Good question

That's one of the nice things about working for a local/regional carrier...face time at the terminals means the office staff, dispatchers, and shop mechanics know you by name and recognize you when you walk in. It is a VERY rare occasion when I am asked for my truck number by anyone in dispatch...and there are about 4 or 5 there who don't even have to ask who I am when I call in. That's the sort of carrier I prefer to work for.

 

I respect every driver's choice to ride a career or be ridden by a trucking company.

No, no one fired me at JB hunt. I stood up for myself and a war ensued. Time and again I saved my driving record by forcing incompetent "safety" employees to look at facts. Accidents that never happened, (a Sheriff in Mississippi that woke me up in the middle of the night and got my DL number, then billed JB for a utility pole someone mowed down during the night), A lady that attempted to pull an insurance scam on me and JB by driving into my tractor in Pontoon Beach, Il- dispatchers that showed cowardice and lack of professional bearing by blaming a driver for their incompetence.. The list goes on and on..

I've been lean and hungry, Mister Psyche class. Just like every one else. I came back from Desert Storm in 1991 after VOLUNTEERING to return to active duty to find that JB had fired me. (That fight was short lived, I was lucky- by 1991, the public was starting to show respect for Military Veterans). They rehired me because I knew the law at the time (it has since changed).

Five and a half years of being a company employee taught me that the "Professional Trucking Company" that I chose to partner with was hiring prisoners fresh out of prison on a Federal Work Program and hiding it from the workforce. They were receiving a stipend from Uncle Sam for hiring every prisoner (still on probation). Then punishing drivers by forcing them to recover the tractors left behind when the recidivists were arrested for stupid stuff (usually drug posession charges). It would NOT have offended me- except for the fact that we were told up front that "JB DOES NOT HIRE FELONS". I found out about this program after finding one prisoner's paperwork still in the truck I recovered.

I learned that a position in the Safety Department was an entry level job, and that several of the Safety Employees JB had working for them simply had SUSPENDED LICENSES.

I learned that they advertised openings for Dispatch by selling the job as "I.T." positions. The dispatch trainees that came in were taught that "drivers are cavemen, treat them like the idiots they are". (A quote heard from over the top of a cubicle divider while I was in the building).

Dispatchers at JB (and probably most large companies) can't seem to deal with the fact that drivers are living, breathing human beings. They question the competence and activities of the drivers like the drivers are doing something turpituitous at all times. Lately, companies are turning drivers' trucks off so they can't idle for rest breaks.

The big picture is that the "Driver's Shortage" is a scam. The momentum is carried by a greedy industry that intends to make large profits recruiting, training, hiring (and firing) drivers for fun and profit. And more companies are discovering the tax advantages of hiring Owner-Operators every day. Many have found ways to profit from the O/O turnover problem and actually encourage it. They count on it to resell trucks over and again to unsuspecting NooB's for profit, oblivious to the personal misery they are causing.

Now, as for you, Young Man, I respect your opinion. Like a lot of drivers, I've got some classroom time, too. Maybe just enough to spot a Psyche class student. Frankly, I like your style. You're in my face, challenging me. Good Job. But you lack intelligence. And you can't see the big picture. And you assume everyone here is self serving.

So, are you riding a career- or are you a dedicated company man (for JB HUNT) whose trucking company is riding you? In other words, do you have a pair of balls- or are you just here to represent JB HUNT?

I'm here to relate my experiences for the new guys that are trying to feed their families, hoping that they start out wiser than I did- with their eyes open- so they can survive here. Trucking isn't getting any easier, you know.