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Forget "strikes" they're a waste of time, especially if you aren't "Union", so lets all do something different.
Since the naysayers hereabouts, who have taken to climbing up on the great heights of their "Olympian ego's" have deigned "Trucking" to be an absolute shithole of an occupation not fit for subhuman scum......lets all quit our jobs, go home and draw welfare, unemployment, work as a greeter at wallyworld, or whatever........but by golly, lets do it their way. In fact we should go camp out at their house and eat their food, and since they are so (edited) bright and successful.....they can pay our bills too!!
You people who are thinking about getting into trucking.......don't you dare do it!!
Never mind that you may live in an area that has lost thousands of jobs, you got layed off with no chance of rehire, and no other jobs are available, or you live in a small town where the best jobs are held by the business owners sons and daughters.... Damn you for trying to actually have some gumption and self-determination and the desire to move ahead and provide for yourself and maybe make a better life for yourself.
Make sure that you pay really close attention to the naysayers.......they are such wonderful "successes" in life that they are definitely in a position to counsel you!!! Yeah, right....... and in general...you will note that they are so driven to tell you what is right or wrong for you to do.....and yet they hide virtually all facts about themselves...... Yup, take them seriously.......afterall, you are a dumbass, and they are the smart ones............ Me thinks they are for the most part "uncaged sociopaths" on welfare, with nothing else to do but crap on everyone else's parade.....because in truth, they are failures themselves, but not big enough to admit it.......... cuz the bald faced truth of it is this: If they were that successful, they wouldn't have the slightest bit of motivation to come to a site like this ......they'd be too damn busy enjoying life to actually waste their time doing anything else.... there is no such thing as "reverse altruism".
Oh, I'm sure I'll catch hell for this one...... So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

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This sounds all to familiar to me.Hunt, Fish, Shoot

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[quote="Skywalker"]
Since the naysayers hereabouts, who have taken to climbing up on the great heights of their "Olympian ego's" have deigned "Trucking" to be an absolute shithole of an occupation not fit for subhuman scum....
Skywalker, I think there is a lot of truth in the above paragragh concerning the industry as a whole. Trucking companies seem to have a strategy to abuse drivers and are real creative in ways to take back portions of a driver's pay as well as any self esteem a person may possess.
I believe the key to success in any industry is to beware of what is going on in your working environment and by experiece, avoid thr pitfalls If one is content with their job and can adapt to this type atmosphere, so be it.
If others wish to climb a couple of steps beyond, they will put forth the effort to do so and succeed.
As others here, i have been employed in many occupations during my life, and
i honestly feel the trucking industry ranks high in opportunity for failure as well as success.
In fact we should go camp out at their house and eat their food
Campers are welcome, but please bring groceries!
Hell i'm still tripping on those steps.
Big

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[quote="Big"]
Big, I agree!! There are plus's as well as minus's. I too have worked in other industries.... I worked in "retail"....to include "management"....boy that was a ride! I spent most of my time in direct medical sales, selling directly to Dr's, Hospitals, Government Institutions.....and in my earlier days...construction, not to mention a long stint in the Army. I don't care where you go, or who you work for there will be pitfalls and problems. If you think you can wear a suit to work, and all that and not get abused or have someone try to cheat you.....you're wrong. They are just alittle more creative about it....because you can get in their face alittle easier.
As far as pitfalls and abuse....the pitfalls you learn about and learn to deal with or avoid. Abuse......just say no. If it means changing jobs, then do it. But I think alot of it has to do with communicating with the company and letting them know in a diplomatic way that you aren't interested in taking abuse, and standing your ground.
There are things wrong with this industry, like all, but nothing will ever change until drivers do something about it. But inasmuch as I realize that the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim...one can always hope.
Like you said, if one chooses to adapt to this industry's atmosphere and work within it.....life may not be so bad. Success or failure is prevalent in all industries and walks of life....its just more visible in some, and less in others.
I hope whoever's cooking makes something good........So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

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You'all are right about truckers being the scum that float to the top of the cespit but the companies are happy cause they have found things with at least 2 brain cells firing at one time , full motor functions and a heart beat. What more could they want, besides some toothless, brainless idjet which they can take a big stick and a minute carrot approach too, you keep running them miles in your tread mill and we'll deposit your money in to your nominated account , yep thats that shiny piece of plastic we got from the bank just for you, betcha that makes you feel important don't it !!!
What you monies not there ??? lordy , lordy, lordy we all is sorry that you ain't able too get your money out its lost in our short term high interest rate account with the bank , but hey what do you want money for ?? you ain't got time to be spending it, you'all should be grinding gears and burning oil for us, I tell ya boy if bananas were legal tender we'd have apes a drivin these here rigs ( don't know if we have already!! )
Heard it all before tried out different employment oppurtunities, must be brain dead, always came back to the percieved freedom of the life on the open road ( next time I see Willy Neslon singing on the road again I'm gonna bust a cap in his (edited) or to be politically correct donkey )

