Just fired a few too many minor preventables +

Yup yup. Take it easy and think about the situation you are in, and what you are doing. Most who race and hurry through their tasks, eventually is a race to the bottom. No matter if it is driving, or doing mechanical work.

 

First things first, Buddy, Dave, Ridge, and Six were not harsh or mean. You asked what was wrong and how to fix it. They told you. Six was so gentle I think he must be on a beach somewhere sipping on a drink with a little umbrella in it.

The reason I snipped this part of your intial post was to point out something I think you don't recognize - that $533 represents two weeks of profit for your truck for a large or mega fleet. Looking at annual reports and doing some VERY rough calculations with some WILD assumptions, it appears that 10 cpm profit after all expenses is pretty standard for dry van work. We also need to add in the opportunity cost for the truck being in the shop, the time Operations spent dealing with your screwup, reputation damage, equipment depreciation, etc. All told that $500 bumper probably cost your company $1,000. These may seem like minor issues, and if they were a one off deal, they would be, but being as they are a recurring phenomena it's death by 1,000 papercuts.

Moving on to the root of your problem (as I see it).

YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

Details matter. If you focuse on the details, the big picture tends to start taking care of itself. Go step by step, do the same thing everytime. I couple the same way, every time:

• Rear drive under the trailer, GOAL
• Check height, adjust as needed.
• Check tandem pins are looked (they weren't this mroning), brakes are set, there's no one underneath.
• Put the 5th wheel underneath, GOAL to make sure I picked the trailer up and the landing gear is just barely off the ground. We have a dock that you will just barely be able to get the 5th wheel underneath the trailer, but by the time you get to the kingpin there is a gap.
• Make the connection, two tugs.
• Check the connection with a flashlight. (I lit up one of our guys this morning for not using a flashlight. If you think Buddy was mean, you should have heard me).
• Connect air lines
• Roll up landing gear.
• Pre trip outside
• Slide tandems
• Air brake test
• Set up navigation
• Paperwork
• Preview navigation
• Depart.

It sounds like a lot, but I can do it in 6 minutes because I do it this way EVERY FRICKIN TIME. There are times that space constraints require changing things up a little, but because they are exceptions to the rule, I have a heightened sense of awareness that things are different.

In three and a half months you've had 5 preventables. That tells me you are not paying attention, that you have grown overconfident and prideful, and that if you don't change your mindset you will never achieve anything in life.

We have a driver, "Eric", that is in much the same position as you are. All of Eric's problems can be traced back to a lack of attention to detail and the will to make himself better. I like the guy, and I'm working with him, but the change needs to come from within. You need to step up and take responsibility.

 

Excellent post, I hope the OP (and others) takes the time to read and implement the process you’ve outlined.

 

Well said, and great question.

 

If I were you and could find a company willing to hire me, I'd ask who their regular clients are for deliveries. Mega carriers and most larger companies tend to deliver to big DC's with wide open spaces. Getting a job with a carrier that delivers to small grocery stores or similar companies is just setting yourself up to hit stuff. Those guys who deliver to Dollar stores must hit crap all the time driving in cities and getting a tight loading dock for every delivery.

 

When I started pulling frameless dump buckets everything was going along fine. One day I was talking with an old timer while we were dumping. He said to me "treat every dump load like it is your first time". I never forgot that bit of advice!

 

How about try something different ???

 

We're not talking about a new driver. He's been on the road for a a year and a half with no recorded incidents, then had 5 in 3 months.

We're not talking about a one off mistake where we can say "that was dumb, here's how you avoid it in the future". This is a pattern of carelessness.

There are times when you can pick a guy up and dust him off. There are times when you can pick a guy up and kick him in rear. Then there are cases like this where you need to knock the guy's teeth down his throat so he starts listening.

We have systematic and sestemic issues with training in this industry. It starts with cdl school, continues with road training, and carries on into sustainment training/ongoing skills improvement. There is at one and the same time a lack of mentorship and an overabundance of hand holding. There is a lack of accountability from the Mega CEO to the White Volvo Mafia which has put profits over responsibility.

One of the ways to fix this is by us not letting this "small stuff" slide.

Last weekend I gave up my Saturday to get a guy's truck fixed. It was in my interest to do so as otherwise his truck would have been down on Tuesday and the whole account (14 drivers) would have been screwed trying to cover. I would not have cared if it was a new breakdown - they happen and can't always be foreseen - but these were problems that should have been dealt with months ago. His right steer had 2/32s at it's deepest. 2 of his drives were at 10/32, 2 at 4/32 with bad wear patterns, and 4 at 2/32. He had a bunch of active def/nox codes, but no work open work order. Had he said something, we could have had him bob tail to the dealership and I would have brought him back to the yard, reversing things Tuesday morning. Instead I wasted a day.

There was a time that had this driver been caught with tires like that we would have walked him out the door. Instead we cover and ignore. Tomorrow I have to do a logging remedial for a driver who has had a series of stupid incidents. I recommend she be termed last month as she doesn't seem to learn. She's the main reason I spent a Sunday repainting the lines in the drop lot to make 10.5 foot spots in 12 foot spots. I know that she's going to say variations on "It's not my fault", I know she is going to follow policy as I watch, and I know she's going to get lazy and do something else stupid. I know I'm going to feel horrible at the end of the day because I don't like being a hard***, but thats what's needed.

Maybe if we dropped the hammer on more of these lazy sobs, guys would get a clue.

 

jesus who do you work for? That’s messed up #### happens I’ve done much worse never got fired that’s messed up man honestly minor crap like that don’t even matter when I started trucking my god let’s not get started lol talked to other truckers with a #### ton more experience and they still #### up actual accidents it’s trucking #### happens