Profile For Rob P.

I thought I was pretty clear in blaming the management, but I can see that many of you are so brainwashed to think what you receive, or received in your early years, was normal as a driver and can't see we are all treated worse than the dogs these greedy selfish *******s keep in their backyards. I had some hope that maybe someday drivers would say enough is enough and demand better treatment, I can see by the responses here that most of you think anyone who says this treatment is unacceptable just has a bad attitude and should be thankful for all they do for us. I've grown up a conservative person and believe in a strong work ethic, but I don't believe that complete disregard for basic needs of life are acceptable by any industry. I can see my hopes and suggestions of some improvement in this industry have fallen upon deaf ears. That's very sad, as even those who tried to insult me, deserve far better.

As far as leaving things out, you still seem to believe this industry has morals. You are incorrect. Management isn't getting the products to us, It's demand that does that. If every trucking company went bankrupt tomorrow, another group would start up and the freight would roll again either by owner operators who would make more by eliminating the middle man called the trucking companies, or the shippers themselves would have to use their own trucks and hire drivers and follow labor laws. All the trucking companies do is provide reduced transportation costs at the expense of mistreating the drivers by using the absurd exemptions created back in the days of all too powerful railroads on the 1800s. These guys are not there for you, they are there to rape you and make their own profit off of your reduced benefits.

I know you think I'm a fool who you are glad to see leave the occupation, I say occupation because it's not really a profession. Professionals have to receive continual training and skills to further themselves in their industry. They also generally need more than a 3 week course to learn their trade. I can't think of the last time I was ever given updated training in this line of work. That's ok, I'm glad you are there to drive my tomatoes to the store. I would hate to pay more for them, so you keep doing what you do and praising the trucking companies for "all they do". LOL.

I wish you the best! And the next time you take a flight, just think, Rob might be at the controls. I may not be as smart as you, but I can do your job, but you can't do mine. I also will look much better after 3 days on the road since I slept at the Hilton last night and had a shower before I left the room. How was that sleeper birth rest you got last night, when will you get a shower, inquiring noses want to know! LOL!

You're correct, aviation hasn't always been there. I can always go drive a truck again if need be. I will now say a prayer every night that I don't ever have to endure this nightmarish hell of an occupation again. The trucking industry will always be there for one reason! They can't keep drivers because most who go into it realize what a bunch of unreasonable nonsense it is and get out. I endured it for about 4 years which is far more than most others do. But you will always think I'm a looser because I hated being treated like a dog. What can I say, we all have our own limits as to what we will tolerate.

Congratulations Rob for serving us a big ole' vat of Sour Grapes. Yummy! The foul odor of your story is the best example of a disgruntled, delusional driver I have ever read. Awesome! I am not laughing with you, but at you.

Before going any further, Old School definitely has you pegged, I totally agree with his assessment and I would add further that you are not providing the entire story. You are conveniently leaving something out...experience has taught most of us; there are two sides to every story, somewhere in the middle is the truth. Truth is "Chief", you are leaving out critical pieces of how your pi** poor attitude has put you in this situation, not the uneducated buffoons running the trucking companies. The exact same Buffoons who some how manage in spite of their incompetence to efficiently deliver to market the very things you need to sustain a quality life. The food you put in your mouth, the clothes you put on your back, and the roof over your head all exist because of the trucking industry.

I think what I learned was the Trucking industry is run by a bunch of high school dropouts who found a niche where they can still make a living despite their lack of education, intelligence and just common decency . I don't mean the drivers, I mean the management. It seems drivers just tolerate it until something better comes along and move on. Being there is such a shortage of drivers, another job is always around the corner, so without damages, the incompetent trucking management dodges what should be massive lawsuits.

