miles

The real world of trucking
Orientation 3 day's free lunch (maybe) pay fifty dollars (if your lucky )
Day four - You get a 2 or 3 year old freightliner that smells like the old drivers still in it smoking his two packs a day.
The driver before you was pissed when he quite and the truck in filthy.spend the next two hours cleaning the truck.
Now time for you pre trip -Off to the shop because nothing works. The shop tell you get in line they will try and work you in so off to the drivers lounge (maybe).
Now back to the shop every hour to check on the truck.
No way to go to lunch your free ride is over .(you just become a number)
Called the dispatcher no load today call tomorrow. (maybe sorry)
Day five -they promise you your first load will take you by the house to get your C/B and bedding. (Lie) Maybe we can get you by the house the next trip.
Well you got your truck clean and your first load on and the shop fixed everything you wrote up (wrong )
Now a trip to Freightliner to fix your truck and your off to the TV room.
Now your out of the shop and wow no hours left to drive today. You call dispatch and they tell you how you should lie on your log .
Next day you hurry to get there to get your load off because dispatch has a load waiting for you (hurry hurry)
you get empty call dispatch sorry your load canceled.
No problem they promised me lay over pay after 12 hours. They call you in 11 hours with a load you can load tomorrow (you just lost your lay over pay) because you just been dispatched.
Ok so you had a bad week. It's a new week it's got to be better then last week.
You call home to check on your pay check and the wife is pissed off because she didn't get a check.
_________________________________________________
The Dreamers world
You get to orientation they send a driver to pick you up at the airport.Take you to the Ramada Inn.
They call you to eat at 8 am (buffet nice) class at 9am break for lunch at 12 for an hour .
Your all done with class at 4 pm.
Next morning you go take your phy. and drug test. lunch at 12 to 1 . Wow get my new truck today .And there it is brand new Pete both stacks shinning in the sun.
The shop manager tells you no need to buy a c/b radio there's a new one in your truck along with clean bedding.
Your dispatcher shakes you hand and says your load is ready and setting in the yard and as quick as the yard man hooks it up for you you can go.
Wow first load drop and hook on the other end and it take me right by the house to get my supply's.
Call home after the first week Honey we struck Gold your pay is $1800.00 and that load that you had to lay over with they payed you an extra $150.00
____________________________________________

There are a few jobs that way but very few.Most will promise you the world to get you to quite your Ok job.
New driver don't get discouraged there are some dam good driving job out there just don't expect it handed to you on a silver platter.When that recruiter comes to your school ask a lot of questions and see it he will put it on paper. I'll bet most won't
Ask him if he used to be a driver or just a guy they hired off the street and sent him trough Orientation.You might be surprised he never say a truck till they hired him.
Now when you thank you made up your mind ask on forum like this about them .Then only believe about 1/2 the Bull that you read here.
Good luck and Happy trucking.

 

My starter company told me they pay layover but when I got to orentation I found out we pay layover only if we get paid for it.

I thought well that is a bunch of bs but I said what the heck just go ahead I spent money out of my pocket to come to orentation from Colorado I did not want to take a 13 hour bus trip when I could get there in about 5 1/2 hours at the time they did not have a terminal in Co.

Well I was told be out for 4 weeks then get 4 days at home well I was out for 10 weeks and got a dispatch to get me toward home'

Well another 2 weeks fighting like heck to get home I finaly make it I had requested 5 days at home which was appoved by dm then the day before I was told you can only have 4 days.

I still had not gotten home to pick up those things that I forgot when I left early to go to orentation.

I get home and start looking for another job on my hometime I go to an interveiw on the next day then I have to call back on the day that I was due to leave out again and thankfully I got hired.
I call my dm and tell her get me a load back to the terminal as they can have their truck.

I almost forgot to mention that on my hometime I was required to check on my truck daily and my dm would call ma atleast 1-2 times per day.

I had a truck that had turbo issues that the company knew has those issues as I ran into the previous driver that asked me if I had problems with the turbo and he explained to me he kept telling them about it and they finally gave him another truck.

I had a couple days at home while I had the truck in the shop the company told me that I had to stay in the same city with the truck.

