It happens every week at every trucking company. A driver who was excited to come to orientation ends up going home (by choice or because they’re sent home) or leaving in the middle of orientation to go to another company.
It’s not uncommon, but it is unfortunate. It’s certainly not ideal to quit your current job and come to orientation only to leave unhappily before it’s over. It results in a lot of wasted time and loss of revenue.
How do you prevent yourself from being sent home from other driver orientation classes? How do you avoid going to a company that you’ll want to leave before you really even start? And if it does happen, what’s the next step?
I’ve been hiring drivers at Anderson Trucking Service (ATS) for many years now, and I’ve seen drivers leave for a whole slew of reasons. I don’t like sending drivers home and I don’t like seeing drivers leave because they’re unhappy.
In this article, I’ll discuss the most common reasons drivers may choose to go home and the reasons they’re sent home. I’ll also talk about some of the ways you can prevent this from happening to avoid lost revenue and wasted time.
A driver may choose to leave of their own accord during orientation. Various reasons may be named, but it usually comes down to unmet or unrealistic expectations when a new driver starts with the company.
The driver may have been told they’ll make more money than they thought and once they get to orientation, the team says otherwise. Some drivers may have unrealistic expectations of what their pay will be in general.
Some drivers simply aren’t sure about the carrier; maybe they’re seeing red flags or orientation is bad. If you sense something is off with the carrier or you’re no longer interested in the program, your first step should be to talk it through.
Talk to your recruiter or your new driver manager. Ask some questions. Talk through the problem and see if you can come to a resolution together. Oftentimes, problems can be resolved after a simple conversation.
However, there are some problems that can’t be solved. Know when to walk away. If you’ve decided the carrier is no longer right for you, you should leave before you become a certified driver. It’s better to leave during orientation than a week or two into your tenure as a new driver.
While you’re always encouraged to leave orientation if something feels wrong or you’re no longer sure about the company, there are a few ways you can prevent this from happening.
To avoid this, you need to be open and honest with your recruiter about your needs and wants. Tell them what you expect out of a carrier and what you need to feel successful.
You should also listen mindfully to what the recruiter is saying. Manage your expectations. If they’re telling you what pay averages are, don’t assume you’ll outearn all the other drivers in the fleet. Don’t assume you’ll automatically be a top earner. If your recruiter says you’ll get home every two or three weeks, don’t assume you’ll get home every weekend.
One way to align expectations is by asking a lot of questions and ensuring you’re clear on program details and what the carrier has to offer. Try asking these questions.
I’ve seen drivers get sent home from orientation for every reason in the book. These are some of the top reasons along with ways to prevent them from happening.
An important note: This isn’t a comprehensive list; these are just some common reasons. There may be other reasons drivers are sent home from orientation. For instance, they could have poor conduct at orientation or they could bring a forbidden weapon to orientation and get sent home.
Remember: Being invited to orientation doesn’t mean you’re hired. You still have to go through a certification process.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) gives companies 30 days to provide work verifications to requesting trucking carriers. Some companies will respond quickly, but some take the full 30 days.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) recommends and highly encourages carriers to have at least one work verification in every driver file. You have to make a “good faith” effort to get this verification before orientation begins.
What this means for you is that you might be at orientation when a work verification comes back and reveals you’ve had a truck abandonment or maybe you had an accident you didn’t disclose during the recruiting process.
Most companies frown on truck abandonments and won’t hire drivers who have them on their record.
Carriers usually have a limit as to how many (and what type) of accidents they’ll allow. If a final work verification comes in with an accident, it can be one too many and put you out of guidelines. Every carrier has different regulations, however.
Both of those incidents can take you out of guidelines at a lot of companies. This, and events at your past trucking carrier that place you in an unfavorable light, can get you sent packing.
Sometimes drivers will try to avoid getting a bad work verification by simply not listing all their past jobs. Don’t do this. One of the top reasons drivers are sent home is because they failed to disclose certain jobs from their work history — usually jobs where they were fired or it ended badly.
Many companies report job history to consumer reporting agencies, so more often than not, reports will reveal your job history to the carrier anyway. Therefore, you won’t get away with hiding anything. It’ll just reflect poorly on you.
