Just Quit The Worst, Best Paying Job I've Ever Had. When To Say Enough Is Enough?!

Not trying to start a pity party but I had a great paying "local" cabinet delivery gig that was absolutely horrible. I've been driving a little over ten years but after my last run I got back, cleaned out my truck and turned in my keys etc.

It was a dedicated job that was just absolutely chaotic. The customer we hauled for would sometimes let us sit at the dock for 5 hrs. Their customers hated us and them so we'd get punished "6 hr unload time with about 10 hr drive times". We were always late even though it wasn't our fault. They were constantly loading stuff incorrectly and stuff missing, damaged. My dispatch was constantly pushing our hrs. I'd usually get back with 5 min to spare with a ten hr turn around with a hr commute. We the drivers were constantly being stuck in the middle, taking up all the slack from 3 sides.

They would constantly send us to major North East cities on streets that were a nightmare to get in and out of. Drivers were constantly getting in accidents or damaging equipment. I always planned my runs pretty thoroughly to have them switch everything when I came in the morning. Like "oh you have an easy VA run tomorrow" come in " sorry you now have 3 stops in bronx/brooklyn"

I hung in there for 2 years but the last run was my breaking point. Delivered to a job site in brooklyn, was a ***** to back into, then they took their sweet ass time unloading, kept telling them my clock was running, they of course didn't care. I did everything i could to expedite the delivery. sorted all the cabinets, labeled everything even hopped on and off the truck to cart them in, all things that weren't required of me. Still no cooperation. They had me move my truck a bunch of times and I finally snapped . The super of the job site told me to move my truck after I refused unless they got me unloaded. We got into a heated debate. He accused me of delivering the load a day late, which wasn't my fault, shipper delayed the load by 7 hrs the day before. Shipper blamed it on us, saying we had a truck broke down, which was BS. I told the job supervisor to F off he told me to F off and leave so I left. My supervisor called said I had to go back, I did then they finally got their ass to move a tad quicker.

This sort of situation was happening on and off the whole time I was with the carrier. Concerns that were brought up about safety, hrs of service etc. were constantly ignored. Yeah, I know a lot of what I stated is just things that are "well that's trucking" but I had had enough. After 10 years of different BS from different carriers, idiots on the road, impossible dead lines, ever changing BS rules and regs etc etc etc etc. I think I'm ready to hang it up for good. Even the high amount of pay that carrier paid us we still had about 4 or 5 of 20 drivers leave.

Only bills I have are a modest mortgage and your basic utilities. Not married, no kids, no gf. Just me. So I'm gonna find something that pays the bills and walk away from trucking for awhile, maybe indefinitely.

What's the worst, best paying, job you've had to walk away from?

Soooooooooo.....

How do you plan to pay the modest mortgage with no job? Do you have other skills besides driving skills? Any soft skills, customer service? Trained in any sort of engineering work etc?

What happens if you run into frustrations at your new gig? Will you tell the customer to eff off there too? In most jobs telling your customer to eff off gets you shown the door really quickly, why not just find a new gig while working?

I also find it surprising that they would keep your former employer on as a carrier if they hated you guys as you say, most times businesses drop other businesses that they find hard to deal with....somethings just dont seem to make sense of your story.

Not trying to start a pity party but I had a great paying "local" cabinet delivery gig that was absolutely horrible. I've been driving a little over ten years but after my last run I got back, cleaned out my truck and turned in my keys etc.

It was a dedicated job that was just absolutely chaotic. The customer we hauled for would sometimes let us sit at the dock for 5 hrs. Their customers hated us and them so we'd get punished "6 hr unload time with about 10 hr drive times". We were always late even though it wasn't our fault. They were constantly loading stuff incorrectly and stuff missing, damaged. My dispatch was constantly pushing our hrs. I'd usually get back with 5 min to spare with a ten hr turn around with a hr commute. We the drivers were constantly being stuck in the middle, taking up all the slack from 3 sides.

