Why I Left The Industry

Hello truckers,

I would like to share my thoughts from the former newbie truck driver's point of view. I've got my CDL at April 2015, and I have closed the truck's door at November. I drove different trucks, from old International (12 years old) to brand new Volvo. But I decide to quit, and here's why — maybe it will help someone to decide where to go...

As a newbie, I did not do a bad job. I had no tickets, no out-of-service notices and no accidents. I never even touched any object with my tractor or trailer. I was not so good in backing up, but it was just a question of time. I ended as an OTR driver, my typical ride was 2-3 weeks non-stop over the East Coast.

So I quit for 2 reasons.

1. Logbook

2. Rates.

I decide to comply with the DOT regulations and I did my best to stay in the white zone. But nowadays if you are a lawful person, you have 2 choices: a) get the lowest pay OR start cheating with logs. It was not a "forced dispatch": nobody was telling me like "Go drive or get fired". No. But if you decide to decline the pickup because you're out of hours, next time you will get no load. Period. Sometimes I was staying on the truck stop for 1-2 days because of that. They answers like "Sorry man, there are no loads for you today".

The situation when one driver works under the regulations at the same company where another driver goes beyond the limits is not fair. I was unable to compete with the drivers who was able to do 1000-1100 miles per day. Physically I can do that. With the clean logbook, I can not. Nobody can do 1000+ miles over East Coast per day with the clean logbook.

For sure, I had a choice. For example, change the company. But the rates! I had $0.50 per mile. For most companies with e-logs my rate will be something like $0.30 per mile, but I am able to get the same money here, at home instead of being without family for 3 weeks. Makes no sense, I am right?

I miss the trucks sometimes. But... if there are no equal rules for all the road players, I will stay out of the truck's cab. Good luck to anyone who's on the road guys.

Ex Driver, I am always amazed at how many drivers come in here with their first post to tell us what all is wrong with this industry. You decided to quit, and that is all fine and good - truck driving is tough - we can all agree on that with you. I just wish you had some better reasons for quitting. Had you said you preferred to have more time with your family, or you didn't like working the crazy and long hours, I would have been all supportive of you and understood it completely. We understand that this job is not for everyone, and it is really tough on a person who leaves a family at home.

The reasons you gave us are:

So I quit for 2 reasons.

1. Logbook

2. Rates.

What is strange about that choice is those are some of the reasons that many people get into trucking! They like the rate of pay, and they like the fact that there are rules that must be followed so that you aren't out here with a bunch of Outlaws who are breaking the laws and operating unsafely.

You went on to elaborate though:

I decide to comply with the DOT regulations and I did my best to stay in the white zone. But nowadays if you are a lawful person, you have 2 choices: a) get the lowest pay OR start cheating with logs.

That is another baffling statement to me. I have never cheated my logs. I started my career making a paltry .27 cents per mile - when my rookie year was done I had made right at fifty thousand dollars. I got raises each quarter of that first year based solely on my performance. There were a lot of drivers who started with me who never got a raise that first year. They didn't even come close to understanding how this whole career is performance based, and I am quite sure that was your whole issue. You missed out on a rewarding career because you were focused on external forces like pay rates and rules, and you totally missed the all important internal key to success. Your fate was actually in your own hands, but you didn't know how to make things happen out here so that you would benefit from your actions and decisions.

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about:

It was not a "forced dispatch": nobody was telling me like "Go drive or get fired". No. But if you decide to decline the pickup because you're out of hours, next time you will get no load. Period. Sometimes I was staying on the truck stop for 1-2 days because of that. They answers like "Sorry man, there are no loads for you today".

Had you had the good fortune of having a decent mentor when you started, or had the mindset of a successful self-employed person you would have learned very quickly how to manage your clock better so that you would have hours available. This is something I stress to people all the time - I know it is hard when you are first getting started, but it is vitally important and something that has to be learned. My dispatcher recently gave me a high compliment when he called me to take a load which some other drivers had refused because they were out of hours. Here is what he said to me: "You have been working with me for more than a year now, and I can't recall one time when you ever told me that you were out of hours, how is that?" The way this whole program works is the dispatchers come to know and recognize the guys that perform at the highest levels consistently. These are their "go to guys," the folks who they can depend on. You claim they are the cheaters, but you just might need to retract that statement and realize that you were a rookie who just didn't cut the mustard. That is not an insult, there are many who try this career, and many who don't make it. I respect them all. But you need to lay the blame where it properly belongs, not on the things that your very minuscule exposure to this career has caused you to think were the problems.

