What has happened to this industry???

Drivers, stop dumping your piss on the ground at the truck stops !
Gross!
Now back to your rant and rave programming....

 

Well it's pretty obvious that some of you only retain certain things when you read someone else's post. Somewhere in the middle of my post I stated not all but many. So instead of snapping back maybe you should read more carefully before you jump out of your seat.

 

Ahhhh. The "New Generation" of drivers BS the old. Lol. Yes. Funniest argument I've heard in a long time. I'll tell you why. I generally hear this from older drivers who've screwed themselves and this industry so badly that there's almost no coming back. Not saying that the "old timers" are bad. You'll notice you don't hear this from all of them by the way. Not the real "old generation". The 65+ crowd. It's not the "new generation" that screwed things up this bad. There are plenty of crap stains out here who've been out here for 20 years that have certainly done a lot of damage when it comes to image and respect. You'll see the ones I'm talking about. They generally hate who they are driving for at the moment, look and smell like they crawled out from under the bathroom that supplies TA its "food" and don't have anything good to say about anything and are pretty much vile and contemptuous human beings. And if you really thing new drivers suck so bad, why aren't you helping them get better? That old tired argument needs to stop already.

 

beast, I'm not saying this job doesn't have outs challenges, because it definitely does. pulling a trailer want martial for me, I was going over curbs, almost lost one in a ditch once, but all it took was practice. now that I know the length of the truck, and got used to how handles and stops depending on outs wrought, that challenge is gone, and became just driving. It'll be the same for people who tow houses every day. /repetition builds habit. I was just saying that ultimately, all were doing is driving.

And I have to adhere with Joseph. why are people just complaining about new drivers instead of helping them? I'm learning that this is a very whiny, babyish, field. I'm not strong all drivers are like that, far from it, But I haven't heard so much winning in any job that I've ever had. It's getting old. everywhere you go, there's that one guy complaining about everything

 

I agree about education and helping new drivers. Not pointing this at anything read, but its hard to help a know it all at any experience level. And there again because a few know it alls the stereotyping starts all over. They have to want it and accept they need it to help anyone.

 

On any given day the most active section on TTR is the Garage. And lacks the rants and 'positions' you find especially with regard to trucking companies. Now, that's funny if you think about, considering how opinionated we all are about what we drive.

When it comes to what carrier we drive for you get what looks like chickens after a treat pecking at each other. Lots of driver bashing. So what's that all about? You can just about count that if XYZ company gets criticized, someone--and sometimes a whole group of someones--pops up denying the OP or poster's right to existence. It discourages new drivers from narrating their experience. And I think that's the purpose of overt push back.

Then we have those who claim a bad company is actually god's and TTR's special gift to new drivers, despite horriffic CSA scores and anecdotes. Hope in the new driver springs proverbially. After all, how bad can it be? See 'em on the road every day, right? Hey! Driver! Here's a company bad enough to hire even you!

Thankfully we have TTR to get the word out about different carriers, whether newbies listen or not. Fact is, it takes drivers willing to stick their necks out. With 100% driver turnover at the 'best' of the OTRs, those who react to carrier criticism like you insulted Mama's cooking probably have a mega Mama...

 

In my case, it was NOT an old timer that trained me, it was a 6 month wonder that was my first trainer. The big companies don't like to keep the experienced people around for the most part, as they have to pay them more.

Video games do not necessarily prepare you for driving anything. Depends on the video game, and as for quick reaction times, either you have them or you don't, but react too quick in a rig, and you can flip that thing.

Driving a rig is nothing like driving a car or a pick up with a trailer behind it. Completely different dynamic. Too many people come into this industry thinking it's a cake walk, when it is NOT. It takes concentration and focus. It also takes thinking for every other idiot on the road.

 

No, it's actually exactly the same as a pickup with a trailer, only bigger and heavier. ask the physics are the same. the trailer is going to follow the same exact way, just scaled wider for the added size. The extra weight is going to either improve or hurt braking depending on if you're going up or down, scaled up since both are heavier...

I know that for stone reason you want this to be this really complex job... you're driving a truck and pulling a trailer, a trailer that because of its size leaves more room for mistakes... you can correct these big trailers easier than a smaller one because it's harder to overcorrect.

There's no magical "different dynamic" It's a trailer on a 5th wheel, they all steer exactly the same. The new challenges are just adjusting to the bigger size, and getting used to how a longer trailer will offtrack, how wind affects a trailer truck, stuff like that. If you can pull a 5f 5ft ailer, you can pull a 53 foot trailer, it's the same thing.

Ofc, if you do tank, animals, ridiculously big loads, then there's more to the job, then it's not simple as just pulling a trailer, but for almost every one of us, it's a pickup with a trailer on a 5th wheel, just bigger.

But yeah, it takes concentration and focus, just like driving your car does... If you say it doesn't, you don't belong behind the wheel of anything. These added skills you need to drive a truck are things you should have been doing anyway. it shouldn't take being in a truck to decide "I'm gonna start driving defensively"

 

Experienced drivers complaining about inexperienced drivers that don't have the experience to be as good as them. Summing this up for anyone joining the thread.

When I got my drivers license at 15, I was pretty horrible at parallel parking. Ten years later, I'm not so bad at it. Imagine that, eh?

Heres some advice for the supertruckers here, on occasion, instead of being a condescending prick when you see a rookie making a mistake, why not offer some tips or helpful advice to that driver? Just get out of your truck and waddle on over.

 

I feel for you, but its not that you didn't go to a truck driving school, it the gap in driving, you will probably have better luck with England, or swift, I know these companies $uck, and will more than likely send you with a trainer of a couple weeks, but it's a start, when you say a couple years? when was the last time you drove? what year, can you provide proof of driving jobs?