A man had been out of work for a time due to the economic crisis in Michigan where he lived. He had looked and applied for many jobs but there were just too many people for every available job and he was not hired for any of them. He had always loved looking at trucks as they passed by and dreamed of becoming a trucker some day. Not being able to find work provided the nudge he needed to look into becoming a truck driver.

Looking online, the man found my yahoo group where we work exclusively with educating new and prospective drivers about trucking; the business, lifestyle and the job and was involved in other trucking groups online. He asked questions, did his homework and built his dream.

Because of being out of work for so long, the man did not have the money to pay his own tuition, so opted for company paid training. Checking through all of the companies that offered paid tuition, there are not many left due to the harsh economy, he chose a company, filled out the pre-hire application and was pre-hired by the company who promised they would pay for his tuition, and then hire him upon completion of the course and his getting his cdl.

The man found a company approved school, scraped up enough money to live on for the couple of weeks of courses and for gas money to get there and then back home. He set off to fulfill his long time dream.

Checking into the school’s contracted motel, he was glad he brought his own sheets, he said, “it isn’t much, but it is only for three weeks.”

He was excited his first day, the next day, part of the next…then disaster struck. The man relates, “Well. . .five days after it started. .. It’s over. . . .I started training on Monday, passed my CDL permits with flying colors on Wednesday and then I was told that the company who had pre-hired me had changed their minds and would not hire me or pay for my tuition. Now it is Friday and I've been told today that no company would hire me, even after I qualified thru the third party driver source with the school, and have a clean background, great physical, clean drug test, solid work history, and solid references. No reason was given when I asked. . .they said they don’t have to tell me.

A week wasted, money that I didn't have to spend on food for a week, wasted…gas to get here from home wasted. . . thoughts of finally being on the right track wasted. . . hopes dashed. I've heard of this happening to people. . .going thru the screening and training only to be sent home a week or so later with no explanation. The man said, “What’s important to note here is that companies can't continue to treat people like this.”

To say that he is devastated is an understatement. He thought he had done all the right things, chosen the right path. He had passed his written tests and physical with flying colors; what happened? He did do everything right. He did his homework, made educated decisions so he could support his family and himself. He was honest and studied hard.

I cannot fault the man for anything in this. I do find a great deal of fault with the three companies involved though. First, the trucking company should have honored their word to hire him upon completion of hiss training if he achieved getting his cdl as they promised. He would have been a good driver for them in my opinion, their loss. The third party company affiliated with the school should of worked harder to find him another company to fund him the rest of the way through the training and then to hire him. At the very least, they should have given him an explanation as to why they could not find another company to do so. Third, the school should have made sure of the funding BEFORE letting him come all the way there to start training.

I can surmise what happened as far as the trucking company goes. They looked at their bottom-line and decided that they could not afford to pay any more tuitions at this time. I can understand that with the economy the way it is, everyone is hurting. They should have continued with the funding for the students that had already started school though in my opinion, not just leave these people hang out there to dry.

The man’s comment that companies cannot keep treating people like this is profound. No, they cannot, but probably will, it is nothing new. The company that truly cares about their drivers is getting harder and harder to find now days, most are only concerned with surviving the current economic mess and their bottom-lines. Not many care that a hard-working man’s dreams have been shattered.

I do not know what the man will do now; we have given him some suggestions to try at my group. I do know though that he is a little less trusting of trucking companies and schools and his dream is shattered for now. I hope that he eventually rebuilds his dream and finds a company to work with though…he will make one hell of a driver if he does.

Ya’ll be safe!