JB Hunt - Lowell, Ar.

The fact? What fact? Not sure about anybody else, but I have never registered on a trucking website that required I give them my phone number.

 

Of course I'm right. Jesus. I've known something was/is going on with this turnover issue since about my first month in trucking. I started to suspect something was/is up about the same time I started getting abused by my first company, a company that (theoretically) could not afford to abuse its drivers when it had over 150% turnover.

These companies WANT turnover. Maybe they're not getting tax breaks, but the driver turnover meat grinder is making them PLENTY of mulla somehow or it wouldn't be grinding up drivers.

So here is where we stand on the driver turnover and this imaginary "driver shortage" issue:

1. It is in larger companies' interest that they have turnover. This is the reason why companies with atrocious turnover will abuse the drivers they already have. Those drivers will quit from all the abuse, and the companies get some sort of reward afterwards. It explains why a company will treat its drivers like grease rags when it has 200%+ turnover and can't afford to lose its drivers.

2. When drivers quit, they must be replaced somehow. They are replaced by graduates of expensive trucking schools, which many of the companies have interests in (they are part owners).

3. No matter if a newbie driver pays for his training himself or gets a government grant to pay for it, the company he hires on with will get some sort of subsidy because of his hiring.

4. Continuous whining about a driver shortage keeps getting these companies plenty of sympathy from the government, and the government then gives them plenty of subsidy money for their new rookie hires.

4a. Because these companies get these subsidies, the companies' stockholders don't ##### about all the empty cleaned-out rigs that are sitting around eating up profits.

Yeap, it is in a larger company's interest to abuse me if I'm a driver there. This way I'll quit and they can replace me with a newbie from a trucking school. After this newbie arrives and starts accumulating experience, that same company will start abusing HIM. And on and on and on and on.

This is what is going on at the likes of Swift, C.R. England, and a few others out there. This is why these companies have such high turnover yet still abuse their drivers and have hundreds of parked trucks sitting around collecting dust but require fixed-cost payments. These companies want that turnover because they get the government money for training their rookies, no matter if those rookies are training at overpriced driving schools or are being trained by the companies themselves. If the government isn't giving these companies that welfare, those rookies are forking it over out of their own pockets either to the companies when they quit or to the expensive driving schools the companies have their hands in.

Either way the training costs get paid, companies win with high turnover. The higher the turnover, the more they make. This pretty much sums it up.

Now...... What is Nancy Pilosi's phone number?

 

Your not going to make as much driving for a company that puts so much frt on the rails, many drivers at my former company USX found that out, when they started putting frt on the rails like JB. My last year at USX I ran rail frt out of BSNF in Tukwila Wa (Seattle) and their drivers always seemed to be in a big rush. But then getting paid by the mile to run short runs, can do that to you, I quess. Luckily I was local and was getting paid by the hour and did not have to drive so risky.

 

BSNF=BNSF

 

I dont know if JB Hunt fits into this equation. When I started on new employees had to have at least 1 and a half months driving experience, school experience not included. They preferred 3 months so they wouldnt have to put you with a trainer. I dont know if things have changed since that was almost 2 years ago.

 

When a friend started school last May he called JB Hunt and inquired about a job with them. He was told they don't take new graduates they require 6 months experience.
He hasn't had the best driving history since he graduated. He is one of those that gets mad at the drop of a hat and quits.
He started with Arrow, got mad at the trainer and quit. Went with Gainey, after 2 weeks he decided it wasn't for him and quit and came home.
Drove locally delivering products to convenience stores. Was there one month, didn't like unloading the truck and was rude to customers.
He went back to Arrow during the slow time. He got very little miles and most times he had service failures (never his fault-so he says). He was there 3 months this time.
Quit under a load (gave them some excuse) was going to leave the truck at home but did bring it back to OK. Looked for another job here (supposedly). Arrow calls him to come back (why I don't know) and he does. He was there 4 weeks and was on home time when JB Hunt calls. His big thing is he wants to be home weekends.
The recruiter told him there is a dedicated closed loop from KC to St Louis to Chicago that he can have plus a bunch of other promises. Even after him knowing what we endured with them and my warnings he again quits Arrow and decides to go with JB Hunt.
In their information this guy sent they will take drivers with 3 months experience.
I told him good luck. We will see what happens. Can't decide which company is nuts.....Arrow for all the rehires or JB Hunt for hiring him.

 

Whispers,sounds like your friend just aint cut out to be a truck driver.I dont think there is a driver out there who wouldnt like to be home every weekend.I am sure you know this havin a hubby as an OTR driver.Its a hard life to be on the road,and God knows ya gotta make some sacrifices.It also has to be a hard life for the wives or husbands left at home,while their spouse is gone a great deal of the time.Most of my trucking life I was divorced and living by myself,so I was the perfect candidate.However the last couple of times out,I was married to a wonderful woman,(still am).Thank God for cel phones,because we could really keep in touch with each other.Not everyone can do it.

 

I agree Road Dog. And if this guy continues doing what he is doing his CDL won't be worth the paper it's written on.

 

I guess that driver likes the jobhoppers' whirlpool. Now let's see him try to get a job with a company like Crete or Roehl.

Too many times I've seen this type of driver out plying the roads. They really do need to come off and stay off. I think they need to grow up, but hey....companies like Arrow need drivers for good reasons, so they call this guy and all those like him.

It's a shame the companies haven't learned they don't win with guys like these, and guys like these haven't learned that they LOVE the whirlpool. Yeah, these fruitcakes love chaos and disaster. Maybe they're head cases who hate themselves and believe their lives should be garbage. That's the only thing I can figure.