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Integrity Counts / Solo to Team
By Michael Howe

     It's always fun to see what type of questions I receive each month - the variety is interesting.  At the same time, questions related to felonies and accidents or how to get back into trucking after being out for X number of years seems to dominate the flow.  Perhaps you have a slightly different questions related to pay, benefits, interview questions, orientation, or something else.  I do hope you will ask -continue sending questions and I will do my best to answer as many as I can. Thank you for making this column the success that it is.

FORM MAILER 2011-03-11T19:53:20
 
Submitted by: 205.188.116.16
From URL: http://www.layover.com/driverscorner/recruiter/refreshers-and-risk-122310.html/
 
Message:

I worked for a carrier after graduating from a driving school. I got off to a rough start to put it bluntly. I drove for 6 months and began catching on to the work and driving. In the last month of driving, I had an accident. I was cited for unsafe lane change. The accident scared me so bad I quit driving. In the long run I didn't fight the ticket; I waited out the company and was terminated. I waited for this decision so that I could get unemployment, which was granted.

Now after 2yrs of not driving, I am considering trying again. In your opinion, am I doing the right thing? I have not had a ticket, or accident since, and have been employed for 2 yrs driving my own vehicle as a work vehicle... what is your opinion on this?

Thank you for your submission.  This is an interesting question, in part, because I am confident you won't like my answer.  First, I do believe you will have a difficult time re-entering the trucking industry.  Driving your own vehicle is, as you are aware, not similar to driving a truck.  Any safe driving history you have established with that won't go far when carriers consider you for an over the road or local trucking job.  And, depending on the severity of your trucking accident, it has only been 2 years since it occurred with no truck driving experience since.

What does this mean?  It means if you were able to find a carrier, or perhaps small independent owner operator (which is your best bet), they may even require you to go back to truck driving school or refresher training.  Are you willing to commit to that - at your expense?

The other "red flag" that will be raised with recruiters and carriers is the apparent lack of integrity.  An accident that was your fault, and your decision to "wait out the carrier" so they would terminate you and you could receive unemployment is - in my opinion - quite telling of one's personal character.  Believe it or not, character and integrity are important in the trucking industry.  After all, these are $100,000+ pieces of equipment and loads of high value. 

As you start your quest to re-enter this industry I encourage you to do so with honesty, integrity, and safety at the forefront of all you do.

FORM MAILER 2011-02-19T14:09:48
 
Submitted by: 75.218.239.61
From URL: http://www.layover.com/driverscorner/recruiter/
 
Message:

Can you help . I'm looking for a female to team up with me and drive over the road. I'm 55, non-smoker, and have a boyfriend of 15 years.  I live in Ohio and also live in Georgia. Please help - thanks.

Now this is a question I have never received before.  I did a little research and called a couple of carriers that hire teams.  Most of the time, these carriers find their teams when two individuals come to them together.  They have either met at the company after being a solo driver or have driven as a team for another carrier. 

It seems the best way to approach this is to find a carrier that hires both solo drivers and teams, and simply call them to ask about this.  There may be some carriers that have female drivers wanting to drive teams too, but don't yet have a partner.  It may be that you will have to start with a carrier (make sure they hire teams) as a solo first.  While in orientation let them know you are interested in finding a partner to drive as a team in the future - that this is your ultimate goal.

When you are running as a solo, keep an eye out for others at the terminals or elsewhere that might be interested in running as a team and get to know them.  Remind your dispatcher and the operations manager on a regular basis too (even remind the recruiters - they can probably help out).

It may take some time, but you'll find someone.