Truth About Truck Driver Job Description

There are many disgruntled recruits in the trucking industry that will tell you that their truck driver job description was plainly a big whopping lie. In order to get drivers to sign on the dotted line many of these people do in fact embellish the job description. Whether it is an outright lie is really hard to tell, as each party has his or her own best interests at heart. The truck driver recruiter is doing his job to the best of his ability, and this is to sign on new drivers. This is all he is responsible for, and if somewhere down the line the driver is unhappy or feels short-changed then this has become someone else's problem.

The whole crux of the matter is the enormous shortfall of drivers. The big carriers are desperate for people to either drive their trucks or for owner-operators to contract with them. Advertising for jobs has become an art form. The best truck driver job description will naturally get the most interest, and this equals new drivers to meet the ever-growing demand. It has been reported that the typical costs of recruiting, advertising and training a driver is around $6,000. Add to this the reduced productivity of an apprentice driver and the figure goes up higher.

Naturally the employees are going to paint as rosy a picture as possible in their truck driver job description. The situation is so desperate in some states, that even if they can keep them for a few months it is better than having the trucks standing empty in the parking lot. It is a well known fact that job retention is poor in the trucking industry. Truckers sign on expecting delivery of the hopes that they have been given during their recruitment. In some cases they are promised the world just to get them in the seats of their trucks.

What can you do to safeguard yourself from this situation?

It is hard if not impossible to know whether your truck driver job description is honest and true and whether it will be honoured by you new employer. Often you do not even see the face of your new boss if you go through one of the many recruiting agencies. You may recognize the trucks but will have no idea how the company is run. Because many are so desperate for drivers they will be willing to say anything on their job description in order to get you into their truck drivers seat. Speaking to drivers in the industry is going to be the only real way to find out how well this company treats its drivers. If you get the feeling that their staff are happy and they have a high retention rate then you can be assured that this is going to be a good place to work. Unhappy drivers will always equal an unhappy working relationship with their bosses.

Make sure you have a full understanding of the contract you sign and that it does represent the truck driver job description. If you need to break your contract for any reason it is better to have the law on your side than on theirs. Listening to industry chatter should provide any warning bells and hopefully when you make that new move your job description will be proved correct.

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