No cell phones yup. Except when your not moving. I am with you. To me there is a fine line between 'professional' and 'overbearing' and they have crossed it. The more freedoms a company is allowd to take away, hair length, clothing, accessories, the more they are going to want to take away. Schneider is a prime example of that. Who the HELL are they to tell me I cannot wear a cowboy hat, or proudly sport a large texas buckle. They aren't better then the 1000 other companies that are out there that don't believe its their god given right to tell me what I can and cannot wear like they were my mom. They don't pay better. The loads aren't that great. The benefits are far more expensive then werners (we paid 78.00 at werner 128 at scheider). The only difference is they have a slightly more put together feel, but they are real log nazis. I don't even want to get into a mac 18, its the most retarded thing I have EVER seen. When it takes 40 mins of work to fill out 1 macro that is at best an effort in stupidity, ugh.

I didn't become a truck driver to feel like I was in grade school again. I'd rather have a disorganized orientation like Werner's any day. Because to me sending me home with retarded homework seems like you think I am 12. I wanted to be a trucker because its a job that gives you untold ability to master your own destiny, not have a boss up your ###, but with Schneider the boss up your ### part never quits. They want to know every last detail of your day.

Alot of people go oh well thats normal, some jobs you have to wear certain clothing, some jobs you have to not do this or that, and you have to fill out alot of paperwork. Yeah but this isn't a normal job, in a normal job I get up go piss in my bathroom take a shower, get dressed, get coffee, go to work for 8/10/12 hours, come home and I am off. That doesn't happen in a truck. In a truck I get up, walk between 500 feet to a friggen mile to get to a bathroom, in snow, rain, wind, cold, warm, if I am lucky I'll have time to grab a shower, and something to eat. Work 11/14 hours, and get EXACTLY 10 hours off no more no less. 7 days a week. You are giving up time away from family home and the company shouldn't be making it harder to feel at home in the truck.

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I am a Camaro Girl because IROC!

You have unlimited chances to go too slow, but only one to go too fast.

IROCUBabe I feel sorry for you. Yes Schneider does have alot of rules, but they are there cause of our fellow "drivers" screwed up big time. There are to many guys out here that just don't belong out here. We all see them everyday. They are the ones driving with their feet up on the dash, typing on a computer, going into shippers and/or recievers with just nasty looking clothes on, peeing in bottles, and the list goes on and on. Companies unfortinutly have to start putting these rules in place becasue we don't police ourselves. For example, I passed a kid and he had his feet up on the dash. I asked him over the cb nicely what he would do if he blew a steer tire. His response was "I don't know, they didn't train me on that. Can that really happen?" I spent the rest of the run on the cb talking to him about that stuff. He was totally clueless. Instead of complaining about all the rules, lets stop them from even being considered.

As far as the mac 18. If it takes you over 2 minutes to fill it out, you need to stop over thinking it. I fill out about 2-3 a day cause of my load choices and booking freight about 4 days out and at first the mac 18 seemed hard, but it is simple. This simple thing helps your STL, box planner, and who knows else stay ahead of the game and keep you running effiecently if there is freight. It also helps customer service know if there is gonna be more trucks than freight in a area.

Yes trucking was one of the last true independent jobs. But to many people got into it that just can't handle the responsibility. There for someone has to handle it for them. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but if you don't like the place you work for there is a simple solution. Either try to change the company or find a new place to drive for. You got to remember that if your a company driver you are in company property and they are just looking out for their investment (you, the equipment, and the customer relationship that has taken sometimes years to build). Like I said I'm sorry for being harsh. It's just my two cents.

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'06 379 Pete with a MXS C-15 550 with heavy haul program, 200gph FASS, high flow mufflers, fuel and boost harnesses, shimmed fuel pump, Bully Dog downloader, Spinner II bypass filter, Schaeffer's synthetics in all boxes, and a 18 speed tranny. Leased to Schneider on their Choice program.

