My 16 Week Experience with TRANSAM

"Well... you now know what it's like to be a trucker. Basically, it sucks! The pay sucks. The conditions suck. The co-workers suck. The traffic sucks. Sometimes, the customers suck. But when it DOESN'T suck, it's GREAT! Basically, you're trading all the things that matter... money, home time, life expectancy, etc. for the chance to be independent UNTIL you get out of the "prison of newbyism". When you can write your own ticket... AHHH!!! You've made it. Not necessarily in these times, tho... as everyone who's losing their arses in other jobs think they can come here and "just do it". Well... you learned it's not like that. It takes a special breed (or idiot) to work it. Unfortunately, it cost you time and money, when you could've just done your homework. At least you know you're not a special breed OR an idiot."

BlueHawk. You hit the nail right on the head here.

Miles are averages, pay is averages, sit and sit and maybe sit some more . . . then can't get there soon enough and running out of hours. Where's the middle . . . ?

Used to be similar in the car business, heck anyone can sell cars and make money. . . 98% failure rate.

 

I came to the same conclusion as you did. It wasn't worth it for me to lose my family over while making money for companies that, for the most part, could care a less about their drivers. There are some exceptions to the rule though!

 

It's a shame....... Have you been able to get a job?, with one of "Those Exceptions" I sure hope so !!

Enjoy the day Col.

 

Old Guy 56 your absolutly right, We did our homework and like everyone getting into trucking it was all B.S.
Our problem now is what do you do? Husbands last check was $65.00 bank loan for trucking school took $63.00 and we have no savings so this last week we had $2.00 to live on.
My husband was not going back out after seeing that one(he had 1 day home after being out 2.5 weeks) But unfortunatly we have no choice. I'm disabled and social security just pays the house pmt. Although his next check was $648.00 I told him when that was gone which wouldn't take long at all, we would have no more money coming in until my ss check the end of next month. So I'm putting in online apts for him and giving him phone numbers to call and all he can do is try to set up interviews for his next time home the 11th & 12th.
Nothing so far but until he can find something he's stuck there. I've been looking for part time work a few hours a day but again nothing .
He really likes driving but he gets so mad at dispatch with all the incomplete info they send, Last time he left home all the info they had was a company initials and city,& state. Thank god I can find addresses and phone numbers for him. and don't even bring up the east coast to him hates it. All the boroughs and townships that aren't even on a map with wrong directions. The company should be paying me for all the computer work I do to make sure he can find where he's going. Then half the phone numbers they give either are disconnected or no one bothers to answer,So I give him office numbers and they transfer for him so he can talk with someone for proper directions. The company should be liable for getting their drivers complete up to date info.
Well enough #####in it don't do no good, Good luck all

 

Back when I enlisted in the Marines, the recruiter had a poster that showed a D.I screaming in the face of a recruit and the saying "We never promised you a rose garden!" below it. They were not lieing and we were well aware of how tough it was going to be ahead of time, However I think some people get the impression that driving truck is different then what it is. I always hear from the oldtimers on how great things were in the past. But being around drivers when I was a kid, I remember their complaining back then, But to compare the complaints between now and then is a big difference. My Uncle was able to make very good money driving from NY to LA once to twice a month. out of that he was able to start a trucking company, buy a resteruant and raise a family, but then by the time he was my age he could not stand up straight because of the damage done to his back and he was dead at 50 from a heartattack, He and other drivers from that time never heard of air-conditioning, air ride,. They knew how fast the load needed to be delivered by the color of the pills the brokers were handing out. They did not have road service, or a resturant/truckstop at every other exit. alot of times they cooked their own meals on the side of the road where they slept, the interstate system was not finished and what are now called secondary roads were the only roads. potholes, washouts, road closings were common. It was not unheard of to get snowed in somewhere for two weeks. The cops were as crooked as the hijackers, I could go on. but the point is this all comes to mind when I hear of somebody quitting a job because their dispatcher made them mad or the recruiter was less then honest.

 

Cmon people as the sayin goes truckin aint for sissies. Technically its not the companies responsibility to supply directions. As far as north east goes he works for transam I presume what did he expect. That company sucks its a known fact mainly cause its a starter company, and you have to pay dues to get experience to get the good job. As far as your research goes I would have to say you did very little with a little snooping on just this site not to mention a ton of others he could have learned all the demands of the industry. Never take only a recruiter story go to a truckstop and ask the drivers.

All the more reason I love my job 20 trucks at least 3 years produce experience just to get an application. Nice trucks salary pay. no q-comms create your own logs. you know real ol skool find your stops on your own we do get a name phone number. but when that fails always rember you can call the local police, sheriff office and get directions.
Anyhow before I got off subject I was gonna say truckin aint for everybody maybe he should find a new career and not run this one down because of a bad company. This is born in your blood and most of the time you can't inject it.