I apologize concerning my absence in here. I'm certainly not gone, I've just been concentrating on some other things lately. I've been really busy driving this truck across the country, but I've also been doing some writing. I am just popping in to say thanks to those of you who are still reading in here and checking in on me. I'll get back to this project in time, but for now I am going to leave you with a little short story I recently wrote which is an attempt to introduce you to the many different characters you will come across as you pursue the trucking career. Yes, I met all of these and more when I was attempting to get started in trucking...
Mr. Levelheaded Goes To Truck Driving School
Mr. Levelheaded had grown weary of his dead-end job and dreamed of making his way into the rewarding career of a Professional Truck Driver. While he had some vague ideas of what the truck driving career might be like, his main motivation was his desire to be rewarded for his own personal results and accomplishments. You see, he was a hard working responsible individual, but had never been compensated any better than his fellow employees who only produced maybe half of what they were capable of. He found his current work environment to be so demoralizing that he saw no real reason to continue being productive and efficient. Slowly, yet progressively, he began conducting himself just like everyone else on the job. This action left him feeling more disillusioned and disappointed in himself, and those feelings weighed heavily on him.
After some lengthy discussions with his wife and family concerning the idea of quitting his current job and going to truck driving school, they decided to give a one year commitment to testing the waters of this new career. Knowing how he struggled at work with feelings of guilt and disappointment over his willful lack of productivity, they felt he might find more satisfaction in a career that recognizes and rewards it's more productive members. So, with their blessing, he began making plans to set himself in a new career direction.
Once he made his plans known to his parents and siblings, they each began to discourage him with comments based on their misconceptions of the career. They crushed his enthusiasm with remarks like these:
“Truck drivers have no room for advancement.”
“It's a dead beat's job - people go into truck driving because they are too dumb to do anything else.”
“Truckers are smelly unkempt vagrants of society whom no one wants to be around.”
Their hostility to his new career choice definitely took the wind out of his sails, but the chance of commandeering one of those big shiny rigs across the country still held enough appeal that he resolved to continue his pursuit of it. Little did he know, this would only be the first of many obstacles he would encounter on this new journey.
Before he turned in his two weeks notice at his current job, he began to do some research about the truck driving career. The discouragement he felt from his parents was only multiplied as he searched online for information on truck driving. While looking into the career, he found websites that seemed completely devoted to making it clear just how bad trucking was, and that it should be avoided if at all possible. It really struck him as odd that these websites were all frequented by truck drivers, and the most discouraging and inflammatory remarks seemed to come from the truck drivers themselves. He thought about posing a few questions of his own in a couple of the forums that he came across, but was afraid he might be fiercely attacked and scorned for his stupidity and ignorance in asking such dumb questions. It was unsettling how the experienced truck drivers participating in the discussions had such disdain for their profession. They seemed to find a sort of twisted pleasure in letting the newbies know just how stupid they were for becoming “steering wheel holders” with nothing but a training certificate, and a shiny new license in their wallet. By carefully posing a question, then dodging for cover with a few snide remarks about “starter companies,” he managed to get a few questions answered without feeling he had completely blown his cover of being a total greenhorn.
He felt discouraged when he learned the only companies who were willing to give the inexperienced drivers a shot were known as “bottom feeders” and “starter companies” among experienced drivers. From what his research kept turning up, most of these “starter companies” had no respect for their drivers. He saw repeatedly where these same companies were often accused of treating their drivers like slaves. His original impressions of the industry's demand for drivers had him thinking that recruiters would be knocking his door down with generously competitive offers for employment, but that scenario now seemed completely unrealistic.
Despite the discouraging things he learned in his research, he determined that he was going to give this his best effort and see it through. The lure of the open road, and being able to make his own decisions and choices about how he conducted himself in the workplace only served to bolster his resolve. Against most of the advice he could find online, he decided to do his schooling through one of the Company Sponsored Training Programs he had read about. Not having the extra funds to pay for school, this appeared to him as his best option.
