But worse than that is owners who just hire someone to drive without even looking at the MVR and put them in a truck to be another idiot on the road.

AND there is another half to this, it is with what I call marginal owners. IT is those who are so cheap that they would rather have the truck rolling to produce any revenue with any driver but then refuse to properly fix a problem which would break the truck. Owners who can't make payroll or cheat the driver out of pay by fines and other BS. These owners are a cause of pretty much the same thing, crackerjack authorities and companies who lease fleets without good standards or good back office policies.

Here is a perfect example of a crap owner -
www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/search/21218503/?q=diesel+in+oil&o=relevance

This is also a driver who ignored advice and ran anyway.

So I hope that answers your question of why?

I also agree with NM on this take, it is right on.

 

Trust me, a good tech makes more money than he would if he were driving.