They would constantly send us to major North East cities on streets that were a nightmare to get in and out of. Drivers were constantly getting in accidents or damaging equipment. I always planned my runs pretty thoroughly to have them switch everything when I came in the morning. Like "oh you have an easy VA run tomorrow" come in " sorry you now have 3 stops in bronx/brooklyn"

I hung in there for 2 years but the last run was my breaking point. Delivered to a job site in brooklyn, was a ***** to back into, then they took their sweet ass time unloading, kept telling them my clock was running, they of course didn't care. I did everything i could to expedite the delivery. sorted all the cabinets, labeled everything even hopped on and off the truck to cart them in, all things that weren't required of me. Still no cooperation. They had me move my truck a bunch of times and I finally snapped . The super of the job site told me to move my truck after I refused unless they got me unloaded. We got into a heated debate. He accused me of delivering the load a day late, which wasn't my fault, shipper delayed the load by 7 hrs the day before. Shipper blamed it on us, saying we had a truck broke down, which was BS. I told the job supervisor to F off he told me to F off and leave so I left. My supervisor called said I had to go back, I did then they finally got their ass to move a tad quicker.

This sort of situation was happening on and off the whole time I was with the carrier. Concerns that were brought up about safety, hrs of service etc. were constantly ignored. Yeah, I know a lot of what I stated is just things that are "well that's trucking" but I had had enough. After 10 years of different BS from different carriers, idiots on the road, impossible dead lines, ever changing BS rules and regs etc etc etc etc. I think I'm ready to hang it up for good. Even the high amount of pay that carrier paid us we still had about 4 or 5 of 20 drivers leave.

Only bills I have are a modest mortgage and your basic utilities. Not married, no kids, no gf. Just me. So I'm gonna find something that pays the bills and walk away from trucking for awhile, maybe indefinitely.

What's the worst, best paying, job you've had to walk away from?

Not trying to start a pity party but I had a great paying "local" cabinet delivery gig that was absolutely horrible. I've been driving a little over ten years but after my last run I got back, cleaned out my truck and turned in my keys etc.

It was a dedicated job that was just absolutely chaotic. The customer we hauled for would sometimes let us sit at the dock for 5 hrs. Their customers hated us and them so we'd get punished "6 hr unload time with about 10 hr drive times". We were always late even though it wasn't our fault. They were constantly loading stuff incorrectly and stuff missing, damaged. My dispatch was constantly pushing our hrs. I'd usually get back with 5 min to spare with a ten hr turn around with a hr commute. We the drivers were constantly being stuck in the middle, taking up all the slack from 3 sides.

They would constantly send us to major North East cities on streets that were a nightmare to get in and out of. Drivers were constantly getting in accidents or damaging equipment. I always planned my runs pretty thoroughly to have them switch everything when I came in the morning. Like "oh you have an easy VA run tomorrow" come in " sorry you now have 3 stops in bronx/brooklyn"

I hung in there for 2 years but the last run was my breaking point. Delivered to a job site in brooklyn, was a ***** to back into, then they took their sweet ass time unloading, kept telling them my clock was running, they of course didn't care. I did everything i could to expedite the delivery. sorted all the cabinets, labeled everything even hopped on and off the truck to cart them in, all things that weren't required of me. Still no cooperation. They had me move my truck a bunch of times and I finally snapped . The super of the job site told me to move my truck after I refused unless they got me unloaded. We got into a heated debate. He accused me of delivering the load a day late, which wasn't my fault, shipper delayed the load by 7 hrs the day before. Shipper blamed it on us, saying we had a truck broke down, which was BS. I told the job supervisor to F off he told me to F off and leave so I left. My supervisor called said I had to go back, I did then they finally got their ass to move a tad quicker.

This sort of situation was happening on and off the whole time I was with the carrier. Concerns that were brought up about safety, hrs of service etc. were constantly ignored. Yeah, I know a lot of what I stated is just things that are "well that's trucking" but I had had enough. After 10 years of different BS from different carriers, idiots on the road, impossible dead lines, ever changing BS rules and regs etc etc etc etc. I think I'm ready to hang it up for good. Even the high amount of pay that carrier paid us we still had about 4 or 5 of 20 drivers leave.

Only bills I have are a modest mortgage and your basic utilities. Not married, no kids, no gf. Just me. So I'm gonna find something that pays the bills and walk away from trucking for awhile, maybe indefinitely.

What's the worst, best paying, job you've had to walk away from?

