Trucking....Early, you're wrong. Late, you're wrong. On time? Go over there and wait for us to let you know when we can load you. And yes, I'm a trucker
I totally know what you're saying, and it's true - entirely too many customers just set you aside until it's convenient for them. Not to mention, a 15 minute window is not nearly enough. You have to give more leeway to account for traffic and weather delays.
Managers? How did the boss ever get to hear about this customer’s problems? If the line manager can’t sort out a problem like illegal parking what can thy do?
I got fired for obeying the electrical code and telling my boss that I wasn't going to be the cause of a building burning down. I climbed down the ladder and told him if he wanted to do it the ladder was empty and he could climb up there and pull the wrong wire to the entrance heater and cause an exit to catch fire in a public building. I was fired immediately. Later when the building caught fire I got a chuckle. The company closed and had to settle several lawsuits. They had to settle because my testimony would have destroyed them even more.
I did a lot of wiring mods at a small company a few years ago. I answered directly to the CEO. I explained to him the reason for my methods, as a properly trained electrician... He didn't like it because it was expensive... but he listened... and his facility didn't burn to the ground... The National Electrical Code really is the ultimate authority for fire prevention...
@pizzafrenzyman: Complain to the maker that the simulator does not match reality. Also, they should add getting stuck in grid locks in full length. 😠 Regarding the video: refusing an unsafe or potentially illegal tour may be difficult if you can be fired without giving a reason.
As a non-trucker, I have found over my 71 years that truckers are mostly great guys. They are the first people to offer help to strangers on the road. That, coupled with a tough job to begin with, makes them the angels of the highways. Godspeed to them all.
When I was in the military we were coming back from a 30 day field exercise. We stopped at a truck stop before heading back to base 6 truck drivers told us not to worry about traffic that no one would cut into our convoy. We had 6 trucks making sure that no one got into our convoy and got back to base without incident. For those that think truckers don’t think about others this is a group of truck drivers I will never forget.
Some get it most don't but u do. Very refreshing positive attitude in this day and age. Which actually if u think about it is old school. Old school never gets old. Attitude in life is the key to being successful in life. Like he said knowing when & how to interact with anybody is part of being humble & (here's the big one) respect. It takes giving respect to get it. Plain & simple. Keep up the good work. Your helping a lot of people understand to have a better full rounded life from the road that some of us dearly love because that white line fever is in our blood. Handed down from generation to generation for some. Over time for others.
Usually you receive a warning or two before being fired, at least in my country (unless it's really serious like theft). It sounded like they wanted to let go of a couple of members and this was a golden opportunity to them to come up with an excuse.
LoL! It almost got to that point. Geez. I have to admit, I expected to tell my boss what happened and they would fix it. I didn't expect a series of interviews lasting most of the day.
Just a FYI, your company had no problem letting the TOP performer go. The problem with this Owner is he is so discconnected from his Drivers he has 6 managers wanking off doing nothing all day so he never hears about anything. The owner knowingly had a problem with 1 customer and chose to let any driver go for not following 1 customers orders. He should of told the customer to find another delivery company, not fire his employees anytime the customer doesn't get his pudding pack.
There’s always too many bosses. Everyone is a boss nowadays. But in reality 99% of them don’t know the meaning of word boss, let alone the responsibility to be one. That’s why a few of them gather around because one isn’t capable of making a decision. Dumb and dumber or like the 3 stooges.
I accidentally clicked on this video but I literally listened to the entire 17 minutes. You're a great commentator and this was also a really interesting and insightful story. Great vid :D
there's empowering the team, and there's from-the-top-down decisions... the owners made a top-down decision. Very few people are in the position to argue with the one(s) who sign their paycheck and expect to remain employed there.
+Andre Landry, Exactly because everyone is scared to give suggestions because if the owners get pissed, the people lose their job. They can't pay bills etc. In many areas of life where communication about up to date knowledge that means the difference between life or death it just isn't there we have to accept some people were meant to have problems that could easily be solved with knowing a few things but that would eliminate some jobs in the world but also create new ones. Considering the amount of employees.. I think the company structure is right. Amazon works people hard but the people who remain are meant to be there. Having problems due to miscommunication all the way to the end means it was meant to be for reasons known but unknown to us either through karma or a better life future aligned with the God will world development. As long as jobs get done right it's all that should matter.
Yes, OBVIOU3_ninja, there are plenty of indians, but they're all on the road, and not hanging around the yard then you have 5 managers all in one office, and no one knows what the others are doing, ? lol I don't know how many times i used to catch crap from a couple of my managers when I was running gravel, one guy wanted me here and the other guy wanted me there and at the same time. They were always trying to outrank each other, but I was the one caught in the middle.
I read that as "too many CHEFS and not enough Indians" and I was very confused for a few seconds. "I-Is that supposed to be a 'too many cooks spoil the broth' kinda metaphor? What?"
You are correct. His positive attitude ensured that multiple levels of leadership went to bat for him. They all know who he is now, and are on record with senior leadership as being supportive of him as an employee. If he worked for me (and the guys like him who do work for me) are my favorites, and they get favorable treatment.
I've been put here for a long time, and I can attest to the chain of command that is stacked above us. You handled that very well. This was one of the most well produced YT videos about trucking that I've seen. A lesson for young guys is at hand... save your messages. Be punctual, be polite, be clean, be respectful. Most of us old timers practice this and it has served us well.
Trucking: This is beautiful; but, you are a good man and an excellent worker also with the need to be respected. They should not take advantage of you. This has to be reciprocal.
The lowest man on the totem pole is the most important man. He is the one that keeps everyone up. So you really are the most important man. You are the foundation that keeps a business running. You are number one. The boss is on top and has a long fall if the others leave.
I agree completely. Very well said. The workers should be making the bulk of the money while managers get a small share for basically watching us do our jobs most of of time.
micglobal Story of my life!! I have bent over backwards for companies working twice as hard as others and it literally gets you nowhere. You’re not considered any more valuable than the lazy, hungover, tardy, and drug addicted con artist who does just enough to draw a check. It truly is demoralizing and leads to burnout. Some will say I’m whining and/or bragging. No, just merely exposing the utter hypocrisy of companies who “claim” they’re looking for hard and devoted employees and when you prove you’re that model worker, exploit and use you up to the point of losing heart(for lack of incentive and raises) and moving on. That old adage “work hard and you’ll go far” is the biggest bunch of bs I’ve ever heard! At least in my experiences. Thanks for letting me vent.
I respect you truck drivers out there. Without you guys people wouldn't have anything. From hauling the trusses to a house to all the furniture and stuff inside of them we wouldn't have them without you guys.
Your story is actually a testament to how impersonal the relationship often is between the company and driver, when you drive for a Mega. It is a testament to the notion that you really are not much more than a driver number at one these giant companies, and easily replaced at the drop of a hat. This sort of situation would never happen at a small trucking company where everybody knows each other.
Without question you're going to have more complexity in a larger company. But in the end the company got it right. They did take the time to listen to me. They did value my opinion and they valued me as an employee. So when they realized I wasn't to blame because I wasn't given the information I needed, they sent me back to work and the whole thing was forgotten, just like it should have been. It was an extraordinary situation. This wasn't something that typically happens which is why I shared the story. It also shows that these mega companies do care about their employees, they don't treat you like a number, and if you'll act like a professional you'll be treated like a professional.
Someone once told me "Say what you mean, and mean what you say, but don't say it mean" Having responded in the wrong way to other situations, I can appreciate your point about keeping a cool head. I would hope to have the same tactfulness and grace should I find myself in a similar situation.
I do not drive a truck but i know some amazing drivers and your words were very well spoken and work for all walks of life. Thank you for a great video.
Operations Manager, Fleet Manager, Terminal Manager, Assistant Terminal Manager. Head of East Coast Operations. Sounds like they have to many managers. It's like McDonalds: everyone their is a manager.
Yeah, there are a lot of different levels involved, that's for sure. It's a pretty huge company. At the time they had over 5,000 drivers and probably 10,000 employees.
To be fair, at fast food you have to have someone in charge there at all times and nobody wants to allow their employees to earn overtime, so you need at least enough managers to cover all hours of the day separated into 7 hour shifts, and one or two extra to cover in case one gets sick or something.
Doing this can take a crappy situation and really turn it in your favor because now you've strengthened your reputation at the company and are no longer just a name on a board to the higher ups. This is something I learned early on in the Army and it has really made me successful in every other area of my life
Personally I didn’t mean to watch this, it was on auto play, I have suffered with mental illness for over 10 years and think this video is excellent, the words you speak could help many of people, respect and thanks, I actually went out halfway through, which I hadn’t done in just under 2 years, so thanks for your help even though it was meant for truckers.
It was good hearing this because people need to make that choose humble N respect will get you everywhere in life... Thank for sharing that bit of info......fellow trucker...
Its funny, I've been to over 5 rehabs for drug addiction. The last one I was at had a class called "relationship advice" and I'm kind of a class clown (since 1st grade). I decided enough of this shit and I actually started keeping my witty jokes to myself. Any way the counselor of the group wrote on the board in big letters "THE MOMENT SOMEBODY RAISES THEIR VOICE, THE CONVERSATION IS OVER." I'm not saying it's the only reason, but I'm still clean 5 years and a few months later, and this little quote sticks in my head and I don't remember the last time I got into a heated argument.