I worked for many years in the aviation profession as a pilot until I was layed off due to the recession . Although aviation certainly had it's share of problems, I can't even begin to compare them to the unbelievably despicable treatment found in the trucking profession, and I use the term profession loosely. Here we have an industry that doesn't even have the common decency to ensure it's workers are put up at night (or whenever you sleep) near running water or food. Let alone a shower or a private room. It's illegal in every state to urinate or defecate in public, yet they make no effort to ensure we have toilets. How the hell does that pass legal protocol? That's just the beginning, add in switching hours at their will and expecting a 14 hour work day even when the driver is dead tired, no payment for extra duties such as moving their customer's trailers, cleaning out their trailers or waiting for hours while being loaded or unloaded. And many more pathetic ways to squeeze every possible ounce of labor out of the driver for less than what is fair or absolutely nothing at all, while maximizing their profit line.

I have discovered that the old rule I was told when I started in this business is still true. Don't crash, abandon a truck or fail a drug test and you will always have another job waiting for you. All this talk about reputation is complete garbage, no one cares. After all I went through, I had another local job in 3 weeks, and if I was willing to go back on the road it would have been 3 hours! There are not enough drivers, period! If you can drive a truck without crashing and you can stay sober despite all the disrespectful treatment we are expected to endure, you can get another job. This is not a regular industry, it is a pathetically desperate industry who by their own mistreatment of workers, is begging for qualified workers. Still the industry talks down to us as if they are a threat. The only threat they have is making us learn a new route to work at the next lousy trucking company, and maybe a waiting period for our new medical insurance.

It's sad that so many on here really seem to think that a bad attitude will destroy a trucking career. You might be changing jobs more frequently, but you will always find another desperate company (which most always will be) asking you when you can get to orientation so they can get you working.

If my luck holds out, I will be out of this industry in a few more weeks. I just had a flight review (pilots equivalent to a road test) and a drug screen yesterday for a charter company. The only sad part is aviation is so much smaller than trucking, and no where near as desperate, so a bad attitude will hurt you. Thankfully, the aviation industry doesn't make it's employees as disgruntled. They still seem to subscribe to the belief that employees should be given toilets and water during their down time. Something I appreciate! So you all enjoy your lovely nights at the rest stop at mile marker 117. I'll be thinking of you from the Sheraton!

PS: I have never been told I had a bad attitude until I began working in this industry. My reviews in my prior profession were always outstanding. I was complimented on my attitude and willingness to go the extra mile. Maybe some think I'm weak, but I respond to my environment. If you treat me like a dog, I will respond accordingly, which is what I did. I can say this profession certainly wasn't for me! If you enjoy such treatment, then you have found your dream job. If not, I hope you find something better as I will always remember how poorly I was treated in trucking and sympathize with those who want out!

Hey Rob P.

Dude....I'm so glad for you that you get to walk away instead of being fired. But to Old School's point, have you learned anything? If so I'd love to hear what it is you are taking away from all this, and what you intend to do differently going forward.

You spent time here talking about a problem that you say was the truth. how about taking the time now to truthfully talk about some things you've learned from what you've just gone through. Would be a great way to thank those here who took the time to try and help you. You never know, your willingness to be completely honest might keep someone here from getting themselves into that scary place you found yourself.

You went from feeling like your career was screwed to feeling like "I got a couple years experience under my belt so I'm gooood". You got lucky my man. I don't want to see you jinx yourself. Second chances don't come from luck, they're gifts.

Whenever you get a gift, you always say THANK YOU.

Just in case anyone cares, it turns out my old company has me down as resigning. I thought that was interesting. I'm not sure what to think of that. My old dispatcher told me they had several other issues regarding the same people I had problems with so I'm guessing they know the termination was wrong. Whatever the reason, 2 years with KAG is good on me resume.

Hey Rob, nice to have you back, heck man, where have you been?

Old School Please check your facts, I did NOT say he was an A@@hole, The tow driver said the manager said I was an A@@hole! I was being called an A@@hole. Just in case you missed that point, I was the one being insulted.

Yep, you are right, I accidentally mixed up the facts, but it was easy because you did insult everyone you spoke about and constantly made excuses for yourself.

I'll make a deal with you - I'll work on double checking my facts, you work on that fifty year old attitude problem you've yet to recognize!

Oh, and by the way, I'm nearing 60 and I have a great attitude. Your age is just one of your many excuses for yourself. Excuses are like crutches, people who are weak use them to prop themselves up.

