why the mess??

To an extent your right, however the BIG companies are the ones who have forced these kind of wages on the new drivers because they haul cheap freight. If the new drivers wouldn't take these jobs then these BIG companies would be forced to raise the rates and thus better paying freight across the board. There are some companies out there that pay inexperienced drivers well but not that many.

 

I quit whining once I got out of it, LOL. LOVE my job as a web developer now!!! Really though, trucking isn't that bad...it is just the people out there...IF you are very patient and great with nasty people you'll be fine...

 

ROFLMAO!

This is a place drivers can come to unwind, and speak what is on their minds, without having it come back and bite them in the butt from their company. You do see positive posts on here, if you are open minded. Of course there is a lot of complaining and whining. That is human nature.

Now then, with your vast wisdom and experience, how about YOU tell all these long time driver's how to always maintain a "positive attitude." I can hardly wait, and I'll bet some of the old timers, (I only have eleven years in, so I don't count myself as an old timer,) can really learn something from you.

I'm sure you hear just as much whining from other jobs as you do from trucking.

OBTW, it wouldn't hurt anything if you would use a spell checker.

 

Complaining is part of the job description. We also have lotsa time to make MOUNTAINS out of molehills. My wife keeps telling me I need to be more positive, for which my reply is, "I'm positive things are gonna be screwed up!" And they usually are.

 

You sure said that right. It is easy to fall into the mode of thought of "poor me," when you are driving down that highway. Even easier when you are held up at a shipper/consignee, waiting to load/unload.

 

Hence the phrase, Catch 22. How does anyone expect a new driver to be ultra selective to the benefit of everyone else except himself?

I'm real sympathetic to drivers wanting to earn more money for the work they do, but if it's at the cost of me not taking a job to get into the industry, I'm not going to be real open to that approach.

I mean come on.. We're expected not take an entry level job just because the wage is beneath what experienced driver would work for???

Sure the shortage of new blood would be helpful to those already established in trucking but how's that suppose to help anyone getting in trucking? Are we suppose to be sacrificial lambs and just stay unemployed? There are very few opportunities for new drivers as is, let alone one's that pay well.

 

Right now your right there is almost NO opportunity for new inexperienced drivers because the cdl mills keep pumping them through with false hopes and dreams while there are tons of experienced qualified drivers without work. If I was a company I'd sure as hell hire the guy with 10 or 20 years over a rookie anyday. One thing that kills me is the pay keeps going down every year it seems because these co's keep cutting their rates. Hell when I started OTR 11 years ago I was getting .30cpm and now they are getting anywhere from .20-.25 from what I've seen. I know one thing i would have never worked, nor will I ever, for that kind of money. I could make just as much at McDonalds. Thats more the point I was trying to make in my previous post. I just don't see how anyone would want to come out here spend weeks away from home and family for basically less or the same money that you could make doing ANYTHING. I am here for the money I make and the love of the job. But if the money ever goes away so will I because I don't love it enough to do it for minimum wage. I miss way to much of my wife and kids lives to do it for #### wages. I'm done rambling now

 

While I haven't experienced a lot of what these gentlemen are talking about... I don't enjoy working for free, and I most definitely experience that on every single load.

My latest... 1990 mile run and getting paid 1900 miles. Where they justify me running an hour and a half unpaid (63'ish mph trucks, keep in mind) I have no idea, but it's a job.

On the other hand, my driver manager/fleet manager are top notch, and our fleet has a no-wait policy when dealing with the shop, which both rock.

 

Whining is not human nature,its a "learned" behavior
Complaining,back biting and the like all have their pay out.
It negatively affects every part of your life,read the Big Book and it tells you all about.

You cant be Pro-Active when your Self Destructive

 

The Army taught me contingency planning, so I plan for every possible thing to go wrong. Then I heard about self fulfilling prophecy, and ayup, everything does seem to go wrong! So, if I don't plan fer nuthin, nuthin will go wrong? Jezz, I'm so cornfuzed!