Back on the Road

So here I am running the road again after losing my lease. I saw it coming for the last couple of weeks I ran with them so I wasn't too surprised when the driver coordinator called me in for a "meeting".

He started spouting about the current economic climate making it necessary to make changes, etc, etc. I told him to cut to the chase as I had better things to do than talk to him. (He's a total jerk) He said that I should look for another carrier to lease with since they had to downsize their O/O fleet due to some lost accounts.

It's a lie, but there was no sense arguing with the likes of him. I've seen this many times before. A carrier will terminate the leases of O/O's with a higher CPM and replace them with others at a cheaper rate and junk equipment. I had recently seen some of their new "contractors". One had a 1985 truck held together with bondo. This "driver coordinator" has only been with the company for two months and has already got the reputation of being a hatchet man.

I had come to this meeting prepared and even though I wanted to rip his lungs out, I stayed with my plan. I produced a letter of resignation that I typed up the night before and said: "I had already decided to sign on with another carrier since I have not been comfortable with the way you have been running operations since you came with the company, and you just saved me the two weeks notice I included in the letter."

After taking an immense sense of satisfaction from the dumfounded look on his face, I turned in my ID badge and radio, demanded a receipt for same, and left. The terminal manager told me when I stopped by to pick up my final check that the jerk was still upset that he didn't get the last word.

I had set up a lease with Tri-State Expedited several days before that only needed signed before I could start running with them, so I'll have less time at home but the money will not stop coming in.

They say that when one door closes, another opens so we'll see how it goes.