I Got Sent Home By Con-way Freight

In keeping with the standards of this wonderful website and forum I will refrain from ugly comments and words, however I don't have many nice things to say about Con-way Freight, today. As God is my witness, they (the head trainer especially) were neither truthful, fair, nor honest in how they treated me, tested me, or trained me.

I was put on notice today for having not passed the skills test on Friday, pending the usual investigation from their HR rep, when she calls me tomorrow. I believe this is when I'm supposed to tell her my side of the story and then, I'm sure, I will be officially terminated after that. But it's more than that. The trainer added untruths to the evaluation on Friday that would ensure I'd never get another chance. The terminal manager already asked me for my ID badge. He was not unkind but some parts of this organization are truly very, very twisted and evil.

As a veteran military officer trusted by the government with a Top Secret Clearance (SBI), a woman of integrity, a mother of 2 Eagle Scouts (and one on his way), I cannot and will not, in Good Faith, recommend this company to anyone out there and especially any female - at least not to the terminal where I worked and trained: in Henderson (Denver), Colorado.

-mountain girl

Sorry to hear about your time there, hopefully you will find another trucking company to go to that will treat you better.

Mountain Girl, I want you to hold your head high and keep plugging away at this career.

I know (I really do!) that what I just encouraged you to do is a hard pill to swallow at the moment. You have busted your tail to prove yourself from everything I can tell, but unfortunately not everything we face in life is fair. Without really knowing all the circumstances I already was concerned earlier on that you may have been bumping up against the male ego at your particular terminal. I seriously think this is what happened.

It stinks! It's really trying, and can seem incredibly cruel at times when trying to break in to this career. Don't allow yourself to get down on the same level as the people you've been dealing with. So far you've been a class act, and they probably have done everything they could to get you to crack. There is a job out there for you, and if your experience is anything like mine was you will be surprised at how much you enjoy the job that you finally end up with. You have been up against incredible odds, and you played the game fair and square. You didn't come out on top this time, but your time is coming. Take that wonderful quote that one of the thoughtful people on this site gave to you from Michael Jordan and put it on your refrigerator door - think about what it says everyday. I too have dropped the ball many times in my life, I've even had the ball stolen from me several times. It's the people who keep plugging away at the game who are the winners. A class act knows what they've go to offer, and when the neanderthals they are dealing with don't have the appreciation for what's being offered up to them, they move on and find someone who does have the insight to recognize the talents and skills that were purposely ignored by others. Winners never give up, they never have second thoughts, they always keep the goal in sight. They have a drive for success that the average person knows nothing about. Press on, success is yours, victory is yours, because you've got what it takes to go all the way.

Hang in there, and if you ever need a personal reference I would be more than glad to provide it for you.

Without question that s*cks. However....you can forget about it, move on, and get your career started somewhere else like nothing ever happened if you want.

The toughest part for you to overcome will be the emotional part of it. As far as your career is concerned this is pretty much meaningless. You'll call a different company, they'll give you a start date, and you'll continue on with getting your career underway like nothing ever happened. A non-issue pretty much.

But right now you're (plug in a list of emotions here) and I would be too....anyone would be. You've invested a ton of time and hard work here. The question is what are you going to do about it? From what we've gotten to know about you my guess would be you'll handle it perfectly. You'll vent for a very short time but immediately formulate a new plan and start executing it. You don't strike me as the type to let the fact that life isn't fair stop you from doing what you want to do even when it truly isn't fair.

And worse than that would be the thought of letting the individuals that you feel most betrayed by be the ones that stopped you from having a career in trucking. Can you imagine??? I can say with confidence it's highly unlikely you'd let that happen.

So yap - you're p*ssed off and rightfully so. We're totally cool with you venting here a bit. But you probably have half a century to live yet and this is nothing but a few weeks of frustration and a great learning experience you'll always benefit from - nothing worse than that.

So I'm just as optimistic for your career as I would be if they kept you around. Doesn't matter. One way or another you'll be out there driving rigs like a pro and this will all quickly become a distant memory like it never happened. You'll be so happy with your new career and your successes that you won't even waste your time thinking about any of this soon enough.

I'm so sorry MG, they really dropped the ball and missed out on a star employee. :(

Dont be discouraged. Keep your head up and push forward. I know this would have been the ideal place for you, but you will find something..

Luckily, I did not choose Con-Way Freight. Last year, I tried to apply to them, but they did not hire due to down time. You are exceptional, but they are not.

Hold On

Thank you, Gentlemen. I needed all of the above very much. An investigative reporter like Bill Curtis would have been able to make a great story out of this one. The lies and inconsistencies abound. I've even been slandered more than once - an offense I find extremely difficult to take when I believe that my reputation belongs to me and none other.

OS, I had to chuckle when you said I should post that Michael Jordan quote on the fridge, as it's been there since yesterday, in 24-point font. I truly appreciate your encouragement. I've been trampled this time but it was Steve Winwood and the band Traffic who said, "...spirit is something that no one destroys." It is a privilege to receive advice from the wise and I truly appreciate it.

And yes, the egos made me cringe ...often. I tried to ignore the little voice in my head and the little knot in my stomach but instead, I should have paid attention. One dock-worker from the same starting date and orientation day as me commented just this morning that "this was a strange place."

