I Just Don't Get Some People

A recent post reminded me to tell yall the story of an encounter I had with another flatbedder recently.

I was at a shipper to pick up a load of shingles. Another Prime truck was there right behind me, and after loading we both proceeded through the scale and out to the strapping yard to secure our loads.

As I'm throwing straps, the other Prime guy walks over and asks if I have to tarp my load too. "Yup, the BOL says all loads must be tarped." I say.

Well, he just goes on a rant: "Why the hell are we tarping shingles?! They're stacked OUTSIDE, and we're delivering them to a place where they'll store them OUTSIDE! It makes no sense, I ain't tarping s***! They're bleeping SHINGLES!"

Well, before I could even respond he walked over to his truck and started furiously tapping on his phone's keyboard. Meanwhile, I just kept working away.

At one point, he must have been waiting for a reply from whomever he was tapping to, so he walked over to the shipping office. I don't know what was said in there, but he came out of the office in no better of a mood. He went straight into his truck.

Finally, as I'm finishing up the last of my bungees, he comes back over still complaining. It's then that I find out he's a new lease driver only two months out of school, and already he's making some huge mistakes. Like complaining about a load, and especially complaining to a shipper. I mean who does that?

I told him that the retail customer isn't concerned about the load getting wet. It's more of a concern about road grime getting all over the product.

Besides that, WE GET PAID EXTRA TO DO IT, and tarping shingles is about the easiest tarping job you can get. EASY money for about 15 minutes of work. Why would you complain about that?

I don't know how his story ended, but I was loaded, strapped, tarped, and rolling out of the yard before he ever threw his first strap.

So what did he really accomplish?

A recent post reminded me to tell yall the story of an encounter I had with another flatbedder recently.

I was at a shipper to pick up a load of shingles. Another Prime truck was there right behind me, and after loading we both proceeded through the scale and out to the strapping yard to secure our loads.

As I'm throwing straps, the other Prime guy walks over and asks if I have to tarp my load too. "Yup, the BOL says all loads must be tarped." I say.

Well, he just goes on a rant: "Why the hell are we tarping shingles?! They're stacked OUTSIDE, and we're delivering them to a place where they'll store them OUTSIDE! It makes no sense, I ain't tarping s***! They're bleeping SHINGLES!"

Well, before I could even respond he walked over to his truck and started furiously tapping on his phone's keyboard. Meanwhile, I just kept working away.

At one point, he must have been waiting for a reply from whomever he was tapping to, so he walked over to the shipping office. I don't know what was said in there, but he came out of the office in no better of a mood. He went straight into his truck.

Finally, as I'm finishing up the last of my bungees, he comes back over still complaining. It's then that I find out he's a new lease driver only two months out of school, and already he's making some huge mistakes. Like complaining about a load, and especially complaining to a shipper. I mean who does that?

I told him that the retail customer isn't concerned about the load getting wet. It's more of a concern about road grime getting all over the product.

Besides that, WE GET PAID EXTRA TO DO IT, and tarping shingles is about the easiest tarping job you can get. EASY money for about 15 minutes of work. Why would you complain about that?

I don't know how his story ended, but I was loaded, strapped, tarped, and rolling out of the yard before he ever threw his first strap.

So what did he really accomplish?

What did he accomplish? Besides elevating his blood pressure? Nothing but negativity. His behavior will become a reputation and not bode well in his relationship with dispatch.

You did your job, he didn't. Prime knows that...

I agree with you Turtle.. The time he took to complain and throw his little fit he could of had his load secured and tarped and been up the road. What is even worse, him being a lease guy, if tarping was that big of a deal to him he could of simply rejected the load and moved on. However, he decided to accept the load and the terms that come with it so he has no one to blame but himself. Tarping shingles is super easy and Prime pays so much for tarp pay he really would of lost out. I will never understand drivers who do this. They won't do this or that, they won't run certain areas, they sit around the terminal complaining they do not make money or get any miles however I am running a good amount of miles every week and keep my clock low due the huge amount of freight out here. Oh well their loss is my gain.

Well not all guys complaining are negative Nancy's. I have been solo for about 8 weeks now, company reefer driver. I have had maybe 3 weeks over 2400 miles.

In fact a rookie driver in my orientation class went lease. He has just as much driving experience as me. He makes in 2 weeks what I hope to make in a month.

