I'm in a 1 year contract traded for truck driving school. After about 4 months and endless arguments about fixing the truck (hub seal leak, 3 weeks. Exhaust leak, still not even checked 4 weeks. Bad alignment and leaking tires, forget about it), I've had to refuse questionable hazmat loads (usually grounds me 3-5 days, punishment), the more stink I make about following rules and being safe, the less miles I get. I'm actually fearing for my CDL record and my life (outside of typical 4 wheeler shenanigans). I mentioned it in another post, most people have the good advice of don't be unsafe and insist these things be fixed but am I really going to have to suffer barely working several weeks at a time or dealing with this anxiety another 8 months? Are there loopholes in these contracts? And if I find one, how bad am I going to appear to future prospective companies? And how bad will that be vs DOT tickets and goodness forbid losing control of that truck when the wonky steer tire blows and maybe crunching some vacationers car? Am I being too paranoid here?
CDL Training Contract loopholes?
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by amanwithcrabs, Aug 27, 2018.
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If you ever get enough experience to buy your own truck,..you may look back to this point and think,.. geeze,...
Experience changes your perspective of things.
HurstLepton1, rabbiporkchop, sevenmph and 2 others Thank this. -
More than likely the contract is 100% in their favor. They can make you sit for 364 days, fire you and then you will still owe them the money. One of the reasons I highly advise not to go to company schools.
That being said, it's just a loan. No different then a credit card you can't pay.
Go look for another company, and don't even mention the contract. Again, it's simply a loan with a 'unique' pay off ability. Once you get to the other company you will also likely be making more money. Take some of that money and start paying back the loan in cash on the terms you agreed to.MBAngel, rabbiporkchop, Suspect Zero and 2 others Thank this. -
I really regret going that route to do the school. Hindsight is 20/20..
frizzbees Thanks this. -
At this point in the game, is it realistic to assume being an o/o will still be lucrative when I get to an appropriate experience level?
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Nothing is guaranteed in life.
At this point in the game,.. you have a long way to go. Right now you 'should' start to be confident in your driving skills and should spend the next few months honing and perfecting your skills. This should/will continue for at at least 1 - 2 more yrs before you can call yourself a true professional. At your stage, this is where most rookies start to get delusions of grandeur thinking about becoming an O/O.
Buying a truck and driving it is the easy part. There is so much much more to it in order to be successful as an independent O/O.
Think of it in terms of starting a business. Lets say you want to start a restaurant. First you need a location,.. existing building or new building? Buying the proper equipment for the type of restaurant you plant to open. Permits, licenses, inspections etc etc. Then you need a menu,.. you need to price the menu appropriately in order to be profitable. Then you need to manage and work insane hours to keep the business in shape,.. being in charge of every aspect and principle of the business. Advertising and seeking out more clients.
Apply that to trucking,.. and thats what it takes to get going. Driving is the easy part. Understanding the business end, rates, mechanicals, shippers, taxes, equipment, financials,.. etc etc. This is not a cheap business to get into.
HurstTheRealPorkChopExpress, jraulpilot1998, DriveStyer and 2 others Thank this. -
I totally agree. I have no delusions, I'm just getting into the finer points of the driving. And believe me, every time I think I have backing down, there's a wonky blind sided curve ball pitched at me. And I haven't even driven in the snow yet.
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Why worry about what tickets the company gets, you need to log correctly and make sure your end of the responsibilities are flawless,
TheRealPorkChopExpress and Lepton1 Thank this. -
Limited "training" (to say the least of that irrelevant flurry of paperwork) has me still discovering what exactly are my responsibilities and what I dont need to stress. In that regard, feel free to let me know of things I should look up, I have a list. Hazmat is super blurry, they like to treat unplacarded like placarded so theres been confusion there
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Have you spoken to your DBL's boss about these issues , or safety dept?
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