Pay,Risk and Talent

Fixed it for ya.



Sirscrapntruckalot - I'm told the bottom one is NOT a selfie of Frank.

 

Thank you, I definitely won't do a lease purchase any time soon, I want to learn the ins and and outs of the business before I make any major move..... my ex wife said, anyone can do anything for a year, just work at it for a year to figure it all out. That may be the only good advice she's ever given me.

I am willing to do anything really, Flat, dry etc, I just don't want to be sitting at a truck stop for days on end.... if I am in the truck, I want to be making money, period. I don't think I will do well with feeling like I am working for nothing, because as far as I am concerned, if you are in the truck, you are working.

 

Word! No one could say it better.

 

Ok you sound like a smart guy that can, maybe, handle the truth. Here is the real deal about training. It is all about insurance. You see the insurance companies out there understand that most people that are going to wreck a truck are going to do it in that first year or two. Since they know this, their rates on new drivers are so high that almost no one is willing to pay it. That leaves companies that self insure and that means a mega corp. These mega corps get kick backs from the federal government for training you and if they do enough volume it makes the numbers work versus the amount of trucks/cars/people that these new guys destroy along the way. So, you as the trainee aren't a driver you are just an income generator until that first year is done and if they think for a minute that you might end up costing them money they will let you go in a new York minute.

During this period they are going to pay you the bare minimum and try to work you more than the more expensive drivers in their fleets because they know you dont have much of a choice.

So pick one, it doesn't matter all that much which one and get that first year over with and move on.

 

Thank you, that is what I was thinking and have pretty much resigned myself to that. I also think that many of these drivers that whine and complain just don't get that. I also think that if I bust butt for one of these companies and don't complain too much, I can earn from them a little faith and respect and in turn, get more miles etc..... At least that is my hope. We shall see.

 

I doubt crash statistics will bear this out. Yes. New drivers will have a bulk of the “incidents” but I think you will find the bulk of the major crashes involve more experience drivers who are driving faster, more careless in an over-confident mode.

 

That makes sense too, it's human nature to grow more comfortable with a vehicle and become complacent. I know each time I have bought a new motorcycle, I am very cautious until I get comfortable with it.....
Over the last couple years, I have hauled horses in a 36' goose neck and have seen many big trucks hauling butt in bad weather.... There is nothing more frightening than your truck and trailer hydro plaining, it's happened to me, even when I thought I was driving at a safe speed.

 

Truck driving is not a trade and never will be. No reason companies need to pay more when they can recruit from a large population of unskilled folks in dire need of work.
Trucking is more along the line of factory labour that any monkey can perform with a 4th grade education hence the low wages. $25 per hour is ok however skilled trades in my area are all $40 hour plus.

 

I don’t have a problem calling it a “trade” but I can’t go with “skilled professional” given what’s observed out here every day.