If I've learned one thing about trucking that is...

Snowbunny, you are right on the mark...a company can only continue it's business if there is a profit to maintain their business.

Every company has it in their business plan, that there will be "unintended" costs, i.e., breakdown, mechanical issues, tire issues, electrical issues. but what is not "unintended or expected" is the fact that one, or several drivers has no work ethic, or to put it another way...be responsible with their job performance and do everything in their power to LEGALLY pick up and deliver the loads on time, be courteous to every customer, and show a modicum of respect to all other employees, no matter what their position.

All of the above I have seen over the past 16 years, and those who do the most complaining about their job seem to be the ones that are often late picking up and/or delivering. Then, because of their performance record, just can't seem to understand why their miles are declining...maybe because the company knows that they are not dependable to do the job as a true professional, who takes pride in their performance, and how others see him/her at their job.

I found, and passed this on to every student I had, that in the first year a driver should show his driver manager/fleet manager, that he/she should be volunteering for any load they NEED done (not the driver but the company), and this includes the cheap, no miles loads in a local setting...show the company you are ready to do what is expected of you plus 10-20% more if necessary...but stay legal while doing it. Yes all companies do have 100 or more drivers waiting at the door...and maybe one of them is more willing to do the job, and do it right !00% of the time...so this means you need to do your job correctly 100% of the time in order to keep the wolves at the door...on the other side of the door, not in your seat!

 

yep. It's that way in most every business, trucking or otherwise. If you screw up, you can loose your job.

Sorry.

............. Jim

 

The truth is the government is making it harder for businesses to profit which means they can't hire as many people, which also means that the people that are hired can't afford to make mistakes.

So in essence, the govt is the problem here. Plenty of old hands told me it used to be easy to get a trucking gig and that you could jump from company to company with no problems because the demand was so great for drivers. Now, you can't buy a job it seems.

I say let the rich get richer because it'll only bring everyone else UP! That's just the way it goes.

 

Bear in mind, I don't own a trucking company. So I may be completely off base here. However, I think carrier owners need to take a long view when it comes to thier employees. For example, how much money can be made off the experienced driver who knows how to get around effeciently, how to run the truck effeciently, understands the ins and outs of the industry and regulations to ensure compliance, and understands the importance of customer service not just at the shipper/reciever, but in interacting with the general public vs. the fresh student driver who must be taught all these things? Do we need student drivers? Yes. Somebody's got to be there to replace the older dirvers as they retire, or leave the industry for other reasons. As far as dropping a driver for the occasional mishap, we need to again look at the long view. Is this an occassional situation, or does this happen frequently? Trucks break down, nothing can be done about that. But a driver performing a full pre-trip could potentially catch a possible breakdown before it occurs, opening a whole range of options not available otherwise. Trucks get stuck, especially in some of the lots I've been in. But sometimes this can be avoided by the driver paying attention to his area.

As a company, I wouldn't want to lose a good driver who learns from his mistakes, and proves that he can make a good profit over the long term. Indeed, I would provide incentives to drivers like that to keep them from looking for a better job. Incentives like better pay, better benefits, preferred hometime packages that could be customized to the driver's needs, preferred equipment, and other actual goodies like that. I would also have strict standards concerning the students that I would bring in for training, and have even stricter standards for my driver-trainers. I personally think the industry would be in much better shape overall if all the carriers genuinely concentrated on driver retention rather than taking the attitude of "Every driver is replaceable with a cheaper driver." Just my .02.

 

Another thing that has changed. The abundance of good paying freight. Companies no longer have that cushion they once had. Now more and more you have to identify your losses quickly and act instead of reacting. Might make the difference in just how much longer you keep your name on the side of the door.

 

I completely agree here. A good business is always looking out for the long haul. I couldn't have caught that in a pre-trip though, it was a computer sensor issue. I knew the ground was a little soft but it was gravel, I didn't know the mud was that soft underneath. The bad thing is I only needed just that amount to get right for the hole lol. They didn't fire me or put that on my DAC or anything, I was just using it as an example because things do happen that aren't necessarily in the drivers control that can effect profit.

I pulled almost 200 loads with Swift and had 2 service failures in my first 6 months. The remainder there was always on time. I did turn down a few loads I could have taken but didn't want to run them. But on the flip side, I took many a load I didn't want. I should note I left because of what the economy was doing to the job, not because of Swift necessarily.

