Word of advice.... Never get into truck driving

Heres the story. My husband has been a truck driver/delivery driver for 7 or 8 years now. Firstly, he got into trucking in the first place because it didn't require a lot of schooling or training, it was an easy thing to get into, its really good money, and he thought it wouldn't be so bad being away from home so much. In fact, he thought itd be fun! Getting to travel everywhere and see new places and such. Well it was fun for the first few years. Especially once he got with the last company that he was with. He loved his last company because he got to come home everyday, and he had weekends off. He may have had to work his butt off for 10-12 hours a day, but at least he was home everyday.

Well we just recently moved and he tried his hardest to get a transfer with this company but they just didnt want to work with him. So finally he said screw it. Im going to move and Im not going to let this company have any control over that. He started looking into different companies and it didn't take long until he found one that was interested in hiring him. So we ended up moving and hes been working with this company for a few months now. This company is an over-the-road company which means he has to be gone all through the week, but he is always home on weekends. Sometimes he will even get home on Fridays.

Its not really not to bad considering how SOME over the road companies will only allow you to come home once every 2 or 3 weeks! Still though, even though we get to see each other on weekends, its really hard on us. If we could have it our way, he'd be home everyday. Thing is, He is just sick of trucking. He could always get a job similar to his last company where he can be home everyday but will have to work up to 12 hours a day. Well he doesnt want to do that. Its exhausting! Hes to the point where he just wants a normal 8 hour a day job where he can be home everyday and actually have a life outside of work. The plan is, after we get some of our debt paid off he is going to go back to school for his bachelors degree and hopefully in a few years he will just have a normal job and wont have to be gone all the time.

So anyway, when my husband gets home on the weekends, thats OUR time. His company gets to control him and tell him what to do during the week, so youd think they wouldnt try to control him during his time at home, right? WRONG! Ill just say this. My husband has never had any accidents, any tickets, or anything else with this company. When he comes home on the weekends, they will tell him when his next pick up will be and what time he has to be there. So for example, if they tell him he has to be in Atlanta,GA by 8:00 AM for a pick up, he will be there! What time he leaves the house and starts heading down there is up to him. It shouldnt matter as long as he is there ON TIME for his pick up monday morning, right??

Well this weekend, we didn't get a very long weekend. He didnt get here until 3 or 4 AM saturday morning. He had to be in Orlando FL at 8 AM on monday for a pickup. So he ended up leaving Sunday afternoon and he was in Orlando by about 2 in the morning. He went to sleep there in his truck, and by 8:00 AM he woke up and was ready for his pickup. Well his dispatcher sent him a message saying she was "disappointed" in him for not getting to Orlando until 2 in the morning. Legally when its time for you to park and go to sleep, you are supposed to have a 10 hour break before driving again. So she was wanting him to get there at like Midnight.

Im thinking, so he didnt get there at Midnight, he got there at 2 AM, but yet he still made his pickup on time that morning exactly at the time he was supposed to. Does it really matter? Why nit pick? Its hard enough when we only get to spend like 2 days together during the weekend. You get to control him all week, why control him during the weekends when its supposed to be OUR time? As long as he is making it on time for his pickups, and as long as he isnt getting into any accidents or any tickets, whats the problem?

She doesnt drive a truck so Im sure she cant relate. She gets to sit in her little office all day telling people what to do, and Im sure she gets to see HER husband everyday. She needs to look at it from his perspective. What is she only got to see her family on the weekends? Cut him some slack. If he has to be somewhere on a Monday morning by 8:00, let him do it his way. Tell him where to go and what time to be there and he will be there. He doesnt need you to tell him how to do it and how long he can stay at the house.

He is more rested and rejuvenated when he DOES stay at home and sleep in late as opposed to leaving early and sleeping in the truck. At home he gets a nice cozy bed to sleep in, when hes in the truck he gets a little tiny bed in a little cramped up truck and he has to park in some place where he has probably never been before and has to worry about his truck getting broke into! How are you going to get any sleep like that? A person who drives for a living needs to be rested. If he gets better sleep at home, let him stay at home for as long as he needs to! Its for YOUR benefit so that he doesnt wreck YOUR truck and cost YOU money. Like I said, as long as he is making it on time for his pickups, they shouldnt care when he leaves home. When he is at home on the weekends, thats his time and what he does is his business!!!!

Addi, I really think I understand why you are so angry.

