My personal outlook for a "new hire" (long)
 

OK, since many of you come here and ask about companies.... I want to share my opinons with you, which may or may not help, but will eventually make scense.

#1 Is the company a problem, or are you? If you have driven for more than 4 companies in 2 years, chances are youll never find the right company, because your not taking care of the real problem...YOU. Sometimes you have to give a little, sometimes your gonna do something you dont like, sometimes you might not make it home, etc. Sometimes you have to do your homework before you sign on. If you want a 100% perfect job, go on welfare.

#2 Do not go to work for a company that "runs under the radar"....if you want to run legal. When doing your homework, one of the questions should be, Do you run legal? or Do you run to get the load there? If the company wants you to run 100% legal, dont be upset when they "shut you down" for over 11/14 violations, etc
If the company wants you to "git r done" dont claim "I dont have the hours" because you knew going in, or should have asked, what type of driver they/you are expecting to be.

#3...in connection to #2, If you are gonna play the "log book game"...I dont have the hours game. Keep to your word when your 30 min from home on a Friday night. Dont play the hours game, only when it suits you....then you can refer back to rule #1

#4...dont complain about JB,Schneider,Swift,etc screwing you over....again did you do your homework? You should know by now that you will be out weeks at a time, you will be every which direction, and hometime isnt a necessity, so why think otherwise?

#5...I believe a majority of the Truck owners(not owner/ops) buy a truck because they can not function with ANY company, so they want to be thier "own boss" Because da*nit, no body is gonna tell me what to do, I own the truck...or I want a few days off...etc

This is also why so many trucks get repo'd...because many do not have a clue as to how a business is ran, its just easier to blame someone else.

#6...The term owner operator is mostly used incorrectly. If you are leased to a company, you are a truck owner, they are the operator. If you run under your own Operating Authority with DOT/MCC numbers, you can call yourself an owner/op.

#7...There are those who want to drive truck, enjoy driving, are competitive, etc These guys/gals will always beat the ones who-got into driving because it was something to do-type. Dont get discouraged, when your laughing it up at the truck stop, some of us are waiting in line to deliver, when you work for the same company, its usually the reason Im getting a better load, and your not. Because I try and you like the truck stop(you get the point)

#8...Did I already mention, some people are the problem, not the company. But if yu listen to them, everyone else is out to :moon: them.

#9...If your company runs OTR, and you run OTR, dont get upset if your not home. Get a local job

#10...Try your smartest...no matter what company your with. Those who try to do the job as hard as they can, will loose out to the ones who work as smart as they can. Guys who have done the job for 20-30 years, dont necessarily do it right, sometimes they just do it. Guys that sit in the t/s all evening, then run all night getting 2-3 hrs sleep, may be working harder...however they are so far back in line many times, that they fall behind those who are smarter.

#11...sign on bonus. If I have to pay you $$ just to come to work for me, its because I have no other reasons for you to do so. I am a firm believer that the best companies, have a waiting list, and therefore dont need to play some stupid $$ game.

#12...Educate your self on freight lanes/rates. If you get paid percentage then understand supply and demand(economics 101) when the demand of freight is high(right now) and the supply of trucks is high...ie more trucks than loads...the rates will be low. When the demand of freight by companies is low(plenty of freight) and the supply of trucks is low...the rates will be high.
I hate hearing that companies are scraping here and skimming here, when you have no clue what the rates are to begin with. (yes skimming does happen) If your paid by mile, then dont ask for short loads....youll starve.

#13...Dont ask the top guys what they make. #1 your not a top guy, even if your a smart runner, you wont have the senority that they do. Since drivers change companies like thier cell phone chargers(underwear doesnt get changed by many) The highest senority drivers, usually will get loads, etc that you will not see until you have prooven yourself. Give it time. Best advice...ask a new hire, thats running the same lanes you wish. Websites will tell you "1st year drivers can make $45,000" However those drivers are the ones out all year long. If you want hometime, chances are you wont make what the "website claims" Find company drivers who are running similar lanes, with similar hometime, and ask them.

