I will absolutely take someone at their word, if it makes sense. You just stated above that you were unable to get through to anyone on the weekends. Really? The phone just rang and rang and rang and no one at Panther would answer it? That sounds odd, doesn't make sense, especially in light of the fact that you stated in another thread (something I rarely do) that you did, in fact, reach someone at Panther over the weekend, and they told you they couldn't do anything about it on the weekends. So which is it, were you unable to reach anyone, or did you, in fact, reach someone?
In either case, there's more to your story that we have not been told. There's an explanation for your predicament that has been left out. We're given one set of incomplete facts, some of which seem very unlikely, and some of which make no sense whatsoever, and are expected to take them at face value, and apparently, are now supposed to be shocked or shamed when we do not. Sorry, doesn't work that way.
There's always more to the story, either in omitted facts, or due to a failure to accurately communicate them.
"What I don't understand is why some people choose to stay solo in a business (in my rookie view) that appears to gear itself more toward teams. I'm guessing that some people are loners, and prefer to stay by themselves. Am I right?"
In my case, there are precious few people I'd want to spend 24/7 with in a house, much less in a truck.