Old School Please check your facts, I did NOT say he was an A@@hole, The tow driver said the manager said I was an A@@hole! I was being called an A@@hole. Just in case you missed that point, I was the one being insulted. It would be nice when people are going to evaluate me, they would use the correct things.

For the record, if that even applies here, I have since been contacted by a former employee who told me that a friend of the employee who started all the original harassment back two years before, told him he made complaints against me to pay me back for going to HR. Sounds like retaliation.

I'm sorry if I sound like a terrible employee to you. Perhaps my own self confidence isn't that great and I don't see myself in the most positive light most of the time. Yes I should work on that, but at 50 years old, I just want to get through my working years without much hassle. Sorry if you don't like guys without the confidence to say I am the best.

Funny thing I noticed about TT is whenever someone posts about getting fired or quitting, others always feel like they are not getting the whole story. The driver rarely gets the benefit of the doubt.

Greetings 40ton: I agree with you about the gay and age 50 thing. Although the gay issue seems to have lightened up and the guy who did it has actually gotten much more tolerable. I don't see a Sunday afternoon BBQ at his house anytime soon, but it seems he has sort of accepted that was probably not the best thing to do at work. However, the issue went to HR and they certainly had a counseling session with him. Then they promoted him to a position paying 20% better. Sounds like something that could be construed as a reward if a good attorney were to work it. Whether or not those records would be disclosed is another question for the attorney to sort through. I imagine any inquiry on my part would result in an unreturned phone call at best. There was an email I sent to my boss which I can find in my old emails and I doubt he would lie about his forwarding the information to HR. Especially since he has just retired.

Being over 50 is very suspect to me as well. Especially since the complaints are certainly associated with age issues. Suddenly being too slow but never being a problem before. This job is somewhat physical in that we must lift gas powered pumps, drag hoses and climb onto loading racks and use measuring sticks to determine quantity of product we are loading. At 50 we may slow down just a little. I even told my boss things hurt a little now. His response was maybe it is hurting you and you should do what you need to. Maybe he was suggesting I quit? He certainly didn't recommend visiting a doctor. I'm sure they would argue they have other 50 year olds, but that doesn't mean they didn't single me out. I always thought they expected us mature employees to be a little slower physically, but in return a mature worker works smarter and makes up for being slow with efficiency and safety.

When I got the call and Emailed letter I tried to make contact with an attorney as I have suspected something is just not right in all this. I forgot it was good Friday so of course no one was in. I will try to make contact with one on Monday as well as follow up on some potential jobs and hope this company hasn't screwed me on the DAC.

When I first started this job, I had a co-worker decide to accuse me of being a homosexual, I guess it was his way of entertaining himself. The company was made aware of this and he was supposedly warned not to do that anymore. Then they promoted him to a better paying position. Then when I turned 50, I began receiving lectures about my slow performance and that I needed to work faster. Interestingly, I did the best I could to comply and the company said in their own letter that issue was resolved.

Just my two cents but if you were harassed for being gay (I don't even think you would actually need to be, and it is NOT anyone's business anyways) plus the fact they began to cause problems once you hit 50 years of age can bring up two issues:

1. Civil rights violations/discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as creating a hostile work environment. 2. Age discrimination since you are above the threshold of 40.

Do you have any emails, letters etc about either issue? From you to the company or any responses? While you might not be able to get DOL/EEOC to go with this (you can file a complaint anyways) I would think a decent lawyer could really light a fire under their @$$es for this... Enough so as to get the company to do several things: First, stop them from reporting to DAC and/or remove anything negative they might have placed with HireRight/DAC. Second, they can change their HR files to state you resigned with notice and were a good/decent employee/driver.

I am not a lawyer, but a good lawyer is more than worth the $500 bucks or whatever it would cost to take care of this for you... Most companies do not want to deal with lawsuits or even worse, having complaints filed against them with various government agencies for various forms of discrimination and harassment let alone having their "good" name and reputation tarnished.

And asking them to remove a negative DAC report and to NOT blackball you on background checks isn't asking much of them either. It's one thing to ask someone to leave their job, it's another thing to try and ruin a person's life/career. As professional drivers we need to stand-up to this kind of abuse and mistreatment.