#14...Percentage pay. Dont be star-eyed because of huge percentages. The percentage is nothing. The dollar$$ amount is everything. The smaller pay checks I made were with companies claiming, "YOU CAN MAKE 32%" The best paychecks I made were with companies paying me 25%.

Why? Because 25% of $1000 is $250. But 32% of a skimmed, or de-rated $750 load only equals $240, but they want you to see the 32%, and how much higher it is over the 25%, not how much lower they have the freight priced.

#15...Have fun, work smart, and keep safe. Remember...if you are constantly looking for a new job...the problem is you...not them. When you correct #1 on the list, you see whether the profession is for you or not. This is a LIFESTYLE, not just a job. If you want a 9-5, work a 9-5.

Thanks.

Good post!

:bigclap::bigclap: :bigthumbsup::bigthumbsup:

Look, here's the real deal...

You're GONNA get screwed. Doesn't matter which OTR outfit you hire-on to or what they're hauling...you're GONNA get screwed. You won't get paid for all the miles you drive. You won't always get home when you request. You'll donate boatloads of your time for nothing to these motor carriers. You'll be lied to, taken advantage of, treated like a 3rd class citizen, etc. No matter how hard you run, you'll spend time sitting in the truckstop because of short freight or resetting your hours...especially in this economy.

The trick is to find the company/industry that will screw you the least. Union companies are ideal because the union has work rules that limit how much you can get screwed. Followed second are non-union companies operating in industires with a union presence...such as LTL. These companies are scared of you signing the card so they have to treat you good. Mail contractors are generally OK because the post office has prevailing rates and makes the contractor pay you hourly plus they will yank the contractor's run if there's any shenanigans. Private fleets like Wal-Mart, Supervalu, Crown Cork & Seal, etc would be next. Then the specialized carriers such as OD, hauling cars, boats, food service, etc and tankers. This usually takes a higher skill of driver and the companies are less apt to churn-and-burn...plus sometimes the union is involved. Last are the dime-a-dozen OTR van/reefer haulers...here you will be bent over and taken back behind the woodshed. The reason is that you're basically a steering-wheel holder who can easily be replaced and there's no threat of you organizing. So they will treat you/pay you like a chump and if you quit, who cares? They've got another trainee waiting to take your position for less pay and 1 week of vacation AFTER one year.

So most people start at the bottom (OTR van/reefer etc) because due to the low pay and poor treatment, these outfits are ALWAYS hiring. They then try to keep their nose clean and the left door closed and withstand all the BS until they can move up into the better jobs. The ones with mental problems or battered-wives syndrome stay in OTR.

But I'll close all this rambling by saying that the key to be successful in this biz is to have a goal. Just like quitting cigs (another bad habit like OTR) you've gotta have a plan.

I agree. Stickied.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::c lap::clap::clap::clap:

Great post STEELHAULER:clap:

And MIKEHUNT, I'm shocked. You did that whole post without once calling someone a "moron" or insulting OTR drivers.:thumbsup: You get a "That'a boy":clap: for your post.

EXCELLENT POST! Hat's off to you. I would add a couple of things:

1) It's all Attitude. If you are in a bad mood and want to find something wrong then you can find it on any load that you have. The dispatchers will not appreciate it and you will find the "good" loads becoming few and far between. Be nice to them, as you should be, and they will be nice to you.

2) Run hard and don't turn stuff down. I love to hear drivers in the terminal moaning to each other that they turned down that crappy 50 mile run because it wasnt worth their time and have been sitting for a day and a half waiting for another. True story: I went and picked up a shuttle trailer that was 20 miles from the yard and delivered it to a customer then picked up a 500 mile load going the other way back by the terminal. Stopped for fuel and listened to a driver pissing and moaning about being there for a couple of days as "retribution" because he would not shuttle a trailer because he was an otr driver not a yard jockey. Guess what? I took the short run he turned down and it put me 20 miles closer to the 500 mile run that got me out of there. He's probably still crying in his wheaties.

