One Year Anniversary At My Job And Stepped Down As Lead Driver

It's been a while since I've posted any updates about my job but there have been a few developments since I started this gig exactly a year ago today. Since I started this gig I've gotten several raises and one pay reduction (so to speak...it's weird, I'll explain), road tested and trained several drivers, was promoted to one of the lead drivers on my fleet, branched out from being strictly local and helped out with some longer and out of state runs, and most recently today stepped down as lead driver. It's been a fun year and I've really enjoyed working this job and I learned some important lessons as well.

I think the biggest thing I learned about myself this year is that I hate drama. To be fair I guess I already knew that about myself but there's a difference between just knowing there's some drama in the company versus being involved in it because it's your job to be involved in it. Being a lead was an honor and a privilege and I was able to help keep things running smoothly on my fleet. That said, holy crap man I'm amazed at how much drama you can get with just a group of 13 truck drivers spread out over three different cities. My phone was always ringing off the hook and I was trying to help guys out over the phone while also trying to drive and do my job and it was just too much. I love helping people and I love where I work and what I do so I wanted to help the company be successful down here (we went from about 3-4 drivers on this fleet when I started to 13 in about 6 months or so) but even if you're talking hands free it can become a huge distraction while you're driving. Long story short, my position was mostly just made up to serve a need at the time but I had no real job description and ultimately no authority so things got to a point where I was putting in extra work for no extra pay and ultimately my crew figured out they could straight up ignore me and there would be no consequences. In the end it just wasn't worth it. I'm happy to go back to just driving and enjoying the job for what it is and going home at the end of the day.

Another thing I've been learning/experiencing is what it's like to work for a somewhat smaller family owned company vs a larger more corporate company. My favorite thing about working here vs a larger company is that all my interactions with my coworkers and supervisors is more personal. Things are generally just more relaxed and "chill" than the bigger companies I've worked at. I've also noticed I tend to have hell of a lot more say in things than I've ever had at any other job. My company has acquired dozens of new trucks for the bulk fleet alone since I've started here and the drivers' feedback about the new trucks was taken into account before we ordered the new batch of trucks. They ordered the newer trucks with bigger fuel tanks, different engines, etc. They even ordered a batch of brand new manual 13 speed daycabs because alot of us still prefer to drive standards.

Anyways the cons of working at a smaller company are really the same--everything is more personal...i.e. more DRAMA. Everyone knows everyone and when one driver makes a mistake everyone hears about it and so on. Another con is that they're not as well organized as what I'm used to. They often don't seem to have procedures and policies in place for certain things such as disciplinary actions for example. One thing I've run into is that it seems like every few months there's a discussion about sending my truck down to the New Mexico fleet. This is literally my favorite truck I've ever driven (2019 Western Star 4900 13 speed with Starlight sleeper--beautiful truck inside and out, pictured in my profile pic) and so of course I object and so far my boss has moved things around to let me keep it but it's definitely a little frustrating. Oh yeah, and then the pay thing. We have a weekly minimum guarantee as part of our pay here but it's not the same for every driver and because the load pay in our division was less than desirable at the time I started here, the weekly minimum worked more or less as a salary than as an actual minimum guarantee. Long story short, because of this nasty long winter we had they decided to reduce the weekly guarantee pay significantly and they left the load pay for each load the same. About a month or so later we received a more significant (can't give exact numbers) load pay increase and now that we're getting busy again things are good. I asked around and started hauling non-local loads to make sure my paycheck didn't suffer while we were still slow but idk, the whole thing was weird and not something I've ever dealt with before.

Anyways, it's a great gig and I plan on keeping it for a while. I have been getting the itch to get back into flatbed and/or go into heavy haul/oversize. I've also had an itch for a long time to get into heavy wrecker towing and there's a market for that type of trucking here in Colorado with the Rocky mountains right here but I'm holding off on all that for now and debating whether I want to actually get into any of that in the future. Let me know if there's anything you guys want to hear more about specifically at my job or just in general. Now that I'm stepping down as a lead at work I want to help contribute more on here but I'm not really sure what information is most useful.

I'm with you when it comes to talking on the phone while driving. I don't like it. I always end up sending an apology msg later on to my FM if she calls and we have to talk over the phone while I'm driving. I tend to give quick, one word answers and I feel like I come off as rude. She knows the deal by now though.

I couldn't imagine trying to stay in touch with several drivers on a frequent basis.

It's good you'll be around more to add your input on the forum. You're contributions are always respectful, positive, and helpful.

Hopefully you can hold onto your truck. I guess your company is trying to put you into a day cab?

Let me know if there's anything you guys want to hear more about specifically at my job or just in general

I'm not sure what your job is. What products do you guys haul? Dedicated customers and routes? Tell us a little about it.

That said, holy crap man I'm amazed at how much drama you can get with just a group of 13 truck drivers spread out over three different cities. My phone was always ringing off the hook and I was trying to help guys out over the phone while also trying to drive and do my job and it was just too much.

I've mentioned here before that I tried hiring people to work for me because that's how you're "supposed to" run your business. You're not supposed to do the work. You're supposed to manage the people who are doing the work.

I thought I could split the difference. Hire people, give them a little instruction here and there, and continue to spend most of my time doing my own work. That was pretty much impossible.

Managing people is a full-time thing. If you try to split the difference, you wind up managing people poorly and you fall short on your work. You also experience a boatload of frustration.

I'd rather just do the work I love to do and let others manage people.

My driver instructor stepped down from his position because of drama. It sucks because he was great at it.

That said, holy crap man I'm amazed at how much drama you can get with just a group of 13 truck drivers spread out over three different cities.

Imagine 150 drivers in the same building.

even if you're talking hands free it can become a huge distraction while you're driving.

I can talk about nonsense pretty easily, but when I have to help somebody and I'm thinking about their problems and where they are, that's a huge distraction. It's why I stopped taking those calls or I'll stop if I can call them back.

Let me know if there's anything you guys want to hear more about specifically at my job or just in general.

I'm always interested in what others do. I agree with Brett, I have no idea what you do or what your day is like. What do you haul? How many hours do you work? What days do you work? What time do you start? That's a good starting point and let the rambling begin.

I want to help contribute more on here but I'm not really sure what information is most useful.

I'm in the same boat as I'm currently on furlough and my expertise is LTL. I can answer most questions that pop up, but I don't know what to post that would be helpful in a general sense. You can just do what I do and answer questions as they pop up.

Being that I'm based out of Colorado and I'm pretty curious about bulk transport out here, I'm definitely curious as to what your day is like, if your trucks are setup for mountain driving, how the loads haul, like do they have any surge? I've hauled some dry bulk in dry van and it is usually stable but some loads just feel weird, like wet bark.

I constantly see us bulk transport running adds with a minimum guarantee. Also, do you get bored with just running around CO? I found myself starting to get bored running the same area since November.

Hey Banks, an article or describing some of the KTL specific terms and what's involved with those terms would be cool. One of the things that comes to mind as I type is bidding. I see you LTL guys talking about bidding all the time, but I know that I don't really understand what it is and how it works.

People who are looking at starting in trucking are sometimes looking at local jobs. I know that right now is not good at all for LTL, but it's not going to be like that forever. I just saw a thread started by someone who is getting into SAIA's dock-to-driver program. No idea if SAIA is anything like other LTL companies, but that poster might appreciate being able to read about bidding for routes.