He had endured many years at his present job while not really enjoying it, so he reasoned with himself that surely he could endure one short year as a truck driver. If it didn't work out, at least he would not be out any money for school, and he would have kept his commitment with the company who sponsored him, all while earning a paycheck to support his family during that time. Convincing himself that he had now overcome all the obstacles he could possibly encounter while getting this new career started, he spoke with a recruiter, and put the whole thing into motion. As soon as his final two weeks at his job had passed, his recruiter quickly provided a free ticket for a dismally long bus ride to the training facility. Shortly after finishing his bus ride, he discovered a whole new set of difficulties that he would ultimately need to conquer in this new quest.
In an effort to minimize their expenses, this particular Company Sponsored Training Program housed their students, four to a room, in a local hotel. While this was a little uncomfortable at first, Mr. Levelheaded understood the economics of it, and did his best to fit in well with his roommates. After all, it was a very temporary situation, and it would just be a short week or two until each of them were off in a truck with his own trainer. At this point, he was really excited about the idea of getting out there on the road with a trainer and learning the finer things of truck driving.
It was here in the hotel room that he realized the many difficulties he had not even considered yet. As he was introduced to his three roommates, he discovered he was rooming with Mr. Naysayer, Mr. Overconfidence, and Mr. Misinformed. As they fell into conversation, it became apparent that Mr. Naysayer had little confidence any of them could land a trucking job. Let's listen in on their conversation as they became acquainted with each other:
Mr. Naysayer: I'm convinced they're purposely setting us up for failure by making it very difficult to pass the written tests. They do this just to get rid of the kind of people they don't really want in their organization. I've heard reports of them sending people home after just a few days. I also heard they keep us in class for ten or twelve hours and then expect us to study at night in our room. Some students from the previous class told me there were questions on the tests they never even covered in the classroom. I'm telling you, it's all rigged just to weed us out and keep us from getting a job. I've even heard reports saying three fourths of us will be dismissed without getting the job they promised us when they put us on that bus.
Mr. Levelheaded: I can't see why they would go to all the trouble of sending us here on the bus, and putting us up in this hotel if their only plan and purpose was to kick us out and send us back home.
Mr. Naysayer: Send you back home! What are you talking about? They just kick you to the curb, and you've got to figure out your own way to get back home. I'm telling you man, these corporations are ruthless. If you don't fit the mold of who they want working for them, then it's hopeless. They will figure out how to can you and never give it a second thought. Did you notice all those homeless people hanging out around the bus station when you got off the bus? I can guarantee you that at least half of those people came here in hopes of landing a trucking job. Look at them now – they can't even afford a bus ticket home. Their cell phones got cut off while they were here going to school because they couldn't pay their bill, and now they have no way of contacting their families to let them know they need some help. They're out here begging for loose change now, just to try and get a little something to eat.
Mr. Levelheaded: Come on now, that makes no sense. Why in the world would... (at this point Mr. Misinformed speaks up boldly and butts into the conversation, eager to share his knowledge of all things trucking with his ill-informed companions...)
Mr. Misinformed: I can tell you why they do that, and if you guys had bothered to do a little research before you came here you would already know the answer to this. It's all over the internet – these huge corporations get a check from the government for each student they bring to their training facility. That's right, you can look it up yourselves, they talk about it on a bunch of different web-sites. It's a super secret government program where they get ten thousand dollars for each student they can bus to their facility. Didn't you notice how eager that recruiter was to get you on the bus? It's all a big scam just to make money off of us. That's right – just off of our room alone they are getting forty thousand big ones from Uncle Sam. If they can figure out how to boot us out tomorrow they will do it. It's kind of like that song says, “Go on, take the money and run!”
Mr. Overconfidence: They aren't getting rid of me that quickly. I came here to get a job, and I guarantee I can pass any test they put to me. As long as they show us what to study, I can make sure that I pass that thing. I've been driving cars for a good many years, and it can't be all that different to drive a big truck – I mean the only difference is that it's bigger – right? I've driven all kinds of machinery over the years, including a combine in the wheat fields, and a back-hoe on construction projects. I've got this.