3) If your working for a company that wants you to run illegal to get the load there or you have to do that to make money and the company looks the other way while you do it, LEAVE. That company is not long for this world and if you get into an accident while doing that you are on your own. I've met guys ( one in particular in the Giant Travel Plaza, now a Pilot, in Gallup, NM) with his suitcase in his hand because he got in an accident not far from there and the company fired him on the spot. The company knew he was running illegal but couldnt run far enough, fast enough from him when the inevitable happened.

4) You can either be an OTR Driver or a local driver home nights and weekends but you are not going to be both. Dont expect it and you wont be disappointed.

5) Be realistic. If a company promises you 3,000 miles a week and isn't running coast to coast that's going to be very tough to do if your running New England all of the time. Like he said above, don't pay any attention to what the top drivers make. Ask what the fleet average is. Talk to actual drivers in the truckstops. I've had good luck talking to drivers from other companies. 1st question to ask the driver is how long you been driving and how long for this company? Throw out the extremes of "This is the best company on the planet" and " this place sucks bitch-session" and ask questions. How many miles do you average a week? Do you run New York? How much? Ever laid over? How much? Do you get home on a regular basis? Do you ask to? What are the average length of your loads? Get paid waiting time? Ever been flat out lied to? Whats the week-end dispatch like? How is the service on the trucks? How much live load and unload and how much drop and hook? Go into grocery warehouses? How about payroll, they ever mess up your check and you can't get it fixed?
Roehl used to mess up my paycheck on a bi-weekly basis but I just called Tasha my payroll person and she took care of it immediately no questions.
Ever talk to your fleet-manager on the phone? Want to and can't get through? Ever blown a tire? If so, how hard was it to get someone on the phone to take care of it? Happened to me last week with JB. Took 5 minutes to get someone on the phone and they found a place 2 miles from me to fix it. Took all of 1/2 hour to get it fixed.

6) Did I mention your attitude?

Not quite: he did say that only morons or those with battered wife syndrome would stay OTR.

My mistake. What you expect, I had to work today, a toatal of 5.5 hours. I'm half asleep(we normally don't work saturdays:D)

Hence my reason for re-considering my possibly rash decision to leave LS. Quiting a specialized carrier over not being home for Christmas is rash. There are several things leading up to that point but as I have said, being in the specialized field means that 90% of the time things will not go as planned, 2" or 2,000# can mean a complete different driver/trailer/tractor/route and shippers are not always the most reliable with numbers.

I'm still pissed about the way it was all handled and how a 30 year desk driver felt it was necesary to call me son and childish when all I was doing was asking for some answers as to why questions weren't asked when something could have been done instead of waiting till it became a problem. (A lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on my part.)

Anyway - Great Post Steelhauler

Being called "son" or "childish" is not something that I would care to put with from anyone. I am not their son nor am I a child. Using those diminutives is an attempt to "put me in my place" by someone who thinks that they are superior to me. When a dispatcher does something like that I immediately call him/her on it and go right over their head to complain about that behavior.

Steelhaulers 15 Step Program!
 

To all you newbies - it really isn't so complicated that you need a 15-Step Program to succeed as a trucker. Just go to work and do your job to the best of your abilities and it will all work out. Don't expect a lot of pats on the back, or positive reinforcement for doing your job. With experience you will learn the "little things" that make your job easier and you a more productive employee.

I hit the "magical" four in 2-years. I am eligible for rehire at all of them. You gotta kiss a lot of toads to find a prince/princess.

I vote that catalinaflyer stays with LoneStar. The flatbed choices in Sharon, PA are Falcon, Yourga, Strimbu, and PI&I. None compare to LoneStar. I saw in The Herald's online edition that Yourga had a pretty substantial fire at their terminal. $70K a year in the Shenango Valley is BIG MONEY.

Great post steelhauler......I like the above quoted part in rule #1 as I have said it (and done it) myself time and time again to those looking to get into the industry. Research, research, and more research is just one of several keys to success.

Does this mean you have had four jobs in two years?

