Why do most new drivers quit?

I have three young babies and a beautiful wife. Love them all and God knows hows much I would rather be home every night with them. But it's that same love that pushes me each day to go a little longer, a little harder and a little further to ensure they have all the good things in life that I wasn't blessed with. It's that same love that has me working 11 to 14 hour days, 5 to 7 days a week and being away from home sometimes 14 to 21 days in a row. That is my place as a man of God, husband, Father and leader of my house.

 

For me to get off the road when I did was for several reasons. One of the biggest was a lack of pay. I drove 35 days for free with Western Express. They claimed they couldnt find my paperwork that I had filled out at their corporate office along with 25 other candidates.

With CR England it was a case of a driver whom didnt realize what he had. I had come off of a truck with 11,000 miles and 6 days left with a trainer. I was assigned a new trainer and the guy didnt want me. He took one look at me and thought "loser". So he tossed me off his truck and as I was departing I heard him say he just got rid of the newbie that they sent him, where is the driver that has 6 days left, that was him???????? Oh I dont know if he will take an apology I insulted him pretty good. So I walked off toward the main building. He came around the building from the other side, I said hello and he kept on walking. At the time I was done with the shenanigans. I had been on the road for 6 weeks with no home time. I went home. No one apologized to me for what had been said. No one really tried to make a effort to get me done with my training. There was a DM that met me in the hallway whom decided he should make threats against me instead of trying to be polite. I figured it was time to move on.

I have heard from others that had a great time and wished that was what would have happened. I got a great trainer when I was at Western Express, too bad the market was crashing at the time and they couldnt pay me. All my loads were 100% satisfaction. They were all on time. Just that if I am to work for you, I expect to be paid and to be treated fairly. That should not be too much to ask.

 

Because this is one of the more difficult ways to make $35k a year(first year). Me being 41 and having the experience of working several other jobs that were far more difficult, I don't have too many issues with Trucking. It's about having the right mindset to persevere in this career.

 

Majority of the time people come to the realization that this isn't just a job.
Trucking is like a salary paid job, except you have no guarantee what you will make for being in that truck 24 hours a day. They soon find out that they can go make close to the same amount of money in just about any job they can get their hands on, and have a life with friends and family.

 

Because they're pussys and not paying their bills or taking care of their family is accually an option for them.

 

I doubt most people would make as much staying home as they do on the road unless they have a skill or good education. Most factory jobs or fast food won't pay as much as trucking. In order for most to earn the same money they would need to work a lot of overtime or work several jobs, which would limit their actual home time.

 

They quit after using up an entire 14 hour clock backing into a dock. Full disclosure...I'm ltl but my days are getting slowly extended waiting for people just to back into docks. I get paid by the hour so bring on the morons who give me hours and will end up quitting because they can't seem to handle the basics.

 

That is exactly the truth. I sold my truck because I was getting homesick. Landed a job that is considered good pay locally. Then I became homesick for my truck ! The job caused my wife to have to get a second job. I am back as a local o/o, wife quit second job, and I want to go back to regional hauling because it out pays local.

 

I quit my first company because right out of training I had a breakdown and sat in a hotel unable to get any one from the company on the phone. That's training pay followed by a week in a hotel that I had to pay for and then get reimbursed (never did) and never got any breakdown pay.
Luckily I have my savings but I refuse to spend more money than I make, so I made the decision to jump ship before it could get any worse.

Assuming that's all any new drivers see of the industry, and they don't have any other resources such as this site to tell them it's not like that everywhere I would have completely left the industry with a big middle finger up too.

 

The three main reasons I think people quit are :

1) Pay. People don't make what they were promised or what they thought they would be making.

2) Hours. Most people are not used to working 14 hours a day or driving 11 hours a day.

3) Homesick. People can't hack being away from friends and family.