Trucking Takes Commitment

It is that same missing quality in them that makes them consider a one year commitment to a company, as a way of paying them back for their amazing generosity, to be a form of "slave labor."

Maybe it's just my own mentality, or my age, or maybe even a combination of the two, but I just don't get that form of thinking at all. When looking at the grand scheme of things across your whole working life, what's one year? It's a drop in the bucket. So the company who trains you "owns" you for a year. So what? Once that year is over (which happens so fast it'll make your head spin in this industry), your life and your career are your own and you can write your own ticket--assuming you get through that first year clean, that is. And who knows? You might even find you like who you work for and want to stay. Even if you don't, that year of experience opens so many doors it's not even funny, and the options available to you are virtually endless.

I went through company-sponsored training , with the standard contractual obligation to work for the company for a year. I ended up staying for two and a half years. I might even have stayed longer, but things changed drastically and the company became a total stranger compared to what it was, and I moved on to another company, where I've been extremely happy for the past year. That's the beauty of this industry. The opportunities for good experienced drivers are there for the taking. "Surrendering" a year of your working life for that kind of potential is a no-brainer to me.

Or maybe I'm just weird.

Your not wierd i took the self financing option to go to school simply because i didnt find this website until after i started getting everything together but you and OS are perfectly correct i spent 4 yrs at 2 jobs i hated just to pay bills and keep everything going until my fiance saw how much i wanted to do this and she said she was ok with it so im doing it. Im sure i can make it at least a year at whatever company i go with. So im not worried about it if i dont like the first company ill give it a year and move on. According to every experienced driver ive talked to it will take that long to figure out what the heck im doing out there. So i dont mind taking my licks and learning the business.

Always open this thread if it's made by Old School.

Never open this thread if it's made by your girlfriend.

Always open this thread if it's made by Old School.

Never open this thread if it's made by your girlfriend.

LMAO you reminded me of my favorite Charlie Sheen quote (waaay back in the '80s): "Yeah, I had a girlfriend once, but I got that piano off my back."

Old School blowing minds yet again :) Great piece and wonderfully put. I think that creativity is definitely necessary and maybe that's what he thought he was doing. Who knows. But like so many people have told me and like Old School reiterated, getting some skin in the game is what makes you appreciate...well everything! From the people who might help you financially, to the long hours in the classroom...and that's just the beginning!

Thank you Old School. I Took this as a positive message for us rookies who sometimes question ourselves yet persevere. Have a great day!

Thanks old school

Love OS's OP and the responses in the thread.

Fatsquatch, if your weird then I'm nuts. As I continue to figure out where I'm going and how or who I'm getting there with, I've come across Roehl. They are currently in my top list of companies to try and get a pre hire from for a number of reasons. One of my personal favorite reasons is the contract they require from you even if you get a CDL from a school. If I go that route (school) and then sign on with them they will require I stay on for 75k miles for the training they will provide me. I love that.

If a company takes the time to show me the ropes, then I should damn well not have a problem fulfilling an obligation for that training.

Commitment is a great word. It's a shame some don't know what it means.

Commitment is a great word. It's a shame some don't know what it means.

I am going to say this as nice as I possibly can since you are not driving yet. I left Roehl before I had my year in because an opportunity to get in on a new account with a different company had much better overall benefits to me. As much as I appreciate getting my school and training through them, the bottom line is each and every driver has to look out for themselves and their family. You can bet your bottom dollar that if you are not meeting a companies needs they will part ways with you regardless of how much time you have with them or if you have not fulfilled your year. I will pay Roehl back monthly with interest, until I have repaid what I owe to them and that really is all of the commitment I have. I know this is not the popular opinion on TT and I don't have anything bad to say about Roehl, but it just wasn't a place I wanted to be long term. Others feel differently and we can agree to disagree, but to say someone doesn't know the meaning of commitment because they don't stay at their first company for a year is baloney imho.

Jolie, my apologies to you and anyone else my comments might have bothered. When I get irritated I don't review what I wrote. Or else I would've noticed I left out a few important points.

While I do believe in what I wrote I also realize I left out an important portion that was in my head.

The commitment encompasses either driving for the specified miles or paying back what is owed. There are many who feel like the poster Old School was talking about. Get it for free and will ***** and moan about having to pay anything back.

Obviously you aren't one of those at all. None of your posts have ever complained about owing Roehl money and you have never complained. Based on your choice and how you handled it I would say you know exactly what commitment means.

...each and every driver has to look out for themselves and their family....I know this is not the popular opinion on TT and I don't have anything bad to say about Roehl, but it just wasn't a place I wanted to be long term

It's not just about the commitment. It's about your career also. A common scenario would be someone who starts out with a company, works there for three months, leaves for a better opportunity, and within a month or two they get in a fender bender. The company that you were working for fires you for getting in a fender bender in your first 90 days. The company that you quit won't hire you back because you left before the contract was up and then got in a fender bender to boot. And many of the new companies you apply to won't hire you because you're a job hopper, you reneged on your contract, you got in a fender bender, and you have very little experience.

Now what do you do? You've made yourself almost worthless to an decent employers out there. You're way too big of a risk.

Now if you had stayed with the first company and gotten in that same fender bender they would have likely kept you. Why? Because for one they've already invested a lot of time and money training you and they'd like to recoup that money. For two, you have some experience there and hopefully you've shown good potential so they still believe in you.

We had a driver here at TT that worked for Schneider. After eight months he hit a telephone pole and destroyed the truck. The driver was unhurt. Schneider brought him back to the terminal , did some interviews with him, and sent him back out on the road in a brand new truck. His attitude was great, he had done a great job to that point, and the company decided to forgive him and send him back out there. Obviously none of that would have happened if he had just started at Schneider a month before wrecking the truck or had quit Schneider and wrecked someone else's truck right away. He would have been fired immediately and nobody would have been interested in giving him a chance.

This scenario happens every single day out there. Right now there are drivers reading this going, "Wow, that's exactly what happened to me. Wish I could go back and do it differently."

So it isn't just a matter of "Be True To Your School" for those old enough to remember the old Beach Boys song. It's about protecting your career early in the game when you're most vulnerable to having accidents and you have very little experience as leverage for finding a new job.

*mic drop*

Old School that was a great post. Everyone new should read it.