How relative is age discrimination in the trucking industry

I'm not going to live long enough to read anymore than the title of this thread.

OP....lots of 50-60 somethings find themselves in the driver's seat after being canned. Lots. Driving a truck is easy, being a truck driver is not. That's no reason not to try though.

 

If he does his job and he is on time he's probably not going to hear from his dispatcher very much, from my experience. And I do multiple pick ups daily. Yes they can always see where you are and what you are doing, but if you are where you need to be and doing what you should be doing, then he will probably not hear from them. Otherwise I get texts about make sure you do this or that and my next week schedule. That's about it. We also have a communication system in our Qualcomm where we can let our dispatchers know we have left, arrived, or whatever.

If I am running behind, then I call them and let them know. Then it might produce subsequent phone calls back to me. It's only to reschedule pick ups or work stuff out so that everyone stays happy. In the hopefully rare occasion you need to make the phone call, you make it and let people know. Then work with the changes that happen as a result. Everyone stays happy. If it's not a rare occasion then additional conversations might happen. If you shut down to due to bad weather, they probably already know about it. In my dispatchers office they have a TV screen on the wall that monitors weather activity.

Sometimes I'll get a text or a call telling me to be careful because I am driving into blizzard conditions, or whatever the case may be. So if I texted back a few hours later that I decided to shut down I wouldn't hear any grief.

So yes, from a person who doesn't like being closely monitored or doesn't care too much for attention I can tell you from my experience I was happy with the change into trucking. Even if he is being watched, he won't realize it as long as he is doing what he needs to be doing, for the most part. He can just be happy in his little bubble and drive.

There might be more contact than normal at first while he is learning his job and figuring everything out. That's to help him succeed and also ensure the job gets done. He just needs to listen to what is being told to him and do the best he can. The phone calls will slow down as the months go on and he gets better. That's my experience anyway.

 

Two quick points. "age discrimination" is not a problem in this industry. If you are a trucker, in general, you are discriminated against just because of that fact alone.

Old thread, however, it still is just as relevant today as it was 10 years ago.

 

Yes Society does not place a value on truckers today. For many reasons.

Not to mention its a very hard way to make a dollar. What with a quarter and some coins.