This'll be good :)

From Harrisburg - you should look into doing Intermodal. Decent money and all you do is move trailers to and from the rail yards.

HUB Group, Schneider, JB Hunt, I believe all are hiring there.

@moses R. mortgage is $750 a month. carrier i was with had a 5 year contract. shipper must have the cheapest product around, almost all of their customers complain about them. they've gone through at least 5 carriers previously. get the picture? I've delt with frustration after frustration at this place. I always did what was asked of me and gone beyond when needed. I've cussed out other people on other jobs, it's trucking, goes with the territory, never been let go for it. where i live plenty of jobs around to pay the bills as harrisburg pa is a trans hub. quit one job find another the next day, have a clean driving record.

@auggie69 yeah, I know. I'm just fed up with driving in general place i last worked didn't help at all.

any of you guys have any regular runs in any cities in the north east? especially nyc?

I've cussed out other people on other jobs, it's trucking, goes with the territory

That's really classy Joe. I run the Northeast all the time including the Bronx. I've never felt the need to tell my customers to eff-off. The only territory that goes with is your own territory - there's a reason for that.

For the newbies in here I'm happy to stand up and tell ya there's a lot going on here in Joe's tale of woe, but it's certainly not typical of any of the professionals in my circle of truck drivers. You can be a professional out here. You can keep your cool under pressure. Unfortunately our friend here hasn't figured out how.

You'll often see two main personality types in this job. I call them the "psychos" and the "monks." One group knows how to stay calm under all kinds of pressure. They get things done despite all kinds of issues. The other group likes to display their testosterone levels like it's some sort of badge of honor.

Most of them are really miserable and can't wait to get out of trucking all together. They like to sit around talking about how bad trucking is. They always point their finger at their company, their customers, or the industry itself. They aren't happy, they aren't productive, and they've always got someone to blame. Misery loves company, which is why they always want to hear about your tales of woe.

Not trying to start a pity party...

Don't be surprised if you are held to that statement.

Let's rearrange your story a bit to better follow a line of cause and effect:

Drivers were constantly getting in accidents or damaging equipment.

I told the job supervisor to F off he told me to F off and leave so I left.

Their customers hated us and them...

Can you really blame them? Also, as someone being in business for himself, if I had someone working for me who told a customer or a customer of my customer to F off, I would probably have to have the cheapest prices too. Actually, I cannot understand how an employer could afford to keep someone like that around. If it were me, such a person would have been fired long ago.

My dispatch was constantly pushing our hrs. I'd usually get back with 5 min to spare with a ten hr turn around with a hr commute.

I always planned my runs pretty thoroughly to have them switch everything when I came in the morning. Like "oh you have an easy VA run tomorrow" come in " sorry you now have 3 stops in bronx/brooklyn"

They had me move my truck a bunch of times and I finally snapped .

You took a job in trucking and are now complaining that you had to move a truck around and have to manage trucking related issues?

I think I'm ready to hang it up for good.

It's probably for the best.

You'll often see two main personality types in this job. I call them the "psychos" and the "monks."

What is the ratio of psychos to monks in trucking? From what I read on this forum about the monks interactions with other drivers, my guess is its about 75% to 25%, based on Turtle saying that about 75% of Prime's drivers are L/O.

What is the ratio of psychos to monks in trucking? From what I read on this forum about the monks interactions with other drivers, my guess is its about 75% to 25%, based on Turtle saying that about 75% of Prime's drivers are L/O.

I honestly have no idea what the ratio is.

Your extrapolation (based on Prime's percentages) would be inaccurate though. There are both personality types within the L/O and O/O community. I know several L/O's on my dedicated account who are very calm and very professional.

Don't get the idea that leasing or owning a truck only appeals to certain personality types. The appeal lies mostly in pride and the desire for a higher income. These are parts of human nature that are common in all persons. We try to help people analyze that appeal from a business-like approach. If you can look at it from that perspective you usually realize it isn't all that appealing after all.

You'll often see two main personality types in this job. I call them the "psychos" and the "monks.

Before reading all that message I immediately thought you were referencing tony schalhoub! From Mr monk!

Can't blame you one bit for leaving, I would look at running containers or something along those lines. Craigslist is usually a good place to find local work too.