I'm thinking theyre's som confusion about my location. I don't live in or anywhere near Sharon, PA, in fact my home is 1015 miles due east in Kansas. Sharon is where I stopped at on Christmas Eve to pick up a load going through my house to Ehrinburg, AZ. The load as it turns out was over 14'6" tall after it was loaded on my double drop RGN. I'm not eligable to haul that height with LS as it requires a level 2 driver and I'm only a level 1 which means I can go 13' wide, 95' long, 14' high and up to 120,000#. The load in Sharon fit everything except the height and that required a level 2 or 3 to haul it. The problem came in when they sent me a loaded trailer going to Gonzales, LA and I was supposed to be going home to Kansas.

In retospect I should have just went home then back to Gonzales. I ran into a driver this morning who had loaded in Michigan going to Florida and went home to Texas for Christmas. Says he does it all the time and they have never said a word. Puzzling, I don't want to throw anyone the bus but I would really like to know if the powers in charge allow this. Somewhere around 1000 miles extra and if I had ran home it would have been around 700 miles extra. Maybe my bad for never asking the question.

I thought Steelhauler passed?
Hit head on by a drunken bullhauler?
Maybe I'm thinking of someone else.
Just watched Poltergeist on blu-ray...Maybe I'm playin head games with myself..

And why are we tolerating Warm Dry Draft again??

Wow, a thousand extra out-of-route miles all of the time and no-one says anything? I'd take that with a grain of salt if I were you. I just ran 200 empty to get home for Christmas but that was for a holiday. I've never heard of a company letting its drivers do that on a regular basis.
Anyone out there know of companies that do this?

Kinda like looking for a wife at a strip joint?:lol: Sometimes people only think they are kissing a toad. In todays society, we all want what we dont have, we all think someone is out to screw us, sometimes we have assured ourselves so much that its the wrong fit, that in turn we actually sabotage our chances of seeing through the BS. Kinda like when I worked at a local Ford dealership years ago. Of course, I thought they were a "toad" and was out to screw me, etc,etc,etc. So I left because I was hired away by another dealership...well long story short. I realized only years later, it was mostly in my head, things are worse, the grass can be crabby in another place, still yet we assure ourselves the "next best thing is around the corner"...chances are someone looking at it like that, will wear a few sets of lips out before they kiss a princess

Yes 4 jobs in two years and soon to 5 in 29-months!

It's not hard. Figure we all go to a "training" company out of school. You leave them as soon as you get 6-months, lo and behold you are now with a glorified training company. You get out of there, and now you have a year of experience. You go to the better class of companies that require a year of experience. Spend a year there, and find out that there are even more options for a driver with 2-years of experience, a clean MVR, a clean DAC, and presents himself well. Voila, 4 jobs in two years.

I like the "free agency" aspect of trucking. Prior to "holding a steering wheel" I was all wrapped up in a career and doing all the "right" things. In trucking, you can always tell them to screw off and have another job tomorrow. Granted, I haven't told anyone to go screw themselves, because that isn't me.

In a sense steelhauler is correct because it is me! But, I have a great attitude. But I am also like a kid in a candy store, or an 18-year old in the brothel with a fist full of $50's!

It's not hard to be a good driver. Pick up and deliver on time and don't hit things. To maintain your sanity - don't try to anticipate anything and don't even think there is a quid pro quo when you do a "favor" for a dispatcher.

Well I see how easy it is to come up with a 15-step program, or just a long rambling post. My response could have been one three letter word. Instead, I blathered on.....

Maybe LoneStar allows it for holidays and special events? :confused:

:clap: such an excellant , articulate, and well thought out post. Unfortunately #1 applies directly to me ! This is my first time posting (I'm the type to listen and shut the f*%# up ) but this one hit so close to home I had to comment. Fourteen yrs in trucking and I finally realize the wisdom of all you're saying here. Great work record , clean mvr, and very ashamed to own up to all the companies I''ve been to. I have quit good jobs for really stupid reasons. If it wasn't for my superior work record I wouldn't be able to get a job driving a garbage truck.So sad it's taken so long to figure out and fix the real problem (ME) . I hope some other potentially good drivers take heed and make the neccasary adjusments to better themselves first and foremost. It would be so much more profitable to them. I've learn to be content where I'm at , doing what I'm doing and getting the bills paid ! I applaude you for your insight and williness to share useful info with others:bow: . I When I decide to move from where I'm at it will be a career advancement not a lateral move . Thanks !!!!!

