I don't understand

SuziMama, I guess all I can say is you'll just have get your CDL and hit the road. Only then will you see what it's like to be a driver.

The fellow who started this website is an EX-driver. He's not driven for at least a year....probably two. Many who come here are EX-drivers as well, such as yours truly. There is a certain solidarity among some drivers, especially those who've been victimized by trucking companies for no good reasons. And I guess some of us take offense when trucking companies steal portions of our lives, don't compensate us for it, and then kick us to the curb and/or treat us like garbage later.

Most drivers just want good jobs with security. Trucking has a way of being anything but....

You'll have to take my word when I say the trucking industry is filled with plenty of companies that like to bite the hands that feed them.

Imagine a woman who has been faithful to her husband for decades, and then she gets dumped on a whim for a cute young thang. You'd better believe that woman is gonna be pissed off. Well, that is how many truck drivers feel about their former outfits, outfits that have dumped them on a whim or screwed them. This is the reward they get for being loyal, hard workers who play by the rules.

Again, just go get your CDL, hit the road for six months, and then come back here and tell us what you've learned.

 

I understand that part. It's no difference in my business. Parents screw caregivers over all the time. But what happens is we become smarter and smarter and find ways of better screening them, better policies and enforcement and we make things better for ourselves any way we can.
Parents lie to us too.

I brought in over 50,000 dollars in my daycare last year before my business expenses. I have no idea how much of that was legitimate income because the government gives daycare providers a lot of tax right offs that are things the family needs. So the co-mingling of funds is government sanctioned in this case.

Anyway my point I want to make is that last year was the best year I've had in daycare in 20 years. This year won't come even close. I have had years where I only cleared 15,000. I don't have any control over how many of my parents lose their jobs or move away or get divorces and hide the kids from each other which means I'm history at that point. When I do have turn over I have to spend money to advertise and get more kids. I have no control over how long it takes me to fill empty slots. Then I have to sometimes pay for help when life happens and I can't be stuck home. The kids break my things and put a lot of wear and tear on my house. Sometimes I have to replace my entire toy or book collection because everything is just becoming too shabby.

But... and this is a big but.. It's just part of the gig. The business has served me very well for years. I've been able to be with my kids from birth on without having to miss any part of their lives. The positives outweigh the negatives. When someone asks me about the business I do tell them the negatives. But I also tell them the positives. I often take someone by the hand and show them the ropes. It doesn't have to be all that bad. There are ways to protect ourselves. We can require the money up front, take deposits, get references from past daycare providers etc. We can be more choosy who we care for.

It's no different in trucking. Out of 600 trucking companies some of them have to be decent. And yeah, I know there aren't enough openings at the really good companies. But a person does have the opportunity to gain the experience they need and then buy their own trucks. They could even start their own trucking firm and hire their own staff to run it.

The more I read here the more I don't think I'll ever do that. I'm tired of making all the business decisions and being responsible for getting myself and the family through the lean times. I'm not hearing anything here that seems to suggest that I could not find a job with a better company if I'm screwed.

If a person can manage to drive safely, not hit anything, avoid accidents and get their loads to the people on time, then they will be free to shop for a better gig. If I screw up and make myself unemployable it will be time to go back to daycare LOL!

Suzi

 

Personally I am pretty happy with my current driving job. It's a small company that treats their drivers well. I drive local and make almost as much money as an OTR driver.

I just looked at my OTR time as paying my dues as a new driver, until I had enough experience to get a job like the one I have now. I could not drive OTR with a big company long term without getting burned out because they treat their drivers so poorly. They all advertise that they care about their drivers but the vast majority really don't care. They know if you quit there are plenty of drivers out there to take your place.

Driving is what "you" make of it. With many different driving jobs available, I would think someone could find a job that is a good fit for them.