Again, good luck!

Hello Persian Conversion. I know it doesn't add up. That's why I'm puzzled. There were the issues with my employer, the ones they said were resolved in their own termination letter to me. I'm not denying that I wasn't the star employee, but if they said to change something I did what I could. From what I was told, that was good enough.

At the truck stop there wasn't that much to leave out, not saying I'm perfect, but the tow driver may have had 5 sentences with me at most. He was certainly not a friendly man. I suspect he wasn't expecting to so much work on this service call. I further suspect my company made him do more than he wanted to do. When he arrived the first time, he said he didn't have the product needed to clean up the oil. It wasn't until he talked to my company that he said he needed to go get it. Sounds to me like they said you must do this and he did not want to. He left for over 2 hours and when he came back he was already ****ed off. I was walking into the truck stop to use the bathroom when he arrived and he wanted me to be there to hold the steering wheel as he pulled me out of the parking space. When I got back he pulled the truck back and it looked to me like the trailer might collide with another truck so I stopped. That's when he got very angry and started telling me how to drive. He said if you had just held the wheel straight the truck would have gone right back where it was supposed too. I told him the wheel was turned so I had to correct it to prevent the tractor from striking the truck next to me. He said he knew the wheels were not straight, but it would have gone straight back. That's when I said the only possibly slightly unprofessional thing. I said, What are you giving me driving lessons now. Not the offensive statement of the year. Then he said I don't need to be an A@@hole, the manager already told him about me. Just for the record I did leave all the problems locating the towed truck and waiting for the repairs, but that's irrelevant I believe.

For the "Manager" issue it goes like this. Some guy blowing the parking lot with a gas powered blower was walking around wearing a grey jacket. As far as I know the manager of Love's wears a dress shirt and some sort of professional trousers. This person had been blowing debris around my truck and even got some into the truck. My window was down because I didn't have the AC on because the engine was off due to the breakdown. I wasn't exactly happy with this guy but I accepted things were what they were. Then he came up to me with his engine idling and I couldn't hear him. he finally turned his blower off and said, "What are you going to do about this God Damn oil?" Now I have what appears to be a gardner, blowing debris into my cab, cursing at me and asking me to describe my plan of action regarding my employers failed equipment. It seemed a bit odd to me and my first thought is who is this guy. I said have your manager come talk to me and I will give him all the information he needs. He became angry and said, "I am the manager". I said you don't look like a Love's manager to me so when you have the manager talk to me I will give him everything he needs. Then he said, "Fine, you will be receiving a fine for this" and walked away. Later I was told he was the tire shop manager. He never shared that information with me.

I met with the actual manager and he said he was going to talk to the tire shop manager. He had not heard about the incident. I met up with the actual manager again an hour later as I was leaving for the cab and told him the tow driver had said the manager told him I was an A@@hole. I thought that was inappropriate and he said it wasn't him, it must have been the tire shop manager. He said the tire shop manager was supposed to talk to him about the first issue but ignored his request and went home. He said he wasn't happy about that and is now notifying the regional manager about this incident because he wasn't getting anywhere with the tire shop manager. I think that sort of shows a little about what we are dealing with he

I'm thinking we may have a little defamation of character issue here. If the tire shop manager told my company something untrue.

Hi Rob, 40-ton gave you some great advice!

My only concern is that we're not getting the full story here, because there are many holes and oddities in your statements. Of course, we see this kind of thing all the time: a person gets fired, then comes on here to vent. And that's OK, as long as you're upfront and honest about everything, and take responsibility for your part.

It just seems like you are leaving out a lot of key elements, because the story as you described it simply doesn't add up...

IMO, this won't last because the courts will be too overwhelmed to handle the amounts of tickets this threatens to be. Sounds good on paper and in the media, but realistically there's no way to enforce it.

You just keep telling yourself that.

And with a CDL - there's no "driving school election". You beat it - or you EAT IT.

This is all about REVENUE.

Courts get a piece, county/municipality gets a piece, the state gets a piece.

In Florida - they (by law) don't write you for up to 5 over - except for school zones.

It's called a speed LIMIT - not a "suggested speed".

