quick question

Hello there,
Personally I dont put down new people, I help them if I can. The people I do not like out on the road are the inconsiderate ones, weather they are new, or veteran drivers there is NO excuse for bad bahavior out there. It does appear that most of the rude drivers are the younger ones, and drivers with certain companies tend to also cause more problems. You see many trucks of specific companies in accidents, driving unsafe, etc. I am sure they all have some good drivers, but you tend to notice the ones who cut you off, or cant keep it in the lane while passing, or tailgaiting, etc.etc.... Just an example is Old Dominion, in one night I was cut off by 2 of their trucks, and tailgated by another and all were seperate incidents. I do not think very highly of that company although I know nothing about them other then the way their drivers handle the equipment. There are others I have seen act in a similer fashion, just not here to start a fight about the companies.
I hope this clears it up a bit for you, but it is only my opinion.

 

After you've been cut off, ran off the road, and **** near killed by a few of these "big" companies and their "noob" drivers. Rethink the question and try again.

I try to help anyone that is willing to listen. And I can state for a fact, that the new drivers today, have MUCH more training than I did to start. So I expect a bit more from them, than I did myself in the beginning.

Anyone can be taught to drive a truck. But, it's 100% driver when it comes to professionalism. They can't teach that in school. Although they may try.

 

I really have no right to speak on this subject, as I'm a very new driver. It's seems when you talk to the veteran driver in person at a truck stop, many go out of the way to be friendly and show their truck and give advise....but on this board (and many more forums) the driver with years of knowledge seems so jaded. I guess like any business, some of them may have been taken advantage of, like us all.

I do look forward to "Skywalkers" posts, and love the information he imparts from time to time. I just wish I would have had him as my road trainer if I had started at CFI, I think those first few weeks in the truck, set up the foundation for the truckers career. I think many of these larger companies that are looking to attract and keep drivers, just need to find and hire very professional trainers, that do things by the book and really pay these trainers top wages, so they feel they have the time to slow down and spend the time with students, not only driving instruction....but life on the road and making them feel part of this new big company they have just joined. This would cost these large companies a ton of money, but chances are that the new driver they hired 2 months ago would still be in the seat and enjoying his career and growing.......instead of quitiing in a short period of time, feeling like an outsider and poorly prepaired for the road. A good trainer, with the knowlege and time on the road is already making a good wage, so it would take a pretty hefty lure of cash to get these guys to jump ship.......but I know all this turn-over is killing these large companies in terms of money, I heard it costs an average company like $5k to $7k to train a student, and it's such a shame they can not retain so many students due to some very basic human needs. Sure I know many quit because they are lazy or unmotivated...but many more quit due to not feeling prepaired for life on the road and feeling like an outsider within their own company.
I'm a pretty simple guy, so I may not totally understand the whole problem of keeping and retaining drivers, but if I owned a large company, this is the first program I would put in place, to stop the loss of quality new drivers and make them feel like they have found a home. Jon

 

To change tack a little, today I was at a warehouse delivering 3 skids. The guy on the forklift was as green as they came, and he was nervous to boot. I remember when I was just like him, some bully truck driver kept putting me down, making me feel stupid, and eventually I left the forklift for someone else to offload him. When he returned to my warehouse I used to disappear and let him deal with someone else.
So, based on personal experience, I just told the guy that we were all new to our work at one stage, and to take his time. He did a really good job, the offloading took a little longer than it should have, but he gained a bit more experience from it.
Sometimes I think we all need to remember how it was when we started (not just driving, anything that we did, terrified, for the first time) and give newbies a break!

 

Bowing down to you oh "Lord of Smack"

I talked no trash, I spoke the truth. You've got 8 years, and you're the resident expert on large companies and their training/hiring practices?

Note: The 2 Big Rig fires of the week photos...are Swift trucks

What part of the post did you consider "smack". The part where I stated that Professionalism can not be taught? Or the part where I asked you to spend a bit more time out here, before you judge the nature of the inside workings of the "big companies" and their training departments.

I do understand you completely. You're a hot head with an attitude problem, and just proved it. I speak to your kind everyday Sir, and will impart the same respect to you as I do them, and ignore any future post you might impart on this thread.

You can't "demand" total respect with any job, or from anyone. It's earned. People impart simple respect only, up until that point.

Just another CB rambo...on a PC.