New To The Trucking Industry....Hurt And Highly Disappointed....Was I Fired?

I just recently completed trucking school on 06/2014 got my tanker, hazmat and twic card. I was called by a recruiter from Comar CTL division which is the tanker division to orientation. The orientation was from Tuesday-Friday 8am-5p,m according to the information provided by the recuiter. However that wasn't the case, but that was okay. On the first day we were required to take the drug test. They failed to mention that not only were you to do urine testing but also you had to have your head shaved and they take an ample amount of hair. The first day they took my hair which I wasn't happy about because I felt they should tell you that before they offer you the job not surprise you with that,.. but I was already there and had given my notice on the current job I had I felt subject to take the test, they didn't take enough hair so the called me back two days later and tell me they need more of my hair. Now I am a African American female with very fine hair. As any women knows especially women with fine hair black or other you don't want your hair cut too much nor your DNA out there like that, but although I wined a little I let them cut more of my hair because they said they didn't get enough the first time.

I failed to mention that the recruiter said they would pay for a round trip ticket to Savannah, Ga the cab fee to the hotel and the cost of the rooms. She had me scheduled for check out on Saturday 6/28/2014 because the class didn't end until Friday 6/27/2014 5pm but she had the bus ticket for 5:10pm on the 27th which was conflicting so I tried all week while I was there to get it corrected. So I finally just told her I would have someone come to Savannah to pick me up and she said okay just mail the bus ticket back and we will reimburse you the travel time back home. so I am thinking everything is setteled.

So on the next day which is the last day Friday I get to class thinking my arrangements back home is settled to be called out of class and was told I need to go back to the hotel and get my things because they were checking me out now. So I explained to the lady in HR that I was booked in the hotel until the next day and that I made arrangements to get home the next day. They told me they didn't care that I had to get my things now and if I stayed another day that I would have to pay for the room. I told her that I didn't think that was fair or right because the mistake wasn't on my part but they said too bad. So they took me back to the hotel after check out which was at 11:00 and the hotel manager had locked me out of my room. Now during this time I am on the phone trying to see how I am going to get home so I go down stairs and ask that he unlock the room so I can get my things he said he wasn't going to talk to me until I get off the phone. I told him I wasn't getting off the phone just give me the key so I can get my things. I get back to the class assigned my trainer for the following Monday when I get a phone call from safety telling me the hotel manager said I cussed him out and therefore I am not a good fit for the company and was told to get out of the class. This lady didn't care that I was out of town with no transportation and the fact of the matter is I didn't cuss at all at the manager of the hotel I just told him I wasn't getting off the phone just give me the key so I can get my things...was I fired based on the lie of a hotel manager and the mistake of the company? Is this the type of company I would want to work for? Do I report to work on the day that the orientation trainer told me to before I got the phone call? I don't understand what happened.

Cherterel, I'm going to suggest you just go ahead and move on. Look, I know how disappointed you are, because I had a terrible start in this career also. I got sent home like you just did three different times. Everybody has some kind of trouble getting into this in one way or another. I will suggest that you try to learn any lessons you can from this, and realize when you are getting a trucking job, you may have to be extra careful to be on your best behavior even with the hotel people. The tone of your voice or even an apparent attitude may have caused them to stretch the truth. These hotels work very closely with these truck driving recruiting operations, and if they don't like something they see they will report it. I'm not saying you have to be a brown nose, but you really want to be careful.

Don't lick your wounds too long or get hung up feeling sorry for yourself, just swallow it like some bitter medicine and then get right back in the game of seeking a job. I tried like crazy to get back in with the first people who rejected me, and it was a complete waste of good time. Hold your head up and get back in the game. If you didn't do anything wrong then just realize you may have come up against a bias against females, and if that is the case I wouldn't dwell on it, I would just move forward and realize that you probably don't want to be working there any way.

Best of luck to ya!

Sorry to hear that like old skool said hang in there and best of luck to you in the future

Honestly, it doesn't matter if you weren't actually cursing at the hotel manager. The bottom line is you made a fuss about getting off your phone. You were defensive and refused to do as asked.

Hear me out, but I've never heard of that company you mentioned. Its probably a small company, and truth be told, they simply cannot afford to lose or frustrate one of their customers. Judging by what they've seen with you, they probably think you're going to throw a fit whenever things don't go your way. You're a liability to them in regards to damaging their reputation. In trucking you'll always have shippers/receivers giving you a hard time, but you simply do as told and go with the flow.

You were told to put away your phone and you refused. How about if your shipper tells you that they're going to postpone your load time for tomorrow. So now you lost a days worth of driving, lots of money, and you'll have to work extra hard to deliver on time when you otherwise wouldn't need to. Now how badly would you react to them? That's the question in the Safety Departments mind. It doesn't matter if it was a hotel manager. When someone linked to your company asks you to do something you do it.

The company is simply concerned you might be too uncooperative to work for them.

I am sorry that you had to go through all of that. Move on and learn from it. Hope your experience the next time around goes smoother. You must remember, during that entire orientation/training period you are being interviewed.

I agree Daniel. When asked to get off the phone you should have. Or waited until you were off the phone to get the key. I know this may seem like a small issue but its something that people dislike and if you upset other people beginning with rude behavior ,and yes talking on the phone while trying to conduct other business is very rude, then don't be surprised if they do something to get back out you.

All that being said set backs like this happen all the time and you just have to move on and look forward to the next job.

I would definitely say to learn any lessons you can from it, forget the rest, and move on.

If you're going to attend a Company-Sponsored Training Program or even a company orientation, keep in mind that you do not have a job until they literally hand you a set of keys to your own truck and a fuel card. Even while you're on the road in training, you're still not securely in the door. You can be let go on a whim at any time.

Trucking companies look at their training programs, and even their multi-day orientations for that matter, as a tryout. It's part of the selection process, almost like a sports draft. They have a whole bunch of potential drivers in front of them and they can pick the ones they want, send the rest home. And believe me.....a lot of people get sent home. It's common for 25% of the class at a company-sponsored training program to be sent home within the first week. It's also common to find that fewer than 10% of the class will still be with the company after 6 months.

So approach your time in training and orientation like you would trying out for a team. Work hard, listen well, have an awesome attitude, and show em you're one of the drivers they'll want to keep. Don't give them any excuses to send you packing.

Cherterel, I say forget about this and give it another shot elsewhere. Successful people in life may be defined by their achievements, at least by others. But if you ask anyone who has been highly successful at anything difficult they'll tell you it's their failures - and the lessons they learned from them - that ultimately lead them to a high level of success. People with a lot of experience at something aren't valuable only for the things they know how to do. But maybe more so for the things they've learned the hard way not to do. You've learned a lot from this experience. The next one should go a whole lot better for ya.

Thanks for all the responses I really appreciate what all you guys had to say, I take it to heart and mind, you all are absolutely right. I will just continue to move on and keep it "Trucking".