Terminated

Remember how I made the wise decision of not going to boise? Well... Just got fired for it lol what a crock

Here's the thread where this was discussed:

Things happen for a reason, might be best! Didn't sound too safe anyway, just look for something else and don't quit.

Things happen for a reason, might be best! Didn't sound too safe anyway, just look for something else and don't quit.

Shame on them, their loss. Do you need anything else to help you find your next opportunity?

Any company that will fire you over something like that is not worth working for. Youre better off somewhere where they will value you.

First of all Joshua you made the right choice not to take that run when you were uncomfortable with it at that level. You don't do anything in trucking if you feel that strongly about it. Good choice.

That being said, you guys are blasting the company for sending him without training but I've been saying all along that those type of jobs are not for new drivers. Those companies shouldn't be hiring drivers out of school to pull doubles or run P&D in the first place. I'm aghast that they would even consider it. But they do.

The reason they didn't send you out with a trainer is because you're doing line haul so they figure you should at least be able to drive from here to there and back again without anyone in the truck with you. They were willing to send someone with you in another truck so all you had to do was follow in the steps of the experienced guy. They figured you already learned how to drive a truck and you have your CDL so following an experienced driver should be good enough. Almost like having a trainer.

Joshua, get on with one of the major trucking companies and take the normal route into trucking. They'll send you out with a trainer and you'll have an opportunity to ease into this at a more sane pace.

I'm going to have to speak up on this topic more often I think. To date I know of exactly one driver that took the LTL route out of school and still has a job. We've had others report that things did not go well for them. This is not the first time someone was fired from one of these companies. It's just not the type of job a new driver should consider coming out of school.

I'm just glad no one we know has gotten killed yet trying to run P&D or pull doubles straight out of school. But if those companies keep hiring student drivers it's only a matter of time.

When I moved back to Montana from Texas I started pulling doubles , 60 ton grain wagons. Owner said "absolutely not until the passes have thawed", because anyone who knows Rogers Pass in Montana knows what a long hard pull up a mountain is like, and the downhill is pretty tense. I run heavy-haul flatbed now and the Blue Mountains in Oregon claimed several trucks a few days ago due too speed too great for conditions. I chained up before we were required to and I saw a lot of trucks spin out before the top because of whatever reason that led to them not chaining. By the time I got to Seattle, I had burned up all my chains except the 3-railers that I used to get over Snoqualmie Pass, where I saw quite a lot of trucks in the median and ditch. Again, didnt chain when they should have. One guy came up to me saying he had never ran in Oregon before (Blue Mountains area) so I told him to chain it up, both drive axles if he had enough chains and keep it under 20 mph. I have parked early for black ice conditions and no one complained about it. Every company has it's own culture so I suppose that a driver needs to find the one that suits them well enough. I walked away from my first truck because a dispatcher told me that I could run US 287 in Texas to Houston at 60 mph and make a drop just in time in the center of town. If you know that highway in that part of Texas, you know that there are so many things wrong with what he said, and that kind of flippant attitude with drivers gets people hurt and killed if they don't push back. If someone tries forcing someone to take unnecessary risks or unacceptable risks, especially for money, then it's time to cut and run. Hell, I've seen guys take their 120k loaded doubles and run it at 80mph all day long just to unload it in time to go get beers. I let them get way ahead of me before I got it up to 65 mph and made damn sure to be miles away from them when I parked. It's a culture thing, some things are accepted at certain places, and not at others.

Don't feel bad for being fired like that. I was shocked on what your dispatcher said, "I will get schedule you off each time it snows or rains" I'm preparing for trucking school so I read books on safe driving. It's not the snow or rain that gets you trouble, it's a combination of things. The combination of snow, ice, mountains is a significant hazard. Someone in my hometown just died just driving his truck on I-469 where I lived nearby. It was just flat land on dry conditions eight days ago.

I starting to think on how reckless companies are with driving. I have been working at a car rental company and drove their cars across Northern Indiana for 9 months now. There's a lot of experience drivers that drive over the speed limit, impatience issues and take unnecessary risk. So I'm starting to feel "follow me, Jordan" is unnecessary risk. I follow because I'm unsure of how to get there. They are terrible to follow. Driving 85 mph with varying speeds, very quick on the gas and brakes when it's unnecessary, running stale yellow lights, and changing lanes back and forth. So don't feel bad for not following. I heard other stories where the termination was justified. It wasn't justified that you got fired. I meant what company sends out a dangerous route for a fresh truck driver. I don't mind having a dangerous job like driving because I do it in a safe way.

One thing you guys do have to consider though is choosing the right job and the right company for your circumstances. Again, everyone keeps saying what a horrible company this is for asking too much of the guy but all they asked him to do was follow two highly experienced drivers from Washington To Boise, ID after he had already been driving for a month. They weren't asking him to do anything their other drivers couldn't do easily enough and he didn't say anything about there being major snowstorms or anything like that. Here's what he originally said:

So, I am still really new to driving and went local/some linehaul right out of school. Because of that I drive solo right away and never had a trainer. Sunday i will be driving from washington to boise idaho and I am a bit nervous. I have never driven a big rig before a couple months ago (month of school and month with my current company) let alone through the mountains than snow, alone lol.... Any advice from the more experienced?

I have driven to boise multiple times in my pickup in the winter as i have family there. Just never in a combo vehicle like this. So I know the route really well. Also there will be 2 other drivers with their trucks with me, 1 a prior cdl instructor and another really experienced guy. So not completely alone just nobody sitting next to me lol. Its just that 1 pass i'm nervous about.

So there wasn't a terrible snowstorm they were trying to push him through or anything like that. They even gave him two highly experienced escorts to watch out for him. They literally did everything except physically drive the truck for him.

He's the one that signed up to pull these loads in the Northwest straight out of school going into the wintertime. He already had his CDL and a month experience before they asked him to follow some drivers to Boise. Does that really seem like they're asking too much? I don't think so.

I mean, what did he think the job was going to be? He said he's driven those routes up there before in 4 wheelers, right? So he knew what the job was going to entail and accepted it. Then when they asked him to do that job he felt like he was in over his head. That's not the company's fault.

I'm still saying he's right for not taking the load but I don't feel the company did anything wrong by giving it to him in the first place. In fact, they gave him two escorts to watch out for him. Like I said, the only thing they didn't do was literally drive the truck for him.

The reason I'm saying any of this at all is because people are quick to jump on companies like, "Oh those filthy bastards! How could they do that to him?" And I'm saying how could they do what to him? They asked him to follow a couple of experienced drivers on a normal run. Nothing more.

I have been an "office boy" in the trucking industry for over 20 years. My philosophy was always that the drivers abilities were his own. I always knew who was under a load and their experience. Yes, I got in trouble when a driver shut down, but he was there, I wasn't. Safety is always at the drivers discretion. If you don't feel safe don't move. I protected all of my drivers the best that I could, however, I also answered to somebody. Don't feel bad about losing your job, there are plenty of other companies that need safe drivers, and don't mind having to do what is needed to protect their equipment.