A few words on the latest death of one of my coworkers.

[Tobin S.]

The driver that was killed in a traffic accident the other day was running a route that I had run for 4.5 years until about two weeks ago. It was a dedicated run with seven customers on it. This guy had actually trained me on the route when I was new. Things were booming up there back then. I would have three loads a day every day which took me nine to ten hours to do. I would sometimes have to work on that route on Saturdays as well because there was so much to do.

Things changed starting about a year ago. My biggest customer up there slowed way down. They were good for at least one load a day when things were going well and I'd sometimes have two or three out of there. Well, now days I'm lucky to get three loads a week out of there. Things got so slow on the route that I was only going up there an average of three days a week. Keep that in mind.

I told the other driver how things were up there now. I was kind of bitter about being taken off the route, but I wasn't going to be an asshole about it and not give the guy a heads up. Running the route is kind of an art form now. The customers don't call in their loads. You have to go up there and get a feel for when things are going to be ready to be hauled. They expect to not have to think about getting their loads hauled. From their perspective it just happens automatically. It's a lot trickier from the drivers perspective because my employer wants a good load coming in. He is paid for the service of hauling the freight, but he is also buying the freight and reselling it for a profit, so he wants a nice heavy load when we come in.

My fellow driver did not have a handle on how things worked on the route yet. He went up there one day and nothing was ready. He ended up hauling a container that was only half loaded just to have something to show for going up there and got chewed out for it.

On the day of the accident, he had a container on for that big customer up there that I was telling you about. That was Tuesday. They didn't send anyone else back up there after the accident that day. They put me back on the route on Wednesday. They said that the other guy had told them there were two loads ready at the big customer and one other one at a different customer. I went up there and there was nothing ready. I ended up hauling a container back that was only two thirds loaded just so I wouldn't have to come back empty.

What does all of that mean? It means that the day the driver was killed in the accident, he should not have been up there at all. There was nothing ready. I'm sure he genuinely thought that there was, but he was wrong due to inexperience with the way things currently are with those customers up there. My wife flipped out when she heard that this guy was killed doing my route, but I told her that I would not have even been up there if I was on it at the time.

They shook things up at work because they thought drivers on dedicated routes had gotten too comfortable and were slacking off. What they failed to understand is that there is lot more to doing those routes than just running up the road and grabbing a container. As a trucker, I've run across a lot of people in my time who think they know how to do my job better than I do. They usually really don't have a clue.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Wow, my dear Tobin...

They usually really don't have a clue. And that goes double for your employer.

I wonder if the owner had ever driven a truck and been as busy as you are. He probably did, a million years ago, and no longer remembers or cares.

I hope you can get out of there!

[Tobin S.]

2. As far as I know, the owner hasn't driven a truck in over 40 years.

He's 90 years old and still comes to work every day. He's been mainly an office guy for a long time now. I think he has a good understanding about how all of the equipment works in his company, but I doubt he has a good understanding of the realities of trucking now days.

He still does the reviews at the end of the year with the help of the general manager. He has no idea of who I am or what I do. The general manager knows me and tells him what kind of worker I am in the review. That's it.

[rurallib]

3. What management see and what workers see is so different

Management often see workers who ares so good at their jobs that it seems effortless, thus anyone could do it. Simple moves, simple tricks that a worker develops over the course of years are overlooked when assessing a job.
In my experience when management steps in with a heavy boot to force change based on their observations, chaos generally follows. As with any worker, I have many stories.

In my working days we never had anyone killed. There were a couple hurt badly. the blame always landed on the worker "not following procedures." But the true underlying reason was pressure from the bosses to cut time, get more production etc.

ETA - anything on your other possibility?

[Tobin S.]

4. I took a few tests for the other job on Wednesday.

I haven't heard back from them yet. They were supposed to have the results sometime yesterday. I'll call them later today if I don't hear from them.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Hoping for a good news Friday for you.

[Tobin S.]

6. I got a call from them. They said I did well on the tests.

Now they want to do a drug test and some kind of physical ability test. I think they just want to make sure that I won't break if I pick up 50 pounds. Oh, and no drugs at all at any time for a long time. Hair follicle deal.

[mnhtnbb]

7. Oh, the hoops they make you jump through for a job these days!

Sounds promising! Continuing to hold good thoughts for you.