Making A Change!!

So as many of you know and some of you don't know, I went to school with Celdadon and planed to stay with them my first year. Well after a very bumpy few weeks with a trainer that ended with him being fired, I was looking into hauling livestock from utah to vegas....wellllllll the wife of the family owned company loveddddddd me, told me I had the job. Her husband then decided to have me get a year otr first. Now up till this point I had not quit Celadon, but they were short trainers and I was sitting in a hotel for six weeks, booked my own flight home to my parents house in CT. Had a few nice hits at the casinos (16,000 two days ago) but I HATE this state. So I called western express got hired and have a first class plane ticket booked. (cheaper than a bus) I have talked to OLD SCHOOL and gotten some great advice (he maybe be old but he sure is ugly) I'M KIDDING. I think flatbedding is a great fit for me, and despite some negative stories on the interwebs after talking to OLD SCHOOL i'm excited to be getting back on the road. I liked a lot of things about Celadon but 9 weeks with no trainer??? not making money and not learning what not to do..... One more bit of advice Boys and Gals DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR QUALCOM TO DRIVE OVER YOUR HOURS.

One last thing, my trainer that was fired......starts at western the same day I do.

Dang aces...how are you going to hold a poker face if you see your old trainer.... And now I have a question for all those who read this...its a kinda touchy question, that I don't even know how I would answer it. If you see your old trainer,, and you speak to him...then later one of Western's employees asks you where you know him from...what...and how much...do you say ?? Do you owe it to Western to tell them what went on ? Do you keep quiet and let the situation ride, knowing that possibly this guy will do the same thing a Western ???? Ya'll know my opinion of drivers who make the bad decisions that reflect on all of the good, professional drivers out there trying to change our image...So where do you stand on this issue ?????

Dang aces...how are you going to hold a poker face if you see your old trainer.... And now I have a question for all those who read this...its a kinda touchy question, that I don't even know how I would answer it. If you see your old trainer,, and you speak to him...then later one of Western's employees asks you where you know him from...what...and how much...do you say ?? Do you owe it to Western to tell them what went on ? Do you keep quiet and let the situation ride, knowing that possibly this guy will do the same thing a Western ???? Ya'll know my opinion of drivers who make the bad decisions that reflect on all of the good, professional drivers out there trying to change our image...So where do you stand on this issue ?????

The way I see it is his decisions cost me time and money, now he was doing these stupid acts before I was ever on his truck BUT got fired while I was in Vegas for court. I was his first student, and his last....he still texts me but I don't often reply, but that's how I knew he was hired at western. Part two of that was when my recruiter asked me if I knew anyone there I told her OLD SCHOOL and let's just call him SOB for now.... I said I knew OLD SCHOOL from TT and SOB from celadon that he was my trainer....well she looked him up and said he didn't put celadon down on his application.

So Starcar how would you handle this?

I guess part of it for me is I was raised that honesty is a must, his actions endanger my life and everyone of yours. I have a child on the way and to think that him or someone like him could take my child from me simply enrages me. I believe in accountability and personally know of other things he has done that were big no no's. What if I don't say anything and he takes out a bus full of kids? What if I do and it cost him his career and he was planning on being safer? He isn't a bad guy but we have laws for a reason right? Do I owe western or any other company the knowledge I have?

Hey, Aces...I'm all about black and white...If you are big enough to do the crime...you better pony up and do the time...I couldn't go to a company, who is willing to give me a chance, and not tell them that they may have hired a problem. I'd snitch him off, if thats what you want to call it. But.....he is me...what he does reflects on EVERY DRIVER OUT THERE. For me, thats the bottom line. Good or bad, whatever anyone thinks of me, thats what I'd do, straight up.

So THAT explains why they sent a fleet message about 2 drivers being terminated for unplugging the Qualcomms. lmfao.

So THAT explains why they sent a fleet message about 2 drivers being terminated for unplugging the Qualcomms. lmfao.

