So recently I made the decision to come back out of retirement from the road and drive a truck for a living once again. I have not given up my research or my academic goals. I am still in school, still learning what I can to help drivers become more successful. Going through the company-research process after quite a while since making any kind of move between carriers, furthermore, has helped there. Plenty insights fall under the bucket of "ways carriers shoot themselves in the foot" when it comes to retaining operators -- given some of what I've seen these past couple months, it's no wonder turnover's through the roof at so many.
In the process of finding a carrier I could call home for at least a few years, I had several criteria that had to align.
Finally, because I am pursuing a PhD in psychology, I needed the company to understand I am pretty set in my ways of running and time management toward working while still maintaining my educational goals. Also, I should throw in there I am pretty firm in my religious beliefs, and as such tend to gravitate towards companies that exhibit those same beliefs.
I loved working with Christenson Transportation out of Springfield, Missouri. I honestly believe you will never find another company that works any harder to help their owner-operators succeed. While I thought about returning to that wonderful organization, I am one of those people who feel once certain bridges have been crossed there is no sense in trying to cross them again. If I do that, I must be desperate, because I tend to gravitate to new opportunities instead of pursuing old ones.
[Related: 'Retired, not dead': On remaining a voice for meaningful change]
So after much research, I reached out to a company I thought fulfilled all of my criteria. I will not name that company -- as it turns out, they fell far short, and I elected to go a different direction the first day of orientation.