Well Ponce up till yesterday (Tuesday) I had never told a compny to screw themselves either (...well there was one other but he still calls me...and I know that in the next few minutes when he reads this he'll call again to rub it in.) but I had reached the breaking point and I was done no matter what the cost to my record.

As for LS letting trucks run OOR miles, I don't know what the official policy is and now I don't care. I do know that talking to drivers that have been there for a while that the company has changed drastically in the last year and they no longer have a driver first attitude. They have a waiting list of drivers wanting to go to work but sooner or later that is going to dry up and they will wind up out of business or have to change thier attitude about drivers.

Please dont take this personal. I have more than enough problems of my own, I dont need in someone elses life, assure me.

One post said about the "free agency" aspect of trucking. Dont get me wrong, I run regional, mainly in and out of NYC area, however I sure miss some nice runs to other parts of the US, that I dont get, so sure I understand wanting to move around.

This, however,is the main reason that I feel more companies dont treat drivers better. Since alot of drivers will just up and leave(even with a notice) its hard for the company to invest so much in the individual, when it can be lost so quick. A buddy is leaving his current company because he wants to switch from Flat to Freight box. So no matter what the company does or doesnt do, his decision isnt because of the company. He has ran flat for 7 years, and just wants a change of pace. He knows he may or may not like it, but its worth a shot.

My main point concerning job floating is simple. Dont blame the company for your problems if your unwilling to work things through or sick it out long enough to call a spade a spade. I understand some people just like to change pace.

Posts like this tend to hit home for me too.

I have had too many jobs since I started trucking. I worked the same job for almost 12 years UNTIL I got my CDL lol. Since then I pulled a van for 5 months and left to pull flats because I was flat out going broke pulling a van, no miles = no money in my pocket.

When I started pulling flats I became a truckstop champion because I NEVER had freight. 400 mile runs don't bother me at all as long as there is one every day because it's still making me money. When I have 2-3 a week though and the other 4 days are spent waiting on a load spending money to eat and shower and not earning a dime I tend to get fed up after 2 months. I would have to call my DM 3 days after payday for an advance so I could eat hahahaha, that's just not good business and it wasn't paying the bills so I left.

Now I have spent 6 months yanking tanks in the oil field and love it but it's now dying out as well, I went from 70 hours a week to 35 or so and am currently on vacation because I can make more money on vacation than I can working 5 hours a day.

It's making me want to get back OTR but it seems no one has freight to move, no one is making a living, and I just need to get back into aviation even though I love this job.

I recently had a driver who needed to be home for some personal business. I could not find a load that would get him home so I deadheaded him at a cost of about $400 in fuel. Some carriers are more accomodating than others.

I thought if you were leased to someone you are an O/O. If you have your own authority then you are a motor carrier.

Who is right???

LOL. I remember this discussion from the Steve Booth days.

If you have your own authority, you are a motor carrier. If you also drive that truck yourself, you are an owner operator as well. If you have someone drive the truck for you, you are a motor carrier only.

If you are leased to a company, you are an owner operator. If you lease a truck from that company, you are a lease operator. If you own and drive a truck just out of boredom, or to see the country, you are a hobby trucker, no matter whether you have your own authority or not.

I'm starting to wonder if i'm cut out for trucking.
for the record, i've never been in any one place for more than 3 years, and i'm starting to get an itch.
I did tanker for about 6 months, it was OK, but i took a mail job running twice a week to detroit.
however, winter is really starting to drag, and michigan is just sadistic with road maintenence.
that, and it seems like little things are starting to bug me, like sharing a truck. the other driver has much higher standards than do i, and it seems he thinks he owns the truck and he's just letting me borrow it.
the big benefit to driving truck is not getting hassled.

