Conflicted Judgment Of A Rookie.

Hey folks Rookie driver here just started my first gig. First off, I'm a single father of two young boys, so when seeking a job it was imperative that it be local. As i'm sure you all know finding a local company willing to hire without some established experience is like trying to buy a cassette tape. Being nearly ready to give up, I found one. Not at all a very prestigious carrier , but an opportunity none the less.

I go in for my road test one morning excited and nervous. I meet the gentleman doing the ride along, he tosses me the keys to the rig and say's "Lets see what ya know". As i'm approaching a 99 model International 9200 day cab , It looks pretty rough and abused. I tell myself " warm it up, get your pre-trip done". As i'm sitting in the cab I notice the Tachometer isn't working, the temp gauge needle is pointed at the floor board and holding. Naturally I mention it to the co driver, and he grins and says" yeah you dont need em".

Now I know i'm screwed. I kill the truck open the hood to continue on with my pre-trip. The coolants dry , oil isn't reading on the stick and the hub seals are dry. I'm getting a bit more worried not by the minute but by the component. He proceeds to tell me his rig is in the best shape of the 14. I get the fluids back where they should be and we hook up to a mangled 53' box. I bungie the airlines on to the dangling glad hands, and ask about maybe doing some air leak checks. Just as I thought, it "wasn't necessary".

As we're making our way out of the yard, I'm feeling my way around this ten speed as I learned in a thirteen in school. I'm driving this truck against my better judgment. We make our first drop, hook up and head back. I found, down shifting to be a little challenging without a tach. I mention it, "you'll learn to drive by sound", and by the way " your using the clutch too much". He suggested I just slip shift, so I did. We make it back to the yard, he tells the powers that be I can drive and am very trainable. I get hired on and started my week with a trainer. My trainer is a great guy and a driving Mofo with 32 years experience. I'm CONFLICTED folks, I mean yes it's a start and opportunity to get "experience" Every one of the tractors and trailers are in horrible almost uncomfortable condition.

Do I just suck it up get my six months or more experience and move on , or start looking to move on now?? Thanks .

Chris, I'm probably going to catch some flack for my response, but I'm just gonna call it like I see it...

You've got a unique situation in that you absolutely cannot consider going over the road at this point in your life. Your two boys are dependent upon you being there. I understand this completely because I've a brother who raised his son all alone after his wife abandoned he and the child while the boy was an infant. If you've been looking long and hard, and this is the only thing that has worked out, then I recommend you stick it out for a while. But, seriously keep your eyes and ears open for other opportunities. Keep actively checking Craig's list for local jobs in the area. I think if you can keep your sanity under the ridiculous working conditions you find yourself in, then after about three months I would start applying at other places. If they are really needing a driver badly then they may be willing to accept you after having only three months experience.

It is, as you are discovering, almost impossible in most areas to get local driving jobs with no experience, but don't let that keep you from applying to the places that say that. Sometimes they will bend the rules a bit if they are in a tight spot. Hang in there, earn a little money at this job, keep the wolves away from your door, and hopefully things will get better shortly.

I'm not an advocate of driving worn out dilapidated trucks, but this may be your only choice for now - we all have to do things sometimes that are not ideal, but we just have to look at it as a stepping stone to get to where we want to be.

Yeah I would stick it out as much as possible while keeping safety in mind you are no good to your boys if you don't make it home cuz the equipment your company supplied you to do your job is unsafe but if you can make it say 3 to 6 months being a safe and reliably driver that should be good enough for a better opportunity but in mean time apply to every single opportunity that presents itself and never give up on your goal.....

Before I was an official Driver, I was a Truck mechanic for a local truck company, I've seen a few things in that part of the Business that I can relate to what you're seeing, of course the company is trying to make enough $ to stay in business,, running trucks forever, salvaging cabs and engines out of wrecks, non union scale mechanics, hiring Drivers that are desperate to get off of OTR , and inexperienced drivers or some who's background would'nt make it at big companies so they always have a backlog of drivers for the local job. That saying, The company and you are still responsible for Safety and DOT/CSA inspections, hopefuly you will be asigned your own truck, do your pre/post trips, air leak and tug test ect, look up top 20 CSA failures, you will have managers trying to push you down the road, but the company still needs a good CSA rating or else the DOT could shut them down and you don't what it on your record either. If a trucks pre trip won't pass a DOT inspection, then it should'nt leave the yard. If you get assigned your own truck then maybe in the long run you and the shop can get ahead of the repairs, just remember they don't know what's broke unless you write it up on the Pre/Post trip report.. by DOT regs, the mechanics have to sign off on the repair, and the company has to hold and file those reports just like an Aircraft mechanic.. BAD Temp gage, write it up, or else the company will blame you when the Engine burns up

I really appreciate the advice. Professional view points in my stage of the game are pure Gold! It's funny in a sense that even with conditions of the equipment , I stay anxious to get back behind the wheel. Guess that's just part of the rookie "bug". I look forward to getting my assigned truck next week, and just making the best of it. I'm curious Turbo Dan, is there a way to stay on the good side of my mechanic? Thanks again gentleman.

I'm curious Turbo Dan, is there a way to stay on the good side of my mechanic? Thanks again gentleman.

A lot of mechanics like it when the operator takes the time to ask questions and show some initiative that generally means the driver wants to take care of the equipment and that means less work for them

I really appreciate the advice. Professional view points in my stage of the game are pure Gold! It's funny in a sense that even with conditions of the equipment , I stay anxious to get back behind the wheel. Guess that's just part of the rookie "bug". I look forward to getting my assigned truck next week, and just making the best of it. I'm curious Turbo Dan, is there a way to stay on the good side of my mechanic? Thanks again gentleman.

I can't speak for all mechanics, the one thing that used to turn us off was a driver that would have his truck in for repairs and the cab was filthy mess, 30 days worth of lunches, spilled coffee ect, who wants to work in that cab. Broken controls, missing knobs, broken Triangles laying unsecured, loose fire extinquisher ect, I'm sure some mechanics figure why should I care, the driver dosn't,, I take pride in my work so I do what I can, I would always try to do something extra than what the truck came in for.. I would do a pre trip before I started the repairs so I knew what else had to be done before I started.. A driver is supposed to carry Fuses/circuit breakers,,, the better drivers carried a selection of light bulbs that they would change as needed,, also glad hand rubbers and tyraps to fix air leaks and hoses dragging on the back of the tractor, they would carry extra coolant, oil and windshield washer fluid, I've seen DOT write ups for being out of washer fluid,, some drivers had an attitude that they were better than us, I liked the drivers that took an interest in what they could have done to help prevent the problem, those were the ones that got new Radios sooner, when needed***

Yeah, I agree with Dan and Old School.....stick it out and start putting in applications elsewhere in a few months. Come springtime hiring will pick up. Even three months experience will often land you a local job so you might be able to upgrade at that point.

Then again you might be able to get a truck in decent shape by then and grow fond of the place you're at. Shiny trucks are great but they often times don't make up for a job that doesn't suit you well. This job might suit you well, you might grow to like the people, and things will work out.

So keep on top of those inspections, get in good with the mechanics, and keep that safety record clean. See where things stand in a few months and go from there.