The Guys Who Do The Most Complaining Put In The Least Effort

We've got several complainers on our fleet. I've been fighting this Polar Vortex mess all week. My dispatcher called last week and asked me if I'd take a load up here because the gentleman he had assigned it to suddenly became sick. Rather than just saying I don't want to take that load, he was suddenly stricken with some sort of unrelenting malady. Once he found out I was going to handle it for him he called the dispatcher and was feeling much better. It's funny though, the dispatcher made the decision to give him a couple more days to make sure he was over it. There's nothing like three days shut up in a sitting truck to adjust your attitude.

I finished up this load and my pay period this morning. It was a tough week, but I turned in 3,686 miles. Another really good solid week. I kept my focus and got it done just like I do every week. It's not always easy, in fact this week could only be described as really tough. I didn't sign up for this because I thought it would be easy. I live for the challenges of it. I get some really great satisfaction from conquering the challenges and then moving on to the next thing that lies ahead. It may be easy sailing or it might seem impossible, but if you can consistently handle it like a professional you'll reap the rewards.

Earlier this week we had some new "know it all trucker" in here who called me a liar when we were disproving the foolishness he was proclaiming about how these big companies mistreat their drivers and don't pay well. I reluctantly posted a pay stub to shut him up, and we haven't heard from him again. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words after all. Maybe he's too busy trying to get hired on at one of the mega carriers now to come back and visit with us.

But seriously have you noticed that the biggest complainers are the least effective drivers. They complain about not getting enough miles yet they refuse to try and accomplish the tough assignments. Then they start complaining about how the guys who take up their slack are getting all the great miles. This job takes a lot of Commitment. It takes passion and tenacity. It takes a lot of effort, and I've noticed the guys and gals that are really getting it done don't seem to complain along the way.

So true. *like

I think the repetition of this information constantly coming across on multiple subjects is what will sink in deepest for me and hopefully all the folks visiting this site. Humans are pattern focused and there continues to be this pattern from continual top performers.

Seriously though that is a lot o miles...thanks for sharing your actual results against their negative opinions once again.

Very interesting timing for this post.....

Sadly, there are exceptions to this rule. A driver I had the misfortune to meet, at our terminal would not shut up about everything he hated about the company. After he finally walked out the door about 45 minutes later, I asked one of our senior drivers who he was. The driver has been consistently at or near the top of the driving board, for the last 2 years.

I just hope I never run into him again, the guy was the definition of Toxic.

I am Just glad I am finally driving again after my truck went through electrical bypass surgery.

the gentleman he had assigned it to suddenly became sick. Rather than just saying I don't want to take that load, he was suddenly stricken with some sort of unrelenting malady. Once he found out I was going to handle it for him he called the dispatcher and was feeling much better.

The interesting thing I noticed is that there seems to be some sort of a Bermuda Triangle type vortex that happens in Pennsylvania, but only if you're heading East into New Jersey, New York, or the far Northeast during the night dispatch shift.

Back in the day when we were on paper logs it was amazing how many guys could run from anywhere west or south of Pennsylvania and get deep into Pennsylvania but suddenly run out of hours or get sick just an hour or two before crossing the state line into NJ or NY. They always had plenty of time available until that point and felt super healthy, but required a repower when the time warped sucked away all of their remaining hours or the sickness enveloped them.

For those who don't know, drivers almost universally hate going into New Jersey, New York, or most places to the Northeast of Pennsylvania. That's why these mysterious time warps or the sudden onset of illness would happen in Central to Eastern Pennsylvania. They would run all of the easy miles they could and then park it just before the hard part and see if they could sucker dispatch into talking another driver into doing the hard part.

Interestingly enough, every time I was asked to take over for one of these clowns I too became suddenly ill or out of hours.

This only happened after 5 PM dispatch time when the night dispatch would take over. This wasn't a daytime occurrence.

I reluctantly posted a pay stub to shut him up, and we haven't heard from him again. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words after all.

Oh we've had some lease drivers and owner operators post their tax forms to prove what they were making too.

Just kidding! They've never done that, of course.

PJ, you're immune from the ridicule because you keep it real. So ignore that kind of stuff when we say it.

I think the repetition of this information constantly coming across on multiple subjects is what will sink in deepest for me and hopefully all the folks visiting this site. Humans are pattern focused and there continues to be this pattern from continual top performers.

Absolutely. The most important thing we try to teach people is What It Takes To Be A Top Tier Driver which has almost nothing to do with driving skills and everything to do with attitude, ambition, communication, time management, and creative problem solving.

yeah, hit the nail right on the head Old School.

Unfortunately, this applies to every walk of life....the crybabies are rarely effective producers of much.

But....drivers tend to be more difficult to deal with than most other folks. The only group more obnoxious on average would have to be salespeople.

We've got several complainers on our fleet. I've been fighting this Polar Vortex mess all week. My dispatcher called last week and asked me if I'd take a load up here because the gentleman he had assigned it to suddenly became sick. Rather than just saying I don't want to take that load, he was suddenly stricken with some sort of unrelenting malady. Once he found out I was going to handle it for him he called the dispatcher and was feeling much better. It's funny though, the dispatcher made the decision to give him a couple more days to make sure he was over it. There's nothing like three days shut up in a sitting truck to adjust your attitude.

I finished up this load and my pay period this morning. It was a tough week, but I turned in 3,686 miles. Another really good solid week. I kept my focus and got it done just like I do every week. It's not always easy, in fact this week could only be described as really tough. I didn't sign up for this because I thought it would be easy. I live for the challenges of it. I get some really great satisfaction from conquering the challenges and then moving on to the next thing that lies ahead. It may be easy sailing or it might seem impossible, but if you can consistently handle it like a professional you'll reap the rewards.

Earlier this week we had some new "know it all trucker" in here who called me a liar when we were disproving the foolishness he was proclaiming about how these big companies mistreat their drivers and don't pay well. I reluctantly posted a pay stub to shut him up, and we haven't heard from him again. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words after all. Maybe he's too busy trying to get hired on at one of the mega carriers now to come back and visit with us.

But seriously have you noticed that the biggest complainers are the least effective drivers. They complain about not getting enough miles yet they refuse to try and accomplish the tough assignments. Then they start complaining about how the guys who take up their slack are getting all the great miles. This job takes a lot of Commitment. It takes passion and tenacity. It takes a lot of effort, and I've noticed the guys and gals that are really getting it done don't seem to complain along the way.

The biggest group of complainers I know was soldiers. The only bonus, is they got the job done while they complained incessantly. Soldiers love to gripe

The Guys Who Do The Most Complaining Put In The Least Effort .. I don’t believe that I been complaining last week and this week .last week my load was supposed to be delivered on the 31 I complain to my dispatch that I can deliver a day before ..I complained yesterday .sounds like 90 won't be able to take this until the 6th. will get layover. My load was for today 1000 so I call the customer to check it they can take the load today they said yes around 1200 .i have to complain to my dispatch Hey I’m getting the load off right now not everyone that complain don’t do their job

You're doing everything right Superlejera. Keep it up. Just don't complain when they decide to give you a raise!

Just an update to this post...

I was waiting for my backhaul dispatch when I made this post earlier today. It wasn't long until I got my next dispatch. It's a single stop load with 1,881 miles on it. It's such a shame that other driver fell suddenly ill. He could have been the one making all this money.