I'm good at driving, the money is fine, especially right now. However, i'm getting a wandering eye. I just don't want to become a job hopper, as that will lead nowhere.

I highly doubt i'd ever own a truck, unless it was doing some sort of dedicated mail run. Got a wife and kid, and i've decided I want to earn the maximum income for the least amount of work. that may sound lazy, but who wants to work for free?

I've started kicking around the idea of getting some other job within trucking, but not driving. I'm thinking of basically combining experience in transportation with some sort of education to move in to other areas.

I guess i'm just bored, maybe i need a hobby. maybe i'll feel better once we get a break from snow and ice and slippery roads. seriously, 3-4 times a week the first 100 miles of I-94 in michigan is a skating rink.

the first 100 miles on I-94 in Michigan turns your truck into a rattle box, enough to detach a retina! :hellno: I so understand what you are feeling. That run has to be about the most boring run in the world. I use to do it 2x a day. I don't miss it at all.

I often get the feeling that many drivers expect constant reinforcement from their employers. If you want that, the you need to go into the military. Then you can get your daily reinforcement comments, letters of commendation, and medals.

Trucking is not the same animal. After 2 and 1/2 decades at this one thing is clear to me. If you can do your job well and be satisfied with your own personal accomplishments, you will do ok. If you can do all this exceptionally, you will be in demand and you can get a lot of help from those you work for and with in time of need. Of course, this is more prevalent in smaller carriers where they know your name. If you can't find satisfaction in dealing with your customers, then stay away from trucking. I deal with a group of excellent customers that I enjoy seeing. Attitude is everything. A good analogy to all this is farming. You are not going to get acolades from your livestock, crops, or equipment. You have to find the satisfaction in your individual accomplishments. You have to motivate yourself to get up in the morning and go redo that section of fence that needs rebuilt or get the skid loader out and scoop livestock crap. Meanwhile, it is going to be below freezing and you have cattle that are calving.

Oh boy, truckers have it so rough. Guess because of growing up on a family farm and serving 7 years in an Army recon unit at an average of $15 a DAY in pay has made me so that trucking is not really that bad. I am making more than I have in previous years, but yeah, I have to put forth the effort.

Boys and Girls... it's all about a work ethic and attitude. Period.

Right on copperhead. Younger soldiers (same for drivers) needed that recognition. As we gained experience and seniority, it was about getting recognition for our soldiers, not ourselves.
I've been retired from the Army 10.5 yrs, been driving for 7. Still not adjusted to the civilian dog-eat-dog world. Miss taking care of my soldiers and working for a mutual mission up and down the line rather than this management vs workforce mentality out here. But, that's the world & will adapt.

Run 100 miles OOR in my truck and you'll answer for it!

But I do try to get my folks home when they want. I have actually kicked a load and d/h my drivers 1000 miles plus for Christmas and such.

Enjoyed and agree with your post..great stuff. I do have one question though, what country's army were you in making $15 a day?? :) Just jerking you chain a bit...I'm a 20 year retiree, retired in 91 and been driving truck since then. When I first went in we were making $144 a month or $4.80 a day....before taxes and went to jump school to get an additional $55 a month hazardous duty pay.:) Can't complain about what I was making in my final years though...and the retirement check is fantastic.

For the heck of it I looked up what present pay rates are:
E-1 Private
Base Pay $1294.50 per month
Housing Allowance if married $928 monthly
Subsistance Allowance if married $323.87 Total monthly pay $2546.37 and only the base pay of $1294.50 is taxable income.

Sounds like you have aged some. With age comes experience. I remember when I was 17 my dad was not very smart (to me) and now at 55 he is a genius.He is 95 now and the smartest person I know. But it takes time and aging. I all ways say " education is free until you leave High School after that it cost" and I have a PHD from hard knocks High.

I never cared about constant reinforcement. I prefer to be left alone. That's one of the little things that wears on me about my current company. They're constantly watching you yet they rarely say "good job." Not that I care one way or the other, but them watching me says that I haven't earned their trust to do the job right. To me, it seems like the company and the management-types are in fear for their own jobs, so they watch all the drivers for any excuse to jack them up. Seriously, they'll suspend you a day without pay if you take your hand off the pump at the fuel island. And we haul mail.

