Fired For Arriving Early! 

Trucking....Early, you're wrong. Late, you're wrong. On time? Go over there and wait for us to let you know when we can load you. And yes, I'm a trucker

I think this company you worked for.....has about 7 managers that are NOT necessary.

Does anyone else think there are too many bosses involved here?

I've never been fired in American Truck Simulator.

I got fired for obeying the electrical code and telling my boss that I wasn't going to be the cause of a building burning down. I climbed down the ladder and told him if he wanted to do it the ladder was empty and he could climb up there and pull the wrong wire to the entrance heater and cause an exit to catch fire in a public building. I was fired immediately. Later when the building caught fire I got a chuckle. The company closed and had to settle several lawsuits. They had to settle because my testimony would have destroyed them even more.

Losing your temper and screaming and yelling is only going to get you high blood pressure. You did awesome.

I thought this was going to end with the owner of the company asking his mom if you could keep your job......

As a non-trucker, I have found over my 71 years that truckers are mostly great guys. They are the first people to offer help to strangers on the road. That, coupled with a tough job to begin with, makes them the angels of the highways. Godspeed to them all.

I wouldn't stay with a company that will fire you at the drop of a hat.

5 managers?? No wonder there is a miscommunication in that company, Like the old saying goes, too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

The owner is clearly incapable of empowering his management team.

you're a natural public speaker, I clicked on this by accident and I couldn't stop listing :)

Welcome to corporate america where people are treated like crap no matter performance or loyalty.

Your advice applies to ANY job. Not just trucking. Good advice!

This guy's "golly gee whiz" attitude towards this situation is why these companies continue to treat drivers like this.

Operations Manager, Fleet Manager, Terminal Manager, Assistant Terminal Manager. Head of East Coast Operations. Sounds like they have to many managers. It's like McDonalds: everyone their is a manager.

5 years and they treat you like that. I say ok, then i would find another job.

Bottom line ... never trust an Employer ... they don't trust you ..... Everyone can be replaced ....

Been driving CDL 36 years and the bottom line is,TRUCKING SUCKS!!! Everybody wants to screw a driver. From lot lizards to terminal managers.

I accidentally clicked on this video but I literally listened to the entire 17 minutes. You're a great commentator and this was also a really interesting and insightful story. Great vid :D

Forgot to add, I respect all you fellows on the rode, you provide a very important service.

Truck drivers are essential everywhere. I maybe one of the few people who respect and honor our truck driving industry.

The lowest man on the totem pole is the most important man. He is the one that keeps everyone up. So you really are the most important man. You are the foundation that keeps a business running. You are number one. The boss is on top and has a long fall if the others leave.

I respect you truck drivers out there. Without you guys people wouldn't have anything. From hauling the trusses to a house to all the furniture and stuff inside of them we wouldn't have them without you guys.

I've been put here for a long time, and I can attest to the chain of command that is stacked above us. You handled that very well. This was one of the most well produced YT videos about trucking that I've seen. A lesson for young guys is at hand... save your messages. Be punctual, be polite, be clean, be respectful. Most of us old timers practice this and it has served us well.

I stumbled upon this video randomly and I'm glad I watched.it. I'm not a truck driver but this is a great life lesson.

Nice story driver, I totally agree that staying humble and professional as a truck driver is very important in this trucking industry. 5 STARS

I like your style you handled this like a champ.

Your story is actually a testament to how impersonal the relationship often is between the company and driver, when you drive for a Mega. It is a testament to the notion that you really are not much more than a driver number at one these giant companies, and easily replaced at the drop of a hat. This sort of situation would never happen at a small trucking company where everybody knows each other.

I do not drive a truck but i know some amazing drivers and your words were very well spoken and work for all walks of life. Thank you for a great video.

Doing this can take a crappy situation and really turn it in your favor because now you've strengthened your reputation at the company and are no longer just a name on a board to the higher ups. This is something I learned early on in the Army and it has really made me successful in every other area of my life

Now the industry is short 90,001 drivers.

Very very good advice, my late husband kept his cool, and even made a stop pleasant by being light and friendly with the DOT officer.... I will never forget that one......

