[golfhobo]

Okay, Sheep! I get you. Maybe, I went a little over the top in praise of you, but it was all in fun! I didn't "blow your cover" did I??? :shock: 8)

Your insight is STILL something these people need to hear! I have a friend of my Dad's who is a terminal manager. He says, "We USED to be able to control our drivers. NOW we are so short, we have to put up with all kinds of B/S."

MY company has MANY drivers who left, on good terms, at some time to pursue better paying "offers." ALL returned with no bad feelings and have been with the company for YEARS since! I guess they are doing something right! (not sure yet what it is!)

MY point is... that IF you stay with your FIRST company for one year, you will have proved yourself to THEM, and you will KNOW what that is WORTH to them. By now... you will ALSO have "options."

If your record with them is clean, and you choose to leave AFTER 1 year, MOST companies will NOT put anything bad on your DAC.

But, if you get into this business, especially at someone ELSE'S expense, and want to "job hop" 3 times in your first year... you could be hurting your FUTURE more than you know.

Hobo

[Longsnowsm]

Not that I am trying to plug Sheepdancer's company, but I ran into a JB Hunt driver a few years ago. I was on a cross country motorcycle tour on a Harley I owned at the time. The JB Hunt driver thought it was a a Deuce(a specific HD model that he wanted to see). So he came over and introduced himself and we talked about the bike. He told me he drove for JB Hunt and had been with them for 18 years(this was 3 years ago). He says he is an avid motorcyclist, and that he drives nonstop for 9 months and takes 3 months off out of his banked time off.

He was pretty happy with the company, and liked that they would let him work his schedule that way. So he spends that 3 months riding motorcycles with his son and his neighbor(I guess he wasn't married). So you might ask if Swift would let you do something like that and bank your time off and use it all at a shot. That JB Hunt driver said he would lose his truck when he took that much time off, but it was just the price he had to pay to have that kind of time off. Something for you to think about. BOL

Longsnowsm

[T * Storm]

Originally Posted by golfhobo

Like others said: You may not even BE with Swift a year from now, so why are you worried about it? Trucking is a very FLUID lifestyle. But, you should NEVER have a problem getting another job if you need it.

That said, I don't think they will object. But... you probably WILL lose your assigned truck, and MAY have to take an older one when you come back. Is it worth it? Probably so.

I wouldn't mention a word about it until the time comes. By then YOU will know what to expect, and more so than any of US!

One good thing to remember when getting into trucking is that.... they don't OWN you! YOU have the skill that THEY need. Be your OWN Man/Woman!

I was reading the "whom do you work for?' thread and not once did I see the right answer. Bottom line is you work for yourself and by extension those you love. Any other answer than that is 100% incorrect. Matter of fact I just had that recent discussion at my present job with a retired gentleman that does PT for Enterprise Rent A Car. (He had chosen a career with the federal government that lasted 45 years.) ...anyway, last Friday, the regional manager comes in and my co - worker told me - there goes our boss. I told him BS, I don't work for anyone but me and my family. He insisted She was my boss. I asked him if the regional had a gun against my head. He said no. I asked him if the regional owned me, he said no. I asked him if I was free to leave any time I wanted to, he said yes. Then I asked him who I was working for me or the regional manager. He understood my point as I'm sure you do with your statement

One good thing to remember when getting into trucking is that.... they don't OWN you! YOU have the skill that THEY need. Be your OWN Man/Woman

We do have a choice and we do, bottom line, work for ourselves. If more people realized that they work for themselves, its just the person that pays you for your service may change, and that the work that you do, no matter who's paying for your services right now, and that the level of service you provide is a direct reflection on who you are, the quality of work would sky rocket.

I really like your mind set. That's why I wouldn't bother to make up a BS excuse, but sometimes timing and temperance, along with diplomacy makes all the difference in getting what one wants out of life. If you don't like something, change it. It's really that simple.

AMEN GOLFHOBO !!! PREACH IT LIKE IT IS.

[golfhobo]

My Timing is usually "way off!" Temperance comes to me about as easily as a shy dog! Diplomacy is my forte, but I have to WORK at it [as I suggest that BUSH should do!]

I DO "preach it like it is!" [keeping diplomacy in mind, but not subject to it!]

I like your "mindset" too. You explained that much better than I could!

Hobo