Everyone I know from my class has quit their company already

I still love this job after 10 months and do not plan on going anywhere unless they do something drastic. A lot of people complain everyday about having to wait for a few hours or not being home every day. If you have a family with kids then yeah I can understand you want to be home. If you as a new driver expect to keep moving nonstop, then that will likely not happen unless you get the experience necessary to land such a job that is mostly drop n hook. I do not mind when I have to wait, I use that time to enjoy movies, chat on forums, talk to friends, listen to music, shop around (I always park near cool places when I have a choice). So being away from home and waiting is a part of trucking so get used to it and crying will not make it go away. Either quit or find a company that suits your needs.

 

I am in school right now and alot of the guys expect to be home alot and have cushy jobs right out the gate i laugh at em i may be new but i researched and know i gotta take my hard knocks before i get hometime regularly.I have done my research and talked to friends at different companies so i know what to expect. The funniest guy is the one who says he is going to werner and is going to be home every weekend kuz the recruiter told him so lmao

 

I think you are being to harsh. I am an old man. 56. Growing up we had Kennedy. He told us not to ask what our country could do for us but what we could do for our country. The younger set has been told they are entitled to a good job with great pay and lots of free time. All you have to do is keep voting for those who make you promises. The little old ladies have bought into that as well. Their Social Security is something they earned. It isn't a tax. It is their money and Congress has put it in a Lock Box for them.

You can earn $10 a hour by staying home and drawing government aid. Why work?

 

Quite a few years ago I was a road trainer for Navajo and the very first thing I would tell a new driver who had just come out of school before he/she even stepped foot in my truck: "Trucking is a life style, not a job- you will either love it or hate it." There never seemed to me to be a "grey area" in trucking- and that has held true- the 0nes who fell in love with it and it got into their "blood" I saw them years later and they said they found their calling! The ones who hated it- got off the truck as soon as we got back to town or the first place they could catch a bus home!
The problem is that schools, whether their through a company or private, make it sound like you'll be living an episode of "BJ and the bear" or "movin on" (if your even old enough to remember that show!) and it's going to be nothing but fun- like "a vacation you get paid for!" I don't know how many trainees told me their instructor told them that!!
Can it be fun? Oh God yes! Can it be a pain in the ###? You better believe it!
For me personally- from the first time I got into the cab of a truck when I was only 9 yrs old and drove it around in the field so my brothers could stack hay on the back- I fell in love, way harder than even for my first boyfriend, and it has been a life long love affair!
The people from your class who have quit- they didn't fall in love; they just had a case of lust and we all know how quickly that wears off!

 

the insurance companies are controlling the requirements for those "cushy" driving jobs. i see more of them in the paper at home all the time and what used to be 2 to 3 years otr has jumped to 3 to 5 years otr. now the companies might be responsible for that, but the insurance has a good bit to do with it as well. i read an article somewhere a while back that was quite interesting. the article basically states that a driver is the most dangerous the first 12 to 18 months in a truck. they almost expect you to have some sort of incident or accident in the first 2 years.

most of that is based upon a new drivers inability to completely think things out and at the same time having complete situational awareness of your surroundings. and to further back up what the article said, and i can vouch for this personally, i was in kennesaw ga one time, delivering astro turf to a high school that was redoing the football field. i had been out on my own maybe 6 months. i had directions and a map and a gps. i knew about where i needed to go. i got there, went down one street too far, so i saw a culdesac and figured it was better to turn around down there than to back out in traffic. so i go in, and swing wide. it was a back entrance to the school, but not big enough for a semi. i had to stop mid turn, back up a little more to adjust the tractor angle, and when i backed up, i heard a crunch. i got out and looked, and i had rubbed one of those yellow concrete poles on the passenger fender and split the fiberglass fender pretty good. i felt about 12 inches tall. i never saw the pole. it was about 4 feet high and i totally missed the thing.

so i got back and told them what happened. it cost me about 300 bucks to have the fender repaired. i have since learned how to use fiberglass resin so if it happens again, it wont cost me no where near as much lol and yes i paid for the repair to keep it off my record. lesson learned.

 

Another trucking industry myth . The BFI's hire so many students because their pay is too low to attract experienced drivers . I know of know jobs requiring 3 to 5 years experience . If anything many carriers have backed off a year or two on requirements .

 

where is a cushy job in trucking?

 

Another trick of the trade I learned : always carried a can of spray paint & roll of white duct tape & small can of putty(any kind of putty or silicone sealer). This stuff works great, especially on trailers. Didn't have to hide damage that many times, but the few times I did, never got caught. Two good spray paint colors to carry are flat white & flat black.

 

I work for the state of NC and I think it's real cushy. 4, 10 hour days a week (home every night), a ton of paid holidays and vacation and sick days. A few drivers stay out one night a week and are paid for a hotel room and meals. I'm driving a 2013 Volvo day cab. Cheap (or free) health insurance. I love it!

 

But when Yogi and Boo Boo rob pic-a-nic baskets...........