You should seek a job for reading for audiobooks.

It was good hearing this because people need to make that choose humble N respect will get you everywhere in life... Thank for sharing that bit of info......fellow trucker...

Should've filed a wrongful termination suit and started your own company.

Personally I didn’t mean to watch this, it was on auto play, I have suffered with mental illness for over 10 years and think this video is excellent, the words you speak could help many of people, respect and thanks, I actually went out halfway through, which I hadn’t done in just under 2 years, so thanks for your help even though it was meant for truckers.

Here in UK, we can sue the company for this type of stuff.

Stupid rules. You are dealing with truckers who have variables that determine their arrival and departure times. Expecting a trucker to show up at a specific time is ridiculous.

30min early is pretty standard.

You are driving for the wrong company. Good video though!

What a great personality this man is. I’ve learned a lifetime lesson from your story. I don’t work in trucking but I love American trucking. Your demeanour deserves a global award.

No job is guaranteed, that is life.

Someone once told me "Say what you mean, and mean what you say, but don't say it mean" Having responded in the wrong way to other situations, I can appreciate your point about keeping a cool head. I would hope to have the same tactfulness and grace should I find myself in a similar situation.

Love this. Glad I found this. I really hope people learn to respect truckers. We wouldn't have anything without you guys! Have a great year man!

That's is the sad truth of truck driving job,,,, but hey this was a good lesson for every one of us out here even veterans. Great job buddy

There are so many trucking companies that treat drivers like crap then wonder why they cannot keep or attract other drivers ...duh

Trucking truth, please continue to make videos! The people need them.

You need to walk away from that company fast.

You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, in my 29 years of trucking I have learned that communication is everything, however I've never heard of a situation like this one your explaining.

You are the most wonderful professional truck driver and I'm so grateful for you. All your videos are so informative. Thank you.

I use to love showing up right on minute and have to wait 2/4/6 hours for load

I wouldn't have cussed them out, but I would've consulted a lawyer.

You gave a lot of wise words, useful for those of us that aren't drivers too. Thanks lots for sharing.

I agree with what you have said. Getting angry does not help one bit. Now it is to bad people work for companies that do not care to get the whole story before jumping to conclusions and a good worker loses a job then. No matter where you work at you are just a number to upper management. Good thing you had people behind you and yes keeping calm helped.

Good message!! Thank you for sharing!!

You are a true professional sir, kudos 4 keeping your composure on a difficult situation like this when other drivers would B flipping & storming out of the place never 2 return again. U R right if U liked the job & it was worth 2 keep why act all indignant when clearly all was just a communication issue & all the managers U spoke with sided with you after explaining the situation.

You got to love the McTrucking companies these days, treating drivers and their general employees like a fast food joint.

as an owner operator, I got tired of being treated as a third class citizen, screw trucking !!!

Great video with great advice not just for truckers, for everyone. I used to know an ex trucker who had the same attitude as you. He told me of his story why he left trucking, which he loved doing. His very last job, the one that made him leave, ended tragically. A young female driver in a small car cut in front of him on the highway. She put her car too close to his truck. Something made her break hard and because his truck had no time to break he slammed into the back of her car crushing it completely killing her. He let her death get to him even though he knew he was not at fault. I can only imagine how bad it affected him. He loved his job and one accident that he did not cause ended his career and his love of driving :(

Well said. A gentleman gets listen too, where a screaming is actually never heard!

The owners made an unreasonable decision for an unreasonable customer. Greed made yet another good egg spend far too much time defending themselves over a foolish decision. No matter how good the employee, this guy was lucky to have backup; no matter how well he handled himself, this is not the usual outcome. You can be the best employee and be screwed. He just so happened to be working with people who gave a damn about someone aside from themselves. Yes, remain calm and state the facts. Keep your composure. Your best chance always lies with being calm and collected and knowledgeable. Take that lesson to heart. But also understand how lucky this guy was to get a decent outcome - the world is rarely this 'fair'. Reason won the day here, after plowing through a lot of bureaucracy. That's not what usually happens. Most companies don't check petty infighting, personal grudges, jealousy, or stupid owners. And most companies don't give a damn about anything but $. This was an exceptional outcome; not the norm, and no one should expect better by following the rules. Take his advice, absolutely, yes, but don't expect what he got. You likely won't get it.

wish I had watched this video 30 years ago,but I did learn the hard way how to navigate thru all the B/S that makes our trucking world so wonderful. Thanks for posting,hoping others watch and learn as well.