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your so clueless it's amazing
many people are burned out at their jobs as whatever and looking for something better,in many cases they would be screwing themselves to seek out a new career in trucking
If the naysayers vanished,many people would think they had found a way out of what they think is a horrable job and in many cases would end up worse off.
Just because you screwed up your life and are just a truck driver,thats no reason to screw somebody else and try and mislead them into thinking trucking is ok,it is a cesspool job for sure.
The most amazing thing about all this nonsense is you same people would be the biggest naysyaers if it was your kid saying he/she wanted to drive a truck,yet you will fruck some complete stranger into thinking trucking is ok,you people are low lives for sure to do that to people or just stupid as hell.
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If it is so bad Zig why did you stay in it until they fired you?
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Sounds like someones got a raw nerve.


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Trucknet: all hate...all the time
Damn it's cold down here in Paradise......got down to the high 40's last night, and only expected to hit the mid 60's today.
Time to move to the Cayman Islands....

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I've been in these forums for awhile, and I still don't see what is wrong with driving a truck.
-JHappy Dwellers Society
Company Driver Division

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There's nothing wrong with driving a truck,it's the current conditions.
It's your ego that refuses to let you admit it.
What is the turnover at Swift again?
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There's nothing the matter with it. In fact, it beats digging ditches for a living. Unfortunately, the hourly pay, on average, is somewhat less than what one could earn digging ditches.

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Zig, you wish I was "clueless". The problem is that you don't know "jack" about my life.....but I will clue you in to one thing...."screwed up its not". I have led a very good and successful life. And no, I'm not "just a truckdriver", I'm far more than that.....but first and foremost, I am a human being who simply at the present time "drives a truck for money and inexpensive health insurance". The fact that you would refer to me or anyone else as "just a truck driver" after you were supposedly an "Owner Operator".....who apparently thought trucking was wonderful....until you bought or leased a truck and apparently fell flat on your (edited) and turned up a failure....says more about you than you can imagine. You're one of the ones who hangs around here hellbent to rain on peoples parade...just so you can share and spread your particular flavor of misery as much as possible. Kinda places you in that "sociopathic" group.
As far as people who may be burnt out on a previous job.....hey, it happens all the time. And what if someone is looking for something better? Maybe where they are coming from.....driving a truck for a decent carrier may just be a step up. Have you ever considered that? How about the guy or gal who got laid off, running out of funds, unemployment running out, no jobs where he lives, and BK and McD have long waiting lists for the burger flipping jobs..... maybe they are looking at bankruptcy or foreclosure and loss of everything..... have you ever considered that not everyone fits the same square or round hole? Maybe learning to drive a truck may just be the "leg up" that they need to stay afloat, and who knows.....maybe they might just be the kind of driver that industry needs. And if they can drive and make a living, maybe even a good one, then "bravo to them"........but I can imagine that bankruptcy and insolvency are better options in your world.
I will grant that this industry is not the best, and it has its problems. But it has its plus's. Like the fact that "age discrimination" is pretty much none existant, while it is very prevalent in many other industries. No, you will not make probably more than $30K in the first year, and your earnings may never rise above $50K..... but pay ranges have gone up in recent years, and with the given trend they are bound to rise even higher. And I hope they do. But the fact of the matter is.....if people are given direct and specific information to make intelligent decisions, hopefully they will. But if people, like you...generically attack the industry .....it serves no purpose other than to point out your own foibles and weaknesses. And whats even worse is to step forward and make the claims.....without being big enough to offer an alternative, or suggestion in a positive vein......points right back to the sociopathic thing.
My son....he was free to do just as he pleased. I guided him as best as I could, and he made his own decisions. No he's not a truck driver....but then he grew up and left home before I even started driving. He's a "computer geek" who does really quite well for himself. But if he had wanted to become a truck driver, that would have been his choice.....not mine.
Zig, one of the reasons I drive a truck, and whether you believe this or not is totally immaterial to me......I am "old" by todays standards for a "professional salesman". My resume intimidates "hiring managers"...who are probably 20 or 25 years younger than I. Over the past few years I would get a bug up my butt and send out a couple hundred resumes.....and occasionally I would get a call or two for an interview....to be interviewed by someone my son's age.....and then I would invariably get a letter saying "you're overqualified" for the position.
Thats funny to me....because a salesman can never be "overqualified", but having been a business owner as well for years...and an employer, I am well aware of "age discrimination" based on "overqualification". I also had others come right and tell me quite frankly that they thought I was "unmanageable" and wouldn't fit their corporate agenda......because I had been a successful business owner for too many years. Imagine that for a reason not to hire a seasoned professional? Why don't I start another business? I simply don't want to. I brought 3 of them out of the ground from scratch..with my own savings, no loans.....all the way to success, ultimately had 37 employees......and frankly I don't want to go down that road again. You think I put in alot of hours running OTR, you have no idea......owning a business is a 365 days a year thing, cuz if you don't do it or make sure it gets done.....it probably won't. Yeah, I know there are people who have owned businesses, made a gazillion dollars, worked 3 hrs aday, and took long vacations to Monte Carlo whenever they wanted.....uh-huh. For every one of those.......there are 200 that didn't and don't. So for me, this is an ok way to make a buck, and get health insurance too, which with my wife's cardiac history....would cost a bloody fortune if I bought it myself.
So, before you get up on your high horse.....blow smoke....take a long look at what you might actually be doing. Your naysaying, and the naysaying of others may actually not be preventing someone from entering the industry. I have actually met more people....and so have you, that the more you tell them what is wrong...the more hellbent they are to jump into the situation. It is not so much "what you say", as it is "how you say it". If you are going to "naysay", be big enough to offer an alternative, or PM the person and ask them what their objectives are and what are they trying to accomplish. Maybe you will find the person needs some information, and maybe their are jobs in their previous line of work elsewhere.....if you know the engines to find them, look. Hell, even I have done that, and helped a couple people out. One was a machinist, who lost his job....shop closed, company went to Mexico...he was looking for work, had thought about OTR....I went looking and found a listing for some jobs in a shop in NC.....turned him on to it, he went, applied, got hired, moved a couple of hundred miles....ended up happier, because he was still doing what he knew best. Its not a lie. But, back to my point.....if all you do is naysay, without direct specifics, then all you are is "whining"......and believe it or not, most people turn a "deaf ear" to it...... you probably do or did as a child.....its human nature.
I know trucking is not for everyone, and there are people out there who shouldn't be in trucks.....and if I think they shouldn't be, I would be the first to tell them. But my "viewpoint" would be based on fact, not generic issues or innuendo, or outdated information. And I would offer alternatives. Trust me when I say that I have "dissuaded" more than one person from becoming a driver. I saw it as necessary....based on first hand meeting the person, talking at length, and building supportable impressions. Am I GOD? No, but my background of better than 30 years of supervisory, managerial, and business experience, kinda puts me in a position to possibly make judgements. Whether or not the party took my advice and suggestions, I don't know. But I hope so. But I also suggested alternatives......
Its kinda like this.......some of you naysayers love to "sport the Teamster emblem"......Hey thats great!! I wish every driver on the planet was a Teamster.
But we/they aren't. But what is so sad......is that the ones who fly that banner naysay til the day is done.......but they never counsel someone as to how to become a Teamster, where to go to get the information, or anything except generic naysaying. And some who have other union jobs naysay as well, but they never offer alternatives, advice or counsel either. What gives? Its more ok for the naysayers to trash the aspirations of someone than it is for me to say something positive about the industry.....to me thats an insupportable double standard. I would think if you are man enough to "criticize", you should be man enough to be "constructive".
Remember, not all carriers are bad, some are, not all things fit in square holes, but some things have to be right, because there are too many people making a living doing it. ....and many seem happy at it. I've been doing this since 94....and don't find it that bad, at least not since I found a place I'm happy with....and its a means to an end....its not my life or who I am....oh, btw.... I took a 45 day break on FMLA, and another 10 day break, plus 3 or 4 days off every month I was on the road this past year......and still made more than the top of the "average truck drivers wages"..... go figure huh? So yes, I'm ok with what I am doing for now. But if I buy the 43' Trawler that I am looking at, I'll have to sell my 33' sailboat and spend some time wandering around the Caribbean..... the biggest thing I have to decide there...is do I want to spend that much on a boat?So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

