Should I Stay Or Leave?

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted here but I've got a personal dilemma that perhaps you guys could help me with. So I started with Swift about 8 months ago, they've been very good to me and have treated me right, after about 2 months OTR they offered me a a job on a dedicated account they had just opened near my home town. The pay was a 30% increase over the base OTR pay, and I still qualified for the performance bonus, so with that theven job proposal was a no brainer and I took it.

The account itself is refrigerated and we run NC to the Northeast and we take about three loads a week, then go home every Saturday for the weekend. After about 6 months of this I've kind of gotten tired of the same old same old, and I've thought about going back OTR, but I'm stuck. If I do that I'll lose the great pay on this account. I've put in applications with Heartland Express, and Helwig, both companies have called me but I wasn't really feeling ready to talk to them.

Any advice on what I should do is greatly appreciated.

Dan

Dan,

I'm not even in the business yet! That said, however, I think anybody can comment on qualities of happiness... If you're not happy doing what you're doing, then you're not happy doing what you're doing! Before you took this new gig, were you absolutely NEEDING the extra pay (having trouble making ends meet)? Were you unhappy that you weren't home on the weekends? If either of those are true, well, then you have some thinking to do!

If the answer to those two questions though isn't a resounding "YES", well...money isn't always the answer.

Good luck to you Dan!

N.

I sympathize with feeling bored. However, my first read on this is, within your first year you landed a dedicated run with a large pay raise and weekly home time. Read that a few times and realize how much most of us dream of such things coming true for us. The real answer for this can only come from you. What do YOU want out of this career?

4 more months makes a year. Why not just stick it out and then leave? I'm just curious why you would leave with so little time left of having a year? A lot of more opportunities would be available after a year.

Speak to your manager and let him know that you miss the diversity of OTR and see what they can do for you. If you are under contract just like Bravo Zulu said, finish the year before starting at the bottom somewhere else and having to prove yourself again.

I agree with Rob. You've got it really good right now. If you're really super bored, then I'd just go back to otr or try a different regional or dedicated account with Swift. I also work for Swift and I know there are lots of opportunities with them you may not have a clue about. Especially with the length of time you've been with Swift, you probably have other opportunities with them now that you might not have had several months ago.

Another thought. Say you switched to a different company and went otr with them for higher pay...and then realized you didn't like it much at all, or you ended up sitting more than you had planned on (lowering your paychecks and also leading to more boredom). Now you might be stuck. You just switched companies so it would look bad to switch again, but you might not have the tenure with them to land a nice cushy dedicated gig comparable to what you've got now without continuing as an otr driver for several more months.

My 2 cents.

Just let them know youd like to change things up every now and then.. Maybe you could swap routes with another driver who is similarly bored.

If you dont ask, youll never know and might be pleasantly surprised. The worst they could do is say no.

You have a heck of a setup that a lot of people would kill for. If anything go otr with Swift, but also let them know you want to try it out just to see. This way if you end up not liking the inconsistent paychecks, lack of routine, etc. You can go back to that dedicated acct.

I agree with everyone above - you're in an awesome position. If you'd really like to make a change and do something different I think you'd be crazy to go to another company. Swift is so huge and has so many different opportunities it's like 25 companies rolled into one. It's easy to switch divisions within your company and maintain your seniority, maintain your great work record, and keep the important contacts you've made.

But if you switch companies you're starting from ground zero. No one knows you and no one is going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You're going to have to prove yourself all over again, get to know the right people again, and work your way back up into a prominent position like you have now.

Leaving your company to go to a better job rarely works out in this industry the way people expect it to. In fact I was just talking to the owner of Wil-Trans and he said their second largest avenue of hiring is re-hires...people who leave for what they thought would be greener pastures and then return because they realized how good they had it. People think having experience is important in this industry but it's far more important to have a proven track record with your company and friends in the offices.

I say ask around at Swift and see what else is out there. I'm sure they'd let you return to this division if you wanted to, assuming you've done a great job for them. Swift has a ton of awesome opportunities and you've proven yourself already. They'll give you those opportunities now.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

Wil-Trans:

Darrel Wilson bought his first tractor in 1980 at age 20, but, being too young to meet OTR age requirements, he leased the truck out and hired a driver.

Through growth and acquisition, Wil-Trans now employs over 200 drivers, and has a long-standing partnership with Prime, Inc. to haul their refrigerated freight. The family of businesses also includes Jim Palmer Trucking and O & S Trucking.

Rob wrote:

I sympathize with feeling bored. However, my first read on this is, within your first year you landed a dedicated run with a large pay raise and weekly home time. Read that a few times and realize how much most of us dream of such things coming true for us. The real answer for this can only come from you. What do YOU want out of this career?

I agree whole heartedly. Take stock of what you have, seriously consider what you really want before making your next move.

I also suggest talking to Swift let them know what you want and give them a chance to come up with something. They might surprise you...I speak from experience. They have made adjustments for me when I needed some variety from my Dedicated account.

If you are as good as I think you are, they will try to keep you.