About 3 weeks ago at a friends birthday party I was visiting with a guy that dispatches for Werner Enterprises. He said that they were only hiring teams or drivers that would be willing to team drive. I said.... If a 'driver of the year' type person walked in the door looking for a job that they would only consider that person if they were willing to team up with another driver? He said... That was his understanding. I found that very interesting coming from one of the nations largest carriers. I wonder if that is the trend of some of these large carriers. I had always assumed that if you had a CDL and a heartbeat that you could get a job with these big carriers. Evidently that is not true anymore.
Policy in trucking companies changes like the weather. Most won't team for the fact of {cooties} and poor personal hygiene traits. Teams usually consist of husband/wife just for that reason alone. A driver might exhibit ok personality for a couple of weeks then turn Dr Jekyll Mr. Hyde. The other big issue is driving habits, ones that are risky at best. CR England tried that years ago only to drop it. Companies are working to keep wheels turning 24/7 to keep revenue at a constant, burning both ends of the candle. Old ideas being regurgitated.
Couldn't pay me enough to team drive with the quality of drivers out there.
Team me and my dog, but sure wouldn't want to ride around with a stranger for a week or even a day, I suffer from Misophonia , and even my dog's excessive panting pisses me off sometimes but I love him and on road trips he is normally sleep with in a few hours. I have never liked riding with other people driving Then there are guys like my buddy's employees, during COVID he made them drive separately to to the job and gave the one driving his personal vehicle extra money for gas. Both of them were none to happy because they didn't get to talk on the way to the job
I wonder if they will go like the railroads with crew change out. With passenger vans to haul them to a hotel, while another crew steps in and keeps driving ?
Under the old paper log rules teams could run 4 on 4 off till h-ll froze over. Rules today are 11 on then off. So you have a driver crammed up in a 6'X 7' box and a passenger seat while other is driving which can lead to anxiety/boredom, and a unfit driver at his next turn at the wheel. And many don't have the confidence for winter driving, either one or both. Plus some people can't fall asleep while vehicle is in motion. Given the wide scope of personalities of today, I see it as a failure like years past only more so.
There’s only 3 drivers i could team with. 2 are dead and the third is me. Can’t imagine that scenario today.
Years ago I had 3 trucks leased on hauling livestock. If a new driver didn't have livestock experience then they had to ride with me for a week to show them the ropes. For the most part it wasn't too bad but I recall a couple of times that the end of the week couldn't come fast enough!!! The owner of the company normally ran us pretty hard. Those training weeks the wheels only stopped to fuel, load and unload. I kept telling him that I was basically getting no sleep training those guys but it didn't seem to matter. That was back in the late '80's and early '90's when trucking was still fun.......
I had no idea that was a thing. I had to wear earplugs at one place I worked. A person would be loud... breathing, chewing, constantly doing some throat clearing grunt thing. Drive me crazy. Dog whinning is another. Like feels like the sound jabs right in my brain and make me get very ******* mode quickly, even when I'm well aware and try to not.
That's the common statement pitched back and forth, all pointing a finger at the other. Everyone likes to think they are a better driver than everyone else, throw in all the filthy habits and lifestyles and shake it up. * Not to drag thread into lock down zone-but there is one area especially these days that can put a damper on setting in cab hour after hour. Political affiliation and views, when it comes to that drivers are best left to their own thoughts, listening to talk radio shows might be great for one, misery for another and conflict will ensue.
I use quality as an encompassing term. Skill, cleanliness, attitude etc.
Pretty hard to fit skill, cleanliness, attitude & ambition into one human barrel, those would be the important four. Employers have been looking for the perfect employee, and employees looking for perfect employers--that model isn't available---but robots are a upcoming thing.
Problem is when employers do get a good employee like that many will treat them like garbage or they drive the give a damn out of them.
Dang, I'm not dead yet, actually feeling pretty good!
Old age drivers are finally being thinned out, insurance companies are flagging the risk through possible sudden health concerns. * Prune marmalade extract.