I'm not sure where all these rules are coming from. Yes, I work for Schneider. I have a cell phone, and a GPS. I don't have long hair and a beard, nor do I wear cowboy boots or a garishly large belt buckle and a ten gallon hat, but those are by choice.
I see Schneider drivers all over the country with long hair, beards and dressed everywhere from movie cowboy to back alley wino.
As for the mac18, if you've done your trip planning, and keep your log current, it takes about a minute to fill out. The purpose of is it provide the info needed to get you that next load, NOT to keeps tabs on every minute of your life.

I know several Schneider drivers that use GPS. I did when I worked there. They do not provide good directions nor a working phone number. YES if you feel the need to use a GPS use it. I'm surprised they still have that stupid "Cowboy" image rule. That's pretty stupid because most of the Cowboy's I have seen, oh I dunno bathe ! These companies really need to start firing drivers who don't practice half way decent hygene, on the spot.

Sorry IROC, I haven't been on in a few days. What happened with Werner?

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Go, and beat your crazy head against the sky.....

How would any of you like to drive with a camera watching you everyday of the week while you in your truck? We have the drive cam camera. It will record over itself 24x7. When you set it off and it is easy like hitting a small bump, it will start flashing meaning it is saving the first and last ten seconds of video.. It was installed originally to help the company defend itself from law suites if any driver was involved in a accident. Now it has turned into a tool, which will they can use against you and fire you over anything they find.

Example if your talking on the cell phone and set the camera off it not only sees you put it also records what your saying. First offense is a verbal warning, second is 3days off, and third it by by.. Now what pissed everyone off was that these were policies they came up with and did not
put in writing. Enough drivers complained and now it is a written policy.

Here is another example of thier no cell phone policy. If you have a blue-tooth on they still won't allow you to talk, but the managers have a built in system in their company cars so they can talk and drive at the same time. Now where is that being fair? it isn't, and when we brought it up to them, they just came out with some lame duck excuse..

Now they want to buy us those walkie talkie phones to use instead when they need to get a hold of us. Again stupid, because if they don't want us to use the cell phones, then what is the difference with these phones they want us to use. Either way your still being distracted from driving right?

They also will write you up for not wearing your seat belt, or driving to close. They even tried t write up a drive for a illegal lane change.
when this was brought to his attention, he told the safety manager 1/2 his age," Do you know where I was? And do you also know why I needed to mover over 3 lanes of traffic?" When she responded no his reply was " Well before you tell me how to drive or that I did something illegal you need to first know where I was and second why I moved over 3 lanes as I did"

She did not know what to say, but he did. He basically told her that where he was he needed to move over to the far left lane as soon as he made it across the red light ( goes from single lane to 3) in order to make it on the highway.. So while these cameras will help with the investigation after a accident, it also infringes on you privacy...

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There are only three women in this world that mean anything to me and they are Karen, Krystal, Amanda..

Sounds like the kind of place where the drivers need to stand up and say "UNION YES".........

Texas is a right to work state, so unions are hard to get. And the one that do their not that strong...

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There are only three women in this world that mean anything to me and they are Karen, Krystal, Amanda..

Don't feel sorry for me babe, I don't work for Schneider, I feel I am worth a bit more $ then Schneider wants to pay and I also feel that it is silly to go from one giant company to another. There was nothing wrong with Werner but I can see alot wrong with Schneider. I never did a Macro 18 I just stat through the computer training my husband had to do and watched the guy take an hour to explain HOW to do the mac 18... and then watched my husband do 'homework' on filling one out. Which took him a long time to do both nights and he's got 10 years exp. My hubby made a mistake, which is just now realizing, in believing Schneider would be 100% better then Werner. haha, he even said to call Werner and see if they were hiring yet. Schneider told him he'd be home weekends at the very least. He's uh not home hmm. He used to hate paperless logs but now that he's doing the paper ones again he's all for paperless logs too which amuses me cause I told him he'd miss em.