Mr. Levelheaded: Now, wait just a minute. I've got my laptop here. Mr. Misinformed, could you show me some of those websites where you saw this information? I'm not trying to be skeptical, but I've been doing some research myself, and I haven't seen anything like what you're talking about.
Mr. Misinformed: Well sure, I mean I could if I had my list of websites where I was doing my research, but I left it at home. I had them all written down on a piece of paper, but that was several months ago. I'm sorry, I just can't remember them anymore.
Mr. Naysayer: Well, what you've said is enough for me to believe it. I mean if it's all over the internet like that, then it's got to be true. I knew it was kind of odd the way that recruiter got me signed up so quickly. I've never had anybody tripping all over themselves like that just to offer me a job. Now I know it's just because they're making a profit off of me. It's all coming clear to me now. It's not like me to be so gullible. I can't believe I signed up for this. I should have known it wouldn't work.
Just at this point their conversation was interrupted abruptly by loud knocking on the door. When they opened it, they met one of their instructors, Mr. Sounds Like a Drill Sergeant, who quickly let them know they were expected in the lobby of the hotel at 5:30 a.m. He stressed the importance of being punctual, (with a heavy emphasis on the “p” sound) as there would be a bus waiting to shuttle them to the training facilities. With that, he turned on his heels and went to knock on the next door down the hall.
After closing the door, the first to speak was Mr. Naysayer.
Mr. Naysayer: Do any of you guys know what it means to be Punctual? Is that some way that we are supposed to dress or something?
Mr. Levelheaded: No man, that just means that we need to be on time, and from the way he put it, I'm thinking it would be best for us to be just a few minutes early. Seeing it's already getting late, I'm thinking we should probably all hit the rack and get ourselves a decent night's rest.
Mr. Overconfidence: Well, I've never had any problems getting up early. I'm going to turn on the television and watch the game. I've got a little money riding on this game, and I need to keep an eye on my team. I'll bed down after the game.
Once the television was cranked up and the game was playing, Mr. Levelheaded and Mr. Naysayer got in their beds and made futile attempts at sleep while Mr. Overconfidence and Mr. Misinformed shouted and cheered at the game. At some point nearing one in the morning, everyone had settled into their beds and the room fell silent except for the rhythmic snoring coming from two of the room's sleeping occupants. That snoring was really the only sound heard until close to five in the morning when Mr. Levelheaded's alarm sounded long and loud.
Somehow three of them managed to get downstairs in time to catch the shuttle bus, and to say that Mr. Sounds Like a Drill Sergeant was happy that he had to go drag Mr. Overconfidence out of bed would be very much an overstatement. In fact it would be more like a sick joke. He appeared to enjoy having one slacker give him the chance to show that he was serious about the way they were expected to do things. He shamed Mr. Overconfidence in front of the others, making it abundantly clear that he fully expected everyone to be on the same page by tomorrow morning.
During that first day of class, they mostly filled out a bunch of paperwork and provided urine specimens for their drug tests. But at one point in the day they had a short lecture from Mr. Sounds Like a Drill Sergeant which was designed to brief them on the various things they would be doing that week. That is when they became acquainted with Mr. Know it All. He spoke up and interrupted Mr. Sounds Like a Drill Sergeant several times, challenging him on the veracity of some of the things he was telling them. Mr. Know It All seemed quite unaffected when the instructor asked him, “Son, would you like to get up here and give this lecture? It certainly appears you know way more about this than I do.”
Later in the day, while taking a little break, they met a fellow student known as Mr. Never Do Well. He told them he was a little nervous about the drug testing. It seemed he had smoked a joint on the trip to the training facility during a layover at one of the bus stations. Feeling a little stressed about his parents forcing him to actually report to truck driving school and get a job, he thought smoking just one innocent joint might help him relax and enjoy the bus ride. He had no idea they would do the drug testing so quickly after he got there. Mistakenly he had been under the impression it would be a few months before they got around to the drug tests.
