Question About Training, Dispatcher, Home Time, And Pay

Sam, I think you're missing the point. The fact is, you are in no position to expect all the things you're expecting from your company right now. You're still with a trainer for crying out loud! You're not even on your own yet. And even after you get out on your own, you will STILL be in no position to have such expectations for at least a year.

Before you were hired, you were like a person floating in the middle of the ocean, hoping to be rescued. Then along came this company in a tiny little life raft. They were overcrowded in there, low on supplies and barely surviving themselves, but they pulled you up into the boat anyway. That's the position you're in now. You're sunburned, hungry and dehydrated, and they are nursing you back to health in the hopes that once you're all better, you'll be able to contribute to the group by fishing, fighting off sharks or whatever. But as you're lying there near death, instead of being grateful for their help, you're complaining about the sun, the food, etc. You're making them think they might be better off to throw you back overboard.

That dispatcher , he's a trusted member of the group, despite the flaws you see in him. The other people in the boat, they all have his back because he's been with them for a while and has proven himself in ways you have no clue about because you weren't around at the time. They will side with him and throw you to the sharks, guaranteed.

Do you have any idea how many people these companies see come in to this industry thinking they know better than everyone, and who end up quitting because no one listens to what they think needs to change? You're just another one of those guys at this point. There are plenty more waiting to take your place, and I'm sure their impression of you right now is as a complaining know-it-all who will eventually quit. So unless you can drastically alter their perception, they will not be putting much effort into making you happy with your job because why should they if you're not going to last? They'll give the good treatment to those who have the potential to be long-term employees.

Look, bottom line, this is a tough and unpredictable job. You have to be able to roll with the setbacks and disappointments without trying to lay blame on people in a superior position to you. Because if you don't, you will fail. Period.

Ya know, I'm not a jerk but Im going to be real with you. Don't you ever disrespect your supervisor again for any reason. You're a grown man, act like it and stop acting out of emotion.

Ill tell you this, I like my dispatcher a lot, but at the same time I hate snotty, rude students who are disrespectful. I would choose my dispatcher over any student. If you were on my truck and I found out that you talked to my dispatcher in that fashion your ass would be hitchhiking home from Mile Marker 65 on I40 in New Mexico.

This is coming from a Prime Instructor/Trainer -- learn your place on the totem pole.

Now that we addressed your embarrassing, childish ways I can answer your question.

You don't get paid at home or to drive home under a load. He actually did you a favor but you're too new to realize it. You also had taxes kill the paycheck and weekly payments that you owe Prime. It's very easy to see you going negative.

Seriously though I've been a part of TT for a long time. What you did was the absolutely the dumbest thing I've read in a very long time. Learn your lesson from it and apologize to your dispatcher for your behavior. You're lucky you haven't gotten fired yet, though I wouldn't be surprised if that's pending.

Im sorry you feel that way daniel but what I did was by no way in the wrong or disrespectful. I simply asked if I would be reimbursed for money spent. The only reason money was spent was because I was told to go ahead and spend it. I am in no way acting like I know better than the rest or how to run it better I am simply stating facts. Fact 1, I was told by said dispatcher and said trainer that I would be home on said day because said trainer and said dispatcher had already planned on said trainer being home said day 3 months in advance. Originally I was going to take my home time earlier but because my trainer had already turned in his home time I figured it would be easier to do them the same time. Fact 2, I was introduced into the world of trucking with guarantees that Prime understands the stress of being on the road away from family and that home time is a priority. You may not get it the first thing in the morning but at some point within that day you will be on your way home. Fact 3, on said day I dropped off at 10am and started waiting to be routed home. I was not upset that I was not home yet and understood that I may not make it home until the next morning but at no point was I planning on receiving a dispatch to pick up the next day sometime between 11am and 9pm, 250 miles further east than I already was, that dropped off 2 days later still not in the direction of my house. Let me break it down, on monday I picked up in MI and dropped off tues morning in PA. At that point I was 6 hours away from home in OH. Why then would I be routed to pick up further into PA and drop off in Virginia? At no point was that going near my house or my trainers house in KY. Furthermore, my trainer was right there beside me complaining because he had a wedding to attend, hence why he had put in his home time to begin with months in advance. He was also the person who told me to drive over my 14 in order for him to have enough hours to make it home. He would also have had to drive over his hours that day seeing as he only got back 6 at midnight.

Why then would I be routed to pick up further into PA and drop off in Virginia? At no point was that going near my house or my trainers house in KY

Sometimes they'll have you pick up a load and swap it with another driver who has a load going near your house. They weren't going to necessarily make you keep the load you were picking up. They were trying to figure out the logistics of getting you a load that goes near your house.

Same holds true for any profession. When I worked for Nissan Forklifts, servicing ALL lift makes at customer locations, I loved that job. My dispatcher ladies were nice, and we got along great, and she handed out the workloads for the week.Sometimes when I had to go into the shop for stocking my parts turning in paperwork, I'd bring em a box of donuts, just because lol ......... If she radio'd me for a break down 200 miles away, I'm all over it! She always tried her best, even during slow work weeks, to find me work, someplace. ......Even if it was a week before a scheduled appointment, she'd call the customer, and ask if it was ok if we came out a bit earlier than scheduled.

I have no intentions of quitting prime, to be honest with you I actually enjoy being a truck driver. I do feel however that the program is broken. They make a lot of promises, and if I take this forums word, that arent kept. I also think the training part has some big holes in it, Ive already vented about my training. I talked to my dispatcher the way that I did because of these reasons. In a few weeks I will have my own truck and I will interview new dispatchers so by the time I leave MI I will hopefully set and ready for a wonderful career.

Your not seeing the big picture here... just cuz you can get a new dispatcher doesn't mean they don't talk... if you **** one off to the point where he/she gets really mad and the type to hold grudges then you just committed career suicide Cuz that dispatch will let your dispatcher know what type of driver you are.. kind of like one cop helping another cop... your best bet is to apologize and move on..

Why then would I be routed to pick up further into PA and drop off in Virginia? At no point was that going near my house or my trainers house in KY

Sometimes they'll have you pick up a load and swap it with another driver who has a load going near your house. They weren't going to necessarily make you keep the load you were picking up. They were trying to figure out the logistics of getting you a load that goes near your house.

I had a mini panic attack on my last home time. My home time was scheduled a few days after a delivery in Illinois. I figured they'd have me to a couple short loads then go home to Indiana. I get my next load assignment TO LOUISIANA the day before my full-time started. I called them up and (respectfully) said me and my wife were going out of town, do I have to take this load? After civil conversation I took it, not wanting to tread too far onto thin ice. The next day I spoke to my regular DM and she said she was doing her best to get me home, if it were REALLY important she'd take me of the load. Remembering she controls my miles, I said no I'd take it. I ended up getting home around 5p.m.the day after I'd planned, so she just shuffled my home time days back by one. I've never had home time more than one day later than I requested. (Knock on wood)

Oh yeah nothing is guaranteed in trucking..

One rule to follow in trucking....

Never ever make plans that can not be adjusted. It's the life we live and the lifestyle we choose. The only guarantee in trucking, regardless of any promises made, plans of any type can and often do change.