Attention all company drivers!!!

There's another trucking forum which I shall not name that seems to be run by these types.

 

Well if you’d rather not put it in public pm me

Doing my own research and I’d rather steer clear of those types(forums and ppl, although forum would be a good laugh lol), if ya don’t want to thats fine though.

They DO make it rather obvious with how enraged their message tones are.

Can only imagine the damage to the keyboards and/or screens they are typing on.

 

Let's just say I had a rather less than positive experience over on Trucking Truth a while back.

 

I am very familiar.with that site.its rigged...i was temporarily banned for speaking the truth. No freedom.of speech is allowed there..dont expect honest answers
because the person running it is getting kickbacks from sponsers..this site is the best hands down

 

Agreed. They could not have named that site any more ironically.

 

No, Im not an executive at some big trucking outfit. I worked mostly for LTL carriers for much of the past 30 some years. Just bought a truck and will be heading out on my own soon. That being said...

Trucking is trucking. Like it or not, everyone has had to pay their dues. I got my CDL in 1984. I was making 9 cents a mile (no, that isnt a typo, NINE cents per mile) and 20 bucks a drop. In them days you had to work for 2 years before you had a chance to get into a decent company (although 1 year and a perfect safety record would sometimes work). To expect companies to treat new drivers any different than it has always been is unrealistic.

Now before your head explodes and you start writing your hate mail let me say that I dont agree that this is the way it SHOULD be, Im just saying that is the way it has always been, and will likely be the way it is well into the future. Trucking is probably one of the slowest industries to change their ways. It is unrealistic to expect it to be any different. But it IS changing. You dont have to work as a slave for 2 years anymore (more like 6 months now) and companies are beginning to realize they need drivers more than the drivers need them (look at Crete/Shaffer trucks sometime).

But I dare say the "rookie" companies, meaning those that take just anyone and train them to drive will continue to treat those drivers like slaves. They are taking the insurance hit just for the privilege of training them and the only way they can continue to do that is on the assembly line that they have created. They know full well that the vast majority of drivers they get wont be there in 6 months. That is the way their companies are set up and thats how they will continue to operate because its a tried and true method.

Again, Im not saying its right just saying thats how it is.

But lets face facts. Most people getting into trucking do not really understand what it is we do. They see us on the road and the trucks shine and cost a lot so we make lots of money and home every night and so on and so forth. And then Swift, Werner, or whoever else gets a hold of them and they are in for a rude awakening!

Problem is there is more to this industry than life on the road. But you arent getting an entry level job with an LTL carrier doing P&D in town until you have a proven safety record. Life is hard, but facts are facts. Like it or not, in THIS business you have to KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. And the ONLY way to get there is with experience. I drove farm trucks at 8 years old. I drove army trucks from 18 years old. Got my CDL at age 27 and had 9 months of schooling, and I was in for an awakening when I got out into the real world.

Whining isnt going to change anything. If you were to form a company that was going to recruit and train its own drivers, how would YOU do it? Think about that for a moment and then reflect on how the megas operate and tell me you wouldnt do it different...

Because I HAVE thought about it. And the problem with it is the "X" factor. Simply put, you dont know WHAT you will get for drivers, and wont know what you really have until they are trained and out there making you money. Costs roughly 2.5 grand to train a driver between fuel, insurance, truck depreciation, and instructor salary. If you hire 100 drivers knowing that the odds say that 40 of them will be out of the industry in a year so that means you have to plan on only 60 of those 100 will be able to recoup your investment in the whole.

Now personally if I were the megas, I would have another company a step above to move the best of the 60 to, pay them more, treat them better and keep them around. And do it again into a 3rd company at 5 years again making more and better equipment, ect. But the facts are the "rookies" are not going to be treated like those that have proven themselves. And to expect anything else is unrealistic.

 

Tone of your message, though softer (because the rudeness of some members was called out), in theory is the same.

This is 2018, we understand you were subjected to those horrific expieriences when you started and you had to “pay your dues” or as we say, work for horrific wages and be treated like scum. But just because you, and the trolls/undercovers did, does not mean everyone else should.

We get it, these companies are trash, they’re paying pennies to rookies to stay afloat/profit...not a new concept. But there CAN be “gems” found in a trash heap. People sharing their experiences for newbies is not “whining.” The value is immeasurable, they are recent experiences. They are not about agreeing or disagreeing, they can save someone from making a decision they may regret later on. Don’t see how that affects ANY of you already with the company or working elsewhere, unless you are a covert. You can simply choose to not enter the thread.

 

150 pages of the same crap over and over and over - is what I call whining.

What would YOU call it?

Dont need 150 pages to say that Swift, Werner, TMC, Central Refer, CR England, and every other company that is willing to hire someone that can fog a mirror and is willing to train them as long as they pledge their soul for 6mos - 1yr is probably bad news.

But you know what? If there is indeed a gem out there, you would be far better off just pointing THAT out rather than whining for 150 pages on how mistreated you are.

Now, please enlighten us as to these "gems" you know of...

And I "enter the thread" to do just that. Enlighten the masses... Welcome to Trucking. Bite the bullet or get out. No one is EVER going to coddle you. The sooner you realize that the better off you will be.

No company is EVER going to care about you. Sure, they say they do, but when the smoke clears and you are sitting on the phone in a wrecked truck (your fault or not), you will find out just how much of "family" you are to that company.

You are a truck number. You leave and they will get someone else to sit in your truck. Learn that NOW young one... And for the record, my last chargeable was Feb 86. Last accident of any kind was Jun 98, and last ticket was May 04. I have 3 million miles without a chargeable, 2 million miles accident free, 1 million miles without a ticket.

I was a CDL instructor (at a private school) for a year, and I had my own CDL school for 6 months, so yeah, I know what its like to work with raw rookies. After the students get their CDL they are visited by recruiters from all of the above companies (and more) and they ask me questions and I set them straight. The BIG plus they had was going to an independant school so if they get mistreated too badly, they can quit and walk away and go somewhere else. They didnt sign their soul away. So in that regard I tended to work with more intelligent (or better informed) people than the mainstream. But any way you slice it, you ARE going to have to "pay your dues" because you NEED experience, and there is but 1 way to get it...

But what would I know?

 

Please re-read the last sentence of my post that details you having the choice to ignore these “150 pages of whining.” You are not forced to read any of it. Not interested in an argument or back and forth. Be blessed sir!

 

The scam I see is the 90 day probation period before benefits start. On the last day they invent things, such as saying someone called in a month ago and said you were driving dangerous. So they let you go and you can't do anything because it's probation. This is why these companies have orientation every week. Next warm body to the front.