TGTBT New Job Isn't Working Out

So after 6 months at a trucking co, I saw an opportunity to work at a job where the work is easy and not a lot of driving but enough to keep our cdl alive. Been here 7 months, but it has its downfalls too. Frustrating thing is they give us broken equipment to replace broken equipment with. And very little pay. $32k for us to split per year. We drive all over one state sometimes 5 to 6 hours away. To be up, rested and back at the job site, after only 10 hours off and they wonder why I can't kick bronchitis. They slip between the lines with eob and elf. Advice please?

Not sure what your question is.

Jacinda, I will give this a shot.

Advice please?

Something tells me that you already know what kind of advice we give here. We always advise people to stick with their first trucking job for one full year. There are some really good solid reasons why we do that, and what you are going through is very illustrative of why we hold to that position so firmly. Why did you leave Prime so prematurely? You came in here seemingly excited about getting this thing started, and I'm not sure we ever heard from you again! My guess is that you fell into a nest of "Terminal Rats" and started believing all the rot they had to say about the company. What say you to that? Am I right, or am I close to being right? I'm sort of Clairvoyant when it comes to things like this, so be honest with us. The most important thing is that you need to be honest with yourself. You see, I'm pretty sure you should have posed that question, "advice please?" about one year ago. That is when you really needed to be listening to what we had to say. But, who knows, maybe you can still salvage your career, and put it in gear. Personally, I think you just don't really like trucking, but you don't want to admit it yet. There is no shame in leaving this career - we all understand that is not for everyone.

Here is the biggest red flag to me in your post:

I saw an opportunity to work at a job where the work is easy and not a lot of driving but enough to keep our cdl alive.

Jacinda, I do not know a single successful truck driver who would make a statement like that. Truck driving takes a lot of commitment. It takes long hours, and a firm resolve to get things done that most people can't handle. Most of the successful truck drivers I know get a certain thrill from overcoming the challenges of this job - it is like adrenaline to them. They are driven to get things done. They are disappointed in themselves if they aren't the first ones in and the first ones out of a customer's location. They live to get things accomplished - it is their food and drink - it is their life. An "opportunity to work at a job where the work is easy and not a lot of driving" would not appeal to them at all, not one bit.

You decided to leave one of the major carriers and go to work at a small company. Again, we warn people about doing this all the time. We tell people that more than likely their equipment is not going to be taken care of because they will be on a shoe string of a budget. This is especially harmful for a rookie driver like yourself. Now what if you decide you want to go back over the road? Who do you think is going to consider this as recent experience? Unfortunately it won't be many of the places that will be a good fit for your level of experience. You have now gotten yourself into a catch 22 situation where you are not happy with your present employer, and I can only assume you were not happy with Prime, or else it certainly would seem that you would have stayed with it. Now it sounds like you may even be running illegal logs, and what is that going to do for your career if you end up getting a big citation for that?

You are earning 16,000 bucks a year - you might as well be working as a clerk at the Dollar Store! You don't seem to like it that you only get ten hours off each day. I'm afraid that is what truck drivers do. I am seldom ever off for more than ten hours, and usually I am working a couple of those hours just so that I can conserve my available drive time - that is what truck driver's do - we work hard, but we certainly manage our time so that we can make a lot more money than you are showing.

Continued...

Here's my advice...

You have got to make up your mind whether you want to commit to this career or not. I think you tried it and were not happy with it, but you somehow think you are going to discover that golden egg by looking elsewhere. The problems you are having with Trucking have nothing to do with the companies that you chose, it has everything to do with you! That is not a harsh indictment, I actually have a lot of empathy for you. Here's why...

You started this career in just the way so many do. Under some very false pretenses and expectations. You thought, "Hey, I know how to drive. How cool would it be for someone to pay me a lot of money just for driving their big cool truck around?" Then you found out that this was work. You may have even discovered that you weren't very good at getting things accomplished the way your dispatcher needed you to. Then you met some people who felt the same way you did, and you all moaned and groaned together concerning just how bad this company was treating you, and then you felt your feelings were justified. You had validation now that the problem wasn't you after all, it was the company that was really bad. So you quit, you found another job, that seemed like a god-send for the first two or three weeks, and then those same old problems and feelings came creeping back up. Wow, dammit, I have chosen another "bad place to work!" See, I warned you that I knew more than you wanted me to when I told you I was sort of clairvoyant when it comes to people and their trucking careers.

