A Tale of Two Emails

His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork
--Mae West

I received two emails within one day of each other this past month. One was from a driver and one was from a company. Although they weren't directly related, both were probably thinking something like Mae West.

The Driver Email:

I LEASED A TRUCK WITH A COMPANY,AND THE TRUCK BROKE DOWN AND COMPANY TOLD ME TO TAKE IT TO FREAIGHTLINER DEALERSHIP FOR IT TO GET FIXED,SO I COULD TAKE IT TO THERE NEAREST TERMINAL WHEN FIXED,BECUSE I DECIDED TO NOT CONTINIUE WITH THIS COMPANY,DEALERSHIP IS TAKEING A VERY LONG TIME TO FIX THE TRUCK MORE THAN A WEEK AND I'M THINKING OF LEAVEING TRUCK AT DEALERSHIP SO I COULD GET HOME TO ANOTHER JOB.COULD THIS POSIBLEY CONSIDERD ABANDONMENT? AND COULD THIS GET ON MY DAC REPORT?

(The short answer is "yes, they might put this in as abandonment unless you have prior permission to leave the truck there. It would probably be something like 'Abandonment at unauthorized location with notice'. Yes, this could be reported to USIS (DAC) if the employer is a member of USIS.")

This is unfair. The driver is not making any money, he's spending money to eat, not seeing family, staying at a motel-and I don't mean the Las Vegas Bellagio. And yet he has an abandonment hanging over his head. It was enough to get me worked up and the problem is being addressed. And then the next day.

The Company Email:

What can a owner operator do when I own two trucks and a driver I've hired has left my truck with a load on it away from my place of business and told me to stick it and has stolen fuel from me and has wrecked my truck ? How can I make sure this DOES NOT HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE??

And in this case a small businessman has worked hard, saved money, sacrificed and is now pursuing the American Dream to the best of his ability. In return for his saving, sacrifice and creating a job for another person, this person has repaid him with thousands of dollars in losses that he will never recover. As a small business, that can about get me worked up too.

So what's the lesson here? Let's start with an assumption: There are salt of the earth drivers and there are salt of the earth types at companies. There are also some knuckleheads in both camps who started daydreaming in Sunday school after the "Do unto others" part. So the lessons?

Drivers

Deal yourself a good hand of cards. While to a certain extent we've all got to play the hand we're dealt, you can take steps to insure you're not trying to draw to an inside straight.

Most of the drivers with whom I work with are planning, proactive drivers who know what they want and realize they have to plan for success-but I still see a lot of drivers that hope they'll get lucky or be fortunate-and then someday are sitting at a truck repair shop for a week trying to draw to an inside straight. Instead, you should be proactive. Know what kind of job and employer you want. Know what past employers, Department of Motor Vehicles and databases will report on you, correct errors, add information and then use your information and the power of the web to get what you want.

Other tips:

• Be aware when your actions could harm your resume
• Talk to your company
• Treat the company as a partner
• Expect the company to be reasonable
• If the company is not reasonable, document the fact on the spot and submit in writing to the company
• If you get agreement to alter a procedure, get it in writing

Companies

Explore the circumstances behind seemingly identical reports. An "abandonment" showing on a report could represent very different circumstances. The same applies to other information such as accident/incidents.

• Consider the circumstances in which a driver broke your procedures. Did he have good reason? Did he talk to you to try to work it out? Was he put in a position where he is out of pocket?
• Distinguish reasonable vs. unreasonable actions
• Explain to employee the consequences of breaking the rules, including future references.