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and you don't know jack about the people's lives reading this board,to come across like trucking is just wonderful could mislead somebody to throw away a perfectly good job

listening to you happy truckers they would think trucking was a step up from everything

just a oppion,sort of like saying not all jails are bad
the parking problem sucks
unloading freight sucks
driving in snow sucks
truckstops suck
the pay per hour sucks
waiting sucks
It's a step up from minimum wage,but so are lots of other things,might as well take aim on something better than trucking
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Like always ziggy, cut and paste.....but I guess thats the about the most we can expect.....along with your inaccuracies and false blanket statements.....
I have "NEVER" said trucking "is just wonderful"....in fact, I have pointed out on a number of occasions the faults and failures in the industry. But to listen to you.....everything in the world "sucks". I guess the nexus of the issue is "that if Ziggy can't have it all Ziggy's way.....IT SUCKS!!" Therefore its bad for all mankind. And being a step up from minimum wage......?? Come on now....that line of crap doesn't float and you know it.
I have never, and would never advocate someone leave a good job for any reason.......and for you to even suggest it....shows how shallow you are.
I won't even debate that, because there are far too many people outside of trucking that travel continually in their jobs, away from home every night, don't make any more than truck drivers.....with the biggest difference being they stay in a motel.....are you going to say they make just over minimum wage?
Am I to infer that your comment regarding "jails" and their comparisons.....are the result of "experience" on your part?
You come across as so downhearted.....about life....I'm surprised you get out of bed, ever. Might I suggest a mental health expert to get you back on track....So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.