You have got a choice to make. You need to decide if you want to be a truck driver or not. My gut feeling is that this career is not for you. If it is a no go, then go ahead and move on - don't beat yourself up and be miserable. We respect you for trying, but we won't respect you if you keep on laboring at it under false pretenses and bogus expectations. If you want to do it, then buckle down and do the hard work. Go back to Prime and show them you have what it takes. If you don't have what it takes, then dust yourself off and start off with something else, but get on with it and don't hang around with that outfit that you are at now and end up getting yourself into some trouble over their unwillingness to do things properly. You've made some bad choices, now you've got to decide which way to go. I hope you take what I've said with understanding, because it was all meant with kindness and a willingness to help you try to see how you made a wrong turn.

Sounds like a typical mom n pop type company "local job" to me. I only say mom n pop company because of the low pay.. but of course you have no real experience. Not enough to actually make a decent living in a home daily job.

So you don't want to drive much, you want more than 10 hours off a day, you want easy.. go work at McDonald's or something because trucking ain't it.

Well Jacinda. I can offer this for whatever it’s worth; easy work in ANY area of endeavor, will typically bring lower wages.

Trucking may not be a perfect industry, but flatbed requires more work than dry van. Ergo, flatbed usually pays better. Food distribution work as a driver can be brutal (physically). It too pays better than many truck driving jobs. See a trend?

Frankly, I think being a truck driver for a dry van division is about as “easy” as it gets.

Frankly, I think being a truck driver for a dry van division is about as “easy” as it gets.

I run reefer and reading this thread, all i thought was "Once you get the hang of it, this job is pretty damn easy." sure there are frustrating days, but i have no one breathing down my neck, drive a late model well maintained truck that will soon be replaced with a brand new one, have no living expenses but food, and i get what i want.

i want a 34....or to drive to a certain region...if i want extra sleep. heck, i nap as much as i want, and no one cares because i get there early and dont hit anything.

this is the best job i ever had, so i dont see how people 1) leave Prime and 2) Leave trucking all together. plus, i made.double what you made combined before becoming a trainer.

yeah, i can totally see why someone would take that opportunity (insert sacrasm.here)

I had to re read through OPs comments.

First she was going to Susans company within a week...but then a friend was going to train her someplace else. Eventually she was at prime waiting for paperwork in what I can only guess was orientation...but left for an unknown company after 6 mos and went to a "TGTBT" for 1/3 of the pay and broken down equipment.

What am i missing here? What was too good to be true?

So after 6 months at a trucking co, I saw an opportunity to work at a job where the work is easy and not a lot of driving but enough to keep our cdl alive. Been here 7 months, but it has its downfalls too. Frustrating thing is they give us broken equipment to replace broken equipment with. And very little pay. $32k for us to split per year.

Let me clarify. We left after something's happened. Not just myself but my trainer as well. I was trying to think of his disability as well. I'll defend myself but in a calm manner I am not lazy and worked hard at Prime and only missed days this year due to pneumonia. My partner has a smashed right elbow so imagine what working with that has done to him through the years. I've been doing stuff he knows he shouldn't. Forgive me for asking your advice and thanks for judging a book by the cover.

So after 6 months at a trucking co, I saw an opportunity to work at a job where the work is easy and not a lot of driving but enough to keep our cdl alive. Been here 7 months, but it has its downfalls too. Frustrating thing is they give us broken equipment to replace broken equipment with. And very little pay. $32k for us to split per year. We drive all over one state sometimes 5 to 6 hours away. To be up, rested and back at the job site, after only 10 hours off and they wonder why I can't kick bronchitis. They slip between the lines with eob and elf. Advice please?

Jacinda wrote:

Let me clarify. We left after something's happened.

When does the clarifying begin?

How is it that your trainer has a disability, managed to gain enough experience to become one. And then you come along and suddenly his smashed elbow becomes such an issue that you are doing things for him? Jacinda this doesn't add up.

What do you want? Do you know? Any advice you get from this forum won't help you figure that out.