Profile For Trucker Chris (CK)

I had to shut down to wait for the storm to pass yesterday. Saw a funnel cloud, wind hit me at 80-100mph while parked, and if I wasn't angled the way I was I would have been blown over. Penny sized hail, sirens wailing, the rain was sideways, dirt lot was under inches of water, and the truck was leaning so far over I thought it was going to flop. I had no where to seek shelter.

Tldr...

AB5 also plays into this. Many of the container drivers were paid via 1099, and when AB5 passed, essentially making independent contractors illegal, CA lost more than 70,000 drivers. A lot of them worked the ports. This was "the straw that broke the camel's back" and the reason I left CA when I did.

The idea behind the law was to prevent unscrupulous employers from hiring people to work for them, but paying them as an independent contractor to avoid providing benefits and other things required for employees. In the end, it hurt people who were legitimately utilizing independent contractors, and of course the independent contractors themselves.

I think I've exchanged 3 qc messages with my dispatcher all week, and that was to tell him I needed to drop a trailer at the shop, and another one later to tell him that I found I blew out a shock absorber on my tractor and had already made an appointment for that. And a third to laugh at a snarky comment he made about the 200+ warning messages my trailer had sent me. He has 85 trucks on his fleet, btw. If he's calling me it's because he needs help and knows he can count on me, and if I'm calling him, usually it's because something went horribly wrong.

Detention isn't as black and white as it first seems, btw. And a dispatcher truly ripping off their driver at a large, reputable company, is more often than not the driver just not understanding how things really work out here. I had a buddy that insisted his dispatcher was stealing from him (my dispatcher, actually) and so he quit on the spot and is now stocking the shelves at a Walmart store in Tucson.

I've been a member of three unions. Only one of them was worth anything, and it was actually a professional public sector union. We didn't have people milking it there the way they did in the other two private sector unions. In the private sector, they were extremely adversarial with the company to the point where it made our jobs difficult. The public sector union readily worked with the agency to ensure our contract was adhered to, and to ensure the safety and security of the public; generally speaking, I'm not a fan of unions, but this one was truly top notch and had its priorities in order.

I'm perfectly happy not paying union dues now, and would rather keep it out of my trucking career. My company treats me well, I can call anyone I want to talk to right up to the founder and president himself day or night, and I'm paid very well. And I certainly don't think the government should force anything else on this industry... we already deal with enough as it is.

Hey Jesse,

Welcome to TT! At 56, your not as old as you might think. I've seen people 65+ jump in and succeed. Company sponsored training is certainly a great way to go, and the route we typically recommend. When you're ready, be sure to check out Prime Inc. They've always treated me well and the pay is excellent (trainees make a guaranteed $900/wk!) We also have great facilities and equipment.

The first step in this journey is to take complete advantage of the High Road Training Program on this site, take a DOT physical and when you're ready, get your Class A permit, and be sure to get your tanker endorsement.

Good luck to you and feel free to ask any questions you might have. Those resources above will answer a lot of your questions too.

-Chris

I'm sharing that grin with you right now, man. That's one of my favorite parts of being out here, when a kid (or kid at heart) does the arm pump. Definitely upgrading the horn on the next truck!

Very nice, congrats. I've been delivering to PFG more often lately it seems.

I have a buddy who accidentally tipped two pallets of blueberries... consignee rejected the entire load due to damage. He was personally responsible for $40,000 of the claim. Insurance doesn't cover negligence.

Secure your load every time. You are responsible for it if it causes damage or injury.

There could be many it seems that way, but let's put this in perspective. Wisconsin has more than 60,000 trucking companies registered in the state with a population 5.8 million, Utah has more than 21,000 with a population of 3.2 million, and California with a population of 39.5 million has more than 135,000. New York State as more than 37000 trucking companies registered with a population of 19.5 million. Of the estimated 1.2 million trucking companies in the United States, 97% of them run less than 20 trucks.