At the end of that eleven hour day, Mr. Levelheaded returned to the hotel room, got out the materials they were supposed to study that night, and got right down to work. About the time he felt prepared and ready to retire for the evening, his roommates showed up and made a raucous group effort at half-way reviewing the materials, and quickly covered what they could before the movie they were wanting to watch got started. They were feeling quite confident and were convinced this was looking like it was going to be a lot easier than they had heard. They stayed up later than they should have in front of the television, while Mr. Levelheaded tried in vain to sleep with his head buried underneath his pillow. The alarm went off at close to five in the morning, and once again only three of them made it to the lobby in time to catch the shuttle. When Mr. Sounds Like a Drill Sergeant counted heads and realized who was missing, he allowed a sly little grin to appear on his face, but made no effort at rousing the offender this time.
When the group returned to their hotel room after that second day, they had plenty to work on. They had been assigned several chapters of material which they would be tested on the very next morning, and Mr. Naysayer was going to need to cover that plus the material from the test that he had failed earlier that same day. They noticed Mr. Overconfidence was nowhere to be seen, and neither were his bags. They never saw him again. Mr. Levelheaded made a joke about him possibly joining the community of homeless persons hanging about at the bus station, but Mr. Naysayer said it wasn't funny. After failing that first test Mr. Naysayer's demeanor had turned more serious, and he seemed a little concerned that he might be hanging out at the bus station himself.
That evening after a fairly successful night of studying and reviewing all the materials together, the following conversation took place among the three truck driver wannabes:
Mr. Levelheaded: You know guys, I think we can do this. If we stick together and help each other like we did tonight, I think we can get past all these written tests and move on to getting our permits. At that point we can start driving those trucks. Then it will just be a few short weeks until we test out for our CDL.
Mr. Misinformed: I don't know man, I noticed there were more people than just Mr. Overconfidence missing from class today. I'm not sure how many, but I am sure there were a few extra empty seats in there today. It seems that people are dropping like flies, and nobody's saying anything about where they are or why they are missing.
Mr. Levelheaded: I guess I really didn't think about it, but now that you mention it there did seem to be a few more empty chairs in there today. I guess I was just kind of focused on the materials they were going over and taking some notes.
Mr. Naysayer: Yeah, I'm with Mr. Misinformed, it seems like they're just setting us up for failure so they can get all that government money for bringing us to their school. Think about it, they get a big check from the government, and then they just figure out a way to keep from having to put us on the payroll. It's a big scam, and we're just pawns in their little game. They're going to get rid of us slowly and make it look like we just couldn't cut the mustard. I mean if they sent us all home on the first day of the week, the government would get suspicious about this whole thing, but if they keep sending home just a few people each day, it makes it look like they're serious about trying to help us get a job.
Mr. Levelheaded: Come on guys, we don't even know if that business about the government paying them to train us is true. I've never heard of such a program except from you guys, and you still can't provide me any evidence to support your claims.
Mr. Misinformed: Oh, it's true alright. It's all over the internet.
Mr. Levelheaded: Look man, I've seen reports of three headed babies being born in Indonesia on the internet, but that doesn't mean it's true.
Mr. Misinformed: What? Wait a minute, can you show me where you saw that? I love looking at stuff like that.
Mr. Levelheaded: That's my point man, you will believe anything you see on a computer. You need to learn how to use your own head. Think about it. This company has been spending money on us just because they need some good drivers. They provided transportation to get here, they've been putting us up in this hotel, and they've handed out all kinds of study materials to us. They've even been feeding us pretty well while we're here on their dime. That doesn't look like a scam to me. I think they're doing this so they can find some good drivers. They're throwing out a large net in hopes they might catch a few decent guys and gals who will eventually develop into professional drivers. I'm going to stick with it until I see something that tells me differently. I think being a truck driver is going to be a pretty cool way to make a living, and If I can figure out how to be good at this it seems to have the potential to yield a pretty decent payday also.