You should disclose your work history as well as accidents and incidents to your recruiter before you get to orientation. They may be able to work with you, or, at the very least, they can see that you’re outside of hiring guidelines early on so you don’t have to waste a trip to orientation only to be sent home.
Recruiters run several consumer reports during the recruiting process. The reports are run at different points in the recruiting process based on laws and regulations. However, some may not come back until you’re at orientation (for instance, the criminal background check).
Each consumer report covers a different part of your past, from your licensing information to your driving record to your criminal background. Once you’ve signed the release forms and the reports are run, your recruiter will ask you corresponding questions. Lying or failing to disclose information that’s going to come back in your reports anyway can put you out of guidelines.
For instance, if your recruiter asks if you have a criminal past and you say no, but your criminal background check comes back during orientation and you do have a criminal past, you could be sent home.
By failing to disclose information during the appropriate parts of the recruiting process, you’re simply delaying recruiters from finding it in your consumer reports. Your consumer reports will come back and they’ll reveal everything anyway. Wouldn’t you rather be told you don’t meet hiring requirements when you’re still at home, rather than after you’ve traveled to orientation?
Your rights are disclosed on the release forms you sign before the reports can be run. It’s important to know your rights regarding your personal information to ensure it isn’t violated or used incorrectly.
For instance, if you don’t sign an information release you don’t need to disclose any information when you’re just chatting with a recruiter. But once you sign an information release and a recruiter runs your consumer reports, your background information will be discovered whether you disclose it or it’s discovered on the forms.
Drivers have to take a drug test at orientation as part of their pre-employment screening. If you fail, it goes without saying you’ll be sent home.
Results will be reported to the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and you won’t be able to perform DOT safety-sensitive duties until you go through a SAP program. That means you can’t drive with another carrier unless you complete the program.
This one is pretty simple: Don’t use illegal drugs and don’t consume alcohol while you’re on the clock. According to regulations, drivers should maintain at least four hours between their last drink and when they begin working/driving. Many companies have a no-tolerance policy, however.
You need a current medical card to perform safety-sensitive DOT duties. If your medical card is expired or is expiring soon, you can have a DOT physical performed prior to orientation or you can have it done at orientation.
However, if you can’t pass the DOT physical, you won’t be able to drive for any company. Some carriers even prefer you have at least a 90-day or six-month medical card.
Many drivers get their DOT physical completed before they get to orientation; this mitigates the potential of being sent home during orientation in case they fail.
If you do happen to have a medical issue that prevents you from getting a med card — for instance, untreated high blood pressure — you may be sent home, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come back to orientation and still work with that carrier.
It’s one thing if you’re sent home because you no longer meet guidelines or you fail a drug test. It’s entirely different if you don’t have an updated med card. You can leave orientation and your recruiter will stay in touch with you while you work on getting your med card while at home.
As long as you get treatment from a doctor and then pass the DOT physical, you’ll be invited back to orientation. Your recruiter will regularly reach out for updates on your progress and when you can come back.
If it doesn’t work out at orientation for you, you might be wondering what’s next.
First, you have to get home from orientation. Chances are, if you’re leaving orientation because you no longer meet requirements or you fail a drug test, you’ll be given a bus ticket and sent home.
If you’re sent home because you need to get an updated medical card, some carriers (ATS being one of them) will make sure you’re respectfully sent home.
The next step is to start looking at the next carrier on your list. But rather than jumping in and driving right to that carrier’s orientation immediately, remember what you just read above.
Take your time making a decision. Make sure you align with the carrier before you go there. Ask a lot of questions. Don’t simply jump to a new carrier because you need a job. You’ll likely end up unhappy in the long run and job-hopping won’t do your resume any favors.
Related: Why You Shouldn’t Job-Hop
Just because you’re invited to orientation doesn’t mean you’ll make it through orientation. You still have to go through a road test, different presentations and more before you become a certified driver.
Before you head to orientation, make sure you’re clear about what the company expects of you and make sure they understand your needs and wants. Misaligned expectations are commonly cited as reasons drivers leave orientation before they ever certify.
If you recently left orientation because you weren’t satisfied with the carrier and you’re not sure which carrier to turn to next, here’s a list of some of the best companies to drive for this year.