Truck Abandonment

I am a driver, I understand that when a driver goes missing and refuses to answer both the company cell phone and Global link and is two states away from where he should be the first thing management would do is turn off the fuel cards, the second thing they did was send someone for the load. The truck had been abandoned before they saw where it was and tried to contact the driver. The load had been retrieved by another driver before they turned off the fuel cards.
If it had been me, I would have used my ATM card to get cash, or used my Comdata card to write a Comchek to get the load delivered. The driver had $853 on his Comdata card. He needed $50 to pay Sprall-mart to unload. I'm not happy with the system of only the company president being able to put money on our fuel cards, but I wouldn't drag the load 4 hours home and abandon the truck, trailer, & load without calling the man who owns the truck. A simple phone call to the owner would have gotten the problem fixed. The driver called me, another driver, who he's known for 11 years, but wouldn't call the owner or management.

 

Well said there Otter. If you're too stubborn to call the boss, you have a problem.

When my hubby is on hometime, his ComData card is turned off.

 

not me.. i took 7 days off and my card was still turned on.. told dispatch and payroll i needed an advance after taking the week off and i was told, you have your card, every tues. you can take 200 in advance , go get your advance and be done with it ... guess i got lucky

 

Hubby had then turn his on so he could get his advance once so he could stock up on food before hitting the road the next morning. They had no problem doing that.

 

I'm not sure how true this is, but when I went through orientation at TMC, we were discussing abandonment and the consaquences of it. He told us about a truck that they were looking for and found it by sattelite going back and forth across some bay or lake up in the northeast. Apparently the driver managed to get it onto some ferry and left there. If it is true, can you imagine trying to catch up to that.

 

No matter your opinion of DAC, truck abandonment should be #1 on the list of #### not to do.

 

A good way to judge the integrity of an industry, is by looking at the turnover rate. Look at fast foods like McDonalds Restaurants; they're always hiring because the pay is lousy, and you need to speak Spanish to communicate with your coworkers in places like California. Trucking, especially OTR (over the road) is like that. Most carriers cannot stay in business without lying to the drivers. They'll claim "we keep you consistently moving, you'll make great $$ (as opposed to minimum wage), we take care of our drivers, yadah, yadah, yadah.... but you'll notice most drivers had been pulling for the company less than a year. If this company is as driver oriented as they claim themselves, then why are drivers quitting every week? Why are they running ads for drivers on a daily basis in newspapers and over the internet? The answer is because our clients expect dirt-cheap rates, which also means drivers who are paid dirt-cheap, as opposed to how much they can earn as local, hourly-paid drivers. Local drivers average 60 hours a week, are paid overtime after 8 hours, and some states mandate double time pay after 12 hours in a shift, or 60 hours in a week. In contrast, OTR pays the same mileage rate; you're only paid while the wheels are turning. Mileage commission pay is an incentive to falsify logbooks, and to violate hours of operation laws. You only make decent money when you start to put in at least 14 hours day, and you start ingesting caffeine and herbal stimulants to undergo periods of sleep deprivation. This is what they mean when veteran truckers say "trucking is what you make of it." You only earn decent pay if you're willing to violate state and federal laws.

 

Have to disagree with you on some of your points there passingtrucker. My hubby runs completely legal and makes decent money. His company will nail your backside to a wall for running illegal.

Also, part of the reason for the turnover rate is people that get into this industry thinking it's going to be a piece of cake, think it's not going to be hard work, that it doesn't require much thought, and think they are going to get rich. Being a truck driver is not easy or glamorous. It requires time management skills, math skills, map reading skills, and an ability to focus on what's going on around you. Not only do you have to know what you are doing on the road, you have to anticipate what every person around you is going to do. You have to be able to operate a vehicle that is hooked to a 53 foot trailer without hitting anything or wrecking the vehicle.

Being a truck driver is not like any other job any one has ever had before, and I think too many people go into it thinking it's like whatever jobs they have had in the past.

 

I'm not saying what he did was right but I can understand why he did it, I might have done the same thing if I was out for 4 weeks at a time and just wanted to go home, and they refused to let me go home, a person can get really frustrated. These trucking companies treat their drivers like they are not even human beings, I always say I drive to make a living, I don't live to drive a truck.

 

Your post is right on Lilbit!

Yes, there are companies that will screw you if you give them the chance. Yes, there are companies that will encourage you to run illegal. Or at least the dispatcher will, while the safety department is gigging you for doing it. These companies are not worth working for.

But a good trucking company will work with you to keep you running, keep you legal and keep you safe. You notice I did not say "keep you happy." That is going to be up to you. Your attitude will determine how you do in this business. That, and a bit of common sense.