Very very good advice, my late husband kept his cool, and even made a stop pleasant by being light and friendly with the DOT officer.... I will never forget that one......
The driver does take the heat for almost everything. I wouldn't go so far as to say everyone is trying to screw the driver, and I definitely don't think trucking sucks, but from a responsibility standpoint almost everything falls on the driver's shoulders, no question about it.
EVERY job is that way. In a factory, the lowly operator is blamed for any problems or issues while the higher ups in mgt or engineering take the credit when an operator does well. Blame always runs downhill.
Agree, I would have said thank you for my time here politely and I understand your rules.Then, tell them I was never informed about the 15 minutes however and gone and got all my stuff out of the truck and left on good terms. Then let them ponder over their decision they made without hearing your side of the story-make them now feel like jerks no matter how nice they are. You may not have any authority, but after 34 years OTR, I feel I have plenty-its a two-way street; you need me, I don't need you.
JHVN Herrmann shoot. That's still even too much to explain to them. Before I got into trucking.... I got fired from my last job as a correctional officer last year. I was off of probation, I had a mobile home on a property that the state prison owned. After I got canned, I had to explain to my wife why we had 30 days to move out. Costed us $6300 to relocate the whole Damn mobile home. I could have gotten my job back after fighting, but it would have Damn near took a year and it wasn't worth it. I got canned at the drop of the hat because the people that ganged up with me were friends with the right people. Now why the hell hell I wanna get my job back at a place like that. Im an owner operator, and i can take my truck to a lot of places. It seems that trucking is the last job in America where u can get a job anywhere almost instantly. This guy will be alright
What a great personality this man is. I’ve learned a lifetime lesson from your story. I don’t work in trucking but I love American trucking. Your demeanour deserves a global award.
Thanks man. Yeah, for a short time when they first told me I thought, "Screw these guys. I'll just walk and I'll have 10 jobs by lunchtime." I guess anyone would think that after working somewhere for years and then being told you're being fired for something stupid like that. But I immediately realized that leaving wasn't going to help me, nor was it going to hurt them. It made sense to stick around and work it out and I'm glad I did.
Great video with great advice not just for truckers, for everyone. I used to know an ex trucker who had the same attitude as you. He told me of his story why he left trucking, which he loved doing. His very last job, the one that made him leave, ended tragically. A young female driver in a small car cut in front of him on the highway. She put her car too close to his truck. Something made her break hard and because his truck had no time to break he slammed into the back of her car crushing it completely killing her. He let her death get to him even though he knew he was not at fault. I can only imagine how bad it affected him. He loved his job and one accident that he did not cause ended his career and his love of driving :(
Yea doesn't make sense that defending an unjust decision makes someone a cry baby. This is a messed up situation and legal action should be a potential pathway one can take.
You are a true professional sir, kudos 4 keeping your composure on a difficult situation like this when other drivers would B flipping & storming out of the place never 2 return again. U R right if U liked the job & it was worth 2 keep why act all indignant when clearly all was just a communication issue & all the managers U spoke with sided with you after explaining the situation.
That was one story I don't mind saying I found inspiring and incredibly well-told, I don't doubt you would get a standing ovation if you told it to a crowd, and I hope your composure in that situation managed to have an impact that went all the way to the owner(s), because after all that was where the biggest 'mistake' was made, of pre-judging you as if you were an item and as if written agreements automatically affect reality as it transpires with us. Guess that kind of reflects on how societies at large also similarly still do the very same thing as you also mentioned about truckers being viewed very negatively, and so are of course many other people who just happen to do a particular job or another; I salute you for your efforts in helping to break these cursed bonds in our hearts, may thousand fold more hear you and grasp for a better humanity! :)
Stupid rules. You are dealing with truckers who have variables that determine their arrival and departure times. Expecting a trucker to show up at a specific time is ridiculous.
stripedtigress exactly, as long as they eventually show up and not at closing time I'm a-ok! I understand things happen and we are all human. Wish other people would pet the sweaty and not sweat the petty.
replys may be stupid and the rules may be as well. but Timing in the trucking industry is key. Most drivers can manager thier time well and including myself I was always able to manage to be somewhere with the window I was given
Not really all that difficult... in this example, one just pulls to the side of some street or exit for ten minutes... had the concern about not pulling in until 15 minutes prior been properly communicated, any decent Driver could have paused for 10-15 minutes to not piss off a customer and not complicated his life upon return to the yard.
S Boz eventually show up? ... LOL ... ya, you have 10-15 Trucks roll in “eventually” or “just before closing” and see how screwed up your day gets.... lol
While your point makes eminent sense, Ms. "s"-it sounds, as if those in charge, aren't "with the program." Interesting, sad story. Thank-you, sir, for sharing, this post, btw!(No, I'm not a trucker...just, a guy, whose favourite movie-since it aired, on ABC when I was 11-always, has been, "Duel." Further, on the set, of, "Lonesome Dove: The Series", I got to tell Mr. Weaver(r.i.p.)just, that. He hugged me and, said, "yes, that was a lot of fun! That kid was a pretty good director, too!")
Yeah, there's been a shortage for decades it seems. Trucking is a tough gig. Not very many people can handle it. I think there's going to be a lot of turnover and a lot of demand for many years to come.
I'm not a trucker, but had to watch after reading the title. The lessons learned can be(and should be) applied to anyone in any vocation in any situation. Kuddos for keeping your cool and going about it in a calm and logical manner. Glad you were able to keep your job. God bless
I’m guessing this isn’t a Unionized carrier. His ‘termination’ would’ve been an open and shut case without all the runaround. He could’ve left his truck running while the Union guys straightened it all out in a matter of minutes.
Reminds of the story regarding the inventor who invented the windshield wiper interrupter mechanism, and sued GM for stealing it....eventually won @ 10 yrs. X-wife, who could not take the stress & divorced him, was happy for him....Pyrric victory.
I'm retired now but as a driver one time I had a delivery in Broken Arrow Oklahoma dispatched out of Kansas City in a day cab with a 8:30 a.m. delivery time I showed up early and did not know that there was a problem with my company and this company so in order to punish my company they made me wait to unload. No problem at 2:30 p.m. they told me that the people that were supposed to unload me had gone home for the day I said okay pulled off the dock through the entire load in the parking lot taking about 2 hours to hand unload every piece sign the paperwork myself left a copy and drove home irritated and already looking for a new job on the way home expecting to be fired when I got back! I was surprised that my dispatcher was awful happy about what I did! I was filled in on the feud and was told they were under contract and could not break the contract. By dumping the load in their parking lot they decided to break the contract for us! For the next three years they tried to resign the contract which was never going to happen lol
2 hours to hand balm that shit? Hell, I would find a nice long strip of pavement, slap it in reverse, get some speed and slam on the brakes. Easy unload. Sign the paperwork, drop a copy on the pile and roll out.
Great video with a great message... not just for trucking but for all other aspects of life as well. I wish more people would value respect, humility, and patience like you do.
You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, in my 29 years of trucking I have learned that communication is everything, however I've never heard of a situation like this one your explaining.
Yeah, communication really is everything. I wish more drivers understood that. This was definitely one of the strangest situations I have ever been in, no question about it. It worked out well, but it wasn't a fun process I can tell you that.
That wouldn't have gotten me anywhere. If all we had to do was hire a lawyer and get rich every time someone wronged us we'd all be rich, wouldn't we? The smart thing to do was just talk through the situation and work it out.
I agree with what you have said. Getting angry does not help one bit. Now it is to bad people work for companies that do not care to get the whole story before jumping to conclusions and a good worker loses a job then. No matter where you work at you are just a number to upper management. Good thing you had people behind you and yes keeping calm helped.
I agree with everything you've said. In the end I'm really glad I handled it the way I did. I learned some really important lessons from this situation that I've always kept with me.
Thanks Steven. Most of the dislikes are coming from people whose approach to every tough situation is to give someone the finger and scream in their face. They take everything as a direct insult and feel the only response is to stomp on someone caveman style. I've had quite a few people say I was kissing ass or caving in to "the man". I guess that's easy to say if you're 19 years old living in your mom's basement. As you get older most people learn the importance of handling themselves like a professional and working through situations in a more tactful manner. I learned a lot of important lessons from this situation. My Grandma always used to say, "Kill em with kindness" and this was a perfect example of how powerful that simple philosophy really can be.
I didn't dislike the video, because it's a difference of opinion on how to approach, but I generally don't agree with most of what is said in this video. It honestly applies better in any other job but trucking. in my experience people who behave like this in the industry end up working longer hours for less money. They get shafted with terrible loads nobody wants. They end up with bad equipment that is difficult for them to get the company to repair. because again they are all "please and thank you" not "look this is how it's going to be and if you don't like that there are 100 other companies that would hire me before your phone even hits the receiver." i'm not some 19 year old living in my parents basement (ironically when I was a driver I was living in my parents basement because why would I pay for rent or a house payment when i'm not going to be home 95% of the time. I only drove for about 5 years 3 with the same company. I actually like the last company I worked for a lot, they were a good example of a great trucking company. longistics if any truck drivers are interested they always need good people and they bend over backwards for their drivers. but being gone all the time was wearing on me. I was making nearly 100,000 a year but only seeing my house for 2 days once a month on average was just draining me. But my point being I didn't get to that good company by staying with the bad ones. I didn't have any reservations about telling people exactly what was on my mind when they were being irrational. After a year and a half in the industry I found a real company to work for. I almost went back to drive for them again. but LUCKILY I found a job as a computer repair tech in my area so I don't have to anymore.
