Is there any trucking companies out there that treat you different like the old days where you were

you missed finding a parking spot at 10 PM on the east coast. lol

 

I'm beginning my 11th year this month....ehhhhhhh I'm not sure I know what I missed either. I've actually had a good time out here. Maybe because I don't get caught up all the non driving stuff. Regulations? Dont really care. I cant remember them all. Camaraderie? Cant trust to many people these days....they may shoot you for saying hello. Shippers? Receivers? They are what they are. Trucking companies? Pretty much the same with minor differences. This a profession that you really gotta check your ego. We just ants in a large ant farm. Its nice to be treated like family but the reality is, its business. They use while they have you, and once your gone, you're an afterthought. All company drivers are truck numbers.

 

Yeah ,.. my father started driving in the 60s … the things that suck now sucked back then too … dispatchers could be pricks then and can be pricks now ... four wheelers could be idiots then and can be idiots now … shippers and receivers could be pricks then and can be pricks now … DOT could be a pain then and can be pain now … and other drivers could be self centered pricks then and can be self centered pricks now.

The only reason things were better back in the day, is because we remember them with the fondness of our youth.

 

Sounds to me like you should buy a truck and trailer, get your authority and run your company exactly the way you want.

 

LOL the companies before treated you like dirt. As opposed to now where it is illegal for them to treat you that way and you could take them to court if they do treat you that way. Back then the DM would have laughed in your face and sent you packing. Now companies will say something like "well I am sorry you feel that way. What do you suggest can be done about it"

Nope back then was not better. We were just more ignorant of the way it was.

 

because they were. you could always find a parking spot, all rest areas were open, restaurants instead of fast food, and the food was better, then what you get now. traffic, yes there was, but not like these days. and most of all, truckers helped truckers, rather than pass them by.

10-4....noobs don't know squat.

i always got more, better rest/sleep back then. i drove on paper, and believe me, i drove BY MY DOINGS, not the company, and i made great money, and never had any problems with being tired. and NO i was never hopped up on anything to keep me awake.

 

Self-awareness is a huge lack in a lot of otherwise good drivers/employees.

Hard to teach, especially if their worldview is full of "shoulds."

OP might want to start looking into getting his own authority and running his own outfit.

 

I have never drove for a big company.
Trucks that could run the speed limit, and pull a hill.
No disrespect from anyone in the office because you see them face to face when you turn in paperwork.
Not being tracked every hour of the day or told where to fuel, and how much.
Not being told what roads to take.
Having a truck that would idle as long as you have fuel in the tanks.

 

Actually yes, some recievers in the north east maintained canteens upstairs with full menu breakfast or dinner and everything in between Pay them a few dollars and fill yourself up with good food for one.

You were told to be somewhere in the morning 10 days from now. No excuses for being late. Don't call unless you broke the truck again. And if you did break it, you fix it.

Paper HOS dating to about 1962 offers many options that has been carefully eliminated from the poor salt mine drivers today trapped in ELD land. Along with radar beeping, brake slamming, loco semis with a mind of their own telling you that you are not in your lane and so forth etc.

And you wonder why I deliberately hang onto my older truck that has essentially none of that BS engineering inside of it. It does have a little engine computer and one for the transfer case but again it's not a pure 4x4 monster you take out and play with.

Fast food in travel plazas are leaving something to be needed after a hour. The old truckstops of my life are all gone essentially with one exception Wolcott IA and a couple of others.

It will get worse before it gets better.

 

If I may just add to that:
Handling any problem yourself that came your way, flats, alternator quit, reefer quit, lights out, fuel gel, blown hoses, starter bad, etc. Drivers almost always helped each other back then. Yes, most everyone had their ears on, carried tools & parts and knew how to use them.

Going the xtra mile for the company, because you rode for the brand and they took care of you and you of them.

Deviant dispatchers didn't last long, drivers made sure of that.

Rinky dink diners/cafes, with dirt lots, serving up good food, friendly waitresses, some who were there for years. Look out across the dirt lot, all the rigs would be lined up in a straight line.

Parking wasn't an issue most of the time. Planning & more planning.

In many States, the scales were closed more than they were open. State Police had bigger fish to fry. Swindle sheets a little behind, no problem, catch 'em up while I check your rig.

Yeah, it was better then, but time waits for no man.....