Stacking the deck in your favor.

You know, I was just talking to a buddy the other morning. He and I got into driving the same way. No driving school, just get behind the wheel and do it. When you screw up, the old man in the passenger seat will whack ya upsides the head. We're both about the same age.

But he said something that I never thought of. We are at the end of an era in the industry. The days of doing it the way we did are gone for the most part. Now we have driving academies an recruiters to lie to a person. Paper logs? In five years drivers won't remember them. 100 mph trucks? A figment of imagination.

Yes, in a few years, we figure we'll be "that crazy old guy at the lunch counter".

I'm not implying that I'm some kind of legend or anything by saying this. But we figure in a few years, trucking will be very different than we know now. And those of us that learned this before driving schools became almost mandatory, will need to adjust. Or get out. It's kind of sad to see the industry I love, slowly killing itself

 

I'm trying real hard not to be that grumpy old guy at the lunch counter but it's a real chore to avoid it.
I started driving in the late 60's and, like a lot of you, never went to a truck driving school. As a matter of fact, truck driving school graduates in those days were often made fun of and very seldom hired.
I learned the hard way but I learned well...the grumpy old guys saw to that. If I hadn't learned well I wouldn't have been allowed to drive.
Things have changed in this industry faster than I ever thought possible. The last ten years or so it seems like we've been running just as hard as we can just to stay abreast of the new technology.
I like a lot of the changes I've seen. They've made my job easier. But I'm still having trouble adapting to the new work attitudes I see in drivers. I don't see it much with our guys because most of them are old crocks like myself but I read some of the postings on this forum and just shake my head.
Next year we'll be buying out one of our competitors and effectively doubling the size of our company. We'll still be a small outfit but we'll be inheriting the drivers from the other company along with their equipment and customers. That's the deal. I dread it. I know some of their drivers, know most of them actually, and there are some of them that just aren't going to make it here.
I'll adjust as much as I can but there's a point beyond which that just doesn't work any more.

 

Yep, if you have to have a $400 service call for a $2 light we are going to have issues.

The guy that replaced me at my last job would not check his oil. He was not paid to be a mechanic. The sad part is that he is my age

 

Or..... just be like me..... roll into a truck stop at 3:00 am,find a spot in the waaaaaay back, sleep, and never talk to anyone..... lol. I'm no super trucker.... just wanna work, if I wanted to talk to people at work, I'd have an office job and hang out at the water cooler.....

 

For someone who just got into driving trucks a year ago I am very lucky to have driven a 100 mph truck. Well 90mph because it runs out of gears but still... I know it's days are limited. Also running paper logs was fun while I still can.

 

I did not adjust, I found it a lot more satisfying to get out. I was a young man when I bought my first truck and an old man when I sold my last.

 

To some extent I understand it when drivers say that. With wages generally being so low, and load.planners that suck time off your clock with no consideration for your earnings, unpaid layover and detention time doing free work for.the company can be pretty aggravating. Having said that, I'd personally turn in my man card if I had to call road service to change a light, and the last time I checked, checking all fluid levels was part of a proper pre and post trip inspection, so that, to me, is unforgivable.

 

I always amazed how many of those guys like that there are... walk by the truck and ask if they need help (which they do, of course,) and it only takes a second to realize that they don't want your help to figure out what's wrong, they want you to do it for them! Yeah, no!

I'll help anyone, so long as they're willing to help themselves.