From the eyes of an outsider

rwdfinch50 - Thank you for your insight. I did take it as constructive criticism. I think you make very valid points in your text. I will agree 100% that FMCSA has had their nose in our business for way to long. They think they understand everything just because they have a title such as Transportation director. I also say that 95% of any companies management has little or no experience behind the wheel of a truck. I will also agree that companies do want steering wheel holders instead of Professional Drivers.

Now, I don't agree that we should stand by and let this happen. I for one as a manager take care of my drivers. When they do a good job, I am the first one on the phone or QUALCOMM thanking them. I have also given pay raises to my folks because they continue to due a great job. I started a team of the month program at my company. Now, I manage 30 teams on one account and 20 on another account. When I created the team of the month program, it was to recognize the best team. There are a lot of variables that my guys had to meet, but it was simple stuff. Each team that is selected gets an individual plaque, their names on the plaque we have in our office and a $50 gift card. At the end of the year, we have a committee that will vote for the team of the year and they will receive $3K each. The other thing we do on these accounts is recognize a driver on his birthday. We give a simple 2 minute call to the driver to say happy birthday and thank you for being a part of our team.

You made a comment about being at the T/A and the PO the young man had to get from his company. I for the life of me can see why a company would do that. All of my drivers can go into the T/S and get whatever they need for the truck and use their comdata card. No need to call anyone. If someone is steeling, we will catch one way or another. It's best to trust the driver until they give you a reason not to.

There are a lot of problems with our industry. You having 37 years of experience far out weighs my 17 years. You know how the 80's were because you lived them, I only know of the stories I've heard. It's obvious that this industry will never be as good as it was back then, but if all the good drivers could take just a few minutes of their time each day to help the bad ones, maybe we could clean it back up and make it somewhat close to what it was. I for one love this industry. I love being able to get out on the road and driving. Sure, I don't need as much money as the next guy to live, but if I'm willing to work my tail off to do a good job, I want to be paid for it. I just know that nobody owes me anything. I have worked my entire life and earned what I have as I am sure you have too. To many people in all industries want something for nothing. That is the human race! Your generation was raised to work hard for your money, but it seems like my generation and the new generation have been raised to "Just get by" taking every shortcut they can. You and I both know that these shortcuts cause accidents.

What this all boils down to is I'm tired of Owners, Managers, Dispatchers and drivers having this "You owe me" attitude. We all know what we are getting paid going into a company (Mileage pay/Percentage Pay). Now do companies lie? YES, they do. They will tell you their drivers average between 2700 - 3000 miles a week. When in reality you really only average 1800-2500. I maid it a personal goal to always tell my employees worst case scenario. I tell them I can give them the average, but it may not always be that much. I guess I just get tired of the lies and deception that happens. We all know it does, but yet we all still allow it to happen.

I think it would be great to sit down and talk to guys like you that have so many years of exp. I think we could all learn a lot from the guys like you. Your post was a great addition to this thread and I hope that you will continue to post here. I love learning new things. The reason I do learn is because I am humble enough to know I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING like a lot in our industry do.

 

I think your 100% correct. If companies would take care of professional drivers, they would have more drivers staying and not leaving. As far as training, you couldn't be more right. The training now days sucks! I see these people come out of the schools and come to my company for a job. I've given driving test where they couldn't even get out of the yard. Obviously we don't want people like that. I understand there is a need for drivers, but you have to have some sort of training program where the trainers actually train. Most times, this is not the case with your larger companies. As long as a driver has 6 months of exp. and have no incidents or accidents, they are allowed to train. Most of them are still learning how to drive themselves let alone train someone else. Like I said in my other post, there are some serious things wrong with our industry. However, they will never get fixed if we don't do something about it. Don't get me wrong, I don't have all the answers on how to get it fixed. Lord knows I wish I did. I'm just hoping that some of us can on this board can come together and put useful post on here to get these new drivers a head of the game. Weather they listen or not is anyone's guess, but if we could help a few, it would be worth it.

 

Thank you Ma'am!