So I'd chosen my trucking school, ma paid for it, and
I showed up for the first day. Welcome. Smiling faces, hand shakes, and
piles and piles of paperwork on each desk. No party hats (they really
should have party hats) but, oh well, what do they know?
The
schooling began with nothing but classroom study for the first week or
two. If you decide to attend driving school at a trucking
company....let the propaganda begin! They won't waste any chance at
promoting themselves, believe me. They will also make you feel like it
is your privilege to be working for them. Get used to that. Now here's
your first piece of raw truth about the industry... companies are
completely and totally desperate for truck drivers. I mean DESPERATE!
Were
you ever offered a $2000 bonus just to come work for a company? Did you
ever have a company offer to pay for all of your schooling if you will
come work for them when you graduate? Why would someone offer such an
insane amount of money just for you to come work there? They don't even
know you! They have no idea what you're capable of! You don't even have
any experience! They don't really care.
These bonuses are common
at the larger trucking companies. Sure they HOPE you're gonna be an
outstanding truck driver, but more than anything they just desperately
need your butt in one of their trucks. Period.
Well, turnover is
a huge problem in the trucking industry. A driver with a clean record,
even a driver straight out of school, can land literally hundreds or
even thousands of jobs at any time and everybody knows that, drivers
and companies alike.
So in order to put themselves in a position
of authority, which is a falsity, they may try to keep you on pins and
needles by implying that your job is always on the line. One false move
and you could be fired. This is one of the HUGE mistakes that companies
make.... its simply not true.
All that they really accomplish by
trying to scare you is filling you with a lack of trust and loyalty
towards them. Most large companies are full of drivers that have hit
bridges, rolled trucks, been late for deliveries, and on and on. Does
this mean you won't ever get fired? Certainly not. I've been fired a
few times by idiots I've never met on some committee making decisions
based on little or no real facts or understanding about me or my
situation.
But getting another job, as long as you've never had a
DUI or killed somebody, is really easy...so don't let them snow you
into thinking your career is always on the line... it's a bluff. Lose
your job and you can have ten new ones tomorrow. Simple as that.