 

Sometimes, crap happens. A good business owner knows this, and is ready to roll with it. Heck, I once got stuck in my company's lot in less than a inch of snow, and had to call the company wrecker over to pull my 68,000lbs+ big truck up the slight incline in the lot so I could get parked somewhere else. And I was the only one. The only downside was dealing with the mechanic laughing maniacally at me while I was trying to stop the truck from sliding backwards (with the parking brake set, mind you) into another parked trailer. Like I said, crap just sometimes happens. Just hope it's something you can look back on later in life and laugh about.

 

As a new solo driver, a company does expect a certain amount of time in the "learning curve", and in the first year (less for most I would say) the mistakes in judgment, in clearances, in distance, in many of the aspects the "experienced" driver has already experienced, will come to light. A good driver will make a mental note of the mistakes and learn from them, correct the events that led up to the mistake, and do everything possible to not have the same mistake happen again.

It isn't always the drivers that have a causal effect on the bottom line of the profit curve. Oft times it is in the business plan of a company that is doomed to fail right from the beginning. Also the companies that aren't proactive, but are reactive to tides in the flow of business. Any reaction attempted too late to cause a positive effect will be completely ineffective. This business type will fail no matter what the driver base they have...whether it be newbies or highly experienced drivers, the poorly managed business will go under.

 

I tell ya two incidents that were completely my fault. After I dropped my first solo load in Iowa, I went to the 80 to shut down. I pulled into a spot on the left as you come in and went in and ate and showered. I came back to the truck and went to sleep. Well when I woke up, the #### truck wouldn't come out of the hole lol.

I didn't think about pulling forward and back after it sat there a little while to keep the ground from icing up under the tires. There was a few drivers around that tried to help, but we couldn't get it free so I called onroad and they sent a tow out. It cost them money, and it was stupid on my part to not know to do that but I learned. I probably should have got on the cb and asked if someone would assist me, but I was just too embarassed and didn't even think about that really.

Now they didn't charge me with anything, it was just one of those things you deal with in the cold areas of the country. I did get charged for the stupidest thing I ever did though and rightly so.

I came to a dead end street, after getting lost and decided I'd try and get her turned around. It did open up a little there, but not enough to do what needed to be done. to make a long story short, I got it stuck and in a jacknifed position and I couldn't go anywhere because the wheels were spinning lol.

They had to get a wrecker out there to straighten it up. I will admit that was really stupid and I could have done things differently. I could have backed or I could have started the u-turn and disconnected and rehooked etc. Many options, but I panicked and turned a relatively easy situation into a pickle.

I learned from that though. I think most drivers do at least one stupid thing and I do understand that if a driver is constantly causing problems, it may not be for them. I think I'm a good driver though, and I like it for the most part and hopefully I can find the right gig for me where I can make the company and myself some money out there. I know I'm not the only driver in that situation too so I hope the people running the nation will stop screwing everything up so we can all get back to work and do what we want.

Cheers!

 

I can beat that. Back in '99 I drove for an outfit called MHF, Inc. out of Zelienople, PA. Great company, but that's where I learned all kinds of tricks on "fudging" the logbook. Bear in mind that I was all of 23 years old, and not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. I was lucky to pull 4-5 hours of sleep per day, and usually ran pretty tired. But boy oh boy did I make money. Way more than other guys my age in my area. Anywho, I had just dropped a load in chicago when I had to turn around immediately to run a two P/U, multiple drop mail run. Got both P/Us, one in Chicago and the other in Cleveland with no problems. However, on my way to my first drop in PA (somewhere south of Pittsburgh) I had my first remembered experience with microsleep, and drove right past my turn without realizing it. Wound up taking a left onto what I thought was the street I was looking for, and wound up on a pure residential street in a pure residential neighborhood that deadended in a T-intersection. Did I wait for help? No way! I'm a perfessional trucker driverer man, I tell you what. Not that I demonstrated any professionalism, or common sense in my reaction to now being completely lost and bound up. I ran the truck up and around the T-intersection, and backed up to get it pointed back out towards the highway I just left, ripping a streetsign out of the ground and backing into a "township tree" along the way. And that doesn't incllude damage done to various vehicles by the tree branches I ripped out of the trees along the street. Needless to say, I had one heck of a fine to pay to the municipality, plus I was fired immediately upon returning to company property. This incident is why I now refuse to "fudge" the logbook anymore, an attitude that has cost me jobs in the past. I consider myself very lucky that I learned my lesson through just having to pay a fine, and find a new job. Could've been a whole lot worse, considering how hard I was running, and how little I was sleeping.