Jb Hunt Lease

I would have stayed with the load. I am not a doctor and can be of no help to the doctors, nurses, or machines that were utilized to assist your sister in law. I am sure that all you were permitted to do is sit in a waiting room while the doctors did their job. Commiserating with other family members in the waiting room and wondering "what if" really did not help your sister in law now did it? All the tears in the world will not change anything. Had you been fired from your job then you would have put your families financial well being in jeopardy. Not smart.

Now if it was my spouse or my kid yes I would have gone to the hospital directly as I would have a legal and moral responsibility to be there to sign necessary forms for the care they are receiving.

I speak from personal experience on this folks. A spouse that had diverticulitis that burst (put her in the hospital for 10 days and had an ostomy bag for months). I returned to work the next day knowing that I needed to keep the money coming in and to keep the insurance in effect.
I also had a daughter that died of meningitis at the age of 10. In both cases the companies I worked for sent me directly home, no questions asked becuase they were IMMEDIATE family. In the case of my daughter I was flown home but she never regained conciousness. I returned to work within a week. My father also passed away while I was on the road. Nothing I could do about it so I finished working and showed up for the funeral a few days later.

This may be rather cold to some of you but this is practicality. The man had a job to do and responsibility to HIS family. Meaning HIS spouse and children. Extended family do not have the same standing and should not. As a man your first priority is to take care of YOUR family. That means making sure the bills are paid, they have a decent place to live, insurance to protect them, and guidance to help them grow in inner strength and wisdom. Emotion has a tendency to cloud peoples minds and they make poor decisions when under stress. As a man you MUST keep calm, cool, and collected.

 

While I agree with a little of what jkklwhatever777 says some I do not. If he was a company driver yes but he is supposed to be a lease and he is making the payments and such so he should be able to do what he wants. After all isn't that why he is making the payments? Only reason I can think of anyways is the freedom to make whatever decisions he sees fit.

 

Ahhh but you see? There is the rub! As a lease op he has an even BIGGER stake in the job. He stated he was laid over for several days at the house waiting for a load. The fixed expenses on a lease do not stop. By blowing off the load he made a bigger financial hole to climb out of for himself. If he is leasing that truck from JB directly they got their hooks in his settlement BEFORE he collects a dime for himself. These lease guys are working 3 to 4 days per week for FREE. They do not even start making money for themselves until all their business expenses are covered.

They not only play with their financial well being but also the security of their families at home.

In this economy you cannot afford to be emotional and blow off loads. Only the strong will survive.

If he wants the kind of autonomy you suggest then he should get his own truck, trailer, and operating authority. Only then will he truly be in charge and be able to call the shots (of course a smart businessman will cater to his customers or lose them). So in reality where is the so called "freedom?"

PS I was a company driver for JB Hunt from 1992 through 1998. You are only as good as the last load you turned for them. Drop the ball and you're yesterdays news. They will have no compunction about terminating a driver or a lease operator for not "doing his job" especially today when you have more drivers looking for jobs than jobs themselves.

 

We all have our own priorities and it's not my place to judge anyone's.I avoided commenting for fear of sounding heartless, but from a business POV I agree with you 100%.

 

Well according to Graig Harper, I owe it to my family to lease with JB Hunt. He talks so well he can't be lieing. Oh and I can use my own authority or use theirs. Dam, if they can get me a clapped out cookie cutter "well used" Freightliner, I'm there. But it has to be filthy white and I'm only willing to lease it for 3x's it's value, not a penny more. If I have to be a friendly, courtious, professional driver then don't even waste my time.

 

I am sure many who read my comments thought the exact same thing about me. Perhaps I am too old and jaded to care anymore about others perceptions. This is a cruel and heartless business which will crush the spirit of many and send them home to cry in their beer.

In others it will break you down and then rebuild you into a mentally, physically, and emotionally hard individual who has diesel fuel for blood and a heart that belongs to the highway. These are the truckers that spend their lives on the road and would not trade it for anything. I am proud to be one of these and have little sympathy for the "wannabes" who cannot cut it out here.

 

One of my driver's father was sick, dying, death bed. I cannot remember. She was somewhere in the truck when she got the call, and needed to get to Dallas. I got with my dispatcher and she was on her way. She stayed for a week or ten days, I cannot remember. My dispatcher arranged a later delivery then what was scheduled on the Dallas load by telling the consignee the TRUTH. It was a day late, but she got there to see her father when she hit town. Which we all figured she would want to do. Wouldn't you?

Everything worked out, she was, and still is a good driver.

I guess I am a dummy, family first.

Mike

 

Can't blame ya, I would have done the same thing. To bad JB didn't drop a dime for you. That's just low in my book. They could have, more than likely, rescheduled the load. Worst case, told them the truck broke down. There is always a way.

Mike