Why I am no longer doing reviews… right away.

“Deb,” you ask, “what does doing reviews have to do with trucking?”

I’m glad you asked.

Earlier this year, I bought a lot of new things for the home we moved into last December. I waited for the big sales and relied heavily on the thousands of reviews for the products I was interested in.

Now, here we are — more than halfway through the year — and many of those highly rated items have turned out to be a letdown.

That experience taught me a valuable lesson: I will no longer write reviews until I’ve actually used something for more than just an hour.

It reminded me of our early days as company drivers.

Carriers often offer recruiting bonuses to drivers who bring in others. Depending on the company, those bonuses can be substantial. When a new driver signs on, the carrier usually pulls out all the stops. Of course they do — they need those new drivers to earn back the money spent on recruiting, orientation, and sign-on costs. That can easily run into the thousands.

We fell for that “honeymoon phase” more than once early in our career, only to be let down when it counted most.

If I were applying for a company driver position today and asking another driver about their carrier, here’s what I would want to know:

• How long have you worked for the carrier?

• Are your miles consistent?

• Have you had a severe breakdown? How did the carrier treat you during the downtime?

• Have they honored your home time requests — and did you give them enough notice?

• Is the carrier supportive of your growth and future goals?

• Have you had a family emergency? How did they handle it?

• Has the carrier kept its promises? If not, which ones did they break — and is that a deal breaker for you?

• How does the carrier treat you during slow freight seasons?

• Does your dispatcher ever return the favors they ask of you?

Sure, the standard questions about pay, equipment, benefits, and culture matter. But I want to go deeper.

And I want answers from drivers who’ve been through all four seasons with that carrier — not someone who just signed on 60 days ago. Most companies seem great during the honeymoon. The real test is what happens after a year on the road with them.

So here’s my advice:

Wait a while before writing your review.

Wait a while before recruiting other drivers.

Give honest, earned feedback.

Make a real difference.