Thank you so much for this video and the story you shared with us...... You are an inspiration!!! I have never known a trucker personally, but I must tell you that my heart goes out to all the truckers on the roads of this world... Deep within me I feel that driving a truck is no less than a sacred function.... I used to drive often between Montreal-Toronto-Niagara Falls for family reasons, and every truck that I passed I would send the truck driver silent blessings.......... I still think trucking is a sacred function, that is not easy, takes much courage, stamina, long hours of lonely travel, and still more. I see trucking as more important and more honorable profession than many of the high-paying jobs in large corporations, public institutions, gov't, etc...... The reason I see it this way is because, great many jobs, particularly those paying high salaries require individuals to become corrupted in their moral values.... Jobs and professional careers often require that people give up their sense of honesty, reason, justice, compassion, humanity, righteousness, impartiality, etc. Just look at what happens to originally well-meaning lawyers, many medical and veterinary doctors, scientists, politicians, etc.... Truckers have this wonderful privilege of being surrounded by the natural beauty of the world, which can inspire them to hold on to their goodness, purity, intelligence, strength and other virtues. As a result, I would be inclined to trust a truck driver sooner than many other professional people. Finally, without trucking and truck drivers, our entire economic system would break down, and countless products we rely on, including food, would no longer be available to us. So in closing, I say, may God bless the truck drivers of this world, protect them, guide me and let them know that there are some, and perhaps many... that really appreciate THEM, and appreciate the irreplaceable service they render to society...... Blessings of Peace and Joy to all......................................
I will say this, this guy was nothing short of amazing how he handled the worst situation he could have been handed. If any company was full of this sort of guy, no one would ever want to leave that company. This guy is blessed by the Lord, he is calm under fire and very professional and humble!
You made the right choice for yourself. Had you made an issue of it and stormed out you’d have only hurt yourself in a company with thousands of employees. They probably wouldn’t have even remembered you. I’m not a professional trucker but I feel this is a lesson that should be applied to all professions. Learn to accept the things which you cannot change.
explain how he is hurting himself if they don't even remember him? trucking is a whole different monster if you haven't been in it you don't know how it works. A clean driving record matters more then a bad attitude in this industry. because insurance companies determine who has a job and who doesn't. They will ALWAYS hire an asshole with a clean driving record over the nicest guy in the world who has a few minor accidents. ' it's just cheaper.
The owners made an unreasonable decision for an unreasonable customer. Greed made yet another good egg spend far too much time defending themselves over a foolish decision. No matter how good the employee, this guy was lucky to have backup; no matter how well he handled himself, this is not the usual outcome. You can be the best employee and be screwed. He just so happened to be working with people who gave a damn about someone aside from themselves. Yes, remain calm and state the facts. Keep your composure. Your best chance always lies with being calm and collected and knowledgeable. Take that lesson to heart. But also understand how lucky this guy was to get a decent outcome - the world is rarely this 'fair'. Reason won the day here, after plowing through a lot of bureaucracy. That's not what usually happens. Most companies don't check petty infighting, personal grudges, jealousy, or stupid owners. And most companies don't give a damn about anything but $. This was an exceptional outcome; not the norm, and no one should expect better by following the rules. Take his advice, absolutely, yes, but don't expect what he got. You likely won't get it.
The two big reasons things worked out for me are: 1) I had 5 great years in with the company 2) I had gotten to know some of the people in lower and middle management 3) I handled myself professionally and stated my case with a series of logical facts You're right, things won't always work out this way, but they'll never work out this way if a person won't talk to people with respect and handle themselves like a professional. I learned some important lessons from this situation that I've always carried with me.
4. They had proof where the failure was on the company side 5. lawyers would cost them a large amount for defending a position that I am sure they felt themselves was not fair. You would not be walking away rich dealing with lawyers. 6. The job was worth fighting for but is a job where you can be fired from instantly and with out cause worth fighting for?
My name is billy bigriger and i dont care what the idiots are saying i dont care what anyone says you handled yourself as a professional and when your a company driver you are at the Bottom of the pecking list in your trucking company even if you have 100 years exp and 1000000000000000000000 million safe driving miles as me the guy decided he wanted to keep working for that company so he calmly stated his case and kept his good job no shame in that i just hope and pray hes not a swift driver or one of primes finest i doubt that though because i dont think either company has a drver that has lasted 5 years let alone has 10 years of exp overall and drivers remember if you see me at a truck stop or somwhere stop running up to me asking for autographs and to sighn your old ladys tits and whatnot please act like you have some cents
mocking intercessor the customer wasn't unreasonable at all. They had been informed they can't be parked there. The customer told the company that and the company said they had a solution. The company then failed to comply to its agreement.
I LOVED my job, 5 years and got hurt on the job, because I was HONEST and did what you did, I still got F*#)&@*#&* lost my job, my home, my spine both knees and now my hip is grinding, I have chronic pain every minute of every day for the last 11 years and I am only 38 years old. I still cannot work surgery after surgery to get better... NADA.... NEVER trust a company, NEVER trust a boss. You sir were granted a miracle, bosses that are decent human beings. I wasn't so lucky, one coward supervisor "guy" and 4 female managers that didn't like the fact I couldn't run due to the pain. (Yet in 5 years I never witnessed them running once!) Try explaining the nonstop back pain of a baseball bat hitting you full force constantly, and groin pain like you are getting kicked in the balls with steel toe boots non-stop one right after the other, to 4 women.... If the pain would stop I would go back to the same job, just with another company.
I'm not a big rig driver but always fascinated to do so. Instead I drive a transit school bus which has it's own challenges dealing with high liability of kids, watching out for cars cutting you off and following the dispatches commands all at same time. This video with the way Eric explains his story in calm narration helped build my patients even more. Thank you. Oh and there are many class A drivers who are very happy with driving transit school bus and ther's always demand for it due to great responsibility but keep extra cool and you'll enjoy it and make descent living.
I have to admit this is true. In the end it seems all of the responsibility falls on the driver for almost everything. I think that's one of many reasons that a lot of people can't handle this job. It really takes an unbelievable amount of commitment and sacrifice to thrive at this job. You're responsible for so much and yet you're almost completely on your own to make all of the decisions and do all of the work. One small screw up can cost people their lives. You have to be a special kind of person to drive a rig for a living, no question about it.
Especially the roads themselves. There is a road near me that has many dump trucks driving on it, and it has become horrendously broken with potholes ever few feet. But the truckers and their trucks aren't the ones to blame, rather it's either poor planning on part of the engineers who designed the roads not taking into account that big trucks might start to frequently drive on it, or the companies who are operating in that area where the roads weren't designed for big trucks to begin with. Though when you really get down to it, most of the problems come from even higher up, the politicians who can't keep their act together and don't allow for proper infrastructure maintenance and expansion because it would hurt their paychecks.
You went about it exactly the way I would've. I would like to add that even if I wanted to go to another company I would've fought for my job just so I could get my ducks in a row before putting in my notice.
That's a good point. You'd much rather quit than be fired, that's for sure. But in the end it's always best to handle things professionally. Sure, it's tempting to give people the finger and walk away but you're not going to get very far in life acting like a spoiled teenager anytime something doesn't go your way.
really, it would not effect you to storm out. It never does. I've worked with guys who have jumped to 5 different companies in a year quitting without notice every time. they always had jobs before the day was out. But letting people walk all over you makes it difficult to earn 6 figures in the industry. really if you are away from home as much as a truck driver and have over a year of experience you should be making 80,000 to 100,000 at least, If not there is a problem with the company you work for or your driving record.
i have agree but also have to disagree in this case... Sure flipping someone off isn't exactly a smart thing to do... But being pushed around isn't good either - sometimes you have to put the foot down and remind people, you aren't a newbie or someone who's useless... Remind them how much you did for the company... that you are a human being with emotions and someone who value's/d his job. Sure, maybe 5/10 year's isn't exactly much - but its still something and the boss has to value the effort you've put in for all those years. Anyway - i wish you the best of luck.
I'm not a truck driver- I stumbled across this video by accident. I have to say you illustrated great examples of how to handle yourself. Great advice for any occupation. Very well said.
I respect truckers highly! I know that without truckers this country would be in extremely limited amounts of products on shelves. More importantly, I haven't met a trucker that isn't nice. Truckers have a lot to deal with on the road. I do think that you did the right thing, our society is too quick to get angry. This was a simple communication breakdown. I'll bet that the dispatchers now take extra care to make sure that all info is being given to the truckers.
