and the above is NOT necessarily "the way it always is"........There ARE good companies that do not make you always do the above...If you find yourself working for a bad one, well then, it may be time to move on. Garbage trucking companies only exist because people are dumb enough to believe their lies and let them exist. Learn to say one simple word, "No"...I raised 4 kids and was a decent father (IMHO) who was there for his kids when they needed him. Trucking and a life are not necessarily incompatible...Only if you let it.

Hi Maddi's Wife -
I haven't read a post from you in a while. How is your husband's new job working out? My husband is starting for Trans am on Monday. He is a new driver and we have a family at home as well. We are hoping he can stick it out for a year, but only time will tell.

I don't like that W. Memphis truck stop. I always go to the Palestine exit and park at the Love's. It's cleaner and the lot isn't so beat up. Plus no lot lizards.

All these diaries end in tragic silence.

While the new employee is going through infatuation the company is plotting occupational genocide!

The UN's 8 stages of Genocide adapt well to most trucking companies:

CLASSIFICATION From day one who do they want to get rid of from the new recruits?
SYMBOLIZATION - This clown expects to run legal.
DEHUMANIZATION - Middle of the night qualcoms and phone calls.
ORGANIZATION - Special army units or militias are often trained and armed. Dispatcher, FMs, DMs, whatever you want to call them!
POLARIZATION - Widen the gap between driver and the organization.
IDENTIFICATION - Death lists are drawn up. They are often segregated into ghettoes, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved. (Lousy runs, no miles, stuck in West Memphis!)
EXTERMINATION - no explanation needed.
DENIAL - The guy just wasn't with the program.

:roll: :roll:
Kindof hard to update anything, when everybody's been told he left TransAm a week ago Friday. I can't update on how the "new job" is working out since he hasn't started it yet. As I've mentioned elsewhere on CAD he took a week off to be home with us.
As far as being silent, I usually am when he's home, can you really blame me?

Spenc, how are you? My husband is reaching Des Moines, IA as I type should be in the hotel within the next hour or so.

Mighty3 - I'm hoping it works out better for your family. My husband would have stuck it out the year if something better hadn't opened up as well. As I've said in your other post, feel free to pm me anytime with questions, or just to talk.

I can't pm you, I don't have 50 posts yet, but I'm working on it. My husband went out with his trainer early this morning for his first day out. He has his cell phone turned off and I haven't heard from him since last night. Is this usual during training?

Well, should I last with TransAm another 2 weeks, I will become a trainer.
And yes, no cell phones while driving is my personal rule.

Cool Specerian!
Yeah, if I am out in the middle of no where, I talk on the phone. Or, somewhere when the traffic isnt bad. Now, if I am in Dallas, forget it!

:sad: :?

That is IF..IF, if if if if....
I stay here.

My new dispatcher is a waterhead. He has no concept of authority, communication, or respect. How can I work under someone like that?

On a new note, my miles have dropped. I now get about 2200 per week.
Last week I ran 6 days and got 1400.

I hate to say it, but JB Hunt is looking better all the time.

Jb Hunt is still looking better.

I'll do a quick recap.... for the sake of this thread. Maddii's Wife has done a good job and I would hate to see it die.

I was going to be a trainer, but decided not to.
Trainers are there to teach, not team. I am not a cheap team.

Communication is nill with my dispatcher. He gets back to me when he feels like it.

I did 2900 miles 2 weeks ago. 1700 last week, and looks like 1328 this week.