Exit Interviews

I have someone thst plans my loads. She has no interest in making things flow. She'll get me times that put me right in rush hour traffic. I had 5 hours left on my clock the other day and was told I couldn't load till the next morning. This was a huge distribution center. I called and they said they would work me in, which they did. As you all know, one bad stop can screw up half the week. Had i loaded the next day i would have run out of time to get to another place. They have no feel for problems when they drive a desk.

 

The way it should be done, unless your one of those miserable drivers that complain about how bad it is no matter what company they are working for.

 

First my comment is about TRUCKING. I am also not commenting on Drivers that work at small carriers where you and the owner are drinking buddies. This is about places where you are just a truck number. Exit interviews for over 90% of these drivers is a simple waste of time. No matter why you quit nothing is going to get fixed. You are but a warm body to them. I have linked to a great article about a problem that has started to develop across trucking. It is in my sig.

 

Uh huh.

 

had one when I quit Quality Carriers 20 yrs ago. read them the "riot act" about the fleet owner I drove for.

 

HYPERLINK!

 

That’s a good article. Honestly, it talks about what we already know.
There is a bunch I could say. A bunch we could talk about.
I should mention. I’ve spent the last 15 years in an environment of employment that is awful. Base motivations for everything. Because in reality. It was easy. But they made it hard. Underpaid, while expected to pay premium prices for everything. They can leave me behind on their roads to hell.
Now I have an advantage. One I’m not going to abuse. I look at everything in my job. Not just money. I play it smart. I can have it all. That doesn’t mean being home every night either.

 

Sounds like you've got one of the few good gigs out there, that does things the way they should be. Hold on to that.

Everything you said was accurate, but that part is dead on the button. I can't count how many places I've been called to for interviews the last few months locally, and a unsettling trend were companies that wanted SAFE, RELIABLE, LOYAL, TOP TIER, LONG TERM employees. But they wanted to pay peanuts offer ridiculously expensive benefits and watch over your shoulder like today is your first day in a rig. (These were not starter companies, and require a minimum amount of years to even be looked at) On top of that, they took what should be a simple operation, and turned into a whole cluster.

The old phrase "too many chiefs, not enough Indians" comes to mind in this particular instance. This trucking stuff is pretty simple when you really break it down. Regardless if it's OTR, regional or local. Put competent driver in truck, take product to destination, or destinations (plural) rinse, repeat and above all, TRUST said driver to do so. Everything else in between should be left to the discretion of said COMPETENT driver. It's really not that difficult, but boy oh boy, some companies really like the make things harder than they should be.

I often wonder when I see ad's for these same companies over, and over, and over again, if they ever sit back and say "what are WE doing wrong, that's keeping us from RETAINING the caliber of driver we're after" Then reality quickly follows with "well, if they'd quit putting these wet behind the ear morons with a piece of paper from a university, along with these idiots of have never driven a truck in decision making roles, along with doing away with half of the bs policies I see at some of these places and start treating drivers with a bit respect, they might start KEEPING folks." How's that other saying go? Oh yea "wishful thinking." But doom and gloom aside, there are some really nice, legitimate companies out there, but they are few and far between anymore it seems and if you find one, you'd better hold on tight to that spot.

 

What company???

 

That's why they make the BigBucks.
But, really, --- how bad could it be?
And think of the job security.
There'll always be dissatisfied complainers at every Big truck truckin' company.

The cost of recruiting can be very expensive, and then you're not sure what you'll get.
Rather than spend the bucks lookin' for replacements, spend them on paying the drivers you know, trust and depend on. Avoid the hassle.
Although, the mega-fleets find it necessary to be hiring every day to keep the wheels a-turnin'. Part of the reason why that is, is because as long as things are gettin' done, they don't see a problem. And they might just be right. It can't be an easy task dispatching five or six thousand Big truck truck drivers on a daily basis.

A good dispatcher is worth their weight in golden diesel fuel.
They can make ya or break ya. Never leave a bad taste in y'all's dispatcher's mouth.

It's said that the squeakin' wheel gets the grease.
Not so in the truckin' industry.
In the truckin' industry, the squeakin' wheel gets
replaced.

Sounds like you've found one of the better outfits to drive for RedRover.
And I'm sure you already know that.
Good for you.