To quit or not to quit, that is the question

[Deserted]

A false dichotomy, to be sure.

Y'all might remember that I became an on-the-road trainer for Big Green Cab Co back in August. (Holy crap, I've been training for half a year.) Y'all might also remember that I'm not an employee, but an independent contractor, and instead of a paycheck, I get a credit applied to my lease on training days.

My problems are two-fold.

First, on days that I take a trainee out, I don't make nearly as much money as I would otherwise. We're not talking a few dollars less -- there's only been 4 training days where I brought home an amount close to average. This is a pretty significant issue for me. (My average on a training day: $47.35, and there were 2 days where I brought home less than $1.)

Second, I can't drive my preferred shift. I make my best money driving from 1 pm (after the lunch slowdown is over) to 3 am (after all the drunks have been cabbed home; bars close at 2 am). When I have a trainee, I must pick them up by 7:30 am and have them back to the yard by 3:30 pm. The day before I have a trainee, I must be off the road by 10 pm so I can get enough sleep to face the following day. So for each trainee, that's 2 days where I can't drive my preferred shift.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind training, and somebody's got to do it, but I think it's time for me to go back to just being a cab driver. I'm driving less and less lately, in large part because I don't want to take another trainee out. I'm not exactly stressing over it, I'm mostly just choosing not to go in. Yeah, okay, maybe I am stressing, some.

[Kheldarson]

If it doesn't make you the money you want, doesn't help with your stress levels, and doesn't make you happy, why stick it out? Unless it's going to have major ramifications with your standing in the company, I can't see why giving yourself heartache would be a benefit...

[Mytical]

If it doesn't make you the money you want, doesn't help with your stress levels, and doesn't make you happy, why stick it out? Unless it's going to have major ramifications with your standing in the company, I can't see why giving yourself heartache would be a benefit...

^^ Pretty much says it all. I have to agree. Not worth it if it is not making the money you need.

[sms001]

What DO you have in the plus column for this one Deserted? Besides the satisfaction of knowing that there are properly trained drivers out there?

[csquared]

Put the number down on paper. Show them how much you are loosing. Negotiate a better deal.

[Deserted]

If it doesn't make you the money you want, doesn't help with your stress levels, and doesn't make you happy, why stick it out? Unless it's going to have major ramifications with your standing in the company, I can't see why giving yourself heartache would be a benefit...

It might, if I apply for an actual job with the company, or it might not... I just don't know.

What DO you have in the plus column for this one Deserted? Besides the satisfaction of knowing that there are properly trained drivers out there?

That's pretty much it. I'd have to think about it.

Put the number down on paper. Show them how much you are loosing. Negotiate a better deal.

The amount is not set individually, but it's a flat rate paid based on performance. I've been told I'm the best they have right now, and I'm making the max amount allowed. (My supervisors are having trouble keeping the board of directors from cutting the amount again. It got cut by about 20% last month.)

[csquared]

If that is the best deal that they will give you right now, then you have your answer.

[Seshat]

So they lose their best trainer because he can't make enough money to live on.

Their loss.

Actions have consequences. Sometimes the physically-adult teenagers who run corporations need to be taught this.

[Deserted]

So they lose their best trainer because he can't make enough money to live on.

Their loss.

Actions have consequences. Sometimes the physically-adult teenagers who run corporations need to be taught this.

I can almost guarantee that my leaving the position will have little effect on them. They likely don't even know who I am, beyond (maybe) a name on a list.

My sups have been bringing in more new trainers to lighten the workload on us, and new guys & gals start at the bottom of the pay list by default. (You have to show that you're worth the higher pay.) I think that perhaps they see the average payout for us dropping (because it's about 1 new trainer for each of us that was already there) and they decided that they don't need to pay us more. Or something like that.

Anyway, I took this entire week off (helping a friend with a weird move). I'll talk with my sups about this on Monday, and I'll likely be turning in my training materials at that time.

[Deserted]

An update

I spoke with my supervisors about the money thing. They're both understanding, but D (who's the one who picked me for this in the first place) told me that instead of accepting what amounts to my resignation, he was going to move me to the list of trainers only available if all others are already training. Basically, we'd have to have something like 20 trainees going out on the same day before I would be tapped.

We'll see what happens; it's not unheard of for there to be that many in Thursday's class..

[Jester]

Question: why does the training shift have to be that shift?

Question: why do you make so much less money on it?

Statement: unless you see something tangibly positive coming out of this somewhere down the road, and I mean soon, fuck it, get out of the training game. When I first started bartending at my bar, I was getting crap shifts, and I knew they were crap shifts, but I made a decision to stick it out, and it paid off, as I now have plum shifts, my schedule is set, I get just about anything off I want off, I have some basic managerial powers (comps and voids and such), and I basically do what I want. It sounds like nothing much brighter is heading your way, so turn in your light saber and pass the brown robe on to the next Obi-Wan.

[Deserted]

It's at that time because everyone except drivers and dispatch works a day shift. There's no access to the office between 7:30 pm and about 4 am. Also, there's a required stop that's only open during business hours.

I make less money because I have to spend time doing actual training. There's a 2-page checklist of items that need to be covered, among other things. Also, new drivers tend to be somewhat... I dunno, hesitant? (Not the best word, but it fits.)

I'm not sure how the other trainers do it without losing their asses. I've asked, but haven't really gotten any satisfactory answers. Part of my problem is that when I'm training someone, I'm not really focused on my money, I'm focused on training them.

As for there being something better in the future, there isn't really. I shot to the top of the list PDQ when I started, and there isn't really anywhere to go from there. The people who matter know I would probably accept a job offer if it was made, and my dropping out of training probably won't affect that.