Give two weeks notice or not?

It's case by case basis. It's one thing if you live near the terminal or five states away. But for the most part trucking is a dog eat dog world. This isn't some cushy desk job. Like others said, sometimes a notice to quit carries ramifications with it. Runs drop, options to get home to clean the truck out, etc. They might even fire you on the spot and send you walking. If you notice the ones telling you to give notice drive day cabs.

Out of respect, you give notice to a company so they have time to replace you. In trucking, they will replace you tomorrow no problem.

One job I gave two weeks notice. Five weeks later they finally got me back to the terminal. That was the last notice.

I always plan a quit after hometime so I can empty the truck out and clean it. Then I take pictures of it inside and out. Then I tell the dispatcher some ####amamie story I need to get back to the shop. Then you are prepared for your return trip home.



Besides all that you are not thinking things through. Unless you plan on never returning OTR, you shouldn't quit until you get 6-12 months experience in. Quitting now and you would return OTR as a trainee again. Local experience counts zero towards OTR!

I worked for Central Transport. Good money, horrible work atmosphere, horrible equipment and most drivers don't last 6 months there.

Then what are you going to do??

 

some one said never tell them you are looking? wrong wrong wrong. i tell them i am ALWAYS looking. keeps them honest if they know they need me more than i need them. of course, i'm not a noob and have a perfectly clean record and no csa points against me. I also let it be known that i will be home on the date requested even if i have to bobtail 800 miles. do it once and they will never get you home late again. truckers in general have the wrong idea of the power balance between driver and "team-leader" or whatever they call the cubicle dweller in your company. YOU have the power and they need to accommodate you.

 

I would give all the notice that I can.

If your dispatcher starts to give you the big screw tell them that your out the door in two weeks, and you can play that game as well as they can. IE late loads, sick, out of hours, and so on.

I doubt they will let you go early, every company needs seats filled.

 

Oh and that 5 week thing UMMMMM no. If your tanks are full go home in time to start your new job. You gave notice so what are they going to do fire you. LOL

Don't argue just head for the house in time to start the new job.

 

I gave no notice when I left Truck Service. I was told that would remove possibility of rehire. Early this year the recruiter called me 4 weeks in a row, asking if I was happy or wanted to come back.

They say they care, but they don't give a rats ###.

 

The last time I gave two weeks notice. I was begged to work more time, but when management came back after the weekend I was told I was not needed. I was terminated quickly at that point. It cost me money but I could have filed for unemployment if I didnt have another job lined up.

 

I'd say everyone in this thread is a notch above the abandonment drivers and there is a bunch of them. Enough for companies to hire fulltime recovery teams. The most important part is to turn the truck in clean and at the terminal. Abandonment will haunt you forever. Not giving notice bears little weight. Some of you might remember the old Volunteer Trucking. I've worked for them 3 times early in my career. They've always took me back even though I quit without notice.

I can't count the times I've seen companies want to fire a driver and they lie and lure the unsuspecting driver back to the terminal. Turn about is fair play.

 

See that's the thing, isn't it. They tell you hiring is at will and they can fire you whenever they like without notice and the tradeoff is you aren't required to give a notice. Only it never goes both ways...

 

depends on the company, I have allways been local. first company I worked for I told them on a monday that friday would be my last day, next day I show up at my usual time and my dispatcher (who I am still friends with and I plow his driveway) tells me I am suspended. so I said eff it and go to clean my tractor out figuring ill blow the week off, well he comes out side and tells me so and so called out and I was the only one able to pull doubles so the router just made an error, do my 16 hour run, come back and I go into the office to talk to the manager (he was the ONE guy I didnt get along with) who then in turned fired me and never paid me my last week or vacation time.

second place I left to go run a linehaul I did give them a notice but there was 8 trucks and I knew the people long before I had worked there. they still have me come in occasionally during the day to cover.

 

when i had first said i do not give any 2 week notice, that the company "will notice" I am gone in 2 weeks, i also had the thoughts that some others here have said ( I just didn't add them at the time to my first response), like, (i gotta paraphrase some of them), "the company DOES NOT give us 2 weeks notice when they let us go, or the companies can fill those seats as fast as one get's fired or quits".

so in essence, this industry wants "professionalism" from us, yet many of the companies are not professional when they deal with us. is it right to "up and leave a job" with out notice???

to some, maybe no, to others (especially me) YES.

i have NEVER had a hard time finding a job after i quit one, in this industry. i HAVE HAD employers say to me, "well would you at least give me notice if you leave, so i can find someone"???

i would say yes, and i have, but when i wanted to quit, i still got up and quit. what can they realistically do???

DAC me??? you know what the DAC will say when you leave abruptly..??

"left with out notice"..and THAT's ALL it'll say, i know from my own experiences. And there were MANY experiences and DAC's on me, just quitting.

As long as the equipment was left in GOOD condition, and ON COMPANY property, the employer cannot really do too much.

AS i had said to someone earlier, NEVER, EVER tell your company you are looking or planning to leave. This alone gives them the heads up that you are NOT SATISFIED or happy working there, and YOU OPEN UP the flood gates for whatever they do to you, like keep you out longer, or if doing daily deliveries, give you MORE freight than you can handle in a day, THEN THEY can DAC you for "failure to perform your job duties"...DO you want that???

So NEVER TELL ANYONE, EVEN co-workers, who some have their noses so far up the boss'es crack, they have brown stains that NEVER wash off, you know, company rat's..(???) that you are seeking another job.

Because you never know, that new job you "thought you had", may just fall through, and here you are, fired from your job, and no place to go. You may still collect unemployment, because you had a new place to go to, and this is why you left your job, but then again, the now former employer can mess with you, and make collecting unemployment nearly impossible.

Many times, when I "speak" of many things, it comes from my personal experiences, not pulling it out of my hat.