I don't even drive a truck anymore anyway. I went back to stripping. Just a wee bit different setup then my previous one. Hey I told you I'd do it before I'd work for peanuts again. I figure do this a few months then I can look at companies again, or buy my own truck I make enough now to buy a truck keep being a stripper, and pay the damn truck while it sits in my driveway. That way I don't have to deal with fuel costs ha. I like being a truck driver, but I think I am way too independant to work for just any company and while some people prefer Schneider's rules and like them, and I am not saying they are a bad company people, I am saying that I don't like companies with that many rules. THe fact is you can see Schneider drivers breaking them, the fact is also that if Schneider needs to fire alot of people, guess whose going first? Hey you got fired cause you were using GPS, or your cell. Or your beard is 3" long.

I agree there are way to many stinky drivers who don't wash their selves clothing hair or hell brush their hair okay fine. But would "Drivers should be clean, presentable, and free of offensive odors" Sufficed? Did they really need to get a ruler out and tell people how long their hair can be? No.

I feel I should have a bit more rights then Schneider allows, plus theres that whole ADA violation thing. Once I heard about camera's in the truck that be the end of my employment consideration for that company. See I am too picky -_-

But I am not THAT picky, Werner met my expectations and exceeded them even on the last day where they let us go, they still did. I got to pick the truck I wanted to drive, I got to pick what I wore, and what tools I used to get the job done. I was allowed to have my service animal, and most importantly, I felt like the company trusted me without needing to hand me a 500 page rule book. They gave me tools to make my job easier, like the paperless log books which saved us alot of headaches and time. Dunno, big company it may be, but honestly Werner respected me and my time. Werner did not require that every trip plan be submitted, and I was allowed to route my own way, within reason. The only thing Sneider has and Werner doesnt that I liked was they scan their trippacks that would have saved me alll kinds of hassle.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure Schneider is a great company and I know many happy people with them. They do run a tight ship, it reminds me alot of the miltary and my husband has reported that the general 'feel' is organized and focused on the rules. But I am not a miltary person, in fact most of the people that I know whom ARE happy with Schneider are ex-miltary so that maybe a factor. They are not a bad company, but I again became a truck driver because I feel that if my way is safe, cost less or the same, and gets the job done I should be able to do it my way. I was the kid that had the math answers but hated showing the work, I guess thats a good way to look at it.

I am not the only person whom has driven a truck that feels that we should not be feeling as if we are breaking the rules if we breath the wrong way. I am not the only person that feels that telling someone what length of hair they can have, or what kind of hat they can wear is crossing a line between driver and company that is not their business to cross. There concern should be that the load gets there, gets there on time, gets there safely, truck is taken care of, and gets there efficently. They should not be focused on whether I wanna pretend I am a cowboy, a rockstar, ninja(ftw) or a pirate. They should only care that I don't smell like ###, my hair is combed, my teeth brushed, and I don't make the customer pass out when we shake hands because my religion doesnt allow me to use deorderant.

So anyway, yeah sorry for the rant, its 1 am and I havent ate yet weee.

To answer the question as stated before, my husband and I let Werner down a few times on some loads. It was entirely our fault on 2 of the 3 the third one is debateable but we won't get into it. Anyway, they needed to fire drivers and we gave them a valid reason so they did. My dispatcher was very sad. I am very sad. I can only hope when they need drivers again they give us a second chance.

Oh and could you imagine a team with a camera in the truck omg... the log violations... hurts my brain.

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I am a Camaro Girl because IROC!

You have unlimited chances to go too slow, but only one to go too fast.

Yeah, unions have ALL the answers, just ask 'em. That's why Yellow is closing the local terminal, laying off 60+, and Roadway is laying off the same amount.

Thanks for the update, IROC! Good luck, wherever you end up!

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Go, and beat your crazy head against the sky.....