That was a great story. You don't have to be a truck driver to follow your lead. Thanks for sharing.

Now we know why truck drivers are in big demand.

All I can say is way to keep calm, cool, and collected! Very professional.

Yep Drivers get the Heat for Almost everything out here on the road.

There are too many driving jobs out there to put up with that B.S.

This message applies beyond trucking. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope it inspires others.

"You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar" my grandmama always told me.

I'm retired now but as a driver one time I had a delivery in Broken Arrow Oklahoma dispatched out of Kansas City in a day cab with a 8:30 a.m. delivery time I showed up early and did not know that there was a problem with my company and this company so in order to punish my company they made me wait to unload. No problem at 2:30 p.m. they told me that the people that were supposed to unload me had gone home for the day I said okay pulled off the dock through the entire load in the parking lot taking about 2 hours to hand unload every piece sign the paperwork myself left a copy and drove home irritated and already looking for a new job on the way home expecting to be fired when I got back! I was surprised that my dispatcher was awful happy about what I did! I was filled in on the feud and was told they were under contract and could not break the contract. By dumping the load in their parking lot they decided to break the contract for us! For the next three years they tried to resign the contract which was never going to happen lol

You're what the definition of a man should be: things can happen to you , around you but how you react is up to YOU. Good on you bro!

Very helpful, thanks. BTW the narration was really good, it sounded just like an audiobook.

Great explanation in wisdom, great pics

The perfect driving record and your hard work saved your job on top of keeping calm and collected. Bravo true man right here.

I respect truckers highly! I know that without truckers this country would be in extremely limited amounts of products on shelves. More importantly, I haven't met a trucker that isn't nice. Truckers have a lot to deal with on the road. I do think that you did the right thing, our society is too quick to get angry. This was a simple communication breakdown. I'll bet that the dispatchers now take extra care to make sure that all info is being given to the truckers.

Jonny Paycheck is spinning in his grave .

I am not in the same industry but this is the attitude that you need to have no matter what industry and situation you're in. Respect earns respect.

Sounds like typical trucking company, I drove for 20 yrs

Really appreciate this personal lesson.

This is outstanding advice for any industry sir! Thanks for putting it out there and congratulations on your perseverance.

You went about it exactly the way I would've. I would like to add that even if I wanted to go to another company I would've fought for my job just so I could get my ducks in a row before putting in my notice.

Company ain't worth, working for.

That was one story I don't mind saying I found inspiring and incredibly well-told, I don't doubt you would get a standing ovation if you told it to a crowd, and I hope your composure in that situation managed to have an impact that went all the way to the owner(s), because after all that was where the biggest 'mistake' was made, of pre-judging you as if you were an item and as if written agreements automatically affect reality as it transpires with us. Guess that kind of reflects on how societies at large also similarly still do the very same thing as you also mentioned about truckers being viewed very negatively, and so are of course many other people who just happen to do a particular job or another; I salute you for your efforts in helping to break these cursed bonds in our hearts, may thousand fold more hear you and grasp for a better humanity! :)

God is very proud of you my friend keep it safe and keep rolling up the miles one day at a time 🤩🤩

I wish they let you have the rest of day off

This one goes into my "favorites" file. Every one of your observations is spot on, especially the lack of respect from the general public considering we haul EVERYTHING they own! When I've had a bad day I will sit down and watch this video and remember that I have a good job making top pay and I'm doing what I have wanted since I was a little kid, driving a truck.

That was exhausting.