 

SuziMom, go get your CDL, get a driving job, and hit the road for weeks on end without seeing home and your family. After about six months of this, let's talk again. At least at that great job you have now, you get home (probably) every night. You can take two showers a day if you want to. In trucking, you can go two months without sleeping in your own bed, and some drivers are just getting in their first showers on the sixth day, the day Dave Dudley was happiest in his old trucking song (see my signature). Dave Dudley would die if he had to drive today. If being gone on the road only six days bothered him in 1964, trucking in 2007 would be too much for him to handle.

 

Don't assume so much. Getting a shower is one of the hardest things in my life to do. Granted, I do get one and almost every day. But I can't tie my own shoes without having to get someone to watch the kids. These kids will get into everything and I am open 24 hours per day. The kids may get out of bed and walk right out the door if I am not paying close attention. Sleep comes at a price and I never sleep without having to wake up constantly to let kids in and out or get up with a crying baby. I sleep very lightly because kids have snuck up and started getting into my things. So I wake up if their feet hit the floor. I work incredibly hard for the money I earn and my whole family has to get in on the act. Nothing is sacred in our home because we share it with multiple kids every single day all day long. We are lucky to get off the 3-4 days per year that we close down. And often when we close down for Christmas or Thanksgiving we have to wake up or go to bed with kids on those days because otherwise I'd have to make my night shift moms miss 2 days in a row. So it's a rare event to get more than maybe about 18-20 hours off without kids in the house and I call that a day off.

My mother lives with me because she doesn't have any retirement at all and her soc. sec. is only 800 per month. She helps with the kids. We've raised 4 kids and yes we live in a nice sized home and we live well. That's why we are open so much. But a large percentage of what we make goes back into the daycare and that makes the actual profit minimal for the effort expended.

Furthermore, I work in my home and I RARELY ever get to leave it. If I leave the house it's only to go to the store and the bank which I do about once per week. I've changed around 140,000 diapers in my life and served around 100,000 meals and snacks. I've cleaned house after this family and these kids to the tune of at least 28,000 hours in my life. I've cared for at least 200-300 kids over the last 20 years. I've done around 1500 loads of laundry and done about 43,000 sink loads of dishes in the last 20 years as well. None of this probably sounds like much to you. But on top of all of this I've taken classes, homeschooled my kids, planted gardens and worked with animal rescue.

I'm looking to get out of my house..not home to it.

Suzi

 

If you are out driving for two months without coming home, it is either because you want to, or you are too stupid to find a different job.

If you are going multiple days without showers, it is either because you want to, or you have absolutely horrible with time management.

There are good jobs, and bad jobs, in every industry. You have to be smart enough to get your experience and find the good jobs.

 

SuziMama, I'm gonna have to backtrack here and tell you to get your CDL. Sounds like you need to get away from your madhouse. Sounds like you need to get away from your family for a few weeks.

Outlaw called it right. SOME drivers are rather "shower deprived", but most aren't. And if you really want/need to get home, any good company will oblige you. It may take a few days or even a week, but they'll get you home if that is really where you want/need to go.

 

Every single "job" I have ever had (I have around 20+ under my belt since I began working in High School, I am 36, and not proud of this, just stating facts) has had it's ups and downs. (no pun intended here, in relation to my latest en devour, read on)

The grass is always greener. There will always be problems. NO JOB is ever perfect.

Case in point.

I just left a job paying $17.42 an hour. No co-pay insurance. (none from my paycheck and extremely low for everything else) Basically 9 to 5 hours. Company phone, vehicles, tools etc..... I was installing and maintaining residential elevators and stair chairs for an international company! I loved the work. I was always very satisfied turning wrenches and hooking up the electrical and electronic side.

But, I left. The business politics were getting to me. Both from the general contractors/customers aspects to the bosses and their power struggles.

Things happen. I am also relocating to Virginia for family reasons, and they didn't have any opportunities in VA.

So, I have decided to go back into driving for a living.

Personally, I love it. But it's no bed of roses. I am sorry to hear that things aren't going well for you in the industry. Things are bad.

But..............let's be honest. They are bad almost everywhere you look these days. It's what you make of it that counts!

