Funny. They've never lost my logs or forgotten my detention time. Probably because I always stay on top of things like that. It's been almost a year, and they've been nothing but good to me.

Harden up, wimps.

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...be careful watching this vid at work...

Well, it's been a year as of March 14th...I'm still sticking with them. Lost a few day drivers...one of them made the mistake of hitting a few too many inanimate objects (one of them in front of a big customer) and the other had a problem billing the company properly so his check was always screwed up. I get the chance to talk with many of the OTR drivers and am sad to say that I can tell who will last and who won't.

I've found that that the key with this and any other trucking company is to make sure you understand the way their bureaucracy works from the beginning and use it to your advantage. Keep accurate logs beyond what they require so that you can always point to that as proof of what you're saying if they mess up. More times than not, my Qualcomm has given my story teeth.

I keep track of every load. When I picked it up and when I delivered it, the trailer number and manifest number. I also note if I had any problems at either point. On a separate log, I keep track of my mileage...and since I've started driving by the hour, I keep one with my hours that tracks what my paycheck should be each week. I have records that go back to when I first started driving. This is how I make sure I get paid what I'm supposed to when I'm supposed to.

As of this date, I'm still a happy Schilli driver. I got my raises on time and am looking forward to my week's paid vacation. Competing companies pay more per hour, but I average 66 hours per week with Schilli. The others have less hours available.

There are days when I get pissed at the company for one reason or another...usually because they want us to work harder than OTR drivers...but that's part of the job. We're there to pick up the slack to keep the customer happy if an OTR driver can't or won't.

Truck on!

Hey Dr. I just saw that you're from the same town I grew up in. Attica. My hubby worked for Wabash Valley out of Lafayette running local. Pay sucked. He ran dump. I wonder if you're the same guy he talked with one day at Winskies that knows me. How weird is that?

__________________


Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketsup.


Somewhere there is an energy leak.

It's a dog eat dog food world.

I've never been to Winskies...and I'm not originally from Attica...but you never know, I might know you. PM me your real name...

M

i was wondering if you were still with wvt and what you had to say

I'm not signed on with WVT. I'm Schilli Specialized, different pay rates and different branch than WVT.

...but to answer your question, I'm still with Schilli. Still enjoying it through the good times and bad, hehehe.

Do yourself a favor and forget going to orientation. You will find out quickly that the chain of command stops with your DM. The owners say to call or send them a message if your DM cannot work out your issues. What a pile of ####. Never heard anything but, I will look into it. Wow what help. By the time you deadhead all over the midwest and only get small loaded miles you will figure it out. The company has no clue.

I don't know if you're talking about the same company, but I've been busting my ### out here covering work that OTR drivers should be doing, getting almost 70 hours a week. If some of the whiners would stop crying and do the job, those short miles would add up.

Dr, you seem happy where you are. Are they hiring for your division and do they run out of Lafayette? or where? I live north of indy and am looking for somewhere to work that can get me home everyday and still make decent money. How many days a week are you working?

Thanks

There's good and bad in it like anything else. The two upper management guys that I was used to went on to better things and now there are two new guys who are trying to prove themselves to the owner...but they'll learn like everyone else has to.

The money is okay to start...$13/hour, but you get a raise every 6 months with a $15 cap, but we're expecting them to raise that soon.

They hire out of Remington and run me out of Indianapolis, although I've been with them long enough that I'm dedicated to a couple of companies in Lafayette. I work 5 days a week, the hours vary from 4 or 5 a.m. until at least 5p.m. They usually have Saturday work for those who want it, but I usually take the whole weekend off. Sometimes, like last week, they had me cover South Bend/Valparaiso freight because they have a shortage of local drivers up there...and the week before I ran a Decatur, IL to Dixon, IL, stayed the night and ran a Waterman, IL back to Plainfield, IN...all because an OTR driver refused it. He sat in a truck stop making nothing and probably cried about not making any miles.

If you call Remington, tell them you want the Schilli Specialized Indianapolis Local division.