“Back in October of 2018, Dave Blotzer hired me as a regional truck driver. I hadn’t done much trucking at that point, maybe a year or so just working in between Omaha and Davenport, IA running around in a day cab truck. Liquid Trucking decided to take a chance on me, and I was brought on. Truck driving was never really something I had planned to do in my life, but it came to me out of the blue and I ended up falling in love with it. After a little over a year on the road with these guys, I had some struggles in my personal life and needed to come off the road and find something that allowed me to be home nightly. I made the very difficult decision to leave Liquid Trucking for a local driving job with a different company where I spent the next few months.
The company I went to ended up being awful. Terrible equipment, awful loads, and I was lied to about pay and the overall job requirements. I missed LT so much that I was on the verge of calling them back to return for my regional driving position. That’s when Jason Eisenman reached out to me about a local training opportunity where I could drive for them locally and be home every night while training our new hires. I jumped on this opportunity immediately and disregarded my notice at the other company.
The training world in the trucking industry is a crazy thing, especially when you’re dealing with guys who have never pulled a tanker before. Sometimes it was scary, but mostly it was rewarding. So, after training guys for most of 2020, another opportunity arose within the company and I was asked to join the dispatch team and take on my own group of drivers. I was skeptical about this, but I always enjoy an opportunity to learn something new.
Dispatch is a crazy world. We were dispatching during Covid times and freight was through the roof. We were turning down upwards of 20 loads a day because we just could not handle the demand. Customers were blowing up the phones and emails and new drivers were coming in left and right. We were hiring drivers like crazy and the quality of drivers we were bringing on were sub-par because we didn’t have any other choice. I just thought this was how dispatch was…I didn’t know any different. It got so hectic and overwhelming after a year in the office that my home life was severely interrupted by work, and I got to the point where I couldn’t handle it anymore. I just wanted to get back in a truck where I knew I could do an exceptional job and leave work behind at the end of the day. I was so grateful for the opportunity to take back my previous position as a trainer where I would train new hires for the next year.
In October of 2023 I got word that a position was opening in the Safety Department, the department I was originally interested in before working in dispatch. In safety, I knew I could get the satisfaction of working with new hires during orientation as well as provide insight on tank training from the experience I have gained in and out of the truck. After interviewing for the position, I’ve now been a part of the Safety team for 3 months and I feel at home here. I am learning new things every day and passing that knowledge along to the next generation of LT drivers. I am beyond grateful and look forward to a lifelong career here at this company!
If you are interested in a rewarding career with Liquid Trucking, please contact us!