I told them heck no I am renting a car to go home and the shop has the phone number to call me when it was done.

My dm asked when I was going to be back on the truck I told here about noon on the day they get it done.

The shop gets it done on the second day they call me to tell me that it is ready.
Then my dm calls the shop to check the status of the truck they tell her it is ready then she calls me and tells me get to the truck and pick it up this is about 5pm I told her no I will pick it up the next day as I am already paying for an additional day on the rental.

She calls me 4-5 times that morning tellling me to get to the truck and accept the load I tell her I told you that I would be back on the truck at noon and I was not going to go there any eairler.

So she sets me up with a load that was suppose to pick up earlier like 8am I get the dispatch at noon but it has not delivery time.

So I do not rush because that usually means they will set it in transit.

I keep asking two times via the q and 2 times via phone daily and she kept telling me that she will let me know the time well the first night I shut down in Casper Wy.

Then I ask her the next day what the deliver time is same answer I will let you know I run out of hours in Superior Montanna I look for a place to pull over finally find a spot.

So I send a message to night dispatch asking the time of delivery they write back 0800 I told them well the load will be late due to not having the delivery time on the dispatch and I asked my dm serveral times for the delivery time she never gave it to me.

I get to wa and my phone finally has service then it starts ringing and it is my dm she akse where I was at I tell here she asked why are you blaming me for you being late I told her that you never give me the delivery time.

She said ooooohhh so it my fault I told her yep hung up the phone then threw it accorss the truck.


There was times were I wanted to throw my phone out the window just to get rid of her.

 

I think you have said enough. You only proved my point. Go ahead and take a nap. Meanwhile, others on here are looking to try to better their situation and find the right company for them.

Drive safe

 

I'm not gonna waste my time with a local driver. Good Day.

 

Drive safe

 

You make good points, 074344.

As to your response to the orientation example ZeDanny included,
I don't think he was being literal, more like pointing out the RELATIVE ease it is to enter
the truckin' industry these daze ---
compared with 40 years ago.

Many of us drool when we see a 1960's vintage OTR Big truck.
and many hear a voice tellin' 'em how much they'd want to drive a
Big truck like that.
But, reality be knowed, I doubt they really would.
The creature comforts just ain't there.

Let's face it, nostalgia aside, ......... a Big truck like that would be most enjoyed
by a driver's driver ----- driver,
With an ability to ignore the lack of creature comforts,
and/or being passed in the mountains by Starships, ---- INside, and mostly plastic on the outside, .......
passin' for Big trucks now-a-daze.
They just enjoy the abundance of sheer pleasure to pilot a Big truck like that.
I think most really wouldn't, as they complain about the Big trucks
and the truckin' industry of today.
Compared to yester-years, entering the truckin' industry is easy.
I'm not sayin' it isn't hard, or difficult, to learn how to REALLY drive a Big truck,
but rather how relatively easy it is to get one's foot in the door
now-a-daze.

No doubt it's important not to let said door slam on one's foot.
Or to find themselves locked behind it.
And that's where research comes in, ...... and LOTS of it.

I think ZeDanny's perspective is an important angle for wannBees and/or newBess to
consider --- hopefully before they take a leap at a bad attitude in an attempt to solve
their differences.

Know where and how Big truck truckin' originated and what THAT was like.
Observe where Big truck truckin' is today.
Now, imagine where it'll be in the/your future.
And decide where y'all fit in, ......... the best.

Know what'cha want, and
what cha'all will accept.
Keeping in mind that what'cha won't,
could directly affect what'cher hired
to do.
Or not do, as the case may be.
Uhhhhh, ........ have I digressed?

 

Well, maybe you digressed a bit there AfterShock, but not much!

 

Thanx for the progress report, LiL.
I'm workin' on it.
Problem is, I'm directionally challenged, and often don't even know WHERE
I'm goin', which WAY I'm goin', and/or where I supposedly came from.
I reckon I'm SOMEwhere betwixt shippin' and receivin'.
Just wingin' it.

Nice when I read road-signs.
Especially when they don't say
Detour.

 

We're truckers man! We always get sidetracked.

 

TOO true!