Robin Kight - I'm not even on that side of the pond but same feeling here. Learned a lot with truck drivers. While a normal driver does some 10~30K km a year a truck driver does 10x or 20x more. They know the roads and the tricks. So who's better to learn from? ;-) Talking about filling up shelves...I've seen a 10.5 million people country almost come to an halt. With a fuel delivery truckers strike. We're talking about less than 150 drivers! Situation was solved with a "civil requisition" and later on negotiations.
I like your style. I'm exactly like you in a completely different industry, always cool, honest and conscientious. It works. Glad you got your job back.
Unskilled Labor! I was a steel fabricator, mechanic, mill wright, plumber, had my own steel fab business, have a diploma for computer design engineering and now I have an AZ license and I used to think that trucking was unskilled labor but now I know better. There is so much more involved with trucking than anyone can imagine. It takes great skills to be a trucker!
sounds like the company arnt worth working for they should protect their workforce they should have told the customer if theyre cutting back deliveries they should go else where you cant keep sacking drivers on the whim of a single customer whos having personal issues with the fire dept sounds like your better of out of it
Well, the customer was having issues with the fire department but they had a solution for it. Unfortunately it meant more of a burden to the companies hauling their freight, but that's life sometimes. You just have to deal with tough circumstances sometimes. It's tempting sometimes to just say "screw it" when you're faced with tough circumstances but the problem is you'll never get anywhere if you always take the easy way out. Sometimes you just have to work through it and deal with less than ideal circumstances.
TruckingTruth So all the college educated idiots, road engineers,architecs,building managers, office managers,mayors,police fire chief, who goto school to MANAGE buisness fail miserably at the one thing they went to school for, cause a highley confrontational situation, where pinheads have driven trucks around like a weapon, some shot the work place up killing people. And noone is accountable but the driver? Sure glad we have evolution to look forward to we can grow out of this real sooooooooooon.
Well, they really were. I wish they would have asked for my take on things before firing me. They could have handled it better. But they did let me state my case and keep my job in the end so they made it right. They're a really good company. That was just a bad situation. It happens.
But you deserve more respect than this, TruckerTruth! We all do! How stupid does a company have to be to accidentally fire someone without cause? That's a huge liability for them and a waste of their investment in you as an employee at the very least. How are you so calm about this? I have secondhand rage for you just listening to this story. :( You're an inspiration, TruckerTruth.
Owners of any company should NOT be making decisions like this if there are managers below them. If you have a hundred or more employees, your job as an owner making end all decisions like this is over with. I think this is a serious problem with all industries right now, owners no longer trust their employees enough to make chains of command work, they want to push off all the work responsibilities onto managers without giving them the authority to enforce it. I feel like it stems from a fear of taking responsibility for the mistakes of people you put there and gave power to in the first place, and an obsession with being in control. It's a problem with society as a whole. Used to be that you couldn't get owners to intervene on anything, now they intervene too much.
My car is a Toyota Mr2 , but for my job I have to drive sometimes up to 26 foot trucks. I know how hard those are for me, and they are nowhere near the length of a semi. So let me say, I have the upmost respect for you guys, and know that I could never do your job, nor would I want to. It takes a special skill set, patience, and nerves of steel, and I salute all of you that do this. I have seen on highways, cars trying to draft behind you, pulling directly in front of you, and many other types of dangerous behavior by smaller vehicles. And that doesn't even take into account the difficulty of navigating one of those in a city. So yeah, you guys always have my respect, and I always give you plenty of room to safely operate, all drivers should.
Good reason to try to avoid working for a mega company if possible. While they are more difficult to find and take some research my advice is to try to find a smaller company that pays their Drivers well, has good equipment and dose the type of work your intrested in. Of course it's pretty challenging to find what I've described but well worth the time and effort in the long run as your treated as a real person and valued member of the staff rather than a number. I left my Job as a third tier Manager with a large transportation company for something more personal and less robotic and am absolutely happy with the decision I made. You did handle yourself right though in how you approached that situation, great example of a top shelf driver.
See, I've worked for quite a few small companies over the years also and I didn't like it at all. They don't have nearly the money behind them, the beautiful equipment, the variety of opportunities, or the perks like national accounts for tires, fuel, and repairs. They also don't have the clout that a large carrier has with customers, nor do they have the solid reputation for great equipment they have with the DOT. Now you were working as a Manager in a corporation. That's completely different than being a driver. I've never had a white collar job so I can't even give a good opinion on it. You could be totally right - a white collar job in a smaller company might be a lot better than in a large corporation. But as a driver I always thought the large carriers had the best opportunities.
Trucking....Early, you're wrong. Late, you're wrong. On time? Go over there and wait for us to let you know when we can load you. And yes, I'm a trucker
I totally know what you're saying, and it's true - entirely too many customers just set you aside until it's convenient for them. Not to mention, a 15 minute window is not nearly enough. You have to give more leeway to account for traffic and weather delays.
Not to mention the ticking clock counting down to when we have to stop working/driving for the day.
Then be on time and wait, case closed.
That's often the way it is.
....i'm union...set my own time and rules...
I think this company you worked for.....has about 7 managers that are NOT necessary.
No kidding. I'll over rule any "order" if it doesn't make sense. I'm not a mindless drone.
Managers? How did the boss ever get to hear about this customer’s problems? If the line manager can’t sort out a problem like illegal parking what can thy do?
yea i agree having to answer to 7 managers is unheard of ive never heard of a company that has 7 managers to re-higher someone
that's usually how companies with 10,000 employees operate; kinda hard to run day-to-day business with just 1 manager overseeing 10,000 people lol
lol
I got fired for obeying the electrical code and telling my boss that I wasn't going to be the cause of a building burning down. I climbed down the ladder and told him if he wanted to do it the ladder was empty and he could climb up there and pull the wrong wire to the entrance heater and cause an exit to catch fire in a public building. I was fired immediately. Later when the building caught fire I got a chuckle. The company closed and had to settle several lawsuits. They had to settle because my testimony would have destroyed them even more.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHRAH!
I did a lot of wiring mods at a small company a few years ago. I answered directly to the CEO.
I explained to him the reason for my methods, as a properly trained electrician... He didn't like it because it was expensive... but he listened... and his facility didn't burn to the ground... The National Electrical Code really is the ultimate authority for fire prevention...
It goes to show that you are NOTHING to them, but a number and a slave.
Karma!!!!! Hope no-one was injured.
Can we say instant karma..
I've never been fired in American Truck Simulator.
Lmao
💀💀💀😂😂😂me niether
@pizzafrenzyman: Complain to the maker that the simulator does not match reality. Also, they should add getting stuck in grid locks in full length. 😠 Regarding the video: refusing an unsafe or potentially illegal tour may be difficult if you can be fired without giving a reason.
I'm always a day early on delivery in that game (while following the speed limits).
Halberdin Out of your trucking experience, what state / city is the most "hellish" to work in?
As a non-trucker, I have found over my 71 years that truckers are mostly great guys. They are the first people to offer help to strangers on the road. That, coupled with a tough job to begin with, makes them the angels of the highways. Godspeed to them all.
encrypter46 - well said! We wish everybody knew what you know! Thanks from a truck driver
encrypter46 Thanks from another trucker.
Not anymore :(
When I was in the military we were coming back from a 30 day field exercise. We stopped at a truck stop before heading back to base 6 truck drivers told us not to worry about traffic that no one would cut into our convoy. We had 6 trucks making sure that no one got into our convoy and got back to base without incident. For those that think truckers don’t think about others this is a group of truck drivers I will never forget.
Woah... your 71?!
Losing your temper and screaming and yelling is only going to get you high blood pressure. You did awesome.
Your advice applies to ANY job. Not just trucking. Good advice!
Some get it most don't but u do. Very refreshing positive attitude in this day and age. Which actually if u think about it is old school. Old school never gets old. Attitude in life is the key to being successful in life. Like he said knowing when & how to interact with anybody is part of being humble & (here's the big one) respect. It takes giving respect to get it. Plain & simple. Keep up the good work. Your helping a lot of people understand to have a better full rounded life from the road that some of us dearly love because that white line fever is in our blood. Handed down from generation to generation for some. Over time for others.
bull shit.
Usually you receive a warning or two before being fired, at least in my country (unless it's really serious like theft). It sounded like they wanted to let go of a couple of members and this was a golden opportunity to them to come up with an excuse.
Thomas Kent I
Couldn't agree more!
I thought this was going to end with the owner of the company asking his mom if you could keep your job......
LoL! It almost got to that point. Geez. I have to admit, I expected to tell my boss what happened and they would fix it. I didn't expect a series of interviews lasting most of the day.
TruckingTruth
All afraid of taking charge. No one with any sense of authority or responsibility, just pass the buck up stairs. yikes!
Just a FYI, your company had no problem letting the TOP performer go. The problem with this Owner is he is so discconnected from his Drivers he has 6 managers wanking off doing nothing all day so he never hears about anything. The owner knowingly had a problem with 1 customer and chose to let any driver go for not following 1 customers orders. He should of told the customer to find another delivery company, not fire his employees anytime the customer doesn't get his pudding pack.
Does anyone else think there are too many bosses involved here?