Am I thrilled about having to wait at a dock for hours on end because someone can't get off their duff and do their #### job? NO.

Am I ecstatic about sitting in a traffic jam for an hour or two because some idiot can't drive? NO.

ad nauseum, ad infinitum............

But, I am still returning. I am going to a company that I drove for before. They treated me decently back then, and I am sure they will treat me decently now.

Have things there changed? Geesh, the HOS have changed! Of course other things will have changed also. I know for fact that the dispatcher I had is no longer there. (darn shame to. He was, as far as dispatchers go, GOLD in my book) So, I will have to break in a new one.

The freight has also changed some.

Things happen. Good and bad.
Find yourself a company that works for YOU. Trial and error.

Just don't stick with something that doesn't work. This day and age, "job hopping" is "almost" accepted. Don't feel that this is going to affect you that badly. As long as you have good reasons for doing it (you are voluntarily quitting as opposed to being fired for one thing), most companies will consider you. If they don't, and that is the only reason they give, then maybe you don't want to work for them anyway. No one is perfect.

Anyhow, I hope my ramblings can lift you up some. Find what works, then stick with it. Good and bad. And if it gets too bad, then find something else! Even if it isn't driving a rig.

I'll shut up now.

Stick.

 

Stick,
You are right. When my hubands company folded in California they put him in a class for his unemployment. They said because of his income level he had only about a 1% chance to actually get a job. They were attempting to teach people like my husband how to re-enter the work place and how to get new jobs. They made it abundantly clear that employers will not guard our interests and the days of staying with a company for a lengthy time are gone. They said we should always put our interests above the companies. It really is us against them. They made it clear that we must be ready to change what we are doing or go into a new field of employment if needed.

I can't say much more because I didn't sit in on the classes. But I know that my husbands attitude has changed a lot about work since taking that class. He's still hard working and loyal. But he is not the same trusting person that would allow a company to walk all over him anymore. He's bolder and he has demanded more of his present employers than he used to. I think I've seen a big difference in the way this company treats him as well.

Suzi

 

Your post reminds me of Lester Thurow's book "The Future of Capitalism". I believe today's workers in the USA are being weaned from high expectations and high salaries. I've been to other countries, countries where it costs just as much for a bar of soap as it will at a Wal-Mart in Nebraska, and people make maybe half the salary workers make in the USA. I know teachers in the US like to grumble about their low salaries, but they should be glad they're not Thai teachers. Teachers in Thailand make about 300 bucks a MONTH on average. I know Thai people who work 60 hours a week for four weeks for that 300, too. Try to get an American to work for this kind of money for 240 hours of labor and see what it gets you.

My point is the powers that be have sort of "given up" on us current American workers because we aren't willing to work for the low salaries we must accept both now and in the future. They're waiting for us to clear out (die off) so job growth can finally take off. The next generation coming up won't know of the generous pensions, health care benefits, and 30-dollar-an-hour jobs we used to enjoy, so they will be willing to accept much less. We still remember those, and we are offended if we have to accept no pensions, no health care benefits, and 5-dollar-an-hour jobs like some people in Asia have taken in our stead.

GM is in a world of hurt not because its cars don't sell, but because its pension obligations are dragging it down. In the future, there won't be any pensions at GM, but the workers won't mind, as they won't know what a pension is. It's tough to take away good things people have enjoyed. It may even cause riots and revolutions. It's far easier to deny people things they've never had before. It just takes time for the resentful to move aside and the naive people to come down the tube. This is what's going on right now in the USA. The workers coming to the fore have far lower expectations about benefits and salaries. This is because they've never enjoyed "good money" and don't know what that idea is.

Thurow predicts that salaries in the US will get so low for some people that they won't even be able to afford things at Wal-Mart. This assumes those people will be gladly willing to work for those low salaries in the first place. I predict they will, as they will be of the new "naive" worker class, the workers who don't have any notion of the "good ol' days."