Friday - evening
The kids are gone. Finally. Just yea, we needed a break from that. I am not the parents so i can say that without anyone judging me, tho I deal with them all the time. I love them to pieces, almost their entire lives, we have lived together but yea, I like my breaks from that stuff. The grandparents have them, they want them and they are capable of dealing with them - or not - who knows but they do love them so there is that.
I call them my nephews because the parents have always referred to me as their uncle. The kids understand I am not blood relative but they call me uncle anyway. There are other uncles and aunts involved who are also not blood related. Understand that this family has no other relatives living anywhere even remotely close to where we are. Clarification in case there was confusion. It's easier for me to say "these are my nephews" than go into a long, winding explanation of what is going on.
Anyway, I got up to the plant to deliver this morning and lo and behold, there is another one of our trucks unloading. Note that this truck definitely shouldn't be there. I wasted zero seconds contacting the company. I did not pull any punches, I am SICK of this SHIT. That was a text to dispatch, the manager immediately called me.
He spent several minutes apologizing, so I'll give him that. I told him to be there at 7 am. Yea, the guard shack informed me he got here 20 minutes ago. That means he arrived at 8:20, not 7 am. Manager confirmed - they track everything, all trucking companies do. The manager tried to take responsibility - he doesn't want me or anyone worth a s*** to leave - all well and fine, but...obviously this wasn't his fault. It's the driver who didn't give a sh** who arrived whenever the HELL he pleased who was instructed to sh ow up at 7:00 am.
I stopped short of ultimatums for the manager was really going out of his way to try and appease the situation. I told him I got my @$$ out of bed at 5:30 am to deliver, NOT GET MY ASS OVER HERE TO WAIT FOR SOME AHOLE DRIVER TO SHOW UP OUT OF HIS TIME SLOT. Thank you. Venting? Yes, in fact I am. I was going to inform him it will be a flat $150 fee every time from now on this happens.
It will occur at some point. A person will show up whenever they want to, it will be in my time slot and I will demand $150 extra fee. I don't care if he agrees to it or not, I really don't. I'm done with this, it's just his endless apologies got to me so I let it go. I told him flatly: "this time". I feel for him. He's working with a junk fleet, low pay for drivers - I was quitting so they gave me more -, not-so-great-benefits. Their health care insurance sucks. Badly.
I'd write more but fatigue has kicked. It's 8 pm and I could easily go to sleep right now. I won't, instead I'll feed my dog and get some other stuff done and then go to bed.
4 comments:
Thanks for the clarification.
I hope the company instantly complies with your $150 request.
I feel it is fair given what you have described.
There are a handful of people in my orbit who are about your age that have found that despite their superior skills, good work habits and long record of a good work history, they are having a rough time finding work now. They are finding that many big companies do not want aging workers in their work force whatever their skills and good habits might be for a number of reasons.
I get how close you always are to quitting your current job,,but if you are on facebook groups or other type of truckers forums, I think it would be w good idea to check with other drivers your age who have successfully jumped into a new trucking job without problems.
I know you believe you could get another job instantly, and it may well be true, but I have seen and heard enough recently to make me question whether your current beliefs hold up to current reality or not. I have NO direct knowledge of this one way or the other, but thought it is something you should explore and be confident in before you burn a bridge.
Follow up-My favorite AI says Texas hazmat drivers are GOLD and with clean record and passing physical, zero problems despite age. Highly sought after in your part of the world. Good news. Should have asked it first.
The trucking industry is a completely different animal than anything else out there. Mega trucking companies have fleets of empty tractors sitting in their lots waiting for drivers to fill the seats. I don't think I have ever quit a job without having something else lined up, getting fired a different story but that has only happened twice in my lifetime and both time, I was happy it happened. If you can pass a physical for your med card, have recent driving experience, your CDL is good your are good to go. Many companies will take you even if you have tickets and sometimes even an accident. They literally don't care how old you are and the older drivers are by far the superior drivers in terms of drive, motivation and the desire to get things done efficiently without causing problems - unless those problems are warranted. So yes, I have no doubt in my mind at all that I could find another job. I do not WANT to have to go looking for another job. At the same time, this company could easily lose this contract and that would leave me hanging, for I will not do OTR. I might do the Ennis run twice a week if they were good with that.
The company operates at cut throat rates to keep their contracts. I stay because the hours are usually about as good as it gets.
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