Sounds like old dominion
Yep - Too many Chiefs... Not enough Indians
You ain't shittin'
.......a lot of people afraid to act on their own integrity.......a case of "shoot first, ask questions later."
There’s always too many bosses. Everyone is a boss nowadays. But in reality 99% of them don’t know the meaning of word boss, let alone the responsibility to be one. That’s why a few of them gather around because one isn’t capable of making a decision. Dumb and dumber or like the 3 stooges.
you're a natural public speaker, I clicked on this by accident and I couldn't stop listing :)
I accidentally clicked on this video but I literally listened to the entire 17 minutes. You're a great commentator and this was also a really interesting and insightful story. Great vid :D
The owner is clearly incapable of empowering his management team.
there's empowering the team, and there's from-the-top-down decisions... the owners made a top-down decision. Very few people are in the position to argue with the one(s) who sign their paycheck and expect to remain employed there.
5 managers?? No wonder there is a miscommunication in that company, Like the old saying goes, too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
Andre Landry There were plenty of indians my friend
+Andre Landry, Exactly because everyone is scared to give suggestions because if the owners get pissed, the people lose their job. They can't pay bills etc. In many areas of life where communication about up to date knowledge that means the difference between life or death it just isn't there we have to accept some people were meant to have problems that could easily be solved with knowing a few things but that would eliminate some jobs in the world but also create new ones. Considering the amount of employees.. I think the company structure is right. Amazon works people hard but the people who remain are meant to be there. Having problems due to miscommunication all the way to the end means it was meant to be for reasons known but unknown to us either through karma or a better life future aligned with the God will world development. As long as jobs get done right it's all that should matter.
Yes, OBVIOU3_ninja, there are plenty of indians, but they're all on the road, and not hanging around the yard then you have 5 managers all in one office, and no one knows what the others are doing, ? lol I don't know how many times i used to catch crap from a couple of my managers when I was running gravel, one guy wanted me here and the other guy wanted me there and at the same time. They were always trying to outrank each other, but I was the one caught in the middle.
I read that as "too many CHEFS and not enough Indians" and I was very confused for a few seconds. "I-Is that supposed to be a 'too many cooks spoil the broth' kinda metaphor? What?"
Yep, you got it, lol
5 years and they treat you like that. I say ok, then i would find another job.
Truck drivers are essential everywhere. I maybe one of the few people who respect and honor our truck driving industry.
Thanks for your service making sure "Loads" get to where they need to get to for us.
This guy's "golly gee whiz" attitude towards this situation is why these companies continue to treat drivers like this.
You are correct. His positive attitude ensured that multiple levels of leadership went to bat for him. They all know who he is now, and are on record with senior leadership as being supportive of him as an employee. If he worked for me (and the guys like him who do work for me) are my favorites, and they get favorable treatment.
Favorable treatment like getting fired without even being asked for your side of the story lol @@rapid13
I like your style you handled this like a champ.
Forgot to add, I respect all you fellows on the rode, you provide a very important service.
I stumbled upon this video randomly and I'm glad I watched.it. I'm not a truck driver but this is a great life lesson.
CrAzYnAdEz I
I've been put here for a long time, and I can attest to the chain of command that is stacked above us.
You handled that very well.
This was one of the most well produced YT videos about trucking that I've seen.
A lesson for young guys is at hand... save your messages.
Be punctual, be polite, be clean, be respectful.
Most of us old timers practice this and it has served us well.
Thanks. Well said! Be punctual, polite, clean, and respectful - the basics. Do the basics well and it's amazing how much easier your life will be.
Sam I Am. And women;)
Trucking: This is beautiful; but, you are a good man and an excellent worker also with the need to be respected. They should not take advantage of you. This has to be reciprocal.
Bottom line ... never trust an Employer ... they don't trust you ..... Everyone can be replaced ....
Purple Rain9017 ouch.. that was your take away? 🤔
damn skippy there's always 10 more truckers to take your place even though there is not lol
The lowest man on the totem pole is the most important man. He is the one that keeps everyone up. So you really are the most important man. You are the foundation that keeps a business running. You are number one. The boss is on top and has a long fall if the others leave.
I agree completely. Very well said. The workers should be making the bulk of the money while managers get a small share for basically watching us do our jobs most of of time.
Welcome to corporate america where people are treated like crap no matter performance or loyalty.
Lol no Fuck the workers
its called a "Union"
micglobal Story of my life!! I have bent over backwards for companies working twice as hard as others and it literally gets you nowhere. You’re not considered any more valuable than the lazy, hungover, tardy, and drug addicted con artist who does just enough to draw a check. It truly is demoralizing and leads to burnout. Some will say I’m whining and/or bragging. No, just merely exposing the utter hypocrisy of companies who “claim” they’re looking for hard and devoted employees and when you prove you’re that model worker, exploit and use you up to the point of losing heart(for lack of incentive and raises) and moving on. That old adage “work hard and you’ll go far” is the biggest bunch of bs I’ve ever heard! At least in my experiences. Thanks for letting me vent.
@Gray Sinclair, Amen. My experience is the same. Thanks for your post.
micglobal You bet.
I respect you truck drivers out there. Without you guys people wouldn't have anything. From hauling the trusses to a house to all the furniture and stuff inside of them we wouldn't have them without you guys.
Your story is actually a testament to how impersonal the relationship often is between the company and driver, when you drive for a Mega. It is a testament to the notion that you really are not much more than a driver number at one these giant companies, and easily replaced at the drop of a hat.
This sort of situation would never happen at a small trucking company where everybody knows each other.
Without question you're going to have more complexity in a larger company. But in the end the company got it right. They did take the time to listen to me. They did value my opinion and they valued me as an employee. So when they realized I wasn't to blame because I wasn't given the information I needed, they sent me back to work and the whole thing was forgotten, just like it should have been.
It was an extraordinary situation. This wasn't something that typically happens which is why I shared the story. It also shows that these mega companies do care about their employees, they don't treat you like a number, and if you'll act like a professional you'll be treated like a professional.
Nice talk you got your stuff together
Someone once told me "Say what you mean, and mean what you say, but don't say it mean"
Having responded in the wrong way to other situations, I can appreciate your point about keeping a cool head. I would hope to have the same tactfulness and grace should I find myself in a similar situation.
Grants Pass TV Repair that is some gangster for philosophical s*** man I'm going to use that😀👍
AA meetings huh
I know right
I do not drive a truck but i know some amazing drivers and your words were very well spoken and work for all walks of life. Thank you for a great video.
Operations Manager, Fleet Manager, Terminal Manager, Assistant Terminal Manager. Head of East Coast Operations. Sounds like they have to many managers. It's like McDonalds: everyone their is a manager.
Yeah, there are a lot of different levels involved, that's for sure. It's a pretty huge company. At the time they had over 5,000 drivers and probably 10,000 employees.
To be fair, at fast food you have to have someone in charge there at all times and nobody wants to allow their employees to earn overtime, so you need at least enough managers to cover all hours of the day separated into 7 hour shifts, and one or two extra to cover in case one gets sick or something.
Ark Yoder there *
Doing this can take a crappy situation and really turn it in your favor because now you've strengthened your reputation at the company and are no longer just a name on a board to the higher ups. This is something I learned early on in the Army and it has really made me successful in every other area of my life
Very well said Adam!
Nice story driver, I totally agree that staying humble and professional as a truck driver is very important in this trucking industry. 5 STARS
Personally I didn’t mean to watch this, it was on auto play, I have suffered with mental illness for over 10 years and think this video is excellent, the words you speak could help many of people, respect and thanks, I actually went out halfway through, which I hadn’t done in just under 2 years, so thanks for your help even though it was meant for truckers.
It was good hearing this because people need to make that choose humble N respect will get you everywhere in life... Thank for sharing that bit of info......fellow trucker...
Love this. Glad I found this. I really hope people learn to respect truckers. We wouldn't have anything without you guys! Have a great year man!
You should seek a job for reading for audiobooks.
He should get a job for all the robo voiced youtube videos.
Ikr
Well said. A gentleman gets listen too, where a screaming is actually never heard!
Hey I like that! Screaming is never actually heard. That's so true. Once you start acting like an idiot people will just tune you out.
Its funny, I've been to over 5 rehabs for drug addiction. The last one I was at had a class called "relationship advice" and I'm kind of a class clown (since 1st grade). I decided enough of this shit and I actually started keeping my witty jokes to myself.
Any way the counselor of the group wrote on the board in big letters "THE MOMENT SOMEBODY RAISES THEIR VOICE, THE CONVERSATION IS OVER." I'm not saying it's the only reason, but I'm still clean 5 years and a few months later, and this little quote sticks in my head and I don't remember the last time I got into a heated argument.
Yep, that's why no one takes antifa seriously.
A screaming idiot is in charge of the country right now. #exception to the rules.
Very very good advice, my late husband kept his cool, and even made a stop pleasant by being light and friendly with the DOT officer.... I will never forget that one......
Been driving CDL 36 years and the bottom line is,TRUCKING SUCKS!!!
Everybody wants to screw a driver.
From lot lizards to terminal managers.
The driver does take the heat for almost everything. I wouldn't go so far as to say everyone is trying to screw the driver, and I definitely don't think trucking sucks, but from a responsibility standpoint almost everything falls on the driver's shoulders, no question about it.
