Biggest reason for new driver wash out?
 

What do you think the biggest reason(s) new drivers wash out?

I read somewhere that training mills have a very high 50% + loss rate.

Why?

What are some things a rook like me can learn to avoid those kinds of things, I understand that common sense, some grit and a strong desire are needed.

Re: Biggest reason for new driver wash out?
 

Dont believe everything that the recruiter tells you.
What operations/dispatch says is the way things will be. Whether good or bad.
Run a legal logbook.
Get accustomed to being away from home.
Get accustomed to feeling shafted.
Save your money.
Dont make hometime plans in advance of heading to the house.
Be a people person.
Use that common sense, grit and desire every minute of every day.

I think a lot of guys, like myself, didn't realize the real hardship of being away from home for such long periods of time. Now it's not the being away from home that is what gets me, it's all the other factors thrown in to the day, whether it be traffic, weather, demandind dispatchers, or shippers/receivers that seem to do everything in their power to hold you up, add all that up, plus the stresses of being away from home, and sometimes, like i did, you just take what you've learned and go back home and find a local job that suits your needs. I think a lot of it has to do with pride too, when i came off the road i was kinda ashamed to say that i quit because i missed home, but the way i look at it now is i'm just not cut out for that type of work, a normal job, with normal hours, and being home every night is what suits my needs. Note, this is just my opinion, this is the factor that brought me off the road, but also the factor that made me respect the tons of guys/girls who are out there everyday, thousands of miles away from home, just getting the job done. For newbs like you, learn to respect what your elders of truckdriving have to tell you, i think that if you listen, and keep yourself in the right frame of mind, then you'll go far driving a truck.

Many realize how much un- compensated time they give away every week. If you divide the hours worked every week ( actual hours, not logged hours) by the weekly pay many find it would be not much more than minimum wage.

Amen, PTD.

All you rookies in here, pay attention.

Part Time Dweller knows what he's talking about.

I know of many new drivers that didn't stay long in the industry once they got a taste of life on the road, they realized that it was not all fun and games like they thought it would be

I know new drivers who quit because they couldn't handle being away from home or couldn't handle the stress of the job

I read somewhere that about 70% of newly licenced drivers leave the industry, truck driving is not for everybody, it is one of those jobs that you don't know if you can handle it until you try it

Many people that come into the trucking industry have a bit of a skewed perception of what we do. I know friends and relatives of mine who swore I was getting paid to be a tourist... lazily driving across the country, stopping to see anything that stuck my fancy, reviling in the beauty of the country.

Sure, the mountains and anything that's RIGHT on the roadside, I do get a chance to see, but what family doesn't see is the hard hours driving through all kinds of weather, the fact that pavement really is the same color through all lower 48 states, living in truck stops and rest areas, the hassle from dispatch and shippers and consignees, living in a 6 foot square box...

Then for some the realization of being away from home is too much, much like millersod said. Even worse if you've got children in the equation... how much of their lives do you want to miss for a load of bottle caps in the trailer?

For all the minuses though, there are some of us who would never have it any other way. Once the diesel gene gets activated, even the trucker that comes off the road always hears the calling of the highway. Myself and quite a few others in my life suffer from it right now :wink:

The job is sold as a high paying job with first year earnings of 40k and 2nd 3rd yr earning of 50-60k . Then these new drivers get with company xyz and are only making 4-600 gross per week , And quickly realize that the job is much different in terms of a reliable pay check as opposed to a m-f job paid by the hour where you are paid for every hour you are at work un like otr driving where you only get $$$ when moving .Drivers also quickly realize that company XYZ only pays 26-28 CPM and that it takes 3k miles a week to make a decent check at this pay rate ,but they only reliably get 2200-2500 miles , Which is about what most drivers average at big companies with 10k trucks . So it only takes a few weeks of $ 450.00-600.00 checks to realize that with all the inconvenience and extra living expense of living OTR that they not only are not making any where near the claimed income ...but with the extra living expenses and in-convenience they are probably losing money and made out better as a stock boy at wal-mart. If your like me ,and have only negligible bills you can do your time ,and move on to jobs that do pay the claimed income ,and with some degree of reliability ,but if you got tons of bills at home it might be very frustrating when your only grossing about 50% of what you were told you would earn .

Re: Biggest reason for new driver wash out?
 

You can probably list 9-10 top reasons . . . but there's really one major cause.

Functionally . . . looking at it from a structural point of view . . . companies and schools don't spend time and money screening trainees for what is actually a very tough job. They prefer to train ten and have one make it, rather than screen ten and choose one to train.

That's why the standard "deal" is that you pay for your own school or incur a committment for company training. Although very inefficient, it's just cheaper for them to let the driver quit than to try to discover whether he can handle the stressors before he's hired.

Knowing this is how "the system" works in the industry, you need to do some rigorous pre-screening: Can you handle the separation, responsibility, delays, frustrations, working conditions, low pay and being alone? Past experience is a great indicator. If you've never dealt with these conditions in the past, then let that be a warning flag.

If you have young kids, a new marriage, are a "people person"/extrovert, lazy, hate being alone, are easily bored, aren't very independent, have issues with authority, have alcohol dependency, or can't live on the low income you'll earn in the first year or two . . . then disqualify yourself and look elsewhere.

Final point . . . entry into this industry is rather easy. A head of lettuce can get pre-hired. You just have to have a clean record and be fairly physically fit, and you're in. Don't allow the emotional rush of initial acceptance (either into a CDL school or pre-hire) to cloud your judgement.

I think too many new folks who want to drive (especially young guys) turn off their critical thinking once they get the first toe in the door.

I like to equate truck driving to being in the military, it not intended to be for everybody. Military life can be long and make you dirty, like not taking a shower just like driving. The promise of making good money is there, but with all the time you put into it, it doesn't seem like that much. Driving can be very rewarding, but you have to like the lifestyle and understand the downsides of this job as compared to others. Driving is not a job everyone can handle and that is why you see very few people who drive for 20-30 years.