Are you sitting a lot lately?

I like you man, but what you are saying overlooks the fact that they are constantly hiring for most dedicated accounts. If they were able to keep people in those positions they wouldn't need to fill those slots constantly.

 

@BigBluePeter, you got a point but this must be said....my wife and I do Road Tests at the terminal. One of the things that is most disturbing to us is that a lot of people get into this industry with no idea and no plan. They think they can get their CDL and everything will fall into place for them. It's no wonder the turnover rate industry wide is so high. It's not a USX problem but a trucking problem. Many people get into trucking cause it's a last resort....sad but true.

On the dedicated account we're on, we've met A LOT of husband/wife teams. Their doing the miles but still seem to find ways to complain about everything. Many of them tell us in the beginning they never care to go home then after a few months they want to be home more often....give it a little bit longer and they're ready to quit cause they don't have a life at home. A lot of people we've met are no longer here cause they want to be home weekly. Several we know are on their 3-4 job cause they can't find that Unicorn job that meets all their "needs".


Drivers are going to encounter these issues at every major trucking company. The thing to factor in is that USX offers better pay, benefits and equipment than others.

Too many people get into this industry without doing any research and realistic expectations.

 

@TruckDuo I would agree with a lot of people think I have a cdl I am gonna make money without even trying. The problem is companies don't take the time to see the drivers that truly want to make this a career. The ones that are not in it for the money but for the seer joy of doing a job the have dreamed of doing. Take me for example I had wanted to get into trucking back in 2001 but life happened and I had to put my dreams on hold. Well two years ago I started looking into it again and tore my Achilles tendon. Now I am finally doing the job I want with the company I wanted to be with. And I am getting over looked atleast that is how it feels. I am a safe and professional driver I don't take chances I make sure my equipment is in good working order and that I am not going to have any issues if I am pulled in by the dot.

Yesterday as I told you I lost a 2000 mile load due to it requiring a tanker endorsement now it was replaced with a 300 mile load that I delivered this morning and now I sit waiting for another load. I have averaged only 1600 miles a week since I upgraded. I have talked to my fm my fo and even yesterday talked to the one over the entire solo fleet. All I get are words no actions everyone sees I am not getting many miles but nothing is done to rectify that.

It's frustrating to see drivers that do not care that damage new equipment but are making a decent living while the ones who truly do care about the company get left behind. Case in point I tried to help another solo otr driver that was overweight he didn't want to correct the issue just wanted to know how much the ticket would cost him if he got busted. This driver has been with the company 2 months and is already driving a 2015 truck. I had another driver almost take the nose of my truck twice in va and was tailgating everyone leaving less then 2 feet between him and them. That driver will one day run out of luck and cause an accident and may kill someone. So I can understand what others are saying and why we have good drivers leaving.

 

Here in lie one of the biggest problems though. The company knows that they are going to have a hard time attracting people that will stay and make them money. It doesn't make any sense at all to take proven drivers that would rather stay and not make life easier for those drivers. It doesn't make any sense at all to take a guys that makes 120k a year JUST ON STUDENTS UPGRADING, and run that guy off. Those are the type of people that a good company identifies and does whatever they can to keep. Never once was I told "we want you to stay. What can we do?" They weren't interested. They are numb to people quitting because it happens so regularly. There are a lot of people in management positions that refuse to manage.

The problem is just going to snowball because it is getting harder to replace drivers that leave. Yah I'm irritated with the company but that doesn't excuse the bad business practices that are going on. They got into a rut with the recession that led them into the mentality that drivers are a dime a dozen. We're not, not the good ones anyway. You are right there were many people getting into the industry as a last resort, but that is changing slowly and there are more options out there than there were in the last few years. The company has failed to identify the changing environment and honestly I think itll cost them big in the end. Think about it. I cant honestly recommend a company Im not willing to work for myself. The people they drive away will end up telling others to go elsewhere too. They are systematically destroying their reputation not just with drivers but with customers too.

Who does this and thinks its good business?

 

Both of you make a good point.

We had the same problem when we started. We did OTR and the miles just wasn't consistent. The Markham terminals orientation makes no mention of it till recently unlike the other terminals that Drivers on dedicated accounts make more money. It was only till @NoCoCraig helped us out, did things improve for us. Should it be like that ? No. A guy like @BigBluePeter definitely shouldn't be screwed over like that. There needs to be better tracking of this.

It's not that upper management doesn't care but for them to notice you, you have to drag yourself kicking and screaming out of the muck that is the 90% of idiots we work with.

 

Oil, china crashing.....global slowdown

 

Then you get a preassign when you have over 6 hrs drive time left that doesn't pick up till the next day and is a 15 mile run. What am I supposed to think as far as my standing in the company

 

Talk to Eric ?

 

Correction: he does need the tanker endorsement