Rick

Not exactly true, most Prima Facie speed limits, not maximum speed limits, are based upon average conditions but not set in stone. When they are enforced, the officer has to show what is unsafe, ie: traffic, parked cars etc...anything that could suggest going to fast would be dangerous. It's not too difficult to do, but there are times when that "Limit" can legally be exceeded. However, if you don't have a legal background, or at least a law enforcement one, I wouldn't suggest pushing your luck! You will likely not prevail simply because you don't understand the legislative intent behind the law and won't know how to present your argument in court. The more pressing point is that, the way our legal system works is there has to be a tolerance for legal limits simply because the measuring equipment we use has it's own limitations. Your speedometer is only required to be so accurate by federal law. The commonly accepted limit by most courts is about 3 mph. If a court were to enforce speed violations at 1 or 2 over, it would only be a matter of time before the conviction was challenged in a higher court, up to the US Supreme court if an attorney could show enough impact on society to warrant a review by the justices there. It would be a while and the odds of your 2mph over speeding ticket being the one to go is probably slim, but eventually it would be corrected. 9mph over would never fly as a mechanical error. That number could only be a common practice started by local law enforcement in an effort to be "reasonable" to their community. Don't be surprised if at some point in the future, you see a higher court overturning all minor speeding violations dating back to a certain date. It happens all the time when cities decide to go anal on something.

I worked for a tanker company for 2 years and was just fired for an alleged act of unprofessional attitude with a tow truck driver. It was quite a shock to me. I didn't think trucking companies ever fired for anything unless it was an accident or an upset customer. This issue didn't even involve either one. My truck broke down and I was stuck for nearly an entire day. When the tow truck driver arrived, he saw a large oil spill I had already reported. He appeared angry and cursed in Spanish which I am assuming he didn't think I would understand. I didn't say anything to the guy, other than what do you want me to do? He told me to guide the truck while he used a winch to pull my truck into a better position for towing. It was in a parking lot head in, nothing too difficult. The truck ended up crooked and he began telling me I was an A@@hole and should have done what I was told. He said the truck stop manager already told him about me. I'm still trying to figure that one out, I think they were friends. I said whatever and called my company. They decided I should leave and call a cab. When I got home, I received a call from the boss saying I was fired because of my issue with the tow driver. He quoted several issues over the last year which in his own letter said were addressed and corrected, but this attitude was the final straw. He didn't even ask me what happened, he just took the word of the tow truck driver. So, now I am unemployed. I imagine I will find another job, I have over 3 1/2 years of recent verifiable tractor trailer and tanker experience and a spotless MVR but of course I have to say I was fired for an attitude problem? I don't know what to say or what will be on my DAC now.

This company has had drivers banned from customer sites for bad attitude, Chemical spills, contaminations and roll overs and kept the drivers on. I get falsely accused of being rude to a tow truck driver and I get fired? When I asked my dispatcher about this he said the company was concerned because a week before this I had a trailer go into the shop and the non company shop discovered a number of leaf springs were missing. According to dispatch the concern was I was unsafe for not checking my truck during my pre-trip inspections. The damn truck already had a DOT inspection on it and a roadside inspection in the last 2 months and both it and I passed with flying colors. Yet other drivers have failed roadside inspections and they remained employed with a letter from the boss stating they need to do a more thorough pre-trip inspection. When I first started this job, I had a co-worker decide to accuse me of being a homosexual, I guess it was his way of entertaining himself. The company was made aware of this and he was supposedly warned not to do that anymore. Then they promoted him to a better paying position. Then when I turned 50, I began receiving lectures about my slow performance and that I needed to work faster. Interestingly, I did the best I could to comply and the company said in their own letter that issue was resolved. It's been strange and of course I have been looking for other jobs, I had the feeling they didn't really want to keep me on anyway since my age has apparently begun to affect my speed. I had just hoped to remain employed until I found another job.

Should I be worried? I don't even know if they will put this on my DAC. I'm sure the will say I am ineligible for re-hire. Will the next company even care about something that appears to be a personality issue? I'm guessing I will have to disclose the fact I was fired.