Brett you know you're right...? (inflection in voice at the end of the sentence)

"So I'm just as optimistic for your career as I would be if they kept you around. Doesn't matter. One way or another you'll be out there driving rigs like a pro and this will all quickly become a distant memory like it never happened. You'll be so happy with your new career and your successes that you won't even waste your time thinking about any of this soon enough. "

Hanging from the ceiling inside the dock at the Con-way Freight terminal are these huge banners with the names of drivers who had won national truck driving championships over the years. I had driven and ridden with a few of them in the past few weeks. One of them was a stellar employee but the other was that wimpy guy I talked about who was texting his girlfriend all day. The competitive side of me makes me want to get out there and win those national championships right out from under their gnarly Con-way hands and shrink their little egos back into place.

You know, an instructor can repeat to another instructor (and student/everyone else) until it gets said over and over and over and over again: "she has difficulty backing ..." enough times that everyone actually believes it's true. My backing wasn't any worse than any other newbies' backing but they had it down to a mantra, just like the CDL school did with my "problem shifting."

You know what? One instructor took me out on the road last week and for about 2 hours, all we did was drive around this 2-3 mile radius from the terminal, in-and-around streets that circled other yards and terminals, and worked on my shifting. Up and down. Down and up. From speeds of 15 mph to 60, then back down to 45, 30, 25, 15, okay, now shift, okay, now grab a gear right before this turn ...over and over again. That's all we did. There were some stop signs, there was a little bit of traffic to deal with, but mostly, I drove through empty streets that bordered other terminals and in just that short time, my shifting got good enough that on one occasion, he actually, "accused" me of "floating that last gear." I didn't. I used the clutch, but my RPMs were right-on to the point where I could have floated it. I got to where I (finally) wasn't pushing the clutch to the floor and was just barely engaging it - THAT's when he thought I floated it.

You can work with a student to help him or her improve or you can just continue to perpetuate the problem by repeating what the problem is, over and over, but never doing anything about it.

..and of course, a system with no checks and balances, with no other instructor or party present, can allow for a single instructor to lie on a score sheet and never be held accountable for it or questioned over it.

-mountain girl

Thank you, Gentlemen. I needed all of the above very much. An investigative reporter like Bill Curtis would have been able to make a great story out of this one. The lies and inconsistencies abound. I've even been slandered more than once - an offense I find extremely difficult to take when I believe that my reputation belongs to me and none other.

OS, I had to chuckle when you said I should post that Michael Jordan quote on the fridge, as it's been there since yesterday, in 24-point font. I truly appreciate your encouragement. I've been trampled this time but it was Steve Winwood and the band Traffic who said, "...spirit is something that no one destroys." It is a privilege to receive advice from the wise and I truly appreciate it.

And yes, the egos made me cringe ...often. I tried to ignore the little voice in my head and the little knot in my stomach but instead, I should have paid attention. One dock-worker from the same starting date and orientation day as me commented just this morning that "this was a strange place."

Brett you know you're right...? (inflection in voice at the end of the sentence)

"So I'm just as optimistic for your career as I would be if they kept you around. Doesn't matter. One way or another you'll be out there driving rigs like a pro and this will all quickly become a distant memory like it never happened. You'll be so happy with your new career and your successes that you won't even waste your time thinking about any of this soon enough. "

Hanging from the ceiling inside the dock at the Con-way Freight terminal are these huge banners with the names of drivers who had won national truck driving championships over the years. I had driven and ridden with a few of them in the past few weeks. One of them was a stellar employee but the other was that wimpy guy I talked about who was texting his girlfriend all day. The competitive side of me makes me want to get out there and win those national championships right out from under their gnarly Con-way hands and shrink their little egos back into place.

You know, an instructor can repeat to another instructor (and student/everyone else) until it gets said over and over and over and over again: "she has difficulty backing ..." enough times that everyone actually believes it's true. My backing wasn't any worse than any other newbies' backing but they had it down to a mantra, just like the CDL school did with my "problem shifting."

You know what? One instructor took me out on the road last week and for about 2 hours, all we did was drive around this 2-3 mile radius from the terminal, in-and-around streets that circled other yards and terminals, and worked on my shifting. Up and down. Down and up. From speeds of 15 mph to 60, then back down to 45, 30, 25, 15, okay, now shift, okay, now grab a gear right before this turn ...over and over again. That's all we did. There were some stop signs, there was a little bit of traffic to deal with, but mostly, I drove through empty streets that bordered other terminals and in just that short time, my shifting got good enough that on one occasion, he actually, "accused" me of "floating that last gear." I didn't. I used the clutch, but my RPMs were right-on to the point where I could have floated it. I got to where I (finally) wasn't pushing the clutch to the floor and was just barely engaging it - THAT's when he thought I floated it.

You can work with a student to help him or her improve or you can just continue to perpetuate the problem by repeating what the problem is, over and over, but never doing anything about it.

..and of course, a system with no checks and balances, with no other instructor or party present, can allow for a single instructor to lie on a score sheet and never be held accountable for it or questioned over it.

-mountain girl

Exactly MG...you've got what it takes. You'll find the right company/job and you'll look back and say live and learn. Its not easy sometimes...but we all go through the ups and downs. Hang in there.

Luckily, I did not choose Con-Way Freight. Last year, I tried to apply to them, but they did not hire due to down time. You are exceptional, but they are not.

Hold On

-Drake

Thank you, Drake. I really appreciate that. You were spared.

Everyone can learn from me now and not step on the same landmines as I did. This website is so exceptional, that I expect others out there to be the same. For now, we are merely raising the standard but not everyone out there has lived up to and met this standard, yet.

-mountain girl

I'm so sorry MG, they really dropped the ball and missed out on a star employee. :(

Dont be discouraged. Keep your head up and push forward. I know this would have been the ideal place for you, but you will find something..

-HM

Thanks, HM. I know you mean that.

-mountain girl