A CDL is not a passport to a job.

I agree, and one thing that gripes my ##### is guys refusing loads. Unless it was in an employment contract, then stop your whining and do your job. You agreed to do a certain job for a certain amount of money, thats it nothing else. I have never refused a load, but I sure have taken a bunch of loads other guys refused..and I was running making money while they sat for another day. I use to get alot of runs like that, and when the sweet runs came, i got them because I didn't ##### about the crappy runs. I just did my job. I'm not tooting my own horn, I'm just saying that its my job to do what the boss man says, and I do it. Hey come to think of it, ya'll refuse all the loads you want, I make a heck of alot money that way. LOL.

 

Well, if this thread has done nothing else, it has showed that there are some young drivers who have an admirable attitude to the industry they are about to join. If I were a gambler, I would put money on those young people being active in the industry in 25 years time.

When I started this thread, I didn't assume that all students were prima donnas, and some of the replies have proven that the enthusiasm it still there. Good! It needs to be. Incidentally, my main reason for getting involved in this forum is to learn new stuff for myself, because you can teach an old dog new tricks, and I'm not too proud to learn from anybody.

 

while they're all sitting around going "#### i'm broke, i'm not takin that money" you're laughin all the way to the bank, and when things come around, you'll be first in line for the good loads.

like i say and will keep saying the piss poor attitudes arent a trucking problem. people my age as a whole suck. no drive, no ambition, no accountability, its like a big deal if someone my age can admit they screwed up. bunch of sissies waiting for someone else to fix their problems. and dont even get me started on all these fatherless, family-less kids my generation is having. sure, have a kid, welfare is waiting, free housing, free food, all of it. IT'S ALL FREE!! you dont have to accept any responsibility for anything. hey if you cant get a job its probably because you were bullied in school or something or your mama didnt love you enough. my generation summed up is the generation of no responsibility. nothings my fault, nope!!

UGH! this gets me so fired up. i hate my generation so much.

 

I'll join your club :0)

 

# o.m.d.

When I first started driving, I soon developed a reputation for accepting absolutely anything, just to get some miles under me. I used to work for several employment agencies. That's a common way of getting experience in the UK. I called into one of the offices one day and the boss asked me why I hadn't been available the previous day. I told him where I'd been, and for whom. His response? "####. We turned that job down, because we didn't think we could get anyone to do it." He didn't make the same mistake again, and we had a reasonably profitable run together.

Another time, the boss of a company I was sent to ordered me to leave the premises as I had worked longer than he considered reasonable. I was shunting trailers in the yard. I told him I had a couple left to move. He said "I don't care. Trailers can wait. Go and get some rest."

Over the years some things have changed, my attitude to work is not one of them. Sounds like yours is pretty similar. I'm betting you're one of those Americans who don't have to persuade people that there is still a work ethic alive and well in the USA.

 

That's a true statement. But want happens when you're assigned a trainer that has only been driving a truck for 6 months? Don't take chances and protect your CDL so sooner or later you can get some real good training. Do not be offended if you have a perfect driving record and you are offered a course like the Smith System. We can all learn something new and NO ONE knows everything there is to know.

Case in point; ask a know-it-all how many places does a truck and trailer pivot? And even ask him or her ( I've never seen a her with that kind of attitude but just have to be fair) where the fifth wheel is?

 

Good advice for the unitiated. I'm hoping to make trucking a successful 2nd career, and am jumping in fully aware that I'll have to pay my dues to get that valuable road experience...if I can even get anyone to hire me. I'll do my homework and try to get the best deal I can, for sure, but at the end of the day, I'm not going to stay home and sit on my hands just because I didn't get the kind of deal I expected out of the gate. I may be hanging onto the hind titty for a while,but that's better than being the pup that starves.

I was watching "Swamp Loggers" last week, and in one of the episodes, a young guy's truck was down for repairs. He was offered up the job of trimming the trailered logs before they went off to the mill, while they were fixing his truck. He refused because he "doesn't like to get dirty". No worky, no pay. From looking at him, I was guessing he didn't have a pot to piss in, and for good reason. Pathetic.

 

Gashauler

I'm pretty shocked that someone would be considered able to train others with only six months experience. Is this a normal occurrence in the USA, or simply a response to the shortage of experienced trainers?

 

I know you did not address the question to me, Dionysus, but yes... at Swift and some of the other "training" companies, one can become a trainer with only 6 months experience. Heck, I've been doing this for about 8 years now, and I don't feel qualified to be a trainer! On some things, yeah... but the whole enchilada? No way. (I still hate backing, although by now I have done it thousands of times!)

This is a GREAT thread! I live in Big Blue's home town, and the hotels around Werner are full of trainees waiting for trucks, just sure they are the next one to take the industry by storm. There is a definite generational difference. With some exceptions - as seen on this thread so far - most "kids" in their early 20s don't really want to work, they just want to be paid. EARNING their way into the industry is something they have no grasp of. Life is supposed to be handed to them on a silver platter. The older ones - late 30's to my age and beyond - understand they have to WORK for things, and sometimes it won't be pleasant! Keep it up, Dionysus, and just tell it like it is!

 

HEY that's what I was going to say.LOL