idiot truck driver

[fattie20xl]

hello. just so you know i work at a paper mill/ recycling plant where i weigh trucks. both inbound and outbound.

yep. i'm in charge of 3 whole buttons.

and this is a LOOOONG one. so i hope you're interested

so i get this truck driver that hauls for a company that both delivers old cardbord/newspaper etc and picks up finnished rolls of paper. so i ask him if he's picking up or dropping off because they are totaly different procedures for each.

Me: Are you doing a pickup or a delivery
Driver: yeah.. oh.. pickup.
Me: Ok. Is this your first time here or have you been here before.
Driver: yeah... oh... naw.
Me: ... You've been here before?
Driver: Oh yeah. Buncha times.....
Me: Ok. drive on.

he then drives onto the scale and i notice that his weight is WAY too much for an empty truck (they're usually 30 to 36 thousand empty and he was nearly 82 thousand) so i get on the 2 way intercom to the scale

Me: YO! WHAT THE HELL MAN?! You've got a load in there!!!
Driver: Yurp!
Me: Ok... drive back here and give me your paperwork!
Driver: Naw. I'll walk it back to you
(just a note, it's a high traffic area PLUS if the fire department comes and sees a truck without a driver then we get fined)
Me (shouting): NO! YOU WILL DRIVE BACK AROUND AND WE WILL PROCCESS YOUR PAPERWORK PROPERLY OR YOU CAN LEAVE!

so he walks up. causing a line of about a dozen cars and trucks both incoming and outgoing

he walks up to the scale house window

Me: You can't leave your truck there.
Driver: Yo! You didn't tell me you needed paperwork!
Me: You told me that you're picking up paper! Not dropping off!
Driver: Well, I am. After I drop this off.
Me: You... FINE!
(I grab the paperwork from him and put it into the computer)
Me: Go dump that and then come RIGHT back here so I can get your empty weight.
Driver: Oh. Ok. I was gonna load up first...
Me: NO! if you do then you'll have to unload and then come out and then reload. Not my rules. I can't change them. are you sure you've been here before?
Driver: Naw man. First time. Take it easy...

What the hell man!! he just lied to me twice...

so i tell him the procedure to dump and he goes and dumps (it takes about 20 to 45 minuts). I'm JUST getting his mess cleaned up and he comes up to the scale house, bypassing the scale...

Driver: Yo! What's my weight!
Me: You didn't get on the scale. You need to go back around, get on the scale and then wait for me to call you up. THEN you can drive up here and i'll deal with you.
Driver: So you can't give me my weight?
Me: Look... I've got NO time for you. Just get back on the scale and then I'll tell you what to do.

so he goes and then when i tell him to drive back up he pulls up a little, hops out of his truck and walks back to the scalehouse AGAIN!

Me: I'm so sick of you. Get your truck and drive it back here or else I'm calling the plant's security manager.
Driver: Take it easy.
Me: NO! You've done the exact opposite of EVERYthing I've told you to do. What is wrong with you?
Driver: hey.. Ok. OK!

and he drives back... does his thing and then goes on his way.

I had spent more time on HIS ticket than any 4 or 5 other drivers, had to clean up a HUGE mess that he created and protect the company from safety hazards that he created.

and my mom wonders why I'm bald at 27...

[Andara Bledin]

Cripes!

I'd be sorely tempted to call whatever company he drives for and ask them if they drug test thier drivers....

^-.-^

[Broomjockey]

Call the driver's company, yes, and tell them not to send him again, as he's a hazard, and your company won't be responsible for it.

[Nutjob R/T]

YES. Call the company and complain, idiots like that are the reason trucks get such a nasty reputation.

[sms001]

so i get this truck driver that hauls for a company that both delivers old cardbord/newspaper etc and picks up finnished rolls of paper.

wow, just wow. I'm only four sentences into this and I'm thinking to myself "To get the recycle weight they must weigh the trucks full and then empty and the difference is the amount of recycle brought in." And this is just random brain activity from someone reading a post about an occupation he's never really thought about before.

So HOW brain dead is someone who is actually DOING the job and can't figure that out? And you know they at least walk him through such things when he gets given the job. "Go to Blah-blah Paper with this load. Make sure you weigh in and weigh out before you pick up the new paper so we get paid properly........." And why lie? yeesh.

