Comments By My CB Handle is Frank

I drive for Prime (where I'm happy contracts and all btw). It's my understanding that most of the other major carriers are doing the same now. This is where start getting into rumorville though since the contracts are supposedly trade secrets and it's hard to find out the details. Anything to clear these up would be very helpful.

The non-compete clause is a separate contract saying that after you leave the company, you can not go to work with a company in direct competition for a period of 1-3 years thereafter depending on the company who is issuing the contract without paying a large fee first. This is regardless of whether you have completed the terms of your training/employment contract and have thus effectively paid off.

I am not aware of any companies out there that are forcing drivers to sign a non-compete contract that states you can't go to work anywhere else even if you're fulfilled your training obligation. Can you give me the name of a company that's doing that? I would love to look into it and ask them what that's all about.

You just don't know what you're jumping into with a smaller company though and I'm even more leery of them with less information and transparency available.

This I agree with completely.

Well if you're really all in, good luck to you and learn as much as you can while on the road. There is a lot that you can listen to while driving about managing money and creating different streams of revenue that might help you diversify if you decide trucking isn't for you after you've completed your contract.

At the end of your contract, you will either want to continue OTR or you will have a lot more options and knowledge than you started with. Good luck.

They are not one in the same. The non-compete clause is a separate contract. (I know because I've signed both an employment contract as well as a non-compete contract). The non-compete clause is a separate contract saying that after you leave the company, you can not go to work with a company in direct competition for a period of 1-3 years thereafter depending on the company who is issuing the contract without paying a large fee first. This is regardless of whether you have completed the terms of your training/employment contract and have thus effectively paid off.

No one is denying that there are sound and fair business reasons to issue such a contract. Nobody should be hit up with such a potentially binding contract without having a chance to research it first though. When you've already quit your job and travelled cross country to go through CDL training is not the time to present a contract to anyone no matter how fair the contract is.

Beware of certain major carriers? Never said it. Beware of ANY carrier especially when signing a contract. If anyone takes what I wrote that way, I will say that I worked on a dock before driving that had mostly independent drivers or drivers from small companies come in and I personally saw some of the worse of the worst drivers regularly in some of the worst equipment. We contracted some Swift drivers for awhile and I was like "man, these guys are pros!" They were so much better and more professional than the usual drivers we got in there. I had no clue about the company's reputation then and was surprised when I learned of it.

I'm about to complete my rookie year with a large company and have been looking at other possibilities. You just don't know what you're jumping into with a smaller company though and I'm even more leery of them with less information and transparency available.

I'm saying the same thing you guys are saying. To do your homework using the tools on the site here and choose your company carefully. You need to be prepared for any contracts you may have to sign to do so though.

I think you're referring to the employment contract to work off your schooling which makes perfect sense. I'm talking about the non-compete contract which says you are not allowed to work for another trucking company for several years even after fulfilling the terms of your employment contract.

Students are told about the employment contract but not the non-compete contract until they often quit their jobs and travel to their CDL schools. Then they are handed the contract and told to sign or not sign on the spot without having an attorney look at it or to do any research on it.

Any contracts need to be discussed with transparency before students make a decision to go through a company's training.

The non-compete contracts are also a dirty secret that I think are not discussed enough and job seekers who are stressed out and desperate are not adequately prepared to be hit by them.

Ok, let me give you a scenario, turn things around a bit.

Say I came to you one day and said, "Man, I'm totally broke. I'm getting to the point of depression. My family is getting ready to lose their house. I can't find work, I have no real marketable skills, and I could really use some help."

You, being the nice guy that you are with quite a bit of money in the bank and a solid trucking career with stable finances decide to help out. You say, "Yeah, Brett. I'd love to help you out. I'm in a great position to do so, too. But you're not my child, you're a grown man, so I'm going to lend you the money and once your career is established I want you to pay me back."

Me, being desperate and at a dead end in my life, agree wholeheartedly and I'm thankful for the opportunity.

