Owner operators our dangerous part 3 wtheck is up with closing the thread

I think a lot of the gals would rather we not know they're gals. Less baggage to deal with from us.

It's also overworked drivers. I found, at least in TC, that the big carriers like to schedule you right out to the razor's edge of your hours. It keeps things predictable. If you've got a wide window then they don't know whether you're going to hit the early part or the later part.

When you're a company driver you're basically a dog. You gotta take what you're given and nobody cares whether you like it or not. They'll make you sit for a day and a half, then assign you a run 1,000 miles away that's got to be there in 30 hours, with delivery at 8 AM in Ontario, CA. How you manage that is up to you, but service failures get counted.

The guy that rolls into a truck stop and hits somebody is probably

A) - In a godawful hurry.
B) - Totally dead tired.
or
C) - Both.

Add to that a lack of experience so this guy can't be relying on his instincts (he hasn't developed any yet). If he's not fully concentrating on what he's doing with everything he's got, his driving skills drop to about zero.

 

I think this whole thread is full of way to many generalizations. Some of what everyone says is right and some is wrong. All owner operators are not outlaws and all company drivers are not drooling idiots. all of the back and forth is getting old.

 

Driving my triple digit unit at 55 to save fuel money.

But I don't know what's worse the four wheelers or these hordes of mega fleet seat warmers.

 

You can talk all the trash you want... The bottom line is the mega carriers are still in business and making a profit. Most of us started out as company drivers. Does that make us bad O/O? You have good and bad on both sides.

 

I make what I make. I do what I do. I am good at it. When things change, I get better, or Park the thing.
Lots of ways to make a living, none like this though.

 

I'm gonna guess that was in either Evanston or Kemmerer...?

 

The bottom line is mega carriers make their profit exploiting wannabes and starving them out and charging them for "free " training . Their turnover rate of over 100% keeps a constant turnover of inexperienced steering wheel holders on the road .

 

Not disagreeing with you here, but how is one supposed to get a start in this industry? You don't see any of the righteous owner/operators taking on apprentices and "training 'em up right," now do you? Third-party driving schools and community colleges certainly don't turn out a finished product- it's too expensive to give them the seat time that would produce that sort of driver. So that leaves us with carriers willing to take on newbs, and provide them with the additional training (good or bad) that produces a more finished driver. It also (necessarily) involves greater exposure to accidents, poor driving, stupid situations, and pretty much everything else that we're griping about in this thread.

The fact that some of us have more experience than others, may actually own our equipment or are self-employed as legitimate independent contractors does not convey any sort of moral superiority over those working as driver-employees- or vice versa. There are those who will be negligent and careless, have poor driving skills, get themselves in stupid situations regardless of how they are employed in the transportation industry.

 

They should not just follow the herd to bottom feeders . They should use common sense and do some research . Why does a carrier that hasn't increased it's fleet size in 3 years need to hire 5,000 replacement drivers a year ? If that is the only option it would be better to find another career .

 

Rick, the "bottom feeders" are the carriers willing to train. No one else does. So what? If you can't find the perfect training situation, settle for flipping burgers or cleaning urinals? Just because fleet size doesn't change, doesn't mean that there aren't drivers of all categories leaving for various reasons. I note that you are planning on leaving the industry- so that means that because a truck isn't added in your honor, that your carrier shouldn't train (if they would) a replacement driver?