After 44 years and exemplary driver without a wreck. A new dispatcher is hired. He assigns me a set of 105,500 tanker doubles that contract drivers have been pulling. These tanks were two years old and were a mess with asphalt oil all over them. I had told this dispatcher the year before the contract drivers were trashing them and they were a mess. When they were assigned to me I told him again they were a mess and I started cleaning them up. The owner assigned me a brand new Pete conventional to pull them. I had pulled about 4 trips when a valve went bad on a tank and it went to the shop. The shop went ballistic when they saw them and blamed me. The owner was livid, but would the chicken shit dispatcher admit his contract drivers (he hired them) trashed them. No No No. Document everything! I gave them back the set and tractor and retired.

Great video with a great message... not just for trucking but for all other aspects of life as well. I wish more people would value respect, humility, and patience like you do.

Welcome to employee rights in the USA.

I got fired from my job but made a scene and kept working. It all blew over and nothing came of it. 2 years ago now.

I'm not a trucker, but had to watch after reading the title. The lessons learned can be(and should be) applied to anyone in any vocation in any situation. Kuddos for keeping your cool and going about it in a calm and logical manner. Glad you were able to keep your job. God bless

Good reason to try to avoid working for a mega company if possible. While they are more difficult to find and take some research my advice is to try to find a smaller company that pays their Drivers well, has good equipment and dose the type of work your intrested in. Of course it's pretty challenging to find what I've described but well worth the time and effort in the long run as your treated as a real person and valued member of the staff rather than a number. I left my Job as a third tier Manager with a large transportation company for something more personal and less robotic and am absolutely happy with the decision I made. You did handle yourself right though in how you approached that situation, great example of a top shelf driver.

Excellent video. Very professional! You might want to consider going into training. Wonderful words of wisdom that can be successfully used at work and in life in general. Your company is like many others today. Rules are developed then put in place without testing. Most drivers would have complained then given the one finger salute as they walked out the door. I wonder how many good drivers have to be lost before the company's bottom line is affected? The shame is the managers may never communicate this problem of illogic in this rule to the owner. Will probably just cover it up if possible.

Good work! Thank you for delivering consumer goods all across the country !!!! Thank you to all truckers!

What type of garbage company is that smh 🤦‍♂️.

You made the right choice for yourself. Had you made an issue of it and stormed out you’d have only hurt yourself in a company with thousands of employees. They probably wouldn’t have even remembered you. I’m not a professional trucker but I feel this is a lesson that should be applied to all professions. Learn to accept the things which you cannot change.

This was a fantastic story. I do not drive a truck, however this way of thinking applies to more situations than trucking alone. I saved my job at a company using this same idea. I do not work well with others,but in my situation keeping a cool head, bringing to light my accomplishments and duties as well, made all the difference in me keeping my job and hitting the pavement looking for another.

I worked at a company for approaching 9 years. On a load being picked up for a delivery on a Tuesday, Dispatch called and changed the appointment to a Monday after I had been loaded and on my way. I said I had birthday plans with my son on Sunday and had geared for the Tuesday delivery. Dispatch said "We'll see about your weekend" and hung up. I got a call from the company office to come in. The owner and supervisor and one of the logistic staff were there to greet me. They said that I constantly was wanting time off and they were losing money for it. My very first run with them was to Albuquerque New Mexico, then on to El Paso, Texas. I thought this would be great if there were miles like this all the time. But there weren't, I was given loads that were only 200 to 300 miles at a time. Some people in the company were getting all the miles they wanted, running West Coast to East Coast as an example, but not me. I asked constantly for longer runs like the first trip but to no avail. Anyway, at the meeting the owner is staring at me like he caught me stealing his wallet and the logistics staff is pointing fingers at me. The only one on my side was the supervisor. They told me I had to run more than 6 days a week or be let go. The dispatcher that had complained about me wasn't at the meeting. He had more important things to do. They said they had a load waiting for me to take if I wanted. It was 300 miles. I took it and said to myself, I had to decide what to do about this. I had never been late, never damaged any freight, never had an accident, never had a complaint from a shipper or receiver. I had over 2 million miles safe over the road travel as a professional driver over 24 years. I quit that company.