Unfortunately, I also think I understand why your husbands dispatcher claimed that she was "dissapointed" - all she sees is that he starts to work on a monday morning without as much as eight hours sleep, which is not a good thing.

Hon, she knows NOTHING about him ( partly because he just started to work for this company, partly because she, as you said yourself, is not out there doing the actual driving)! For all she knows, he might have spent all weekend cruising bars before the pick up on monday morning. She doesn't know him, she doesn't know he spends his weekends with his family, sleeping long hours and getting some rest!

I'd suggest you turn it around. If your hubby has a quiet chat with her, thanking her for her concern ( yeah, go fot it, put some sugar on it *g* ) but pointing out how much he enjoys his quiet weekends with his family... I'd bet she won't bitch around with him again

Well thats what I told him to tell her. I said "just let her know that you sometimes stay home late because you sleep in, you're getting rest. And plus, since you only get to see me two days a week, let her know that you like to spend as much time with me as possible. Surely, she will understand!"

I can see what you're saying. She doesnt KNOW what he does on the weekends or that he sleeps in a lot and gets caught up on rest. Fact is though, that IS what he is doing, so if he tells her this and she still doesn't cut him any slack, she is just being ridiculous and totally unfair.

After my husband arrived at his pickup Monday morning, he actually told me he felt more rested then than he had all week. Its because during the week he has to sleep in that stupid truck. I think ANYONE would sleep better at home in their own bed than they would in the back of a cramped up truck, hundreds of miles away from home. It makes perfect sense to me why he gets better sleep on the weekends. If I was him I'd be taking advantage of my hometime to get caught up on sleep too.

So even though he arrived 8 hours before his pickup and got 8 hours of sleep, it was still fine because he wasn't that tired when he got there because he was rested up from sleeping in during the weekend. If he had have gotten there 10 hours before his pickup like SHE wanted him to, he would have been exhausted when he got there because that would be 2 hours of sleep that he would have lost when he was at home, and on top of that, even though he would have 10 hours to sleep once he got there, he'd still end up waking up tired in the morning because 10 hours of sleep feels like about 5 hours of sleep when you have to sleep in a truck.

Last time I talked to him he said he hadnt sent her a message back but I am hoping he does. I want him to tell her WHY he stays late on the weekends so that maybe she can be just a TINY bit understanding and get off his back.

I think ANYONE would sleep better at home in their own bed than they would in the back of a cramped up truck, hundreds of miles away from home.

If you find me someone who prefers sleeping in the back of a truck, I'd be seriously worried about that person

Last time I talked to him he said he hadnt sent her a message back but I am hoping he does. I want him to tell her WHY he stays late on the weekends so that maybe she can be just a TINY bit understanding and get off his back.

Fingers crossed

Btw, I know a guy who makes his money as a truck driver here. Same sh... eh story, only that no one gives an excrement about how he makes it in time for the pick up

Yea It seems like most truck drivers really are not happy with their job. I mean sure the money is great and you dont have to do a lot of schooling or training to get into it, but is it really worth it? Thats why my husband is now regretting it and wishing he had have just finished up his schooling in something that he would have actually ENJOYED doing. Sure he might take a pay cut and he wouldnt be making as much as he is now, but eventually he'd start getting raises and build his way back up.

You should never go into a career because of money. You should choose a career that you know you will enjoy doing. Otherwise, you're going to stick with that career for a few years, you're going to love the money but it isnt going to be worth it to you anymore, and you're going to end up quitting and getting into something that you like. So you might as well just not waste time and get into doing something that you like to begin with.

The thing is, most over-the-road companies are crappy. They don't care when you get home. Like I say, most will have you stay out for 2 or 3 weeks at a time.

This company is one of the more decent over the road companies out there because they ALWAYS get him home every weekend. Sometimes he might have a longer weekend than other times. Sometimes he might get home on a Friday and not leave until Monday, or sometimes he might get home on a Saturday and have to leave Sunday. His dispatcher is always really good about making sure he gets here though.

So we ARE really thankful that at least he gets to be here every weekend because thats better than what most companies would do for him. But still, only seeing someone 2 or 3 days a week is hard, especially when its your husband/wife. Thats why we were surprised that his dispatcher was being so nit picky about what time he leaves home. Its like jeez... its not like he gets to be home all week... let him enjoy the little time here that he has!

Anyway, getting ready to call him and see if he ever responded to her message.