After only about three weeks, each of them had obtained their Commercial Driver's License and were waiting to have a trainer assigned to them. They had witnessed many of their new acquaintances disappear from class during that time, including Mr. Never Do Well. It was true that people disappeared all the time, and they would never hear about what happened to them or why they had to leave. It was all done in private, and Mr Misinformed was still convinced that there was something sinister behind the disappearances. He came up with all sorts of conspiracy theories attempting to satisfy his insatiable appetite for misinformation, but the other two understood it. Those people who kept disappearing had almost always provided good reasons for their removal from the program. There were quite a few folks who started the program thinking the company would just take their word when they told them they had no background issues that should concern the company. But when those background checks and drug tests started coming back, you might just say “the chickens came home to roost.”
The three of them had one more noteworthy conversation together before they parted and went out on the road with their trainers. After that they just sort of lost contact with each other, and Mr. Levelheaded never really knew what became of his truck driving school companions. He hoped he had been helpful to them while together at school, but after their last conversation he just wasn't sure how they were going to fare. He knew what he wanted out of his new career and he was committed to making it happen. Listen in on their last conversation, and I think you'll understand why he wasn't real confident about their futures.
Mr. Misinformed: Hey guys, I'm not too sure about this company we've been training with. I've discovered a bunch of YouTube videos that make it pretty clear that this is not the kind of place we want to be working.
Mr. Levelheaded: Here you go again! You just can't make career decisions based on videos and comments posted online by random people that you have no way of validating or confirming as legitimate.
Mr. Naysayer: I don't know why we need to confirm anything. You know what they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” When you've got the kind of evidence that Mr. Misinformed is digging up on the internet it makes it overwhelmingly obvious that this company does not care about their drivers. I mean he showed me one video where a guy claims our company refuses to let him take home time. They also refused to pay him detention pay on a load where he had to sit for twelve hours. What more evidence do we need? It seems these guys are only willing to help us get our licenses so they can then start taking advantage of us. Why else would they make us commit to staying here for one year?
Mr. Levelheaded: Look guys, none of that really gives you any type of valuable information that is worth basing a career decision on. We don't know the particulars on that driver who is complaining. As far as we know he may be a total greenhorn rookie who forgot to send the proper macro in so that his detention pay gets processed correctly. Do you guys really think the company is not going to allow you to take your home time? Do you think they would even have any employees left if that were true? There is just way too much useless information online for you to even think you can base your career decisions on it. Most of it seems to be from people who are trying to make YouTube and Facebook a platform for their own personal grudges and grievances. When we have 100 posts telling us that company X is great, and 100 posts declaring that the same company is so worthless we shouldn't just walk, but run away from it, then what have we learned? I say absolutely nothing! If you can explain to me how you decipher all that information and come up with an accurate assessment I'll begin to hear what you have to say. The information you're trying to base your decisions on is so contradictory it's useless.
Mr. Misinformed: Well, what do you have to say about all these videos that show our company's trucks hitting low bridges and not even being able to back into a simple parking spot at a truck stop? Doesn't that show how poorly they're training new drivers?
Mr. Levelheaded: How can you come to that conclusion? Just a few weeks ago you couldn't shift a big rig, or even come close to backing into a parking spot. Today you can do both of those things pretty well, and you are just a beginner. Don't you feel that your training has gone pretty well so far? They're still going to continue training you and will make sure that you're somewhat proficient before they turn you loose in your own truck. The reason you see so many videos on a company like this one is simple math. This is a very large company. They train more drivers in one month than many companies train all year. There's going to be a lot more opportunities to shoot a video catching one of their brand new rookie drivers making a mistake. Potentially they could even have a much smaller percentage of accidents in their fleet compared to the smaller companies, yet still have considerably more exposure on YouTube. It provides no realistic evidence of any fault on the company's part. It merely shows us they have a lot of drivers, and therefore a lot of exposure to the many liabilities that are common among all trucking companies.
Mr. Naysayer: I wish you well Mr. Levelheaded. I'm glad we ended up rooming together. Because of your help, I honestly think I did better in truck driving school than I would have without you. But I simply cannot deny all the evidence online that you are so willing to ignore. I think I'm going to start looking for a new company right away.
