If you have been following this blog you will know that over the last few weeks I have had a couple of major breakdowns, well not me but the truck! The clutch was replaced in Michigan and 3 weeks later the drive shaft fell off and the shop actually found a bolt on the hanger bearing that hadn't been torqued properly. I was called into the office last week to discuss the breakdowns but little did I know that it was all my fault. Apparently it is the way I have been driving the truck that caused the clutch to fail and the drive shaft to fall off, a clutch with close to 900,000km on it and a drive shaft with a loose bolt on the hanger. The decision was made to send me driver training.
For those unaware I was a qualified driving instructor (cars and class 1 trucks) and qualified fleet trainer in the UK, a member of IAM (cars, trucks and motorcycles) and had attended numerous defensive driving courses, anti-rollover course, abs course and completed a SAFED (safe and fuel efficient driver) training course to allow me to train other truck drivers in this style of driving, so I know how to drive and yet the breakdowns were my fault.
I found this a little hard to swallow and that now the trust had been broken I was no longer prepared to work under the pressure of knowing that if anything goes wrong it is going to be my fault, what happens next time I break down for instance? Head on the chopping block?
So I lost some sleep over the last week but decided I needed to move on yet again.
This is a great shame because I do believe that driving for Jade will probably be close to one of the best jobs you will find in this area working with great people. The guys in recruiting and dispatch have been the best I have worked with. It was a very difficult decision to leave but I cant work under that continued threat.
So I got myself yet another job. I will be driving for an owner operator leased to Penner International based here in Steinbach Mb. It will be long haul pulling 53ft box vans driving an International 9400i.
Tomorrow I will be attending a short Orientation class at Penner International which will allow me to run Canada only until a full orientation class is arranged then I will be able to run state side again. Hopefully I will be able to leave on my first trip on Monday.
14 comments:
Hi Dave
Thats a bit of a shame, as they seem to look after you and you liked it there.
But the break downs as being your fault is not good, it is as though they dont trust you, once the trust as gone it is no good, i would be looking for another job myself, good luck with your new job.
Dave.
sounds like you have been shafted good style there dave,seems like you made the best choice.
take care,hope everything works out
Thanks Dave & Andy, really disappointed as it was a good job but not prepared to carry on there.
what a bunch of crap. To bad they seemed like a good outfit. Then this crap. Who do they think they are. Crap happens!!
Hi Dave,
It's a shame they kinda ruined the previously good relationship.
Trying to use you (with all your quals) as a scape-goat was a silly thing to do.
Good luck with your new job.
Martin.
Tough decision but the trust had been broken so no turning back.
There's a few vacancies at HR I heard but anythings better than Hit & Run Dave ha,ha.
Good luck to yer mate.
Haha, would rather go back to BFS than Hit & Run.
Sorry to hear about that Dave.
I give you your dues though mate, you don't take any sh*t. Nice to see that quality is still around. 900,000km's on a clutch, jesus, that's lasted well. They don't last forever and are a servicable item anyway. As for the hanger bearing, WTF has that got to do with your driving? If that was fitted correctly it wouldn't matter how much you abused the tranny, it still wouldn't fail. Looks like they are trying to pull a fast one mate. Good luck in your new job.
Andy
Thanks Andy, at least you have shown a lot more knowledge than the last muppet who quite obviously had no idea what he was talking about. His rant was so poor it wasn't even worth publishing or responding to.
I would say that in your last job with Jade it is not the drivers who need training but the owner and management downward a course in "man management" as they cannot handle people though they may manage a business.
Dad
Thanks Dad, it is a shame that they handled it the way they did. Had they handled it differently I would still be there.
Hi Dave,
I'm abit "bollocks to em" myself & I fully understand why you left (Jade). BUT... You had just been through selling & buying a house - stressful. The company had been good to you until that point. Maybe some shit in the workshop trying to shaft you (I'm an HGV fitter, workshops can be really bitchy places. If someone dislikes a driver....? Know what I mean).
Imagine if you'd taken the training & shone? What then? A poke in the eye for the fitter methinks.
Hi alan-doug
You are spot on about someone in the workshop but unfortunately in my case it was the shop manager and there is no way of giving him a poke in the eye. There was no stress about the job or the house move and this was totally unexpected but like I said once the trust had been broken there was no going back for me.
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