| Truck Drivers: Not The Dangerous Ones On The | | | | I can't name one either. |
| Road | | | | |
| | | | The bottom line is this: it's more difficult |
| Many people believe that truck drivers are | | | | to get a job as a commercial truck driver |
| "the dangerous villains of the highway." That | | | | than it is to become an EMT Basic, and |
| they are constantly driving dangerously and | | | | ambulance workers are viewed as heroes - |
| erratically - scaring anyone in their path | | | | rightfully so because they save lives. I ask |
| with their 80,000-pound vehicles of menace - | | | | that you try to change your view of truck |
| to deliver their freight of goods. | | | | drivers and I'll name a few additional |
| | | | reasons why - food, clothes, cars, gas, home |
| I've asked people what they envision a | | | | building supplies, and the computer you're |
| trucker to be and they often describe | | | | using to read this. If you ate it, wore it, |
| stereotype someone that might resemble a | | | | drove it, put it in or on a car, lived in a |
| member of the Charlie Daniels Band. I hear | | | | home or apt, and are viewing this article |
| "a smoker, a drinker, a criminal, a drug | | | | then you've reaped the fruits of the trucking |
| user, uneducated, dirty." (please note this | | | | and transportation industry. Everything we |
| is not a slap at any member of the | | | | eat, touch, or use has been on a commercial |
| aforementioned band - in fact, I'm a big fan | | | | truck at some point. Everything. Think |
| of the CDB) | | | | about it, unless you grew it or made it out |
| | | | of the earth with your own two hands, it was |
| The facts of life, and in this case the facts | | | | trucked in to a store for you to purchase. I |
| of the modern day trucking industry, are | | | | say it again: Everything. |
| quite the opposite. Truck drivers have to go | | | | |
| to trucking school in order to obtain the | | | | Here's a ratio for your consideration - |
| license to drive commercially. Then they | | | | 4,000:1. Commercial truckers drive 4,000 |
| have to go through a long list of tests in | | | | times the number of miles and get involved in |
| order to obtain employment with a trucking | | | | an accident as compared to standard drivers - |
| company. After they're employed there are | | | | referred to as 4-wheelers by those that drive |
| then miles upon miles of legislation (no pun | | | | 18-wheelers. This means, that if you drove |
| intended) governing every aspect of their | | | | 10 miles to work and got in an accident, and |
| job. Everything from the hours of service | | | | drove home from work that day and got in an |
| drivers can operate, the amount of freight | | | | accident, the commercial truck driver would |
| they can carry, the type of freight they can | | | | have driven 80,000 miles and gotten into 2 |
| haul, and the weight involved with their | | | | accidents. Have you driven 20 miles and had |
| truck, trailer, fright, and fuel. As you can | | | | 2 accidents? It's no big deal for commercial |
| see, it's a lot more difficult than obtaining | | | | drivers to go MILLIONS of miles accident |
| a standard state issued driver's license and | | | | free. This can be attributed to the care |
| delivering pizzas. | | | | these men and women take towards operating |
| | | | safely on more than a day-by-day basis - it's |
| Then you have the trucking company standards. | | | | moment by moment. The regulations and |
| Almost every company requires a "clean and | | | | restrictions these drivers abide by can also |
| kept" look about their applicants. All | | | | be attributed to their miles upon miles of |
| companies perform drug screens prior to | | | | safety. |
| employment and random screens during | | | | |
| employment. They all perform background | | | | I authored this article with the hopes that |
| checks and MVR reports (motor vehicle | | | | it would get published and read by people not |
| reports). They also perform what's called a | | | | affiliated with the trucking industry. I |
| DAC report - which is a transportation | | | | hope that in reading you may have gained a |
| specific agency set up to keep track of truck | | | | new understanding of the men and women that |
| drivers and their work histories. Trucking | | | | are quite literally driving America. They |
| companies have tremendous criteria they must | | | | work hard and don't get the greatest of pay. |
| meet just to get an approved applicant, much | | | | It takes a special person to commit your |
| less recruit and offer a job to a driver with | | | | career to the road so next time you see a |
| the hopes that they'll accept. Company | | | | truck driver, give them a wave. They'll |
| recruiting budgets to find quality drivers | | | | appreciate it. |
| can run in the millions of dollars - per | | | | |
| month. Name another industry with these | | | | Authored by Kyle Jernigan |
| stringent of hiring standards and also has | | | | |
| this high of an expense to recruit employees. | | | | Copyright - 2007 - HiringTruckDrivers. |