SCHY MARK 😂😂😂😂😂
SCHY MARK RIGHT ON
EVERY job is that way.
In a factory, the lowly operator is blamed for any problems or issues while the higher ups in mgt or engineering take the credit when an operator does well.
Blame always runs downhill.
Pretty much the same in all industries, its always the workers who get punished for the failure of the boses.
I wouldn't stay with a company that will fire you at the drop of a hat.
Agree, I would have said thank you for my time here politely and I understand your rules.Then, tell them I was never informed about the 15 minutes however and gone and got all my stuff out of the truck and left on good terms. Then let them ponder over their decision they made without hearing your side of the story-make them now feel like jerks no matter how nice they are. You may not have any authority, but after 34 years OTR, I feel I have plenty-its a two-way street; you need me, I don't need you.
JHVN Herrmann shoot. That's still even too much to explain to them. Before I got into trucking.... I got fired from my last job as a correctional officer last year. I was off of probation, I had a mobile home on a property that the state prison owned. After I got canned, I had to explain to my wife why we had 30 days to move out. Costed us $6300 to relocate the whole Damn mobile home. I could have gotten my job back after fighting, but it would have Damn near took a year and it wasn't worth it. I got canned at the drop of the hat because the people that ganged up with me were friends with the right people. Now why the hell hell I wanna get my job back at a place like that. Im an owner operator, and i can take my truck to a lot of places.
It seems that trucking is the last job in America where u can get a job anywhere almost instantly. This guy will be alright
I would have rung the owner and told him/her to stuff their job up their ASSHOLE, driven the load about 50 miles outta town and dumped it.
Most owners don't list numbers, and if the employee had disobeyed direct orders firing would have been a reasonable response.
Come on, dst, the wussy, purgey, was just acting tough because in real life, he’s a coward.
Internet tough guys!! Good grief.
What a great personality this man is. I’ve learned a lifetime lesson from your story. I don’t work in trucking but I love American trucking. Your demeanour deserves a global award.
Good message!! Thank you for sharing!!
That's is the sad truth of truck driving job,,,, but hey this was a good lesson for every one of us out here even veterans. Great job buddy
Thanks man. Yeah, for a short time when they first told me I thought, "Screw these guys. I'll just walk and I'll have 10 jobs by lunchtime." I guess anyone would think that after working somewhere for years and then being told you're being fired for something stupid like that. But I immediately realized that leaving wasn't going to help me, nor was it going to hurt them. It made sense to stick around and work it out and I'm glad I did.
CISCO kID TRUCKER true
Glad it worked out for you.
Great video with great advice not just for truckers, for everyone.
I used to know an ex trucker who had the same attitude as you. He told me of his story why he left trucking, which he loved doing. His very last job, the one that made him leave, ended tragically. A young female driver in a small car cut in front of him on the highway. She put her car too close to his truck. Something made her break hard and because his truck had no time to break he slammed into the back of her car crushing it completely killing her. He let her death get to him even though he knew he was not at fault. I can only imagine how bad it affected him. He loved his job and one accident that he did not cause ended his career and his love of driving :(
Here in UK, we can sue the company for this type of stuff.
Because UK truck drivers are bigger crybabies than North American drivers.
Centurion Coles
They may have those but, a driver should not cry over crap like this.
Because only crybabies would complain about being fired unfairly and North Americans drivers don't care about getting fired......logic thinking.
Yea doesn't make sense that defending an unjust decision makes someone a cry baby. This is a messed up situation and legal action should be a potential pathway one can take.
Zygimantas Ragauskas Gotta get that extra compensation money for the valuable time that was lost
No job is guaranteed, that is life.
You are a true professional sir, kudos 4 keeping your composure on a difficult situation like this when other drivers would B flipping & storming out of the place never 2 return again. U R right if U liked the job & it was worth 2 keep why act all indignant when clearly all was just a communication issue & all the managers U spoke with sided with you after explaining the situation.
Really appreciate this personal lesson.
You're quite welcome!
I use to love showing up right on minute and have to wait 2/4/6 hours for load
That was one story I don't mind saying I found inspiring and incredibly well-told, I don't doubt you would get a standing ovation if you told it to a crowd, and I hope your composure in that situation managed to have an impact that went all the way to the owner(s), because after all that was where the biggest 'mistake' was made, of pre-judging you as if you were an item and as if written agreements automatically affect reality as it transpires with us. Guess that kind of reflects on how societies at large also similarly still do the very same thing as you also mentioned about truckers being viewed very negatively, and so are of course many other people who just happen to do a particular job or another; I salute you for your efforts in helping to break these cursed bonds in our hearts, may thousand fold more hear you and grasp for a better humanity! :)
That was a great story. You don't have to be a truck driver to follow your lead. Thanks for sharing.
Stupid rules. You are dealing with truckers who have variables that determine their arrival and departure times. Expecting a trucker to show up at a specific time is ridiculous.
stripedtigress exactly, as long as they eventually show up and not at closing time I'm a-ok! I understand things happen and we are all human. Wish other people would pet the sweaty and not sweat the petty.
replys may be stupid and the rules may be as well. but Timing in the trucking industry is key. Most drivers can manager thier time well and including myself I was always able to manage to be somewhere with the window I was given
Not really all that difficult... in this example, one just pulls to the side of some street or exit for ten minutes... had the concern about not pulling in until 15 minutes prior been properly communicated, any decent Driver could have paused for 10-15 minutes to not piss off a customer and not complicated his life upon return to the yard.
S Boz eventually show up? ... LOL ... ya, you have 10-15 Trucks roll in “eventually” or “just before closing” and see how screwed up your day gets.... lol
While your point makes eminent sense, Ms. "s"-it sounds, as if those in charge, aren't "with the program." Interesting, sad story. Thank-you, sir, for sharing, this post, btw!(No, I'm not a trucker...just, a guy, whose favourite movie-since it aired, on ABC when I was 11-always, has been, "Duel." Further, on the set, of, "Lonesome Dove: The Series", I got to tell Mr. Weaver(r.i.p.)just, that. He hugged me and, said, "yes, that was a lot of fun! That kid was a pretty good director, too!")
Trucking truth, please continue to make videos! The people need them.
Now the industry is short 90,001 drivers.
Yeah, there's been a shortage for decades it seems. Trucking is a tough gig. Not very many people can handle it. I think there's going to be a lot of turnover and a lot of demand for many years to come.
TruckingTruth consistent shortage is driving the technology towards the autonomous truck
+TruckingTruth I hope all those jobs aren’t taken by self driving trucks...
Should mean competitive wages correct?
sam torres good
You need to walk away from that company fast.
I'm not a trucker, but had to watch after reading the title. The lessons learned can be(and should be) applied to anyone in any vocation in any situation. Kuddos for keeping your cool and going about it in a calm and logical manner. Glad you were able to keep your job. God bless
Should've filed a wrongful termination suit and started your own company.
Maybe
I’m guessing this isn’t a Unionized carrier. His ‘termination’ would’ve been an open and shut case without all the runaround. He could’ve left his truck running while the Union guys straightened it all out in a matter of minutes.
Reminds of the story regarding the inventor who invented the windshield wiper interrupter mechanism, and sued GM for stealing it....eventually won @ 10 yrs. X-wife, who could not take the stress & divorced him, was happy for him....Pyrric victory.
He broke a rule, truckers showing up early is annoying
30min early is pretty standard.
30 minutes early is on time 15 minutes early is late to me
er so Fifteen minutes Tops for several tanker cos. I'm familiar.
As a warehouse worker, I work in the shipping area. So, thank you for all the miles you've driven for us.
There are so many trucking companies that treat drivers like crap then wonder why they cannot keep or attract other drivers ...duh
I agree.
Swift Haha. Poor drivers poor Dispatch and horrible pay.
I'm retired now but as a driver one time I had a delivery in Broken Arrow Oklahoma dispatched out of Kansas City in a day cab with a 8:30 a.m. delivery time I showed up early and did not know that there was a problem with my company and this company so in order to punish my company they made me wait to unload. No problem at 2:30 p.m. they told me that the people that were supposed to unload me had gone home for the day I said okay pulled off the dock through the entire load in the parking lot taking about 2 hours to hand unload every piece sign the paperwork myself left a copy and drove home irritated and already looking for a new job on the way home expecting to be fired when I got back! I was surprised that my dispatcher was awful happy about what I did! I was filled in on the feud and was told they were under contract and could not break the contract. By dumping the load in their parking lot they decided to break the contract for us! For the next three years they tried to resign the contract which was never going to happen lol
2 hours to hand balm that shit? Hell, I would find a nice long strip of pavement, slap it in reverse, get some speed and slam on the brakes. Easy unload. Sign the paperwork, drop a copy on the pile and roll out.
No he did right way to un load by hand other wise u end up paying for damages
Great video with a great message... not just for trucking but for all other aspects of life as well. I wish more people would value respect, humility, and patience like you do.
You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, in my 29 years of trucking I have learned that communication is everything, however I've never heard of a situation like this one your explaining.
