Easiest way to quit a mega carrier?

Yep , they do.
Get as close to home as possible.
Take your stuff out and clean truck out, turn in the key. Take lots of pictures inside and out , turn in all your paperwork for pay, start your time off , call HR on 2 nd day and tell'em your not coming back or quit.
.... also try having another job before quitting , cause the mega will screw you if they can and your guilty till proven innocent , so CYA on everything before you depart.

 

I told my DM like 2 months before I quit that I was buying a truck and would work until a certain date. They routed me home for the last day, and I cleaned out the truck, said my goodbyes, and left. It was an entirely positive experience.

Ask yourself what you would want if someone was driving your truck and decided to quit.

 

If you get routed through your home terminal, grab a rental car and clean out the truck there. If you quit on home time and you live 400mi away, you’re setting up yourself for an uncontrollable event. They own the truck; they control it AND you, while it’s in your possession. You need to maintain control of the situation.

 

I came from an industry where giving notice and working it out was common. But that doesn’t work driving for a mega. The potential to get stuck far from home with a bunch of expensive gear and scrambling to get home is not worth the risk. Hometime then turn in the keys. Just do it politely and clean the truck well. They will respect that and your record leaving will be clean.

 

At my company they would require you to turn in the truck for that much time off. They can't have the truck sitting idle for that long not making any money.
When/if you came back you would be issued a different truck.

At some terminals, more than 4-5 days would require turning in the truck.

If you are planning an extended time off (and intend to stay employed there) it would be better to inform them well in advance so both of you can arrange things properly.

 

Good advice already thrown down, I'm for cleaning out the truck at your home terminal... I've parted on both good and bad terms in the past, better to try and make it good terms. One outfit told me I was welcome back anytime, but I never went back, I was pretty much done with reefer outfits at that point.

 

I’ve turned in trucks before… I’ve already had 2 opportunities to “quit” while on fmla leave. My first one was an emergency, but happened near a yard; second one I gave about 6 weeks notice. I took hometime about 2 weeks before the media leave to unload most of trk and move car to the yard.

Since my current plan is to combine hometime and vacation, I’m already prepping for it now. I’ve also been inquiring trying to figure out if it’s allowable by policy… it doesn’t appear to be against policy, worst case is I need to do a personal leave of absence paperwork, I’m also at risk for getting bumped off my dedicated acct.

 

clean out your truck along your way back to the terminal. this way, all you'll have is your bag, and the least amount of other crap to pack.

get to the terminal, Greydog, Amtrak, Southwest, U-Haul, your way home from there.

this should serve as a lesson to others, to "travel light", as much as possible, to avoid the stresses of packing more than your clothings and maybe a cb radio.

get your own truck, as in o/o, then pack THAT to the roof........

 

Just remember, they ain't gonna give you 2 weeks notice when they fire you.

 

It varies by trucking company. I have always given a 2-week notice and never been punished or booted out of the truck at the first opportunity. I guess it depends on the character of your employer. I would ask your company, but I don't know who would be the best person to ask. Generally, ask someone near the top of a department. Depending on your dispatcher and how you ask the question you could get routed back to the yard immediately. Maybe discuss with someone over your dispatcher about a future 30 day cruise and how would be the best way to "resign" if they need you to do that in order to get that much time off IN THE FUTURE.