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Well, I will say in advance that I dont want this thread thrown completely off track but bear with me here.Staying with employers in general as a topic, years ago JB Hunt, Schnieder etc had tens of thousands of people go through thier training while others like myself were cranked out by private truck schools to the tune of federal loans etc...by the thousands.The Piper came to town and started playing when the Big Carriers said that they will close thier training and focus thier money on actually running trucks with drivers trained by OTHER schools or whatever as LONG they are sufficiently QUALIFIED to drive in regular revenue service after successfully passing the Hire process.About that time the Federal Government threw the CDL into the states and suddenly all the old ways vanished overnight. Thousands more good drivers turned in thier keys and went home to take up factory work or whatever because the CDL's new draconian (At the time) rules and "Do-nots" did not sit well with these old timers.When that settled out, employers who had stable freight, good paying positions, little or no debt other than normal day to day costs, good equiptment, perks that are useful and satellite communications were the employers to work for. The old comcheck/western union/telephone way of trucking died overnight or nearly so.I would constantly be in need of a telephone, coins to feed that phone or a calling card (Either a mexican one or a credit line with AT&T) today, I have a cellphone good for all USA, Canada for less than I ever paid in the past and pretty much internet service with potential for wifi or satellite. Suddenly all of these old truck stops had to remove costly and non-revenu producing pay phones, table phones etc.GPS allowed me to find people who did not want to be found, brokers, traffic managers and dispatchers whose telephone numbers are NEVER given out to drivers suddenly had software lists published on CDrom and we were able to find them. (They were not happy) on the cell phone at all hours.Suddenly companies realized that the merry go around on money has to stop somewhere. .20 cents a mile didnt cut it. Now they needed to pay .35 a mile. Sure the freight might make 2.50 a mile but... there is such a razor edge to profit and loss for that day's work.Back to hires. Companies today enjoy dozens of wanna be truckers in orientations all over the USA weekly. As long as that state of affairs continue, they can dispatch trucks and move the freight. In every company there is always a core group of drivers who will never want to work for someone else. That is a people thing.You might have 10 drivers with a company for years and years and years... yet the 290 OTHER drivers were quits, new hires, kilt, injured, fired, sick etc within 12 months and all of them have to be replaced.Oh did I mention LATE drivers? Woe unto the driver late with a auto parts load causing a factory to sit on thier hands for a day.On top of that, each applicant accepted to orientation probably had 5 more that were rejected.No wonder trucking companys want to ditch Recruiters completely, get rid of that bloated department and eliminate the cost, hassle and manpower/hours required for FINDING one qualified applicant. While this is going on... the NAFTA has kicked in (Thank you very much Mr Clinton) the Mexican Drivers potentially are able to take first class equiptment into the USA and haul freight for .20 a mile inside the USA taking away from us over spoiled .35 mile brats.No wonder there is chaos inside the USA.Oh, the lucky few enjoy the priveldge and honor of fist class companies COLD CALLING thier homes for months asking if they are ready to dispatch out on a 2 million dollar haul or something similar that is only offered to the very best.And there is the Ghost Fleet. No one knows anything about this Fleet except Uncle Sam and that is where it stays. I have not ever been part of this fleet. But... perhaps... there is a ghost load here and there. And that is where it has to stay....Drivers who can keep thier traps shut and are solid in thier judgment goes to the very best companies that run very expensive operations related to trade shows or entertainment type venues. Those drivers enjoy the rare excitement and anticipation of hauling... a million dollar race car? You cannot pry these drivers out of those cabs because they are still excited to bounce out of that sleeper in the morning filled with joyful anticipation for the day's work.Hardly something you will find in a grubby non-union warehouse that rings with bad hygene, bad language and otherwise slave-like labors in the trailer moving stuff from big wood to small wood because the grocery company does not want to spend money having one of thier people do it. Such grim penny pinching scroogies are not happy people to work for. It tends to break people's good spirits sometimes like a cloud over thier souls.There is more. But I'll quiet down now because it is like an abyss and easier to venture out on the ocean and go fishing.
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