Yeah, communication really is everything. I wish more drivers understood that. This was definitely one of the strangest situations I have ever been in, no question about it. It worked out well, but it wasn't a fun process I can tell you that.
I wouldn't have cussed them out, but I would've consulted a lawyer.
That wouldn't have gotten me anywhere. If all we had to do was hire a lawyer and get rich every time someone wronged us we'd all be rich, wouldn't we? The smart thing to do was just talk through the situation and work it out.
You are the most wonderful professional truck driver and I'm so grateful for you. All your videos are so informative. Thank you.
I agree with what you have said. Getting angry does not help one bit. Now it is to bad people work for companies that do not care to get the whole story before jumping to conclusions and a good worker loses a job then. No matter where you work at you are just a number to upper management. Good thing you had people behind you and yes keeping calm helped.
I agree with everything you've said. In the end I'm really glad I handled it the way I did. I learned some really important lessons from this situation that I've always kept with me.
i noticed that there are over 100 dislikes for this video as of 2/13/18 you can't please everybody WHY!!!! would you dislike such a nice guy???
Thanks Steven. Most of the dislikes are coming from people whose approach to every tough situation is to give someone the finger and scream in their face. They take everything as a direct insult and feel the only response is to stomp on someone caveman style. I've had quite a few people say I was kissing ass or caving in to "the man". I guess that's easy to say if you're 19 years old living in your mom's basement. As you get older most people learn the importance of handling themselves like a professional and working through situations in a more tactful manner.
I learned a lot of important lessons from this situation. My Grandma always used to say, "Kill em with kindness" and this was a perfect example of how powerful that simple philosophy really can be.
I didn't dislike the video, because it's a difference of opinion on how to approach, but I generally don't agree with most of what is said in this video. It honestly applies better in any other job but trucking. in my experience people who behave like this in the industry end up working longer hours for less money. They get shafted with terrible loads nobody wants. They end up with bad equipment that is difficult for them to get the company to repair. because again they are all "please and thank you" not "look this is how it's going to be and if you don't like that there are 100 other companies that would hire me before your phone even hits the receiver."
i'm not some 19 year old living in my parents basement (ironically when I was a driver I was living in my parents basement because why would I pay for rent or a house payment when i'm not going to be home 95% of the time. I only drove for about 5 years 3 with the same company. I actually like the last company I worked for a lot, they were a good example of a great trucking company. longistics if any truck drivers are interested they always need good people and they bend over backwards for their drivers. but being gone all the time was wearing on me. I was making nearly 100,000 a year but only seeing my house for 2 days once a month on average was just draining me.
But my point being I didn't get to that good company by staying with the bad ones. I didn't have any reservations about telling people exactly what was on my mind when they were being irrational. After a year and a half in the industry I found a real company to work for. I almost went back to drive for them again. but LUCKILY I found a job as a computer repair tech in my area so I don't have to anymore.
Thank you so much for this video and the story you shared with us...... You are an inspiration!!! I have never known a trucker personally, but I must tell you that my heart goes out to all the truckers on the roads of this world... Deep within me I feel that driving a truck is no less than a sacred function.... I used to drive often between Montreal-Toronto-Niagara Falls for family reasons, and every truck that I passed I would send the truck driver silent blessings.......... I still think trucking is a sacred function, that is not easy, takes much courage, stamina, long hours of lonely travel, and still more. I see trucking as more important and more honorable profession than many of the high-paying jobs in large corporations, public institutions, gov't, etc...... The reason I see it this way is because, great many jobs, particularly those paying high salaries require individuals to become corrupted in their moral values.... Jobs and professional careers often require that people give up their sense of honesty, reason, justice, compassion, humanity, righteousness, impartiality, etc. Just look at what happens to originally well-meaning lawyers, many medical and veterinary doctors, scientists, politicians, etc.... Truckers have this wonderful privilege of being surrounded by the natural beauty of the world, which can inspire them to hold on to their goodness, purity, intelligence, strength and other virtues. As a result, I would be inclined to trust a truck driver sooner than many other professional people. Finally, without trucking and truck drivers, our entire economic system would break down, and countless products we rely on, including food, would no longer be available to us. So in closing, I say, may God bless the truck drivers of this world, protect them, guide me and let them know that there are some, and perhaps many... that really appreciate THEM, and appreciate the irreplaceable service they render to society...... Blessings of Peace and Joy to all......................................
You got to love the McTrucking companies these days, treating drivers and their general employees like a fast food joint.
That's what truckers are. It's a low skill job with millions of employees
Very helpful, thanks.
BTW the narration was really good, it sounded just like an audiobook.
I will say this, this guy was nothing short of amazing how he handled the worst situation he could have been handed. If any company was full of this sort of guy, no one would ever want to leave that company. This guy is blessed by the Lord, he is calm under fire and very professional and humble!
You made the right choice for yourself. Had you made an issue of it and stormed out you’d have only hurt yourself in a company with thousands of employees. They probably wouldn’t have even remembered you. I’m not a professional trucker but I feel this is a lesson that should be applied to all professions. Learn to accept the things which you cannot change.
I agree 100%. That's exactly how I felt about it. I didn't want to leave a great company or a great job over a misunderstanding.
Having the courage to change what you can, the wisdom to know the difference.
explain how he is hurting himself if they don't even remember him? trucking is a whole different monster if you haven't been in it you don't know how it works. A clean driving record matters more then a bad attitude in this industry. because insurance companies determine who has a job and who doesn't. They will ALWAYS hire an asshole with a clean driving record over the nicest guy in the world who has a few minor accidents. '
it's just cheaper.
The owners made an unreasonable decision for an unreasonable customer. Greed made yet another good egg spend far too much time defending themselves over a foolish decision. No matter how good the employee, this guy was lucky to have backup; no matter how well he handled himself, this is not the usual outcome. You can be the best employee and be screwed. He just so happened to be working with people who gave a damn about someone aside from themselves.
Yes, remain calm and state the facts. Keep your composure. Your best chance always lies with being calm and collected and knowledgeable. Take that lesson to heart. But also understand how lucky this guy was to get a decent outcome - the world is rarely this 'fair'. Reason won the day here, after plowing through a lot of bureaucracy. That's not what usually happens. Most companies don't check petty infighting, personal grudges, jealousy, or stupid owners. And most companies don't give a damn about anything but $.
This was an exceptional outcome; not the norm, and no one should expect better by following the rules. Take his advice, absolutely, yes, but don't expect what he got. You likely won't get it.
The two big reasons things worked out for me are:
1) I had 5 great years in with the company
2) I had gotten to know some of the people in lower and middle management
3) I handled myself professionally and stated my case with a series of logical facts
You're right, things won't always work out this way, but they'll never work out this way if a person won't talk to people with respect and handle themselves like a professional. I learned some important lessons from this situation that I've always carried with me.
4. They had proof where the failure was on the company side
5. lawyers would cost them a large amount for defending a position that I am sure they felt themselves was not fair. You would not be walking away rich dealing with lawyers.
6. The job was worth fighting for but is a job where you can be fired from instantly and with out cause worth fighting for?
My name is billy bigriger and i dont care what the idiots are saying i dont care what anyone says you handled yourself as a professional and when your a company driver you are at the Bottom of the pecking list in your trucking company even if you have 100 years exp and 1000000000000000000000 million safe driving miles as me the guy decided he wanted to keep working for that company so he calmly stated his case and kept his good job no shame in that i just hope and pray hes not a swift driver or one of primes finest i doubt that though because i dont think either company has a drver that has lasted 5 years let alone has 10 years of exp overall and drivers remember if you see me at a truck stop or somwhere stop running up to me asking for autographs and to sighn your old ladys tits and whatnot please act like you have some cents
mocking intercessor the customer wasn't unreasonable at all. They had been informed they can't be parked there. The customer told the company that and the company said they had a solution. The company then failed to comply to its agreement.
I LOVED my job, 5 years and got hurt on the job, because I was HONEST and did what you did, I still got F*#)&@*#&* lost my job, my home, my spine both knees and now my hip is grinding, I have chronic pain every minute of every day for the last 11 years and I am only 38 years old. I still cannot work surgery after surgery to get better... NADA.... NEVER trust a company, NEVER trust a boss. You sir were granted a miracle, bosses that are decent human beings. I wasn't so lucky, one coward supervisor "guy" and 4 female managers that didn't like the fact I couldn't run due to the pain. (Yet in 5 years I never witnessed them running once!) Try explaining the nonstop back pain of a baseball bat hitting you full force constantly, and groin pain like you are getting kicked in the balls with steel toe boots non-stop one right after the other, to 4 women.... If the pain would stop I would go back to the same job, just with another company.
I'm not a big rig driver but always fascinated to do so. Instead I drive a transit school bus which has it's own challenges dealing with high liability of kids, watching out for cars cutting you off and following the dispatches commands all at same time. This video with the way Eric explains his story in calm narration helped build my patients even more. Thank you. Oh and there are many class A drivers who are very happy with driving transit school bus and ther's always demand for it due to great responsibility but keep extra cool and you'll enjoy it and make descent living.
Now we know why truck drivers are in big demand.
Welcome to employee rights in the USA.
Right to work states !
