First Truck Driving Job

I don't get this line of thinking:

The ONLY reason I spoke with an attorney about it, is because I felt I was discriminated against (which the way things transpired is a violation of the ADA). If I had been given an alternative after I was told the medical director's decision was rejected, I would have listened with open ears. I am a person who understands loyalty, and if the conversation would have been "our medical director has concerns about the flatbed division, but we would still like to offer you a job here", I would have felt like that company was trying to work with me, and I would have done everything I could to repay the favor. But there was zero communication after I was told there would be some

See, you have this thing in your head that the world owes you something, that people are somehow obligated to work with you and that they should assume you can do the job. Why do you think that? What makes you so special that every company you apply to has to give you complete and full consideration? You haven't done anything to prove yourself to be valuable to this industry yet. What you have done is:

I have been diagnosed with depression in the past, I have sleep apnea , I have a herniated disc with sciatica, and after I got my medical card I was pinned between a utility trailer and vehicle door which resulted in a sprained wrist (for which I still wear a wrist brace).

.........and on top of all that you ran out and got a lawyer as soon as you saw an opportunity to take advantage of a law? The law says they have to consider you for the job. Well they did. What makes you think you can do the job safely with that list of problems above? You're a liability nightmare to be honest with you.

And what makes you think you can haul dry van? You act like, "Of course I can do the job so naturally they should just give me the job."

BALONEY! They don't have to give you squat.

And what about attitude? You're assuming this is a medical issue but you've been having conversations with these folks for a while. They were able to read you as quickly and easily as we were. If a company doesn't think you're the type of person that's going to be productive in a highly competitive environment then why should they have to hire you? Why do you assume it's a medical issue and not a personality and attitude issue?

Friend, if a rookie calls a lawyer on me because I had the audacity not to hire him then I promise you'll never, ever, ever have to tell me another thing about that person. Ever. I have no intention of finding out how long it will be before they call a lawyer again or move onto another company for some petty perceived failure on my part to express enough gratitude and respect.

And I already know you're going to say I misunderstood you, or whatever, but no I didn't, and neither did Old School. Any rookie in this industry with a list of liability issues a mile long and a lawyer on retainer who clearly spends an awful lot of their time worrying about how much respect they're getting isn't anyone I'd want to hire in a million years. On top of that you called a lawyer because you assumed you should have been hired by the company. That's how highly you value yourself. I can't imagine what your demands and expectations would be if you were to show you can actually be a safe, productive driver in this industry.

We're certainly rooting for you to be successful or we wouldn't take the time to tell you all this stuff. But at this point you're clearly not yet understanding quite what we're talking about when it comes to attitude and expectations. You're already in a heck of a hole. You're a rookie driver - that's a mountain to climb in itself. But you have to do that with a list of liability issues on your back and now you've immediately made enemies of a potential company and sent signals to the rest of the industry that they're in for a fight if you don't get your way. And all of this in an industry where most people fail to begin with, even when everything is going their way? Man, good luck with all that.

And one big insight into this industry that's important for everyone to understand....

You'll have much better results showing up to the office with a box of donuts and a smile than you will with a list of demands and a letter from an attorney. That is a promise. You're not going to strong arm your way into anything good in this career. As a driver you have to learn to work well with people because in the end, truck drivers have no authority over anyone they work with or anyone they work for.

So before you make the critical error of strolling on into a place thinking, "I have a CDL so I'm in demand. Let's see what this company can do for me" let me tell you it isn't that way at all. This whole "driver demand" thing will only do one thing - get you hired. But once you're hired somewhere you have to perform at a high level consistently if you want things to go well for you. There's no such thing as, "I've paid my dues so now it's my turn to ride the gravy train."

There will never come a time in a driver's career where they don't have to perform at the highest level to get the best treatment. And there will also never come a time where a driver has authority over anyone else they work with or work for. In the end, even a guy with 15 years and 1.5 million safe miles is just another truck driver with a load going somewhere. If you don't get that load there safely and on time it won't matter to anyone what you've ever done in the past.

Brett, thank you for your input. This conversation went way off topic from where I originally intended it to be. But I think I have gotten my answer. Thanks.