Fast forward two months later and my trucking career is going strong. I have my CDL, I've completed training, and I'm out there running solo making $45,000 my rookie year. But the thing is, I'm not as concerned about you as you were about me and I decide I'm not going to pay you back. Screw you. Life is too short and if you're too dumb to hang onto your money then you must not need it like I do. I'm all about me.

So I keep your cash and I keep the fat paychecks I'm making with the new career you just financed for me and I don't lose a wink of sleep over it. You hear through the grapevine that I'm mocking you behind your back to everyone I come across, talking about what an idiot you are and how I pulled one over on you.

Now how stupid does it sound to have someone sign a contract to repay money.

If you own a house, aren't you under contract to pay back the loan?

If you get a loan for college, aren't you under contract to pay back the loan?

As a business owner, if another business hires you to do work for them, wouldn't you expect to be under contract to complete the work for the money they're paying you?

Please, explain to me in greater detail how it's a "dirty little secret" that a company would expect you to work for them in return for financing your new career for you. Because obviously there's something about this agreement that I just don't get. Help me out.

Just some interesting reading I thought I would pass along. This article seemed to be a little more realistic on automated trucking research and had some interesting stuff of the coders working alongside truck drivers.

I thought the idea of driving alongside a coder with an entirely different background would be pretty cool despite the article's portrayal of the "typical" truck driver (a mythical creature who seems to appear in a lot of these articles but who is seen about as of as Bigfoot or a unicorn). I was less interested when they got to the part about the sudden crosswind though. That driver was definitely more seasoned and calm about it than I probably would have been.

I also thought that "driving" a real truck in one of those remote control stations for 40 hours a week would require a lot more energy and concentration than driving a real truck 70 hours a week. I don't know if I could maintain the same level of focus and intensity looking at a screen as I do driving a real truck hands on. You wouldnt get to see the same sights or have the same stimulations either so 40 hours a week with frequent breaks would be plenty.

One more takeaway is that after reading this I thought people who are already in trucking would not lose jobs and could possibly benefit from automated trucking. However it would make it harder for new people to get into the industry with fewer opportunities for new "steering wheel holders".

This is all just interesting speculation. Hope some of you will enjoy the article as much as I did.

Bloomberg article on truckers working alongside coders

I like the Zig Zag truck, especially when DOT pulls him in for an inspection and lets me go by lol.

Well I have to disagree with the consensus that this article is merely a smear piece and say that it's a good fair warning to do your homework before making a commitment to any company. There are valid reasons to choose CR England or CRST but any time you see a company offering shorter contracts, bigger sign on bonuses, and shorter training times; you need to ask yourself why they are making such offers and what the cost is to you.

The non-compete contracts are also a dirty secret that I think are not discussed enough and job seekers who are stressed out and desperate are not adequately prepared to be hit by them.

Just do your homework. Sometimes when people are desperate and making emotional decisions about a new career, some harsh anecdotes will grab their attention more than than logic and data will. We can't crawl inside the author's head and know her true intentions but if she makes people pause and think before making a career leap, that's not a bad thing.

Personally, I'm about to complete a year with my company after going through company paid training and I'm happy with my decision. I'm glad I did my research before though. Different companies are definitely better for different people and the job is definitely not for everybody.

Has anyone ever gotten in trouble for siphoning gas out of their tractor tank and putting it in their reefer?

(Not that I've ever thought about doing such a thing.)

Hammer
Pliers
Cutters for wire seals
Screwdrivers
Duct tape
Zip ties
Grease gun

These are the things I probably use the most on my truck. You'll probably get a list or some more advice once you get into your own truck.

I get the same thing when I travel. I have some mild allergies that aren't that noticeable when I stay close to home but they rear their head when traveling. I usually just take my contacts out and tough it out. I did go to the doctor for it once though and he prescribed some eye drops that drained my eyes and sinuses really well.