It is frustrating, and I wa out 6 weeks straight. I only went into the terminal because my APU is having issues. So since they took me to the SLC one where my car is. I decided to get lots of outside the truck things done. So it ended p being home time.

Went back out and I'm back at a prime terminal waiting fir my APU to be fixed again.

I didn't get paid for any of the other days my truck was in the shop. I hope I get paid for this time. I'll be at Sprimo through Sat.

I have enjoyed Prime and the experiences, but the miles promised have not been delivered. In fact my pay today was negative 201 dollars. As soon as I leave they give me a load Sat night last week. 1700+ miles. I'm super excited. However it delivers on Wednesday. So no loads for last week at all. Frown face...

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Its like this guy in the terminal I saw the other day complaining. He got the truck fixed on Mon morning and the FM sent him a midnight to midnight load from across the street to CA. Easy 2300 mile load. He rejected it saying "I told u I want to do laundry and shower". So Wed we got positioned close to the terminal and I got that same load as a team.

The guy bragged to me that he told the FM to shove it....yet he's complaining he can't get out of the terminal. So my reply "why didn't you just pick up the load then come back here to eat shower etc...and leave when you want? So you are bragging you rejected a $950 load and you're STILL not rolling three days later?"

His mouth dropped like he didn't know that was an option. Smh.

I think people are lazy and don't think.

In fact a rookie driver in my orientation class went lease. He has just as much driving experience as me. He makes in 2 weeks what I hope to make in a month.

Be careful when comparing your pay to his. They are structured differently. Don't forget that he still has potential costs that can come up at any moment. He also has to pay a large portion of his pay in taxes every quarter. There are other factors that may come up, such as breakdown pay, hotel costs, repairs, maintenance, etc. All of which will be covered for the company driver, not so with a lease driver.

A friend I went through orientation with is a lease driver, and we compare notes all the time. Some weeks he does better, some weeks I do. In the big picture we average out about the same, and I have far less stress and risk than he does. He's begun to consider switching over to company.

Its like this guy in the terminal I saw the other day complaining. He got the truck fixed on Mon morning and the FM sent him a midnight to midnight load from across the street to CA. Easy 2300 mile load. He rejected it saying "I told u I want to do laundry and shower". So Wed we got positioned close to the terminal and I got that same load as a team.

The guy bragged to me that he told the FM to shove it....yet he's complaining he can't get out of the terminal. So my reply "why didn't you just pick up the load then come back here to eat shower etc...and leave when you want? So you are bragging you rejected a $950 load and you're STILL not rolling three days later?"

His mouth dropped like he didn't know that was an option. Smh.

I think people are lazy and don't think.

I think a lot of people just inherently don't want to work. They want their participation trophy without having to actually earn it.

Some, not all, lease operators get this fancy-pants Primadonna "better than thou" attitude. Refusing loads and crying if they don't get that butter run every single time. Some company drivers are the exact same way. Those are the ones you see sitting at the terminal or truck stop still waiting for a load.

The rest of us just keep on a rollin.

You just created yourself an enemy lol...... you explained to him how stupid he was lol..... now I have a better understanding of terminal rats

Its like this guy in the terminal I saw the other day complaining. He got the truck fixed on Mon morning and the FM sent him a midnight to midnight load from across the street to CA. Easy 2300 mile load. He rejected it saying "I told u I want to do laundry and shower". So Wed we got positioned close to the terminal and I got that same load as a team.

The guy bragged to me that he told the FM to shove it....yet he's complaining he can't get out of the terminal. So my reply "why didn't you just pick up the load then come back here to eat shower etc...and leave when you want? So you are bragging you rejected a $950 load and you're STILL not rolling three days later?"

His mouth dropped like he didn't know that was an option. Smh.

I think people are lazy and don't think.

Ohhh I'm so scared he won't like me lol

I remember getting a load of shingles that had to be tarped, but it was in the winter, so the road salt argument made some sense. I'll admit I grumbled, but it was to myself, not to another driver or my dispatcher or the shipper! And while I was grumbling, I was also tarping, so it didn't cost me any time. In fact, I found that tarping alwayd went a lot faster if I cussed under my breath a little bit. Thankfully I no longer have to tarp.

As you say, though, the guy spent all his time whining when he could have just gotten it done.