My Trainer Is Exhibiting Some Really Bizarre Behavior At A Dysfunctional Company.

::Next time on Jerry Springer::

Congrats Andy- I would put your story in the top 5 for WACKO companies.

Bottom line for me is your home time sounds good, I don't know about pay, miles or equipment. So if there is more good than bad, I would stay. Sounds like they leave you alone- which I like.

Of course the owner and daughter/dispatcher have huge problems- I would think they could get much worse.

The little crap my trainer pulled is nothing compared to yours- my trainer accused me of stepping on his bed, locked me out of the cab in the middle of the night when I went to pee- (no big deal cause he let me in right away, and I did have a spare key which I had left in the bunk), and ordered me to go 5 miles over the speed limit at night- that really irritated me.

Congrats Andy- I would put your story in the top 5 for WACKO companies.

Bottom line for me is your home time sounds good, I don't know about pay, miles or equipment. So if there is more good than bad, I would stay. Sounds like they leave you alone- which I like.

Of course the owner and daughter/dispatcher have huge problems- I would think they could get much worse.

The little crap my trainer pulled is nothing compared to yours- my trainer accused me of stepping on his bed, locked me out of the cab in the middle of the night when I went to pee- (no big deal cause he let me in right away, and I did have a spare key which I had left in the bunk), and ordered me to go 5 miles over the speed limit at night- that really irritated me.

The pay is OK, equipment isn't too bad believe it or not, they run volvos,We are in a 2012 780 isx with a 13 speed and about 475k. It will probably be my truck soon if i stay because the trainer is going to be rotated into a newer rig. They have a few internationals around but are getting rid of them because of the maxx force engine troubles they had with them. If the truck needs something they fix it, Although my trainer bad mouths the mechanic, the mechanic actually seems like a good one and they will contract the work out if its something big, I like the fact that they really don't care about out of route miles or stuff like that, in fact there is no route, you go how you want to go, no questions asked. That's the benefit of it all, no one bothers you, except the occasional calls from the owner acting crazy. The Owner is nuts, his wife is the billing lady and he accused her of skimming money to run off with one of the drivers because he was convinced she was having an affair, which for all I know she was or it all could have been in the owners head, nothing would surprise me there.

To be fair my trainer never yelled at me or threw a fit directed towards me, its always been towards the company, im not sure what abusing the equipment is supposed to accomplish, but it seems to calm him down. The owner accused him of stealing fuel, not me. No one has given me any grief directly yet, but I know if I stay its inevitable.

I can honestly seeing this company going belly up one day, but who knows.... I agree the owner and the daughter are probably only going to get worse, the wife is an enabler and the stuff that goes on is ridiculous. I definitely don't fit in there, but so far i have gotten along with everyone, but I can already see it will be challenging to work there. Time will tell.

I also must say my trainer is not some certified trainer like you might find at a big company, He is certainly capable, very knowledgeable, fairly nice to me, but in his words hes not some super trucker, he is just a guy that has managed not to flip the company truck over in the past 7 years, he said hes tore a few up, but never totaled one.

He is not the most polished guy. Occasionally when I miss a gear I get mad at myself and he tells me "Get over it, I did" And "If you tear up the transmission The owner will have to wait another week before he can afford to get his boat on the water, that would be a shame"

He also said "if you don't crack a fender or tear off a mirror every once in a while you don't really work for D&^*& Trucking, because here if you tear Sh%t up it means your doing something."

Definitely low pressure.....lol.

We also eat out about once a day, which is hard on the budget, but this guy can EAT. If he gets hungry he gets crabby, so I encourage a big meal. He doesn't drink, or smoke or anything but he binge eats.

I can honestly seeing this company going belly up one day, but who knows.... I agree the owner and the daughter are probably only going to get worse, the wife is an enabler and the stuff that goes on is ridiculous. I definitely don't fit in there, but so far i have gotten along with everyone, but I can already see it will be challenging to work there. Time will tell.

'Company going belly up' If that happens, you could use your last week of pay. If you stayed there a long time, you could have other problems- 401K savings, pension, etc. The more I think about this, the less I like it. I'd hate to battle a company to get benefits they owe me.

I would make a list and weigh the bad and the good. Company integrity is critical. I too would not fit in there- but If I were working there, I would sure make the best of it- to roll with the punches.

Your story brought back a few memories !!!

I worked for a place a bit like that once, in LA Cal. Hazardous Tanker outfit, as their mechanic, my boss was old time trucker, just he and I kept up the fleet. He didn't do much of the hard work. But from day 1 he told me "When you get your check, do NOT deposit it, take it to the liquor store and cash it!" Evidently, the owner a mexican guy had started the company back in 1969,now he had a cocaine habit. So there usually wasn't a lot of petty cash around either for parts.

He had some "toys" stored in a spot in the old metal building, a 1977 Porsche 911 Carrera, a 302 V-8 3 wheel cycle, and a Red Ferarri. Both the Porsche, and Ferarri had all trim and wheels gold plated.....He gave the son the Porsche for his 17th birthday, and I had to take it out, go to some beach tire and wheel shop to get new rims on it and bring back the old wheels, Cool ! I'm cruising a porsche for a day lol......

His wife, she owned the waste treatment plant around the block from us, where our tankers dumped their oils etc collected, washed out and came to our yard. They were divorced, but still lived together, I was told. 1 day the kid broke the clutch cable on the Porsche, they lived near me, so I was told drop whatever I'm doing NOW, and go save his kid broke down, then go on home..(we both lived about 40 miles from work)...I have the son drive my car and I'll drive his. He didn't know I could drive without his clutch, and asked me how?? duhhhhhh just follow me kid. Next day, it's now get a new cable, go to their house and fix the car there, ok, cool no problem !

So, I quit 1 year later to move to Arizona the 1st time, with my kids and girlfriend. My boss tells me if I ever wanted my job back, just pick up the phone, and call ! ok cool see ya...... Well I kept in touch with my boss, who tells me later they didn't pay the light bill, got all shut down, til they paid up. The next time the owner somehow hooked up power illegally, so the Edison company came out and cut the power cables from the poles across Bandini Blvd to the whole place!! Finally, 1 year after I had left and moved on, they went out of business, closed up.......and last call to my boss at his house, found out he had died from a massive heart attack, walking in the door from work (He had moved on, back driving fuel tankers now) Sad he was a real wealth of knowledge in trucking, and a really cool old guy to work with.....

Even though it's lowkey, still make sure you're doing your best with shifting and general truck treatment. Don't let yourself get into any bad habits and be very careful with the things you do. Sounds like they could tank any day now, be prepared and have a backup plan. If you went through schooling with them, I'd consider looking at other companies once you're without a trainer and paid back any obligations regarding training (contract, etc... Though it doesn't sound like they'd be a place that would enforce that).

The other thing to consider is this: if they do go under and you need to find another job, will you be able to get a good reference from these people? Are they reputable enough for another company to trust them? Just something to think about.

Are there like, a few people following you around with video cameras? Does one of the bosses have a weird haircut? Did anyone ask you to take a headshot while you made a silly comment on something the dispatcher said?

When you get to a shipper , do those people with cameras ask you to wait with your truck down the street while they get ready to video your arrival?

Did anyone mention truTV?

Its just a matter of time until you end up being accused of stealing etc. Make up some excuse like you have to go take care of a sick relative in 2 weeks and move along.