Mechanic at work had a heart attack. He drove on the highway in the late 80s early 90s. Hauled gravel, started pulling wrenches. Still drove some. After the heart attack, they too his truck license. Another guy had a mini stroke. Took his license had a hard time getting it back. I guess they are pushing to keep older guys off the road
That's becoming a world wide thing. Here over 75s have to do a medical similar to aviators. In my case thats not a problem, all vitals are good, not on meds, but what sticks in my craw is people 30yrs younger who have worse health than me aren't tested. Fast coming to think this is straight out elder abuse.
My dad was OTR before I was born and then went to work for ready mix company for the remainder of his life. He had a angioplasty and 89 93 and in 96 had a double bypass, had a CDL with every endorsement until the day he died
Laughable, I had that dissected artery behind my right ear. I asked the cardiologist if he would stop my chauffeurs license. {What for he said? Anyone can have what you have or a stroke or a heart attack at any moment, with the obesity issue going on heart disease is everywhere. Your BP is fine, with time it will more than likely heal, your far less of a threat than the two a day Whopper addict.}
Holy ****! I didn't know that was a thing. Can't stand repetitive noises - drives me up the wall. I guess I have a mild version of it.
I maybe right there with you. How does it get diagnosed
Is a good romp in the cot out of the question?
I knew a husband and wife team. They're retired now but drove together for 30 years
Same here, it is amazing how many people, (Not kids, I expect that) grown adults who habitually click pens, drum fingers, and worse of all, crinkle water bottles . . .
I know they can't control it, being around someone with myoclonus is rather disruptive.
Best guess is it doesn't last long enough to become annoying.
@CM1995 @IceHole I also didn't know about it til recently but I sure have suffered from it for as long as I can remember. It get worse if I haven't eaten probaly low blood sugar. I normally only eat once a day (supper)unless I have been expending a lot of calories and I get dizzy then I will have something in the afternoon. If I have to be around people I will pack a buffet They referenced it in a tv show I was and this guy was getting ready to perform some enhanced interrogation, the torturee was blindfolded and the interrogator was eating crisp red apple slowly and loudly as possible in the hopes that it would bother the suspect.the suspect just said man can we get on with these already? The guy takes the blindfold off and tells her his last suspect was so bothered by the apple that he spilled his guts to make it stop and mentioned misophonia so naturally I looked it up. Sure as **** it is a condition.
Basically--people are disgusting, in many ways. Personally I can't stand beards, tattoos, men wearing jewelry, one eye or ear lower than the other, necks with hog wrinkles, crew cuts, flat tops, shaved heads, pressed clothes, collars with buttons or shirts with short sleaves that button up, leather man on belts, cowboy hats, dreadlocks, bib over- all's, tank tops, wife beater shorts, wearing clothes too small, chewing tobacco, sun- flower seed eaters, sun glasses on hat, 5.9 tee shirts, people who cough without covering their mouth, making sounds trying loosen something stuck in their tooth, trying to disguise they need to phart. Other than that everything is ok.
Lol.
Falls under the theme of "what I used to do all night long takes me all night long to do"!
Sounds like you just don’t like people. As for a romp in the cot in back, it was his dogs panting, eewww. I don’t care for people either. Working on things, requires all of my attention. I wear earplugs all the time. I can’t stand working near a running engine, breaks my concentration. That said, the hum of a transformer welder, is beautiful.
I think putting up with other peoples habits kind of tells the story, {excuse me for driving on your highway}. Yesterday I had a tow to fetch in Pendleton and take to Pasco. Company truck derated on fuel island so I had to haul it to Pasco dealer, and haul the driver with me, left at 11:00 am got back at 4:15 pm. Team Drivers? I drove along for 100 miles trying to ignore the dufus in passenger seat. 100 miles of nonstop complaining about passenger car traffic, stupid women drivers, young drivers, old drivers and just drivers in general. Dressed in wife beaters/tank top, shaved head, gold neckless, and sunglasses, the epitome of why team drivers are a problem.-----Plus------------ before I could hookup {he had already disconnected}, I had to have him back back under inflate the bags raise trailer and finish cranking gear down, the lazy bugger low dropped the trailer making it hard on the next driver. turd.