I want to move to Transport America....but im scared!

Get the truck back to where you got it or where your vehicle is don't abandon it for any reason.

 

Ok, your last statement says alot that maybe you didn't intend it to. "I'm so sick of trucking" leads me to wondering if a simple company transfer is what you really want or if you really want out of the business altogether. Now all of us have said this at one time or another, usually after a bad patch, a bad load, an especially dumb session with dispatch or whatever, but we've mostly been around long enough to realize that trucking is what it is. Every company is basically alike. Each is composed of management and drivers who are humans with their own agendas and their own problems and issues. None of them are there to "look after you" and, as the saying goes, "I ain't your momma".

There's only one person who can make you "happy" wherever you work and that's you. Most of us "old guys" have worked out a system long ago that lets us do our job with a minimum of hassle or aggravation to ourselves. Which company or type of trucking doesn't matter. It goes basically like this:

The purpose of a trucking company is to deliver freight. I know this sounds banal but problems seem to arise mostly from people who forget this basic fact.

My job is to do that as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible.... that's it. I am not management nor have I been hired to reorganize the company or the industry. Nor do I run customer's warehouses, etc. I deal with things the way they are and then move on to the next load.

I have no "buddies" in management/ shop. I wish to see them as little as possible. I try my best to be as friendly and polite as possible while staying completely out of office/shop "politics". Everybody gets a s--t load once in awhile but the guys who hang around the office griping seem to wind up with more of them.

I control how people see and remember me. I want people to say "Oh yeah, he's that driver who always comes in with a smile, has all his papers and s--t together, looks and acts like a professional" rather than "That slob who shows up late with an attitude". It pays off, it really does. Personally, I do one little extra thing. Wherever possible I try to say "Thanks Guys" to the people who actually load/unload me. You think you feel unappreciated? Dock workers are generally treated like s--t every day. You may be the only person who's shown any appreciation all week and you will be remembered.

There are other things but this will do for now.

 

Well stated, Kittyfoot!

 

DO NOT just say "i'm leaving" with zero notice.
You're more likely to get a bad DAC then if you give them a proper 2 week notice.

You do not want to screw a dispatcher over like that. They can be very spiteful people!

 

That is not always true.

The last company I worked for was trying to run me illegal. Told them to get a load back to the yard at 10 am. Emptied the truck that night at 6 pm.

Nothing on the Dac.

Employment is at will.

 

Quitting the day before orientation? that may not work like you have it planned. sometimes it takes a few days to get you load thru a terminal. Just give Werner atleast a week notice. If you havent messed the truck up,(leave it full of trash, wrecked it etc etc) and take it to a terminal there shouldnt be any problems. Shouldnt have a reason to put anything on your DAC. If you were already prehired by TA, then just clean inside of truck and take it to a terminal. Go home or get to city of orientation.

 

We've been doing a boatload (2 loads a week since Jan.) of Transport America Intermodal loads, specifically General Mills stuff here in Colorado. Comes in from MI. going to King Soopers (Kroger Affil.) loaded with flour. The upside, the loads are nice, loaded good and stable. The trailers are 50/50 in terms of overall condition. Had one last week that was 3 yrs old and still in excellent condition, one of the marker lights was burnt out, but otherwise good. Three weeks earlier had one that the trailer was a POS, it was about 2 yrs old, the doors didn't close right and water had gotten in the trailer, all the tires were weather checked, and the landing gear was screwed up.

 

Ok phroziac, gotcha this time. Sounds like you got it wired so good luck to you. Just never forget the First Law of being a truckdriver.... "At All Times CYA".

We all get "sick of trucking" at some point every day. Shoot, I've been gonna quit every second day since I started yet here I am going on 38 years later.