Job Prospect Died

I didn't hear from Marslover last Wednesday, and when I woke up Thursday morning, I had real misgivings about this particular job. I had decided I wouldn't spend $25 in gas to drive to (one way) Dothan until I got some more answers, but Mother (bless her heart) thought I'd be making a mistake if I didn't.

Here's another word about my Mother: Even though I'm 49 years old, she can still browbeat me like I was a redheaded stepchild. I've said before that it takes a lot of breath and energy to outscream this short, bent little figure, so I don't argue with her much anymore. And what's worse, if I don't do what she thinks I ought to, she gives me the cold silent treatment.

Here's an example: She got mad at me the other day, and when I told her "Goodnight - I love you," she simply said, "Thank you." Actually, that one's kinda funny, but you get my drift. So it's easier and a lot more peaceful to just do what she says - even if it's against my better judgement.

But I will say that she's right a good bit of the time too, and I love her more than anything on this planet. I frequently pray that God will let me come Home before she does - because I don't want to live down here without her. I don't know what my purpose in life would be without her.

Anyway, I did hear back from Marslover Thursday afternoon, and at Mother's insistance, I drove to Dothan for the interview.

I can live with a lot of things in my profession, but here's a few things I can't stomach:

 29 cpm (cents per mile) would have been ok. While it's ridiculously low for this day and time, I understand the man wanting to know if a driver's gonna do his/her job (for 30 days) before he pays more. But 29 cpm was only for loaded miles. Empty miles only paid 20 (that's right, TWENTY) cpm, and when the old man said, "...all you're doing is holding the steering wheel. It's not like you're bumping a dock or anything...," well, that was totally inexcusable. I still can't believe he said it.

The truth is an empty truck doesn't make money, so he doesn't want to pay the drivers for doing their jobs. Just because the trailer is empty doesn't mean the driver has any less responsibility on the road. In fact, with all the new rules and regulations, hauling freight is the least of our worries. What a ridiculous thing for the owner of a trucking company to say - "All you're doing is holding the steering wheel...."

35 trucks aren't enough to support at least four of the old man's grown children who work for the company. It's no wonder he can't pay the drivers....

I agree that you should turn your truck off when you're not in it. After all, idling burns about a gallon of fuel per hour, and it's a total waste if the truck's unoccupied. But I don't agree with limiting the time you can run the air conditioner (or heater) while a driver's inside the truck. His policy is 40% idle time; which means for every hour spent waiting, you can only run the truck 24 minutes. If a driver runs it more than that, he charges the driver for the fuel. (Truck owners can plug into the engine's computer to see the statistics for various stuff.)

His calculations (whatever they are) say, in his words, "...that gives you 10 hours a day to sleep." Picture a driver waiting on a load of carrots in Coachella CA in 110 degree weather for 5 hours and being able to stay cool for only 2 hours.

And when I go in a truck stop to take a shower, I don't have to "wait two hours for a stall", to use the old man's words. (A stall???) He also thinks drivers sit in the truck stop TV rooms for hours, and it takes 2 hours to eat a "sit down" meal. The point is, see all that time that the truck should be turned off???

I kinda liked the old man just for the character he was, but when I'd heard enough, I graciously said, "Mr. Baker, I appreciate your time," (as I stood up and offered a handshake,) "but I just don't think this job is for me." We shook hands, he wished me good luck at whatever I wound up doing, and I left.

I was going to pay a visit to AMX, which was only about 12 miles away, but Mother said not to....

When I got home I found that the FMCSA FOI office had emailed the report I'd asked for - all the stuff they had in their databases about me, but that another post. Now I plan to flood the market with applications and work the phones. If I can just get a decent (not great) job and lay low for a while.....