Nobody Will Hire Me After Termination. Should I Give Up On Trucking?

You literally just defined BKs post. Your response was the very definition of confusing disrespect for constructive criticism.

In a nutshell, you're brand new, you know little to nothing about the industry, how to keep a job in the industry and how to listen to those of us that do.

Somehow millions of us have grasped the concept of keeping our mouths shut when a boss gives us an @ss chewing. We also are able to handle a phone call without incurring a safety violation.

This may come as a surprise to you, but the world isn't a soft place. There was a time when bosses belittled us, swore at us, threw tools at us, insulted our lineage, hit us with 2x4s and all sorts of things. It made us better workers and tougher as a result. I personally would like to see it return to that in some aspects but aside from that, so your boss hurt your feelings...get over it.

I don't expect you'll have a very long shelf life at your next company unless you learn some things that have less to do with driving and more to do with humility, open-mindedness and a host of other marketable skills.

There's a reason why you are getting plenty of feedback here that's not necessarily pleasant, it's your attitude. If you can't take feedback from your peers, what makes you think you can from your employer?

You’re seriously bragging about letting bosses hit you with 2x4’s and throwing tools at you? That’s not good work ethic that’s stupidity. You let your old boss punk you out. I already put up with enough of that BS in the marines.

How about a fresh start?

It's not always easy to keep a positive attitude, Devildog. I get it. You were obviously frustrated by getting the run-around from recruiters and such.

Some responses may have seemed harsh. It's not bc they dislike you or want you to fail. It's just that we place a high premium on a positive attitude, the willingness to accept blame, and to learn from and move on from setbacks. Trashing a company or their employees is also frowned upon. Even if you want to, or feel justified in criticizing a company, try to curtail that behavior.

Instead of trashing a company whom you think disrespected you or treated you unfairly, just lay out the facts and ask if anybody can help you figure out what you can do to make things better.

As long as you keep that in mind, the drivers here will be more than willing to help.

You literally just defined BKs post. Your response was the very definition of confusing disrespect for constructive criticism.

In a nutshell, you're brand new, you know little to nothing about the industry, how to keep a job in the industry and how to listen to those of us that do.

Somehow millions of us have grasped the concept of keeping our mouths shut when a boss gives us an @ss chewing. We also are able to handle a phone call without incurring a safety violation.

This may come as a surprise to you, but the world isn't a soft place. There was a time when bosses belittled us, swore at us, threw tools at us, insulted our lineage, hit us with 2x4s and all sorts of things. It made us better workers and tougher as a result. I personally would like to see it return to that in some aspects but aside from that, so your boss hurt your feelings...get over it.

I don't expect you'll have a very long shelf life at your next company unless you learn some things that have less to do with driving and more to do with humility, open-mindedness and a host of other marketable skills.

There's a reason why you are getting plenty of feedback here that's not necessarily pleasant, it's your attitude. If you can't take feedback from your peers, what makes you think you can from your employer?

You’re seriously bragging about letting bosses hit you with 2x4’s and throwing tools at you? That’s not good work ethic that’s stupidity. You let your old boss punk you out. I already put up with enough of that BS in the marines.

I was an arrogant punk when I was a kid, so I got what was coming to me. That's the way the world worked then. It made me into a hard and smart worker, and eventually a successful driven business owner.

Maybe a shock to you, but the reason you keep finding disrespect is because you bring nothing to the table to be respected. When you're starting out, you have no skills yet, the only thing you can bring is a good attitude and you can't even bring that.

You're not entitled to respect, it's a commodity that is earned by the fruits of your labor. It sounds like you need more of what you found in the core, not less of it.

I suspect that you're young and with youth often comes that entitled arrogant attitude. The world will beat it out of you as many of you are finding out. You can do this the easy way or the hard way

We offer you the easy way, choice is yours. Some are nicer about it, others are a bit more direct.

I already put up with enough of that BS in the marines.