Good work! Thank you for delivering consumer goods all across the country !!!! Thank you to all truckers!
Great explanation in wisdom, great pics
You are driving for the wrong company. Good video though!
The owner is a dick but the people he had to deal with were good guys to work for. They all backed him up.
You're what the definition of a man should be: things can happen to you , around you but how you react is up to YOU. Good on you bro!
I got fired from my job but made a scene and kept working. It all blew over and nothing came of it. 2 years ago now.
they gave you a pay check ??
Dude is probably black and pulled his Race Card on them.
Lord Krythic what an idiot to assume that.
Lord Krythic no im not. They were just looking to pin the blame on a shipment that was completely wrong.
Lord Krythic what a stupud idiotic assumption. Fucktard
Appreciate your story
You gave a lot of wise words, useful for those of us that aren't drivers too. Thanks lots for sharing.
Yep Drivers get the Heat for Almost everything out here on the road.
I have to admit this is true. In the end it seems all of the responsibility falls on the driver for almost everything. I think that's one of many reasons that a lot of people can't handle this job. It really takes an unbelievable amount of commitment and sacrifice to thrive at this job. You're responsible for so much and yet you're almost completely on your own to make all of the decisions and do all of the work. One small screw up can cost people their lives. You have to be a special kind of person to drive a rig for a living, no question about it.
Especially the roads themselves. There is a road near me that has many dump trucks driving on it, and it has become horrendously broken with potholes ever few feet. But the truckers and their trucks aren't the ones to blame, rather it's either poor planning on part of the engineers who designed the roads not taking into account that big trucks might start to frequently drive on it, or the companies who are operating in that area where the roads weren't designed for big trucks to begin with. Though when you really get down to it, most of the problems come from even higher up, the politicians who can't keep their act together and don't allow for proper infrastructure maintenance and expansion because it would hurt their paychecks.
You went about it exactly the way I would've. I would like to add that even if I wanted to go to another company I would've fought for my job just so I could get my ducks in a row before putting in my notice.
That's a good point. You'd much rather quit than be fired, that's for sure. But in the end it's always best to handle things professionally. Sure, it's tempting to give people the finger and walk away but you're not going to get very far in life acting like a spoiled teenager anytime something doesn't go your way.
really, it would not effect you to storm out. It never does. I've worked with guys who have jumped to 5 different companies in a year quitting without notice every time. they always had jobs before the day was out.
But letting people walk all over you makes it difficult to earn 6 figures in the industry. really if you are away from home as much as a truck driver and have over a year of experience you should be making 80,000 to 100,000 at least, If not there is a problem with the company you work for or your driving record.
i have agree but also have to disagree in this case... Sure flipping someone off isn't exactly a smart thing to do... But being pushed around isn't good either - sometimes you have to put the foot down and remind people, you aren't a newbie or someone who's useless... Remind them how much you did for the company... that you are a human being with emotions and someone who value's/d his job.
Sure, maybe 5/10 year's isn't exactly much - but its still something and the boss has to value the effort you've put in for all those years. Anyway - i wish you the best of luck.
Malcolm Ness Granger. Its a damn good start 5 years is.
I'm not a trucker, but I have mad respect for all of you, without you the world would not be very nice.
as an owner operator, I got tired of being treated as a third class citizen, screw trucking !!!
I'm not a truck driver- I stumbled across this video by accident. I have to say you illustrated great examples of how to handle yourself. Great advice for any occupation. Very well said.
This message applies beyond trucking. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope it inspires others.
I respect truckers highly! I know that without truckers this country would be in extremely limited amounts of products on shelves. More importantly, I haven't met a trucker that isn't nice. Truckers have a lot to deal with on the road. I do think that you did the right thing, our society is too quick to get angry. This was a simple communication breakdown. I'll bet that the dispatchers now take extra care to make sure that all info is being given to the truckers.
Robin Kight Thank you for your kind comments. I'm not the driver who uploaded this video, just another trucker saying thanks.
Robin Kight - I'm not even on that side of the pond but same feeling here. Learned a lot with truck drivers. While a normal driver does some 10~30K km a year a truck driver does 10x or 20x more. They know the roads and the tricks. So who's better to learn from? ;-)
Talking about filling up shelves...I've seen a 10.5 million people country almost come to an halt. With a fuel delivery truckers strike. We're talking about less than 150 drivers! Situation was solved with a "civil requisition" and later on negotiations.
so if an owner operator arrives early at this location, do they have to fire themselves?
I like your style. I'm exactly like you in a completely different industry, always cool, honest and conscientious. It works. Glad you got your job back.
"You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar" my grandmama always told me.
Sounds like typical trucking company, I drove for 20 yrs
Unskilled Labor! I was a steel fabricator, mechanic, mill wright, plumber, had my own steel fab business, have a diploma for computer design engineering and now I have an AZ license and I used to think that trucking was unskilled labor but now I know better. There is so much more involved with trucking than anyone can imagine. It takes great skills to be a trucker!
sounds like the company arnt worth working for they should protect their workforce they should have told the customer if theyre cutting back deliveries they should go else where you cant keep sacking drivers on the whim of a single customer whos having personal issues with the fire dept sounds like your better of out of it
Well, the customer was having issues with the fire department but they had a solution for it. Unfortunately it meant more of a burden to the companies hauling their freight, but that's life sometimes. You just have to deal with tough circumstances sometimes. It's tempting sometimes to just say "screw it" when you're faced with tough circumstances but the problem is you'll never get anywhere if you always take the easy way out. Sometimes you just have to work through it and deal with less than ideal circumstances.
TruckingTruth So all the college educated idiots, road engineers,architecs,building managers, office managers,mayors,police fire chief, who goto school to
MANAGE buisness fail miserably
at the one thing they went to school for, cause a highley
confrontational situation, where pinheads have driven trucks around like a weapon, some shot the work place up killing people.
And noone is accountable but the driver? Sure glad we have evolution to look forward to we can grow out of this real
sooooooooooon.
Paul Davies said
TruckingTruth ...I agree completely. IF something is worth having, one must work to keep it.
same companies that don't defend their workers just need to rethink their s***
Company ain't worth, working for.
Well, they really were. I wish they would have asked for my take on things before firing me. They could have handled it better. But they did let me state my case and keep my job in the end so they made it right. They're a really good company. That was just a bad situation. It happens.
But you deserve more respect than this, TruckerTruth! We all do! How stupid does a company have to be to accidentally fire someone without cause? That's a huge liability for them and a waste of their investment in you as an employee at the very least. How are you so calm about this? I have secondhand rage for you just listening to this story. :( You're an inspiration, TruckerTruth.
Owners of any company should NOT be making decisions like this if there are managers below them. If you have a hundred or more employees, your job as an owner making end all decisions like this is over with.
I think this is a serious problem with all industries right now, owners no longer trust their employees enough to make chains of command work, they want to push off all the work responsibilities onto managers without giving them the authority to enforce it. I feel like it stems from a fear of taking responsibility for the mistakes of people you put there and gave power to in the first place, and an obsession with being in control. It's a problem with society as a whole.
Used to be that you couldn't get owners to intervene on anything, now they intervene too much.
If that is the length they go to to keep a contract with those kinds of people... No there not, its a company destined to fall.
That was a pretty awesome story--you talk through it quite well.
My car is a Toyota Mr2 , but for my job I have to drive sometimes up to 26 foot trucks. I know how hard those are for me, and they are nowhere near the length of a semi. So let me say, I have the upmost respect for you guys, and know that I could never do your job, nor would I want to. It takes a special skill set, patience, and nerves of steel, and I salute all of you that do this. I have seen on highways, cars trying to draft behind you, pulling directly in front of you, and many other types of dangerous behavior by smaller vehicles. And that doesn't even take into account the difficulty of navigating one of those in a city. So yeah, you guys always have my respect, and I always give you plenty of room to safely operate, all drivers should.
God is very proud of you my friend keep it safe and keep rolling up the miles one day at a time 🤩🤩
Great job, you handled the situation with professionalism and class.
I am not in the same industry but this is the attitude that you need to have no matter what industry and situation you're in. Respect earns respect.
Good reason to try to avoid working for a mega company if possible. While they are more difficult to find and take some research my advice is to try to find a smaller company that pays their Drivers well, has good equipment and dose the type of work your intrested in. Of course it's pretty challenging to find what I've described but well worth the time and effort in the long run as your treated as a real person and valued member of the staff rather than a number. I left my Job as a third tier Manager with a large transportation company for something more personal and less robotic and am absolutely happy with the decision I made. You did handle yourself right though in how you approached that situation, great example of a top shelf driver.
See, I've worked for quite a few small companies over the years also and I didn't like it at all. They don't have nearly the money behind them, the beautiful equipment, the variety of opportunities, or the perks like national accounts for tires, fuel, and repairs. They also don't have the clout that a large carrier has with customers, nor do they have the solid reputation for great equipment they have with the DOT.
Now you were working as a Manager in a corporation. That's completely different than being a driver. I've never had a white collar job so I can't even give a good opinion on it. You could be totally right - a white collar job in a smaller company might be a lot better than in a large corporation. But as a driver I always thought the large carriers had the best opportunities.