Look at how silly this other statement of yours is:

The situation when one driver works under the regulations at the same company where another driver goes beyond the limits is not fair. I was unable to compete with the drivers who was able to do 1000-1100 miles per day. Physically I can do that. With the clean logbook, I can not. Nobody can do 1000+ miles over East Coast per day with the clean logbook.

My friend you can't run 1,000 miles a day anywhere in this great country with a clean log book, and you are trying to blame it on the fact that you are in the Northeast! I run the Northeast almost exclusively, and do it all legally. You claim you were making .50 cpm and couldn't make it work for you. I am making less than that, and I still bring home usually around 1,200 - 1,500 dollars a week. That is after my deductions for insurance and taxes. So what do you think the real problem was? I only ask because I don't think you have really thought this thing through very well. Sheez, at fifty cents a mile you could make a thousand dollars a week only doing about 300 miles a day! What was the problem?

Here's the only thing you said that I could agree with:

Makes no sense

It is an equal playing field out here because of the log book rules and yet you choose that as one of the things that forced you out of the truck.

I don't get it.

I decide to comply with the DOT regulations and I did my best to stay in the white zone. But nowadays if you are a lawful person, you have 2 choices: a) get the lowest pay OR start cheating with logs. It was not a "forced dispatch": nobody was telling me like "Go drive or get fired". No. But if you decide to decline the pickup because you're out of hours, next time you will get no load. Period. Sometimes I was staying on the truck stop for 1-2 days because of that. They answers like "Sorry man, there are no loads for you today".

The situation when one driver works under the regulations at the same company where another driver goes beyond the limits is not fair. I was unable to compete with the drivers who was able to do 1000-1100 miles per day. Physically I can do that. With the clean logbook , I can not. Nobody can do 1000+ miles over East Coast per day with the clean logbook.

I do want to mention something here that's pretty common at smaller companies. A lot of smaller companies are still using paper logs and they're often run by old timers who expect you to do things the old timey way in trucking. In other words, they expect you'll take every opportunity to modify your logbook in order to keep running when freight is available. If you tell an old timer, "Hey, I'm out of hours for today. I can't run anymore" they're definitely going to let you sit for a day or two doing nothing so you can "catch up on your rest". Of course they're not really letting you catch up on rest, they're punishing you for not running when you had the freight available. You don't want to run? Fine. You can sit for a couple of days and then we'll try again.

Guys like myself who started in this industry in '93 mostly ran the Old Timey Way. I was one of those guys he's referring to that he wasn't willing to compete with because I'd run 1,000 miles overnight if the opportunity presented itself. The logbook was nothing more than a necessary evil where you had to document what you wanted people to think you did. If someone mentioned being out of hours back in the day we'd all slap him on the back and say, "Welcome rookie. How long you been in trucking?" Because almost no one cared about running legally. As long as your logbook said you were legal that was all that matters. So we'd write down whatever we needed to and kept on trucking.

This is one of the big reasons we always recommend that people start their career with one of the major trucking companies. Those companies run electronic logbooks and they're used to mentoring new drivers. Old Timey companies are on shoestring budgets and they're trying to do all they can to survive, and that includes running as hard as possible when the freight is available. They aren't going to break you in slowly, they're not going to expect you to do everything legally, and they're going to expect you to turn big miles right away. Otherwise they don't survive for long.

Getting your career started with a smaller mom-n-pop company can be a real shock to a new driver. You'll pretty much throw out everything you were taught in school and you'll quickly learn how to do things the Old Timey Way or you'll be out the door in short order.

Oh, and one other thing. I wish ex-Driver would have come to us with his concerns while this was all happening instead of making a major career decision and then coming to us with his reasons for quitting hoping to "help others with their careers". Well unfortunately ex-Driver didn't have all of the information he needed to make good decisions for himself so his situation certainly won't help others except for the fact that now you all know how not to handle a tough situation when you're new to this industry. Please don't quit your job, forsake the industry, and spread warnings to others about how unfair the trucking industry is every time you hit a bump in the road. Instead, speak to us about it or find advice from other experienced drivers before making any decisions.