Yeah Jerry, it was actually him and two other drivers. Could you imagine the look on their faces when the got them fleet message about don't unplug your Qualcomm because we will know and you WILL get fired?

I guess im going to be the odd ball out on this one but I personally believe that its not your place to discuss another individuals information with anyone. Now what the guy did was wrong wrong wrong but not anything that most drivers arent capable of or havent done before. We all make stupid mistakes. Whos to say he didnt learn amything? I mean do you know how many drivers that drive "legal" that shouldnt be on the road because its not safe. Either they are to tired or too sick? Yep Ive been there. Kinda think if we all want to admit it WE ALL HAVE. I know that this man has made you angry but do you really want to be responsible for someone elses demise? He seems capable of that all on his own. Do as you please but my suggestion is to worry about yourself. Focus on your own career and let the chips fall where they may....

I am of two options on on this. But as we have stated many times before you really don't want to rock the boat at a new company with that being said. .....I would leave it alone for now unless asked about it. Fate always has a way of dealing with stupid people. Good bad or ugly Fate is a awesome thing.

Now as long as you don't have to deal with him personally you should be ok. The minute you have to deal with him make sure you let him know in no uncertain terms that you want nothing to do with him and to keep his distance. If it's a problem after that go to the schools staff and let them know every detail of the problem including what happened at the other company just so they will know a background. If Celadon fired if it will show up on his DAC and the new company will send him packing. They will wait til class starts before doing any of the background checks.

Wow, that's a crazy story but it sounds like it's going to end well for you anyhow. And it may end well for him too!

Hey, I've been fired from lots of jobs for getting caught cheating the logbook too many times in a short span. Back in the day most companies would let you cheat all you like as long as you don't get caught too often by DOT. If you do then they have to get rid of you or DOT is going to come down on them. So it's one of those things....the driver takes all the risk. If it works out, everyone wins. The driver makes more money, the company makes more money, and the customers get great service. If it doesn't work out and the driver gets caught then it's time to move on to a new company.

That's just how things were done back in the day. Let's talk history....

The whole reason they came out with the CDL license in the first place is because licenses didn't maintain their information most of the time if transferred from one state to another. Drivers would get too many points on one license so they'd switch it to another state and start clean! So they came out with the CDL. That was before my time.

During my time we would protect our licenses better but we did the same kind of thing with the logbook at the company we worked for. We'd run hard, cheat on the logbook, and make all the money we could make. If we got caught too many times by DOT we'd be fired and move on to a different company and start clean! And hey, most companies didn't mind hiring someone who was fired for too many logbook violations. They know you're gonna run hard, that's for sure! So that's why they're moving toward electronic logbooks and the CSA system for tracking driving violations.

So a driver unplugging a Qualcomm to continue running might seem really naive to anyone with a computing background. I mean, it should have been obvious to him they're going to detect the system being unplugged. Duh! But as far as ethics goes, he's just continuing the long-established practice of turning all of the miles you can turn, however you can turn em.

I mean, if you tell someone you'll pay them by the amount of work they do you're going to find some highly motivated people and that's exactly what these companies want. But you have to stay out of trouble or you'll be asked to move on.

But you'll notice Western Express hired this trainer, didn't they. Heck yeah they did! They know he's motivated anyhow. They may not know how long he'll last before getting in trouble and being let go, but at least while they have him he's going to run.

Now before anyone has a heart attack let me put my disclaimer here....

I do not condone breaking the laws in any way, shape, or form and I hope you guys and gals will stay legal out there. But I wanted to give you guys a historical perspective before you crucify that trainer for doing what millions and millions of us did pretty much every day of our lives for decades. And I don't want anyone to think I'm a hypocrite for saying "stay legal" when I didn't do that myself. I made the decisions I felt were right for me and I lived with the rewards and consequences. What I choose to do for myself and what I suggest would be best for others to do for themselves can be two different things, especially since we're talking two different eras of the trucking industry.