The Passenger Seat

I'm 26 years old and wife of a new truck driver, who has been driving for six months but who has grown up on the road. I ride along with him on all trips. The truck (depending on the day) is either referred to as a mobile efficiency apartment or a padded cell. Just kidding...

From the first day on the truck, I realized the hostility between drivers and their views on companies. I had thought there would be a camaraderie between drivers, but generally, I haven't seen it.

I wish that people would take into consideration that they don't know the person driving - the company they drive for doesn't label them as a good or bad driver - their driving does that. And every person is different. And also, no one knows the circumstances of why that person is driving for a particular company.

For instance, my husband was referred to a company that put him through schooling at a school that they have a contract with. His recruiter for the company was dishonest with him from the start. The day after he obtained his CDL, he found out that the company did not give advances and he would not get his first paycheck for two weeks after getting on the trainer's truck. He'd just been through a month with no pay and we couldn't afford another two weeks. Literally, he wouldn't have been able to eat.

The company sent him home and witheld his certificate of completion. One company brought him to orientation, the recruiter assured him that his certificate was not required, and after three days of orientation he was sent back home for lack of the certificate. He called every carrier that hires students and found three that said they would bring him to orientation without the certificate. The first wouldn't allow him a rider for three months. The recruiter for the second company told him his time out with a trainer would be six weeks, but was told me another recruiter and verified on the website that it would be eight weeks. The third company accepted him and took the chance of hiring him without his certificate. Six weeks later, he came off the trainer's truck and became a solo driver.

The company he works for is constantly being picked at over the CB and the drivers are just assumed to be bad. Again, it all depends on the driver.

In the end, I supposed it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says.

So, that's our situation, and how he came to drive for the company he's with.

Category: General