Comments on: Trucking Career Management Tips

By: Danjunmah Illaisu

Danjunmah Illaisu — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:39:41 +0000

We are here doing nothing and you there looking for us how can we work as a team.what i mean is in Ghana we have good truck drivers with out work and you have got truck with out drivers.

By: E. Phil Haley

E. Phil Haley — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:58:34 +0000

Just a ton of good information, Mark. I don’t think “appearance and attitude” can be stressed strongly enough; and the specific examples you give in your post and comment definitely bring the reality home.

By: Mark Spearman

Mark Spearman — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:11:27 +0000

Yes, it takes much more effort to get the good jobs, then once you get them, it’s never the dream you had thought it would be.

To get the job I have now, it took the luck of being near their terminal and being able to interview on the fly. Driving the truck in with a company that they knew had difficult requirements, was probably a deciding factor in hiring someone without the required recent experience.

Loads that my current company uses for backhauls, like Wal-Mart loads, were considered good freight at general companies I’ve worked for. It is amazing to see what a smart small company can do. There are things about this company that will cause me to move on, but compared to the big companies, it’s great. Outstanding equipment, loads that get me home very frequently, and very little wasted time are a few perks. There are MANY drivers that would have taken the position if they had applied, but this company doesn’t advertise in the usual places.

You will never see a good company advertising unless they are desperate. Another method I forgot to mention is non-technical. Open the phone book and look for local trucking companies. Small specialized local companies are usually good folks and if you approach them right they can help. Drop them a resume and keep checking them. A nice letter or e-mail is unobtrusive and reminds them about you. If they are not hiring, they know other companies that are. For example, my company works hauls for a company that also has their own fleet. If that company’s fleet is hiring, my company would know about it.

I’ve worked for many large companies and I’d never go back to any of them. I have 1 small company that the dumbest thing I ever did was to quit them. I never tried for an LTL carrier, I’ve heard good and bad about them. I talked to disgruntled UPS drivers, but I’ve never heard of one quitting.

There are clues to look for too. Have you ever seen an obese FedEx driver? If you’re toting a trucker gut, you’d better get that fixed if you want to go with FedEx. Have you ever seen a Hazmat hauler with a thick beard? No, many have to wear a gas mask in emergencies and it will not seal to a beard. Have you seen a grubby Wal-Mart driver, no they are clean and uniformed for the most part. Look at the company’s drivers and make sure you look that part at the interview.

By: JetRanger

JetRanger — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:54:28 +0000

Good points to make Mark,, I one time went on line searching for a job, locally with a company,, the company I found was headquartered in another state with a terminal here where I live, so, I applied “on-line”, later I never heard back from them, they were a well known LTL Carrier, so I went down to the Terminal in Person to talk to the Terminal Manager, to see what the problem weas, as I had a clean driving record with all the necessary endorsements and experience too !!!! The Terminal Manager said he never recieved my Application, and wanted to know when I came down to fill it out, I informed I didn’t, and he looked puzzled, I told him that I filled out the Application “ON-LINE”,,, and his Reply was, I didn’t know you could fill out an Application “on-line” with our company, and wanted to know where I did it at, I told him at home on your companys web site, well he was just all taken back by this, he didn’t even know it could be done !! No wonder I never heard back from that company, they NEVER looked at their web site to see how many drivers and dock workers were applying for a Job !!!!! I was Hired, and put to work Full-Time, then 3 days later in the winter,,, The Terminal Manager who hired me came and told me and 3 other guys he just hired “FULL-TIME”, that Corporate headquarters had informed him to cut Hours, and they reduced us from a Full-Time position to a “Part-Time” position, working about 4 to 5 hours a day, with no benefits, the other 2 guys that were hired at the time I was were flat Angry, and didn’t like it. I myself wasn’t happy about it either, and decided to look for another job-again too,, a company that tells your hired fulltime with benefits, than changes their mind like that,, Ridlicious !!! Especially what really irrated me was the fact I had to fill out all these forms for a driving position, which takes a better part of an hour or better, about 15 pages, and give them a copy of my MVR, followed by references and all my personel inforamtion and SS number, followed by a DOT Physical and another Drug Screen, and then wait for the results to get back, so I could supposedly start work fulltime - what a complete waste of my time and effort and energy !!!!!! only to be reduced from full time to part time and not getting enough hours in to even make it worth the while to show up ! Lesson to be learned, always follow up after you fill out an application on-line to make sure they recieved it, many of the personel in the human resources dept. don’t check their on line status to see whos applied, don’t take for granted somebody had reviewed you application. Just Some Advice- Thank-You-JetRanger