Speaking of which DDT163, when were you in the Marines and how many years did you serve?

Laura

I know this conversation has grown quiet, but I was thinking about this yesterday and didn't have a chance to respond.

DevilDogTrucker163 said this:

I explained to the supervisor what had happened, apologized, accepted responsibility for it, and said it would not happen again. He said that wasn’t a good enough excuse, started to scold me, belittle me, said I didn’t take the company and the job seriously, and accuse me of lacking integrity. I told him I didn’t appreciate his tone or accusations, and that if he called me in there with no resolution and just to make me beg for job as he power trips I could just empty out the truck because there was no need for that kind of disrespect. He told me that because of my attitude he was firing me for a company policy violation

New and old drivers alike, I want you to remember something important: You never know when you're being tested.

DevilDogTrucker163, you said you won't let anyone disrespect you. If they do, you'll defend yourself. On the surface, that sounds legit and maybe even hard to argue against. Dig a little deeper, and you can see where that can become a problem if you can't humble yourself at the right time.

For instance, you're driving down the road minding your own business, and a four-wheeler pulls out in front of you. He's in a hurry and says to himself, "I'm not getting stuck behind this truck. He'll just have to slow down as I pull out in front of him. I'll get out of his way soon enough. He can deal with it."

That's dangerous, and it shows a lack of respect for the truck driver and the dangers of heavy trucks.

So now that you've been disrespected, are you going to defend yourself? Maybe you'll tailgate the guy a little to intimidate him? Maybe you'll lie on the horn to tell him you're angry? Regardless, he disrespected you, and now you've disrespected him.

Maybe he retaliates and slams on the brakes, nearly causing an accident as you narrowly avoid plowing into him.

Now you're really steaming mad! This causes an additional problem. When we're angry, we're not thinking clearly. Our decision-making becomes poor. We become emotional, our judgment becomes clouded, and things spiral downward.

Many times, what led to a catastrophic accident was a series of smaller incidents that happened to one driver earlier in the day. He had something little go wrong, and he became frustrated. Then he started making poor decisions, and things became worse. Before you know it, he's having "one of those days" where nothing goes right, he's in a foul mood, and he's quite distracted by the events of the day.

Suddenly, a dangerous situation develops in front of him, but he doesn't recognize it because his mind is on other things. He fails to react properly. An accident happens, and he's involved. He would have avoided it altogether if he wasn't distracted by the frustrations earlier in the day.

The problem we face as drivers is that we're disrespected all the time, even by other professional drivers. If you can't learn to let it go sometimes, you'll spend most of your time frustrated. This becomes distracting and exhausting, both of which are the perfect recipe for disaster.

DevilDogTrucker163, I suspect the supervisor was testing you. He wanted to see if you were one of those hotheads who gets all bent out of shape if you feel you were disrespected or something little doesn't go your way. Those types don't stick around long at the company they work for and they certainly don't keep a stellar safety record for long.

Most of us here are Type A personalities, and we were hotheads when we were young. Keep in mind you're not a lion on the African plains. You won't get eaten by a pack of hyenas if you don't defend yourself against every perceived slight.

You're part of a complex society where emotional intelligence is necessary if you want to maintain relationships and achieve your goals. Defending yourself by going on the attack after every perceived slight is not a smart strategy in our environment. Sometimes it's best to keep quiet and develop a deeper understanding of the situation and its consequences on your future.

You said:

Everyone is telling [me] that because I was fired from my second job I need to do 6 months somewhere else first

In other words, they think you need time to mature, and they want someone else to take the risk of developing you into a safe, professional driver. They'll consider hiring you again once you've matured and you've proven you can be a safe and professional driver over the long run.

Instead of being reactive at the moment, take the time to understand the situation on a deeper level and think through the ramifications of your response. That's one of the defining differences between mature and immature people. An immature person always acts like a lion, no matter the circumstances. A mature person will react like a lion when it's appropriate, but knows when it's the right time to keep quiet and let it go.