I have to play the devil's advocate here...

Uncommon Belief, don't feel bad, nor stress yourself out. Sounds like you haven't been in this business for too long. We All learn through trial and error.

I myself and hubby went through the same scenerio, that you're going through. My husband threw his hands up after so long , after 10 years and said he had enough headaches and stress,.. because of the drivers! It wasn't the work, the customers, the loads that burnt him out.

We told drivers to take the trucks home, chrome it if you like, do what you want like its your truck, but keep it maintained by checking the oil and water, etc. Nay, that didn't happen. We had a truck sitting in the middle of the country with a blown engine.
But what did hubby in, was, after we got sued big time , because of a driver running a SUV off the road , for ROAD RAGE! So , he gave everything up and all equipment except for one truck for himself. And for everyone to leave him alone.

I myself wanted to keep it going, but back in the early 90's, finding drivers were harder to find. There was a shortage of drivers for the economy.
BUT,
You have the ADVANTAGE, because of the ways of the economy and drivers are NOW Hurting for Work. So, you can really pick and choose your drivers. Interview them,talk to them and feel them out and see if you click together,. Ask alot of questions and look for Red Flags.


Drivers with 2 years experience, I hate to say this, still need Guidance. You SET the Pace for them.
After 5 years experience, they get to the point, where they are set in their ways, in running, sleeping, taking breaks, and so forth.

Like Ceaser Milan says in " Dog Whisperer", Stay Calm and Be Assertive !

Beside All that, I'm ready to Do It All Over Again! Love the Challenge. GOOD LUCK!

 

hmmm, well uncommon belief, my father in law who owns a small trucking company (10 trucks) tends to take a trip with his new hires. he also has a 2 week policy and has told me in the past, "you know within the first 2 or 3 hours if you want to keep the guy or not". maybe you could implore some of that training with your company. he seems to weed out the garbage before it costs him anymore on the backend with this practice....

 

This is so true, and important enough to stand on its own. It's the reason I'm now running a sole proprietorship rather than a partnership ... and I knew better too.

And, conversely, just because someone doesn't have the "exact" experience you may be looking for, it's not necessarily a good reason to pass them over. I've always looked for transferable skills, attitude and ability/willingness to learn in potential employees.

 

Good Post wsyrob!!

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wwfd1220,
Uncommon Belief should replace the 6 drivers, not meeting up to expectations. Like the 'ole saying,, "Shape up or Ship Out". The way your father in law handle it.

He's lucky he can pick and choose .. there's no shortage of drivers these days. A driver can really make or break a business.

ha, ha, can I take a ride in your four wheeler?
thought that was cute!
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Did somebody learn how to push your button, LostNFound? GOOD POST !

 

You are the root of the problem. I'm not being mean, but its true. Bad drivers have always been out there, but you are the one who is hiring them.

A few years back I had to open and manage two terminals for an expanding LTL carrier and had to build the workforce from scratch to about 25 drivers. I was not quite as young as you, but I was definitely younger than anyone I hired. I had also been a driver for about 7 years, so I knew the perspective from both sides of the glass. At the first terminal I tried to accomodate and see things from the driver's perspective and sell the good points of the job, as I was proud of our operation. I ended up with some good drivers and some terrible drivers. Weeding out those terrible drivers was a painful process for our operation.

My second terminal, I told the applicants how hard the job was and undersold the job and told them exactly what I expected from them. I was much more matter of fact and I looked for reasons not to hire the applicant, instead of looking past those red- flags. It was a longer hiring process, but I only hired one bad driver out of the second group and he was gone long before his probationary period was over.

This is what I get from your posts (this is just conjecture, so if the shoe fits, wear it, if not, then disregard...):
You are young and some of these drivers are using your inexperience against you.

You haven't started to trust your gut instincts during the interview/ training process, and you are missing red flags. The interview is the time that you are going to see the absolute best side of that driver, you can count on getting 60% of the driver you see in the interview.

You aren't brutally honest about the downsides of the job during the interview process (you need to state the things that suck about the job a few different times and get the applicant to acknowledge that he understands that there are things that suck about the job).

You are making too many accomodations to the wrong drivers, accomodate the good drivers and if you are called on it, tell the bad driver what he needs to start doing to get the good treatment. This is the difference between fairness and equality.

Also, with you 'needing to keep the trucks filled' for financial reasons, you are not being as choosy as you should be in the process, don't hire someone just to fill the seat, its better to keep the truck open waiting for the right driver.

 

Hiring owner operators?

 

That's a good question TripleSix.

Speaking of Owner Operators., We preferred working with them, rather than drivers. We used both drivers and O/O's.
Owner Operators seem to be more responsible than having drivers placed in our trucks.
Owner Operators took better care of their own trucks. What the heck, it's their own truck!
Except, O/O were set in their ways, but seemed to be more responsible in work ethics. I just had to run them, the way they wanted to run, and when it was done that way, everything else was fine. They were happy.

Hubby said, he wanted to work only with O/O's. He didn't have to babysit them. That was his exact words.

I hope things work out for Uncommon Belief.

 

I run with a group of guys that are money oriented. I am single with no kids. I am at home this week doing some work on a truck. This is my first time at home this year. Last year, I was a company driver. I made good money. The guvment killed me in taxes. However, even after taxes I was netting $1400-1600 a week. Bought my own rig because I was leaving too much money on the table.
A buddy of mine from northern Michigan is in his mid 50's, married, 2 sons, just went home for the first time this year to see his youngest son graduate college. He went home 4 times last year. He had a bunch of runs that went to the same place for a year and a half that paid him $4k per load, 2 loads per week, for a 1200 mile linehaul. He told the wife thats too much money to walk away from and she drove out to meet with him and would ride with him 3 weeks at a time.

You know the old saying, 'Birds of a Feather Flock Together.' People who truck for the same reason group together. Some truck drivers are here looking for respect, a place to call home, some want to travel, not to be a number, to shed a positive image on trucking, to be nice and courteous. Thats fine and dandy.

Some of us are here just for the money.I havent been here long, but I know these drivers by their posts Dont care about respect, not trying to be nice, dont care what the general public thinks about us, will travel to Hell- we want the money!