[Bagga]

You guys don't get it do you?

Quote:

Me: ... You've been here before?
Driver: Oh yeah. Buncha times.....

The driver believes in reincarnation, actually. The first time he was here, he was a frog. But he failed at that, so they tried him again as a cockroach. Then he was reincarnated as a goldfish... And now?

He's been here a buncha times.

[fattie20xl]

the best part?

later on that night my boss calls my cellphone asking me if i gave that driver permission to smoke crack in the cab of his truck.

WHAT THE SHAZBOT?

[Andara Bledin]

the best part?

later on that night my boss calls my cellphone asking me if i gave that driver permission to smoke crack in the cab of his truck.

WHAT THE SHAZBOT?

Wait, what?

.... *blink*blink*

what?

^-.-^

[Raieth]

well that certainly explains some of what happened.....

[Killer Bees]

the best part?

later on that night my boss calls my cellphone asking me if i gave that driver permission to smoke crack in the cab of his truck.

WHAT THE SHAZBOT?

He can afford to buy crack on a truck driver's salary? How much are they paying those guys? I can't even afford to buy a new pair of shoes until I've saved for a month!

[Kaylyn]

As a truck driver, I can say the average pay starts at around 30 cents per mile if they're over-the-road, that is to say not hourly-paid local drivers. A normal 7-day period will get a driver about 2500 to 3000 miles. That means $750-$900 per week before taxes (sometimes more if their company pays a per diem salary, meaning a portion is tax-free to cover meals and such). That's starting out. Drivers that have been around a while make upwards of 40 cents per mile. Owner operators make dollars per mile, but they have to pay for their truck and fuel, of course, and generally act as independent contractors and not employees of the company they haul for. Now I don't know about crack, but some drivers have been known to use meth or speed to stay awake longer and make more miles, thus earning more money, provided they can juggle their logbooks to make it look like they're not driving incredibly illegally, and provided they don't get dragged into a random drug screen (I'm up to about 4 of those in my career).

It's funny, because I'm currently working a local job that does EXACTLY what this guy had to do. I do the same thing he was asked to do about 6-8 times during a 12-hour shift. It really isn't rocket science. I shudder when I read stories like this because I get lumped into the same group as this guy. That ain't me at all! Of course, I'm also a tiny girly-girl and completely throw people for a loop when they see me climbing out of the cab.

[wolfie]

he then drives onto the scale and i notice that his weight is WAY too much for an empty truck (they're usually 30 to 36 thousand empty and he was nearly 82 thousand) so i get on the 2 way intercom to the scale

If I were in your shoes, I'd put in a note to management to get the scale calibrated - either it's off, or the load was illegal (maximum for tandem/tandem in the U.S. is 80,000 pounds).

[TrainedChimp]

He can afford to buy crack on a truck driver's salary? How much are they paying those guys? I can't even afford to buy a new pair of shoes until I've saved for a month!

I work in a field related to truck drivers, and I can tell you if he was doing drugs, he was probably also selling fuel.

Meaning that he let random strangers use his company's fuel card/discount in exchange for cash.

Edit to add: This is only meant to refer to those sucky drivers.

[fattie20xl]

truck drivers can make a TON of money. some of our drivers make up to a thousand dollars a day. although, they probably only net about 2 or 3 hundred

the guys who haul out reject material (plastic, soda cans, once i saw a manequin head in there...) get paid almost 2 grand per load to haul that crap outta there and get rid of it... but then they're responsible for dumping it, which can cost them over half of the pay for the load.

and no... i didn't give the driver any permission to smoke crack. i don't know where he got that...

[Argabarga]

If he was issued a company credit card for fuel/lodging/meals while out on the road, he may be, as odd as it sounds, using that to buy drugs.

We had a guy fired at my job for using his in less-than-legal ways, how he thought he wouldn't get caught is beyond me as the statement goes right to the office......

And even I knew, long before I got my DOT card that any hauling that deals in bulk materials, (sand, gravel, scrap, etc.) works on a weight-in vs. weight-out = payload. If you understand grade school physics, it should make perfect sense!