Post-Turkey Reflections

Posted on Fri, Nov 24 2006 @ 12:48 AM [EST]

Never take your truck ice-fishing in November!

Hello and once again, Happy Turkey Day- especially to those of you who may be far from home tonight.

Thanks for the input from my last entry and I always welcome input and advice from the pros out there. VM- did you think the truck in the photo in my last entry brought to mind a 'Steer Wide-I Flunked Training' truck? Or (to anyone) could this be the elusive guy who is known to attempt hatching Schneider Eggs by sitting on them late at night on deserted stretches of the Interstate? If it is, I almost don't blame him...

Today I spent a lot of time digesting- both Turkey and information. There are a lot of very interesting forums and message boards out there where drivers can debate the merits or lack thereof of working for particular companies. After reading many of these posts I have realized a couple things.

Some people who post negative stories on these forums clearly would have bad experiences no matter where they worked. "I hated the way they treated me, so I abandoned their truck at a Pilot and hitched a ride home.." or "Why did they fire me... aside from the fact that I tested positive on a drug test AND an old... but still valid... felony arrest warrent came to their attention..." and so on. But there were some very interesting stories which shed some light on driver retention issues, scams to keep recruiting numbers high, and so on. Some companies really seem to have bad reputations- SWIFT being up on top of that pile... But I'm sure SWIFT has many excellent drivers who are very satisfied working there- I'm just reporting an observation. (I know someone in particular who might have something to say about this!:))

I bring this up because I am working on a short list of companies I want to apply to. I am not a complainer by nature- I play nice with others- but I won't be cheated if I can help it. I just want to get trained well, work my butt off, keep my nose clean, and stay under the radar at the very least but excel and become a well-respected and decent high-mileage driver, eventually. To those ends, I have no problem asking for help from the pros- which is one reason why I started this blog. I want to learn from the best source- real drivers. VERY grateful for the feedback so far! The other reason is to perhaps help others interested in becoming drivers in their quest.

I would be interested in hearing about Companies who offer driver training programs- in particular, Roehl, Werner, Schneider, England, and CFI. That, as of tonight, is my 'short list'. But ANY company you have 'the goods' on, please share! Also, if anyone can suggest a website or two that has some good, real-life, no holds barred tales of life on the road, I'd love to know about them, and so would lots of us!

Stay cool ~ R

Category Posted: General

Comments

I am on my fourth driving job and I have nothing negative to say about my other three I worked at. The only reason I quit the other two is because it was seasonal work. I might get 60-70 hours a week and go to ten to twenty hours the next or the loads dropped off. But I was NEVER screwed by them and they were always fair with me and I can go back to them anytime. So if your thinking I'm some malcontent you got me wrong. They never gave me an issue with my pay and paid me for everything. I did what I was asked and without complaint and I got a check without complaint. VM-out!

Comment By:
VM on Fri, Nov 24 2006 @ 3:13 AM [EST]

By the way I am sure SWIFT has many a professional driver working for them and I am by no means knocking them. Sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side. I was comfortable driving a mixer truck which I had 2 years driving experience driving mixer. But, things got slow and the landlord doesn't care if your work is slow they need to collect the rent. So I really didn't want to quit but push came to shove and so I did quit because things slowed down. It paid off in the long run because I make a whole hell of a lot more now than I ever did driving a mixer. My advice is never get to comfortable working at a place, don't be afraid to jump ship. Maybe it will work out for the best you never know until you try. VM-out!

Comment By:
VM on Fri, Nov 24 2006 @ 3:22 AM [EST]

By the way if I were to pick a company on your short list by gunpoint I'd pick Werner. VM-out!

Comment By:
VM on Fri, Nov 24 2006 @ 3:26 AM [EST]

The first three you mentioned are pretty good at training. The other two I have no idea what they are like as far as training. Just that England has a bad lease program. Avoid that at all costs. Once a driver has been there awhile they start pushing a lease.

Comment By:
Roadhzrd on Fri, Nov 24 2006 @ 4:46 AM [EST]

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