If he would have told us all of this before he quit trucking we could have given him better options. For instance, he says all the major companies pay 30 cpm and he was making 50 cpm. Well he certainly failed to do his research on starting pay. There are a ton of major companies that start drivers in the 38cpm - 44cpm range and they'll have you up near 50 cpm in less than a year. Not only that, but he would have been on electronic logs so he wouldn't have been forced to run illegally anymore.

So this is yet another example of a trucking career that got tossed in the trash right out of the gate because a new driver thought he knew more than he did. This driver didn't understand the differences between large and small companies. He also didn't know the going pay rates for large carriers. And yet he came here to "inform" everyone of his findings in the trucking industry and why you shouldn't be there.

Folks, do your research and ask a lot of questions. Hopefully ex-Driver will come to understand the things he misunderstood about the industry and will give it another shot with a company that suits him well but I doubt it. As you can see he hasn't returned to discuss any of this. He just wanted to "help others" by dropping a complaint before bailing out because he thinks he already knows everything he needs to know about the trucking industry. Now the entire rest of his life will be completely different than it would have been because he couldn't take five minutes to ask a few questions or do a little research.

Basic arithmetic, ex-D. 1000 miles per day, if you drive legally is close to 100 mph. In a semi. Uh-huh. If you drive 65mph, a common speed limit, that takes 15 hours. You could not do that "physically" for very long. And that does not include off-interstate, <75mph miles. So you tend to believe driver lounge BS?

I noticed you "decided" to drive legally. For me, there was no decision to make. I've been driving for a year, legally because that's the thing to do. I'm doing well. With e-logs.

Ex-D, since I gather you quit, as opposed to being fired for too many load declines, you could consider getting back into the trucks you miss so much. You registered at TT 8 months ago, but you just now decided to speak up. I believe you registered, maybe did the High Road Training Program, but did not come into this forum to better understand the trucker lifestyle.

Also, I believe you just may not come back here, because you have decided to spread your "bad news" and be done with it.

My guess is that Ex-Driver quit for all the reasons listed above, but there are other reasons he quit, which he would rather not fully admit.

One thing I have discovered, is that Load Planners, and Driver Managers are not created equal, and you will find major differences when driving for different carriers. A Load Planners job is not easy, but some of them are mathematical wizards who can think quickly, send load offers that are feasible, and quickly move on to another driver, without having to look for several loads for an individual driver before finding one that will work.

If a driver has only worked for one or two companies, and has been in the business less than a year before he quits, how can he really feel he gave it his best shot?

The truth of the matter is, there are many drivers out here on the road with 20+ years of experience, who are making great money. If they weren't, they would have left the industry long ago. However, if they had given up on making good money, I'll bet they would have hung in there longer than 7 months, before making the decision to throw in the towel.

I remember years ago, reading an article by a professional bodybuilder named Dorian Yates. I remember him stating that anytime he tried anything new, he always gave himself 2 years to give said activity an honest evaluation. Considering that he won Mr. Olympia 6 consecutive years, I never forgot the advice he gave.

Sometimes people give up, right before their ship docks, and most of their efforts end up in vain. If a driver just cannot get used to being away from their family for extended periods, they could have saved themselves a lot of time, money, and effort, by simply reading the forums, and heeding the advice of veteran truckers.

Very true Dutch, I've always given a new job eh probably 1-2 years to see how well we fit....Hate job hopping, but sometimes, you are left with no choice. I split the first 2 jobs I ever had , being at each just over 7 years......Still looking like it will be awhile yet, until my leg is healed well enough to get my jump into trucking grrrrrrrr

I have researched and posted a little here. I never understood logs fully as I have to use paper, but that is few and far between since I hardly ever run out of my 100 mile radius. I read. Then read some more. Then read more. There is so much valuable information on this site. You are a fool if you don't look at all this site has to offer before you make a rash decision. I finally decided to make the move to run otr because of the information here. I am tired of the construction business and having to deal with someone looking over my shoulder constantly. But to all that post all the information for all of us to learn from. Thank you.

Man that first post was more like a hit and run or a driveby. If you are making .50 a mile and you cannot make money then there is something wrong. If you were running out your hours you should have been 600 miles down the road. If your 70 is running out then you don't spend enough time in the driver's seat. Heck at 2k miles a week that is 1k gross.

Ex-Driver...... Seriously?