Stressful loads

Communication is everything.

 

If they fire you for being cautious in bad weather, you don't want to work for them anyway. I know how you feel driver but as you get more and more experienced, you'll find that a lot of delivery times aren't realistic, especially in bad weather. Cover your 6 and don't sweat the small stuff. A relaxed driver is a safe driver.

 

You won't ever get fired for shutting down in bad weather. Like Mr Ridgeline said, you're the captain of the ship. The captain can't control the weather. His primary concern is the safety of the ship. You made the decision to stop, now stick with it. Don't second guess yourself.

"But Six, they're stressing me about this load...."

Only because you allow it. If they keep blowing your phone up (they'd better not blow up my phone), offer to repower the load. Go have a nice dinner. Check the weather, make your plans, and get some sleep.

Luck in battle.

 

Stop stressing. I always say I am no hero. If I am shut down due to weather or given an impossible time schedule I just talk to dispatch. I can’t make miracles happen...
My trainer used to say ‘It’s just French fries, they will get there when it’s safe’

 

You could always turn the phone off, unplug the black box, and enjoy life.

They sent you into bad weather. You shut down because it isn't safe to run. It's THEIR problem. THEY made the commitment to have the load there, likely knowing there is bad weather. Yeah, they may call and scream and yell, but suppose you push on through and wind up in a ditch. Do you really think the clown on the other end of the phone is going to care? I'd hazard a guess and say they could care less about you.


$500 gross a week? I'm guessing you're new, and with a big training outfit (swift, Stevens, CR England, etc). Finish out your contract if you have one and get the heck outta there. Find greener pastures

 

1st thing I woulda said when they got an attitude is "how late would putting it in a ditch make me?" Can't control the weather or shutting down because of a fatality. I have never had a customer ever say booo about rescheduling because of uncontrollable circumstances.

 

But what about toilet paper??

 

All you can do is all you can do. No use getting stressed about the weather and other things you can’t control. Just do the best job you can when it comes to what you can control. The office may gripe but at the end of the day they will either get over it or they won’t.

 

Dispatch is nortoriously driven to excess to make sure all trucks make money every hour of every day. Nothing is allowed to be a valid excuse to be late or whatever. Unfortunately it leads to a conflict.

If you are out of hours or done for the day you must not move a inch if you are ordered to by dispatcher. They are the ones with the problem not you. All you can do is drive. And communicate to them that you are going to need a new appointment time due to fatal accident or due to weather conditions that is beyond your control. If they routed you into a storm? Tell them you are going to be delayed by the weather up there and need a different routing OR a new appointment date and time.

ALWAYS circle the conversation back to that. Ive found that dispatchers hate it when they yell and scream at me on the phone (Use qualcomm instead so it's documented) and I reply "Thats all well and good, you still have not issued a new appointment that this now late load requires of you."

They usually have a meltdown. But you will get your appt time updated.

Some of your posts indicate a fear of losing job. Don't. If your company is so bad and abusive as to actually create a situation where you are actually fired or abused etc until quit. Document everything for your home state. Ive done that in the past and was successful against several companies back in the day after the problems.

The load will get there when it gets there. A thousand dispatchers yelling at you like furies wont change that. Once you relax and leave all that drama to noise and disregard it, you can focus on your work with less stress.

 

Next time they give you a hard time just tell them you don’t feel you can safely get the load there on time and that you’re going to contact safety and let them know as well. Take control of your truck.

 

what terrible weather, it has been sunny, clear and 50 degrees up here.