Jimmy, Kingman,Az
by Jimmy
(Kingman,Az USA)
Hervy, thanks for the kind words re: "life-as-a-trucker.com". The best thing about your website is it's encouraging to newbies and not discouraging as other websites seem to be.
After 32 years in trucking, Lord knows I could get on here and badmouth the industry up one side and down the other. I've been treated good and a couple times badly. In the Military, when you first enter "boot camp", you are treated like s%#t.
This is to weed out the wimps. Sorry, no mamma's boys allowed here. The military needs MEN, men who can be depended on and get the job done. Much like the trucking industry, I dare say.
All my life, from a 10 year old with a paper route, through the years working at a gas station, driving a tow truck, working at car rental places, in management and in trucking plus a couple other occupations, I've seen success and failure. The ones who succeed are the ones that are adaptable to various situations. I like to call them leaders, as opposed to followers.
When I was real young, just 21, I was working at a gas station, pumping gas, doing oil changes, tire repairs etc. The owner went out of town for Christmas week and during that week, the manager quit. All I knew was the owner was in Oregon somewhere. We needed gas to keep the station open and the other guys didn't care. They said lets just close up and go home. I said, lets get some gas and stay open, so I called the distributor and had to Forge a check to pay for it. Back then, it was C.O.D.
When the boss/owner got back, he was tickled pink that I took the bull by the horns and even though I forged a check, he understood the situation and made me the manager. A couple of points re; your post about getting home Easter Sunday.
1. The distributor probably screwed up and therefore gave the order for those bed rails to go on the next truck. Period.
2. Could you have talked to the warehouse people and suggested that they go on the next truck so you could get going and get home on time?
3. When you're in for time off, don't plan on it. Plan on getting there late. SOMETHING will always happen. Remember, you are a trucker because you like the freedom of the open road and no "boss" breathing down your neck, but, guess what, you have all kinds of "bosses". (Dispatchers, Shippers, Consignees, Police agencys, Shop personnel,) all these people can hold you up. Jimmy