Tyson Food Orientation(Just Left Western Express)

D. Every recruiter lies. Their job is to blow smoke up your butt to get you in the door, much like a car salesman. In regards to retention, turnover is high at all of the major players and that's nothing new. A couple years back, the CEO for Schneider made a statement that if they could keep turnover to 102%, they would be improving so think about that for a second. You're going to be the low man on the totem pole until you establish yourself as a reliable and competent driver and that takes time. At the moment, you're another individual with aspirations of success in a career you've barely scratched the surface of. You've managed to pass a simple test that shows you can move a 75' vehicle around with an examiner sitting next to you and not hit anything. Just relax a bit because you're literally not even wet behind the ears yet, the clouds are still forming.

I've been on here for over a year (I still have at least 10 years before I can even think about doing trucking, read my bio if you want), and I can tell you this; Old School and Brett are right 99.9% of the time. They give great advice, as do any of the mods on here. Some of your family members who have driven for 30 years, which company did they drive for? Whatever it is, I'd say go with them as your relatives (that you seemingly trust so much) went with them. And if they stayed that long, then good for them, and the company probably has good pay and benefits and stuff.

Also, never walk out of orientation. Maybe if you'd have stuck it out through orientation they might have paid for your bus home. Also, you could at least have on your resume that you have been through orientation (as that would put you one step ahead of other new drivers).

Just my 2 cents, good luck at Tyson if you wish... Also be careful 'round there, cops are proactive... One time my mom got pulled over right in front of the Tyson terminal in VA while going under the limit, and directly across the highway, sure enough, there was another person pulled over. Just a word of advice ;)

So did that childish little tirade make you feel better? Did walking out on Western Express make you feel better? I hope so on both counts because I can promise you that no one respects a loud mouth, arrogant, entitled jerk who hasn't accomplished anything. But I doubt you've shut up or listened to anyone long enough to catch onto that.

I expect you'll last a week at Tyson and you'll be on a bus again.

Keep running your mouth hero. See where it gets you.

Denaldo, you never came here for advice. You were looking for validation, and you were confident that a bunch of truck drivers would rally around you and agree with you that Western Express is a terrible place to work.

Once your plan backfired in your face, you didn't know how to deal with the shame and embarrassment of sounding like an idiot, so what do you do? You doubled down on it! Now you are even looking more ridiculous!

We tried to help you, but you've been in this world long enough to know better than to take good solid advice from well meaning people. You're certainly not the first person who tried to accomplish the things we do on a daily basis and fell flat on their face while scorning our admonition. We deal with your type quite often. Unfortunately we've yet to see any type of accomplishment from them in our industry.

Tyson's is a great company. They were my biggest customer when I was in another line of work years ago. However, they too are going to have procedures, protocols, SOP's, much like Western Express I'm sure has. Companies don't get that big and successful by accident; they put out a uniform set of rules that everyone must follow. And no, you won't have to sign a year-long contract with Tyson's, but it sounds like it might do you some good to work for a company for at least a year. As someone who interviewed applicants for jobs in my company, I didn't even bring in for an interview anyone who had worked for more than three companies in the previous three years. That shows a lack of commitment and loyalty. I don't get the hang up of the idea of a year-long contract; no one thinks twice about signing a contract for a cell phone or cable. But I digress. If you're so quick to give up on a company, that shows you are prone to job hopping. When a really nice opportunity does come along, they're not even going to consider you. Give that a thought, and wherever you land next, for your own sake do stick it out for at least a year.

Isn't it a bit odd that just about everyone that comes in here "knowing"more than the veterans of the job has family that has been in the business for years?

Just remember, you're new to this. The people on these forums trying to give you advice have a whole lot more experience than you do. (At least most of them do). Blowing of their advice is not the best thing you can do to help yourself. But then, you didn't listen to them, so why would you listen to me?

Am I the only one watching this thread who is also having flashbacks to the BBQ sauce incident?

Am I the only one watching this thread who is also having flashbacks to the BBQ sauce incident?

I love BBQ, especially Sweet Baby Ray's! YUMMY!

As someone who interviewed applicants for jobs in my company, I didn't even bring in for an interview anyone who had worked for more than three companies in the previous three years. That shows a lack of commitment and loyalty. I don't get the hang up of the idea of a year-long contract; no one thinks twice about signing a contract for a cell phone or cable.

I agree completely. It's funny that for over 100 years people formed unions to create some sort of job security in the workplace. They wanted to be sure they wouldn't just be tossed out the door on a whim or for the sake of the company's bottom line.

But people hear, "Truck drivers are in demand" and it goes straight to their head. Somehow they start to believe they're a high roller in Vegas and they don't have to put up with anyone or anything they don't like. It's the same delusion of grandeur you'll see with security guards sometimes. You take some knucklehead off the street and give them the key to a gate and suddenly they start acting like Clint Eastwood.

The real situation is that Top Tier Professional truck drivers are in demand, not some knucklehead fresh off the street who has never driven a truck a single mile in his life. A new driver has almost no value whatsoever. However, you'll be given the opportunity to learn your trade and prove that you can become a Top Tier Professional.

Even if you do prove to be one of the very best out there, you'll still never have any authority over anyone. You have to learn to get along with people. You can't bully people around. You can't keep telling everyone they can go to hell if they say something you don't like. The dock workers, DOT officers, dispatcher and load planners, and even the cooks at the restaurants - none of them have to listen to truck drivers. No one is under the command of a truck driver. We have no authority whatsoever. So you either learn how to work as part of a team and get along with people or the miles you get and the way you're treated will never live up to your ability as a driver.

Isn't it a bit odd that just about everyone that comes in here "knowing"more than the veterans of the job has family that has been in the business for years?

That is a very common pattern. I've always noticed that myself.

Just an aside reply, "every recruiter doesn't lie". That's like saying every trainer is bad or all Swift drivers suck... Fact is, many recruiters do not get paid until a recruit is actually hired and turning revenue miles. The true professionals are not in this to BS their way to pad their activity levels/numbers. Not trying to be argumentative, but a blanket statement like that doesn't cut-it. To my point; my experience with a Swift recruiter over 5 years ago, (her name is Lizanne), was brutally frank, and honest. She was very clear, efficient and had incredibly good follow-up. Very similar to how we educate a newbie on this forum. No BS. Yes, there are really bad recruiters, and yes they are selling,...but also there are many good recruiters as well, providing timely, factual information. Liz by the way, is still working for Swift. She sends me a Holiday card every year.

With that said; the crux of this reply is about communication, first and foremost. Communication is more about listening than it is about talking, or in the case of our OP, replying. I suggest that his listening skills or lack there-of contributed greatly to being misinformed. The below message was written on our DM/Planners Board several months ago...I snapped a pic, knowing at some point I'd have an opportunity to use it...as follows:

Is that gold, or what? So incredibly true for many of us. Listening is absolutely one of the most important aspects of this job, especially when a new driver is learning; working with a recruiter, an instructor, and trainer. Many of us are not very good at it. It's definitely a learned skill and at least from my stand point, something I never can stop working at. If "how" the OP "replied" to us is any indication of how he "heard" his Western Express recruiter, is it any wonder why the results were less than positive?