Lost My First Trucking Job, Rather Resigned ( A Longish Post Sorry For Length)

More, you're going to learn that how you present yourself to others in trucking is critical to your success. I'm not suggesting you let people walk all over you, but reading your comments tells me you've got a lot to learn about how you talk to your managers. We all have had those lessons. Even Brett realized he would have to cool his New York Italian way of talking to people when he was dealing with the office personnel. It's all part of the learning curve.

You're in that steep learning curve. You've already had some stressful experiences that you should be learning lessons from. Hang in there and be a professional. You're not the first new driver who's having a rough start. Just keep learning, keep moving forward, and always try to conduct yourself calmly and professionally.

You are not the first driver who mentioned the Jake brake issue to me after the fact Big T and you are right I did not know at the time when all of this went down. So there I was a green horn. I did learn a hard lesson. In fact lately I have reflected upon that moment as the turning point with the company. I COULD have also offered the suggestion of waiting where I was parked close to the shipper or perhaps go to the shipper and ask that the replacement truck be dropped off there as well. I have really kicked myself for not doing that (at least in my brain) the last couple of weeks.

We had automated trucks at that company so controlled braking would have won the day, unfortunately I found out after the fact . As they say though now I know and knowing is half the battle.

That's tough Moe. Hopefully you can get on with May and get some proper training done.

Something to point out though. The jake not working is not an out of service issue. Would I bring it up to the shop? Absolutely. The ECM codes I'm not sure about, but if they say it's ok to run until you get back then I would do my run and put it in the shop when I got back. One of the joys of working with the big boys.

Back to the jake issue though. You were picking up 30k and aside of the hill out of Yakima and the climb towards Moses Lake you were going to be on flat ground in dry weather. Jakes are a convenience, but not a requirement. In fact for a good part of the year you wont be able to run your jakes due to road conditions.

Proper gear selection and controlled braking would have allowed you to make your run safely, allowed your company to service their customer, and prevented the headache you have been dealing with.

Without training though how would you have known that though?

Wish you the best, Moe.

I've followed you from the beginning.

Thank you Old School, there was at least one moment in all of this the last couple of weeks where I thought that this was the end of my world and then I remembered your story. I am not trying to sound kissy kissy with that response either, but I remember your story of what 4 companies that did not work out in the beginning and here you are a top tier driver.

this situation definitely exposed the communication skills improvement that I need to have. I tend to panic or assume things in my conversations or I rather assume folks are out to get me and I therefore tend to go all out to ensure I get the upper hand. You are right not a professional way of doing things, but I also had to stand up for myself in regards to my pay etc.

Here's hoping the next opportunity is better....

More, you're going to learn that how you present yourself to others in trucking is critical to your success. I'm not suggesting you let people walk all over you, but reading your comments tells me you've got a lot to learn about how you talk to your managers. We all have had those lessons. Even Brett realized he would have to cool his New York Italian way of talking to people when he was dealing with the office personnel. It's all part of the learning curve.

You're in that steep learning curve. You've already had some stressful experiences that you should be learning lessons from. Hang in there and be a professional. You're not the first new driver who's having a rough start. Just keep learning, keep moving forward, and always try to conduct yourself calmly and professionally.

Thanks Annie!

Wish you the best, Moe.

I've followed you from the beginning.

I remember your story of what 4 companies that did not work out in the beginning and here you are a top tier driver.

That's right Moe. We all have things we overcome just to get ourselves established at this career. It's never easy at the beginning. We have several conversations going on now with people airing out their struggles. To be honest, it's a regular theme in here.

At this point you really need to try to get a start with a big trucking company that regularly hires rookie drivers. It will be tricky though. That false start you just went through is likely to cause you some grief. They may not put anything on your DAC , but when other companies try to verify your employment and find your not considered for re-hire, you're likely to see why we always stress the best practices methods that we do.

Keep us in the loop. We will help any way we can. Don't waste any time. Get right on those applications. Any delays will be detrimental to your success at landing your next job. Move forward - Godspeed to you brother!

Goodluck Moe.

At least you got to go to Panera..... I love their soups.

The Friday class chowder is nice. The broccoli cheddar not so much at least compared to other places I have been lol.

Goodluck Moe.

At least you got to go to Panera..... I love their soups.

We had automated trucks at that company so controlled braking would have won the day

You can downshift an autoshifter or automatic. You don't want to burn your brakes going down a hill.

It was not until last Thursday that the company CEO called and started off the conversations going over "facts" as he had them that I refused a load the previous friday, that I damaged one of his trucks and owed him 1900 for the oil pan and that I resigned.

It boggles my mind that some trucking companies actually expect their employees to pay for damages.