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XPO | experience over seniority?

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anonyimity

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You've been a truck driver most of your life, maybe even one or two million mile it'd driver, and one day you decide to leave your sleeper truck and work ltl, ok here's my question . You get there and you find a young "punk" driver there with a fraction of your experience do, A: try to be a mentor and help this driver be better. B: attempt to rum him off for your own gain. Or C: ignore him completely.
 
If it were me,I'd just do my job and GO-HOME!!!!!!!! And never forget to work SAFE......That's all..........
 
If you have done both , like a LOT OF DRIVERS HAVE AT Con-way, you know that OTR is VERY different from LTL. You cannot just fall out of one truck and jump into another , so to speak. Your experience earns you respect but it does not mean you can do the job or know the job.
 
anonyimity said:
You've been a truck driver most of your life, maybe even one or two million mile it'd driver, and one day you decide to leave your sleeper truck and work ltl, ok here's my question . You get there and you find a young "punk" driver there with a fraction of your experience do, A: try to be a mentor and help this driver be better. B: attempt to rum him off for your own gain. Or C: ignore him completely.
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Seniority or experience shouldn't matter at all in how you treat another person. Just because he's younger doesn't mean he's automatically a "punk".
Just treat him like another human being and get over all the other stuff. At the and of the day we're all just people trying to make it.

I've got a lot of time in on the road, but some of best young men I know have less than 2 yrs. over here at Fedex.
Yea sometimes the new boys are a little cocky, but that just comes along with being young. We've all been there.
 
Be a mentor if he works well and safely. Try to run him off if he doesn't.

No one should just be ignored without a good reason.

And you shouldn't be so bitter about your lost youth to take it out on those that still have any left.
 
anonyimity said:
You've been a truck driver most of your life, maybe even one or two million mile it'd driver, and one day you decide to leave your sleeper truck and work ltl, ok here's my question . You get there and you find a young "punk" driver there with a fraction of your experience do, A: try to be a mentor and help this driver be better. B: attempt to rum him off for your own gain. Or C: ignore him completely.
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ladys and gentleman i present to you billy bigrigger,dear billy ihave been pulling sets for six years and am fairly young yet ,a cocky young punk if you will....i can dock a set can you?now hows that for cocky ?we dont all suck just bcuz we lack the whiskers of a senior driver,judge not lest ye be judged my friend.
 
IMHO...1 year LTL is as good as 5 years OTR steering wheel holder. I came from OTR exp. and learned more in 1 year at LTL than in all my years at OTR job.
 
anonyimity said:
You've been a truck driver most of your life, maybe even one or two million mile it'd driver, and one day you decide to leave your sleeper truck and work ltl, ok here's my question . You get there and you find a young "punk" driver there with a fraction of your experience do, A: try to be a mentor and help this driver be better. B: attempt to rum him off for your own gain. Or C: ignore him completely.
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How about D: Work with him and learn what you can because he has more experience in the LTL environment and may be able to help you adapt from hanging out at the truck stop waiting for a load to hustling out to the dock and getting the freight loaded so you can head back to the home terminal so the city guys can get the freight delivered. ROGER BEEP!
 
Instigator said:
IMHO...1 year LTL is as good as 5 years OTR steering wheel holder. I came from OTR exp. and learned more in 1 year at LTL than in all my years at OTR job.
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I would tend to agree with you here essp if you drive one year in the city at con~way most otr drivers cant hit the dock in less than 5 mins so at the very least you will know how to back any size truck into any type of hole in a year s time at con-way and if you don't know how by then then your not gonna be driving for anyone !! cos con~way will fire your AZZ !!!!!!!!!!!
 
Mudd Flapp said:
If it were me,I'd just do my job and GO-HOME!!!!!!!! And never forget to work SAFE......That's all..........
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No doubt.. Great post man. I was a young 21 year old punk when I started driving otr and I was a young 22 year old punk when I started at CCX. In over 10+ years of driving and 8+ years at Freight I've helped a few older experienced drivers get accustomed to how LTL works. I'm at a huge terminal and I get asked by new drivers at times if I have a run.. I just say yeah and they have no idea I'm 2/3 up the board because I'm young
.. my theory has been if you're gonna drive you need to be in LTL or parcel - they're seniority based so start young. If you didn't I'll help you as much as I can till you know it all and won't listen.. That said, don't question it or me if you started late..
 
micro brew said:
No doubt.. Great post man. I was a young 21 year old punk when I started driving otr and I was a young 22 year old punk when I started at CCX. In over 10+ years of driving and 8+ years at Freight I've helped a few older experienced drivers get accustomed to how LTL works. I'm at a huge terminal and I get asked by new drivers at times if I have a run.. I just say yeah and they have no idea I'm 2/3 up the board because I'm young
.. my theory has been if you're gonna drive you need to be in LTL or parcel - they're seniority based so start young. If you didn't I'll help you as much as I can till you know it all and won't listen.. That said, don't question it or me if you started late..
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You see, this guy is cool right here..haha go Giants!!!!!
 
it all comes down to knowledge and effort. Some guys bring both to work every day. Some are looking to gain knowledge, while others possess it but refuse to put out the effort. Effort is fueled by motivation. Back in the day personal motivation was infectious... guys shared their knowledge and fed off of each other's motivation.

I love the scenarios listed above. Every new employee arrives with a high level of anxiety and uncertainty. Get them past that and most will strive to be part of the team. Well that's if he's lucky to be at a terminal lacking the "it's all about me and my entitlement" bunch.

OTR, LTL, DSR School graduates, with any new employee you should take time to pass on your knowledge, show them how to do it right, and help them find their confidence.
 
I try number one at first. You will find the right guys to work with. Every place has a couple punks. I pay no attention to them.
 
I have mentored the "young punks", (which some at my barn might consider me), and I have mentored the old farts. I help train new guys all the time, and get asked questions about loading, handhelds, routes, etc.... by all levels of people here regardless of service rank or classification, i.e. dsr, fos, tom..... (yes they have all asked for my opinion, and help). I always help those in need regardless of how I think of them. I have been in this business, but not this company for a long, long time and respect that some may not know what I know until they have been shown. I ask for help ocassionaly myself. I feel I am very much respected at my barn because of my knowledge and willingness to help anyone. However, if I offer help when not asked because I see you struggling, or doing something not right and you blow me off or treat me like I'm intruding, or don't have a clue.... well then **** on ya, don't ask me, or expect me to do it again.
 
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