No APU, 5 minute idle, 90+ degrees - is this legal?

And so you started out like most drivers do. you find out what it takes and how to run. you pay your dues then find a way to get out on your own.
Sometimes that can be a hard road to tow.

 

Hard to find a good company for new drivers – try impossible. Anybody starting in this business today needs to understand that 1 in 7 new drivers last a year. 2.7 in 7 will have a preventable accident in the first year. 1.9 in 7 will have a total loss of a load because of an accident in the first year. 5.9 in 7 will have a violation in a road side inspection in the first year. 2.8 in 7 will have enough in violations that will make them unemployable in the trucking industry in the first year.
And because of these numbers it is expensive to insure the new driver and companies have to provide increased scrutiny of what the driver does to try and avoid accidents and DOT violations.
So if you are in your first year, think of it as a paid internship. Suck it up, run legal and learn as much as you can about how to be as profitable and valuable employee as possible.
Business schools – they do not teach people how to save money by cutting. They teach people how to evaluate numbers, markets, products and lead. Not everyone is going to learn what they need from these schools to be a good leader. Be a good leader. I remember years ago I had a sales manager that said you can hit the number in two ways – save your way to the bottom line or sell your way to the bottom line.
A driver that wants to look for a better opportunity can work hard, understand the business and look to make themselves the most valuable employee as possible. With this attitude things will improve. If not with the company at least with your own happiness.
Or you can sit in your own sh!# and they only way things will get better is by luck. I prefer to make my own luck.

 

I tell my wife I am a god all the time but she just ignores me.
You have to take the time and learn the business. I started with the company that most will agree is the worst in the industry – CRE. But the difference between me and the many other drivers is that I focused on learning the business, making myself valuable and building relationships. I sent thank you notes, dropped off hostess cup cakes and sent letters to bosses about people that did a good job.
I came out of training and did what everyone said was the worst thing in the world – an LP. But it was a business decision and I saw that I could run 3,000 miles a week as a company driver and make next to nothing or run the same miles and make twice as much.
When I left I was clearing $1,500/week after taxes (and I wasn’t training).
Again, the big difference between me and so many of the others (including those complaining on this board) is that I was a professional. I was there for an education. I got it and moved on.

 

First, get rid of that word “luck”. Luck has nothing to do with it. Attitude, determination, perseverance, education, … the list could go on and on. My definition of luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.
Some people would say I am lucky because the man I was working for financed my operation at 6.5%. But had I not been planning on buying my own truck, understood the numbers and able to provide him a business plan I would still be working on a farm today.
Most can not – NO – will not allow themselves to be put in the position to achieve a better life because then that would make them the “evil man” that they hate. And if they do then it changes from owners to brokers. Just take a stroll over to the Ask and Owner Operator section and see all the people talking about not being able to make it because they are being cheated by brokers.

 

This is true and the hard working drivers should get the perks for their hard work. and as you know alot of companies out there could care less.
the first year is hard and alot of drivers don`t make it. also some good drivers get pushed out do to a bad fm,dm, or other managnent. this is one of the issues with dead beat companies. you know the ones I mean.
Not all things can be the drivers or the companies fault. each case is differnt and all things are not black & white.

 

Nothing is black and white. And often policies that seem to punish the professional driver have been put in place because of the huge volumes of liars, cheats and thieves that have come before and are standing in line behind them. And as soon as the professional accepts this fact of life and understands it is just a matter of time before they can move onto a better company, the better off they will be and likely start treating those poor people at the company that get crapped on all day long better.

 

Montgomery AL at the T/A. Deep sleep then they busted the window and robbed the drivers.

 

Can't make up your mind BigBadBill????

In my eyes there is no such thing as luck.

 

Luck is one of my skills.

 

That lower your taxable income, but you still won't get all your money back.