Nobody really says anything to me, I think I do good enough for them, but I always know they're not far away. It seems that solitude and a sense of independence are the reasons people drive a truck, and if you take that away, what are you left with?

Lots of comments about attitude and how far that will get you and make your life as an OTR driver better............... ROFLMAO How long is it ok to go from a good attitude to a bad attitude before you know you have to get away form a crazy trucking outfit? If you start with a company and within a week you know that these people are crazy and you leave is that smart or a bad attitude? Is staying at a crazy place for yrs a good attitude or just being a fool and a glutton for punishment?

In a lot of ways a good attitude is an excuse to deny reality, to put a good face on whatever injustice, someone has put on you.

Not getting home when promised(not once in a blue mood but every time), not being paid for work that you do, pressured by some companies to run illegal, weak and expensive benefits, no way to get your bonus money, lost money because of mistakes that the companies make, and all the other BS some companies feed you for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you accept that GREAT ATTITUDE.

All companies have their own quirks and lies, the trick is to find a company, that you can work for within those quirks and lies. Understand the quirks an lies, work within the system of those quirks and lies and make it work for you is what attitude is all about.

Sadly some cant find a company with a set of quirks and lies they can live with (job jumper). Some will never face up to the reality that they will never change the quirks of a company(job jumper) Some will never be truck drivers, or should never have tried to become one(ex drivers)

Bad company? % will love it there, great company % will hate it there people are people does not matter what line of work you do.

I think too many parents read "Dr. Spock"....and raised their kids wrong..... They need to insititute the draft again, and go back to "old military standards".

Right you are!!! I couldn't have said it better!!! :thumbsup:

Me, I spent 10 years in the Army....and 2 & 1/2 in Vietnam..... You were high paid!! :lol: I got a call from a friend out in CA....served with me there....he was laughing his butt off.
We were both E-5's in Nam....and we had both just received out SS statements of earnings.... Man, were we "cheap labor"... made just over $4000 for the year 1969 and 70... base pay + combat pay + emergency rations pay..... we got about $10.95 a day... as E-5's!! We were 69th Inf Det, GSR on the Cambodian border in the Delta. Darn sure making more now!!

That is the "bottom line"!!:thumbsup:

This thread is very educational for the number of points to keep in mind.It gives an explanation to every side or party,the diver and the company.Good thoughts and very ell said.

a new driver
 

well i am a new driver and i think i may have done my research. but i am out here with a positive attitude about the whole trucking aspect of the trucking life. i have a fiance who is all for this ..why? because if you think positive about it there is money to be made and i am going to make sure that i do make that money. why?...because i have my goals set for me and well i should say us. ( me and my fiance.) because once i get my 1rst yr under me im going to stay in it for another yr. and then find a local company. so that i can be home every night. but for now we are well aware of what lies ahead of us with the trucking life and its entity in the industry. because right now the company that i am going to be driving for is P.A.M..at least i can say that ..that is one company i have yet to hear anything bad about. sure i almost whent to swift. but i didn't. i decided to go for P.A.M. i whent through the drivr solutions and so now they are going to sponcer my training. and i am all for it. so good luck to all of you. and happy truckin.

hello new driver!!!!!
 

hello driver well i can tell you that your choice to go whit pam was a good one! how good honestly im not shure but i myself have not heard anything bad although i have not driven in about 28 months but prior to that i have 5yrs otr exp and im trying to get my foot bk in the door and just got my application aproved by krielkamp have you heard anything about this trucking co?? and the smartest thing you can do is stick with a companie 6months to 1-2yrs max and like you said your self get a local job home every night that is the best way to do it!! take it from this stranger! youll get treated better from a company (local) that knows you as a person NOT A NUMBER because otr companies have no!! respect for there drivers a big part of there job is be as phoney as possible and as kind as possible and as convincing as possible dont mind the spelling have a nice day and be safe out there!!!! frm nyvegaspd