But for some reason the industry is rampant with brand new drivers that somehow feel everybody still owes them something for nothing. I'm honestly not sure where this thought process is coming from, but I hope it won't continue with you.

Make sure you take the time to discuss your goals and expectations with your dispatcher early and often in your career at the company. First of all you may have false expectations based on lies you've been told or misconceptions you may have had regarding your company or the industry in general.

I've found a lot of new drivers are under the impression that when a company says you'll get about 2200 miles per week and home on weekends that it's going to be that way every single week.

It's not. I'll tell you that right now.

The industry is cyclical and inconsistent by nature. Expect it. You may AVERAGE 2200 miles per week and home on weekends but it WILL NOT happen that way every week. Some weeks may be double the miles and half the home time, other weeks may be the other way around. Go with the flow. That's just the way it is.

Now I want you to take a balanced approach to this issue so be aware of something...there are some dispatchers that will take advantage of a driver who doesn't know what they should expect in terms of mileage, home time, and the type of loads they will be getting. On many occasions I have talked with drivers who were being given half the miles and home time they should have been getting and on top of that, they were repeatedly being given the most difficult loads to the most difficult places. It's a shame, but that's people for ya. You will always find a rotten apple in a bunch.

Again I stress this to you...discuss the expectations with your company and especially with your dispatcher:

What is the average length of the loads in your company or your division?

How often can you expect to be home?

Where will you be expected to run?

Can you expect to be home on the holidays?

Will you have to help load or unload trucks?

If so, how often and what does it pay?

Your trainer can definitely help you out a lot with many of these expectations so don't miss out on the chance to learn all you can during your training period.

Now let's assume that you got a job with what seems to be a great company. You went through your training period and have been assigned your own truck. You were assigned a dispatcher, met with this person, and had the chance to discuss the expectations you have of each other. You head out with the key to your truck in your hand and you're as excited as you can be.

But a month later you've found that you're not getting the miles you expected, you're not getting home as much as you expected, and no matter how many conversations you have had with your dispatcher about it nothing seems to change. What do you do? There's a number of things you should do. Shooting your dispatcher in the head is definitely NOT one of them though! (...and I MEAN THAT!...) Let's take a look...