Why is trucking so stressful?

Yes goofy.

 

Whaaat! Where? I have never found them. They were a hot commodity at my receiver in Michigan I go to every day. News to them. I bring them smarties also lol

 

Same can be said about the QC too. My last truck I could silence mine. I think the company could send an emergency message that overrode that. however I made sure my FM knew I knew how to unhook the plug on the QC cord. I had a FM try to get me to accept a load while on my 10. I was angry at that FM to start with. I disconnected my QC and actually turned my ring off of my cellphone.

 

I don't know but in my town at the grocery store they sell all dressed ruffles maybe it's seasonal.

 

Vernors or Canada dry
?

 

Vernors.

 

Make it a habit of checking "summary" on QC every stop you make. This way when that next load appears you will know right away if it's doable or not.

 

With maple syrup and whiskey.

 

BLASPHEMY!

No actually I like them both.

 

If you are on a 34 hour RESET. THAT MEANS RESET.

Your company will just have to find some other soul to pick on with work to do. You are NOT to do a moments work of any kind except one. Resting, preparing and making ready for the fresh 70 hours when your reset time is OVER.

Just being interrupted and told to go do something that interferes with a ongoing RESET is itself wrong. Tell them NO. You are on reset. They will just have to wait until it's over, however many hours that is.

It's really good to grab a rental car and a hotel room away from your truck. You are literally off duty, resetting. No one is going to be bothering you with work stuff. Because you are on reset and not to be touched with work stuff.

You did discover one small thing. Talking to customers to find out what the ACTUAL appointment time is for your particular run. BEFORE you say yes or no to dispatcher. (If you are on reset, it's a automatic no)

Building a direct relationship with shippers and recievers as a agent of your company and getting them to tell you the actual appointment time will short circut any attempt of your deceptive dispatcher (Lying SOB...) to get you somewhere only to make you wait and wait and wait until actual appointment.

Document everything long hand into a large journal book. So that when someone in your company weeks later or months later pulls you into a interview over something you actually forgot about (And they did not...) that book you built with that actual incident, problem, accident or conflict with hours etc will be on your favor when you read from it naming names who said what to you, when, how and so on. Oh by the way you were not paid for that run either. (Show copies of payroll for that week that is missing that delivered load for which you have BOL copies and everytthing.)

Being the lowest man on the totem pole is tough. But when you prove that you cannot and will not be pushed around by stupid people who think you don't know anything at all you will be in a better place pretty quickly.

For example. There are anti corection laws that say when you are out of hours, truck with a defect that needs fixing to be legal or some other problem such as being sick, tired or whatever it is (Even if it is a bad storm somewhere) you cannot be told to go anyway. You do NOT move one inch. What you do do is document that attempt by the company person, naming names, what was told you and dates and times. It's really important. So if you get fired or retaliated for that, you can get your revenge legally and sometimes monetarily.

Most newbies are abused in this industry for what they don't know. They don't know how to say no and show actually why against the regulations that this no stands. In your case you are on reset. Out of hours period until you get your 70 hours back. Then the people can call you with work to do that morning. But NOT BEFORE THEN.

I hope this helps you. You are a professional driver, not a doormat.

Disregard the nice polite culture inside a company office. Afterall there are so many do not do this do not do that do not this, that harrass or anything inside a workplace they cannot do anything to you.

But on the other end of the phone when they know everything and you know nothing? That's easy to abuse you for what you don't know.

A long time ago I used to be told to be in Azko salt by noon each day after delivery. The problem is that where it was from my usual delivery was involving 6 hours of 100+ mph driving to be there at noon.

One day a employee at Akzo had his doors blown off by me passing him at 110 20 miles from his workplace he came up to me asking why am I so stupid to go so fast to this salt plant? I told him Boss man says to be here by noon or miss the loading.

They all laughed at me. Laughed me right out of there. Then told me my boss is being BS and putting one over on me. They don't close until like 8 at night for loading big trucks for a fact.

As soon i found that out, I would deliver as usual then use the speed limit for 8 hours to get there in the evening to load and when the boss man found out that I learned the truth he quit sending me there period. (Talk about cutting off the nose to spite the face, it's a good paying load down south...)

I ended up joining a better company that will send you to places to get loaded sometime within a time frame. Not appointments.

Also from that day forward I always called direct to double check any appointments made. Sometimes they tell me otherwise with the real truth. Saying something like they need two days to cool the farm product for loading into reefer. Hit the truckstop and take care of what you need to do and be here on wed instead of monday. We'll be ready to load you then.

And you wonder why dispatchers get so angry. Something about loss of detention time or other. (Since I don't get paid any of that, it's not a loss to me.)

 

With my company it is. Every week you drive for them knocks off a few hundred from the balance. So after six months, I would only owe 2000, not the full 4000.