Mr. Levelheaded: What about the contract you signed with these guys? Aren't you going to honor that agreement? They provided you with a start to your new career, and now you're just going to bale on them?
Mr. Misinformed: I found a guy online who says he quit during his first month and they never came after him. I mean this is a really large corporation with much bigger fish to fry than chasing me down for a few thousand bucks. They write off these types of things all the time, it's just another tax write-off for them.
Mr. Naysayer: I'm with you man, I think now that we have our CDL we are in big demand. We should be able to have our choice of any trucking company we want to work for. There's a lot of companies out there that pay much better than these guys do. It seems to me that everything they do around here is calculated to make money off of us.
Mr. Levelheaded: I can't believe the stuff I'm hearing from you guys! Here's a company that gave you a chance to start a new career, and once you got that silly license in your hip pocket, you all of a sudden became so important in your own eyes that you're not only going to turn your backs on them, but you're going to throw them under the bus as well. You can't be serious with me! I'm going to give my best efforts at learning this trade, and from what I've seen I'll still be learning how to be proficient at this even after my one year contract is fulfilled. There are no shortcuts to success at this stuff. It takes commitment, resolve, and a willingness to see things through. You guys are letting a bunch of internet knuckleheads that you don't know, and can't even confirm as legitimate, influence your career decisions simply because they're on the internet. There is no additional authority gained by a person just because they have posted a video or a comment online. They may be entertaining, they may even be amusing, but that doesn't give them any authority or influence that should have any effect on your decisions. You need to listen to people who have verifiable history and experience at trucking when trying to make important career decisions. I'm going to try and learn as much as I can from my trainer, then I'll learn from my experiences, my dispatcher, and my fellow drivers. I'm not going to allow the flood of questionable materials that I find online to easily influence me when I have access to people who I know are here to help me advance my new career. This company will provide me with additional training as I need or request it. From what I have seen, they seem committed to doing whatever is needed to keep good drivers on their team. Farewell my friends, I enjoyed going through school with you and also enjoyed our time together talking to each other in our hotel room. I wish you the best, but I hope you'll realize the value of sticking it out for your first year right here where you got your start. I'm convinced that you're going to be sorely disappointed if you follow your current ideas on how to get your trucking careers started.
Nine Months Later..
Mr. Misinformed can be found on his YouTube channel ranting about why he quit trucking after his first three months. It seems that one of his videos about refusing to allow his dispatcher to force him to drive while sleepy has gone viral. Even the ten hour break he admits to in the video didn't satisfy his need for sleep. His work on YouTube is now providing him with a small amount of money each month that will basically afford him a few groceries each week. It's a good thing he's got that minuscule income, because no trucking company wants to touch him these days. It's also nice and convenient that his Mom had some spare room in her basement where he could live rent free.
Mr. Naysayer fell for his trainer's hype about leasing a truck and started right in as a Lease/Operator when he upgraded to solo. After seeing those huge paychecks his trainer was receiving, it seemed like only a fool would be a company driver. Reality slapped him almost into bankruptcy, and he quickly baled out of trucking altogether. He began attending a trade school to obtain his HVAC license about three months ago. He once thought if he had a Commercial Driver's License he could parlay that into a good income. After going broke as a truck driver, he is now convinced the real money is in Heating and Air Conditioning repair. Once again he is foolishly thinking it is the license itself that produces the income.
Mr. Levelheaded is still going strong. He continues enjoying his new-found passion of driving big rigs. He's making good solid money and continuing to learn and develop ways of being more efficient at truck driving. He loves his new career and is discovering that he can make more money than the average driver just by hustling and getting more accomplished than his fellow employees. He's often been approached by his dispatcher about special things he can do which earn him extra money, and receives offers of special accounts that he can work on if he wants to. For now he's sticking with what he's doing and working on honing both his truck driving skills and his time management practices. He keeps his options open and hopes to one day find a special niche that will really work well for him here at the company that gave him his first shot at success.
