Comments By Steve L.

My Wife has had both done, at different times. I took off of work to be the caregiver. I can only offer the following;

1. If at all possible, have someone you really trust be your caregiver. You'll be dealing with the challenges of rehabilitation and you'll need someone to stay on the things you can't do, like fixing meals and tracking when you took meds. You're also going to need someone to go to the store for you; YA GOTTA EAT.

2. I agree with the others about a short-term rental as opposed to a hotel.

3. You will likely need someone to transport you to physical therapy, unless you have it done at home. I believe this will vary by insurance provider.

4. Stay "ahead of the pain." You'll have post-op meds and instructions for pain management. If you're not super strict on schedules, make a written one and follow it. I did this for my Wife and it helped. I couldn't always remember which pain med she'd taken and writing it down each time made it easier to administer the next one.

5. When having the right knee done, you may need someone to transport you for a longer period of time. That's your primary driving leg and it may take a little longer before you can safely drive yourself places. With the left knee, you can get away with driving (your car) a little sooner because you don't need that leg to drive. Of course, don't drive while on meds

But seriously, I hope this helps and you have a smooth experience.

I'm a little confused. If you graduated a truck driving school, did they not have recruiters come in? Most private schools have relationships with recruiters for multiple companies. What companies did your school recommend?

I seriously doubt Schneider (or any company) would disqualify you because you learned on a manual transmission instead of autoshift; usually it's the other way around.

You may live in an area that many companies don't hire from. But I'd still be surprised if there's no companies your school recommends. When I went to private school, we had all chosen our companies by graduation day. Why wait?

though it sucks to start this career 4000 dollars in the hole

I started 8+ years ago, at a private school and I have NO REGRETS on the path I chose.

Here’s why my path was right for me:

1. I already knew I was going with Schneider, whose orientation was only 17 days. Ergo, I was going to be making full pay sooner than many other programs.

2. Tuition reimbursement (many companies offer it) paid for my private school.

3. The school I went to had recruiters from 4-5 companies visit. So, I knew there were other options if I didn’t wanna go with my first choice.

Private school isn’t for everyone and I feel I didn’t waste any money. But you have to make the choice that works best for you.

home time is very important to me

Many local routes will say they'll get you home everyday, but it might barely be for your ten-hour break. I know drivers that'll finish their day back at the terminal and need to be back in the truck ten hours later. Consider the commute home, shower, bed, up in the morning and commute back and suddenly you find your "ten-hour break" felt more like six hours.

Not sure if this is still true, but Schneider used to drive Walmart dedicated out of Washington Courthouse, OH. I did those runs quite often and they were great. Even though I ran into West Virginia stores, the unloading was all done by Walmart employees and I just had to pull barcode stickers. There might be 2-3 stores on one trailer and then it was back to the Distribution Center for the next load.

It's important to know exactly what will be expected of you. When I drove for Schneider, they said the "Regional Driver" position meant you had to go out on Monday, even if you didn't get home until Saturday afternoon. I was an OTR Driver, but had five days off per month. If I didn't get home until Saturday and was supposed to be off for two days, I got Sunday and Monday off, back out Tuesday. Also, they were very flexible with me on when I took that time off.

Not only is it negative, it's just the usual worn out phrases you hear from the uneducated, uninformed, and unmotivated.

The carrier I work for pays on the low end of average yet I made close to 80k my first year in trucking with tons of time off. I'm take 15 days off starting next week to go to Europe. My company won't make me clean out my truck, in fact my TM said she'll do what ever is needed to insure I have it without it being used.

Think about the implications of an asset not generating money for half of a month so the driver can go on vacation to Europe. (Yeah, I'm really suffering there).

The reality is that for every terminal rat complaining and saying the exact same things, the question is how are you contributing as an employee? Are you willing to try new things, flexible? Are you giving it your all? Are you safe, reliable and easy to work with?

I make a killing doing this, it's far easier than most if not all other trades I've been in. Me personally, I'll do whatever is needed to stay out of the meat grinder of construction that I was in for 35 years. I sure as heck wasn't buying 58k dollar toys as a carpenter.

That’s a suhweet ride! Might be fun to pay for some track time and open it up, legally. 😎

Frankly, I’m a little tired of the negativity. Maybe not perfect, but it pays for this;

A thought; make a rough plan of what you want to accomplish and a timeframe.

It doesn’t need to be super specific, but just the basics of why you want to do it. This may also reveal some things that would be red flags in the business and reasons you would leave.

I’m not a big fan of quitting without giving it everything you’ve got, but I’m also not a fan of absentee business owners.

Good luck with the audit and I hope this helps.

This one is stinging a hell of a lot harder than it should.

Maybe it stings because you have a tough decision to make. I know lots of people are saying to give an ultimatum and I've been on both sides of the ultimatum. My suggestion is; don't make a threat unless you're prepared to go through with it, immediately.

Any company (trucking or otherwise) that isn't giving this kind of employee a reprimand, for the things she's said, is possibly setting themselves up for serious HR lawsuits. Imagine if a male had said breast cancer doesn't hurt. There's a big difference between tough love to get the job done, and abusive or hateful language. But, I digress.

Just be prepared to hand over the keys and walk away if you give 'em an ultimatum. She's lasted this long for some reason and they don't seem too concerned about it.

Again, just my opinion.

I apologize if I sound insensitive to the other issues, but when she said “breast cancer doesn’t hurt” she crossed a line that NOBODY should.

Good luck and I hope your future team treats you better.

Brandon M.; you say you're faithful so, if you don't already, carry a Bible or daily devotional with you. Reading Proverbs everyday (there are only 31, so it fits well into a month) has been helpful for me. Someone gave me a Jesus Calling book and I've carried it with me (and read it) every day for the past 8+ years. It doesn't make me perfect, but is a constant reminder of what matters.

Hang in there. Old School can tell you about Western Express; how good it can be. If they're giving you a chance, there's no reason you can't be another success story. I can't wait to read your success story!