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Originally Posted by TurboTrucker I thought about where to post this, and finally decided to post it in this section, because in spite of all their attempts to improve this company, they still have problems.
America's Trucking Network runs nightly ads by Craig Harper, the COO of JB Hunt, and I have to laugh at his silly ads. I'm sure they draw attention, and result in phone calls, and what a shame that truly is. His claim in the most currently running ad, that hiring on with them will result in a "$15,000 pay raise" is blatently false. A well qualified driver will hire on at .36 cents per mile, and get a pay raise of one penny 60 days after hire. It will then take a driver hired in today, 12 years to reach the top rate of pay of .43 cents per mile. By the time a driver has reached this goal, his pay will likely be outdated and STILL be below par.
For over two decades, JB Hunt has suffered one consistent problem. They aren't consistent. They are constantly changing their requirements, their standards, and their working conditions. Let's not forget that they have played the market like a fiddle, changing pay rates repeatedly. Another common complaint about them, is their propensity to utilize the "bait and switch" method of luring drivers into the spider web with enticing offers, and then pouncing on them with some rather shameful acts of deceit.
Years ago, they had grooming, clothing, and facial hair standards. They dropped that when interest waned. Then they placed advertisements, dubbed the "Cabovers Are Easy To Manuever" campaign. It was a cute idea, but the 9700 and the 9800 was phased out by International, so they were forced to purchase hoods. They went from the yellowish equipment to all white. They slip seated drivers with no shame. Now they claim to allow drivers who live in certain areas to be allowed to take their trucks home. They raised their pay rates to attract experienced drivers, admittedly raising the bar for the industry, but it was short lived, and now they have reverted to hiring at sub-standard rates again.
Drivers testify that they spent a long and lengthy process to get approved for hire, with promises of being put on dedicated or regional positions, and find out after withstanding several more days of orientation, that the position promised doesn't exist. They are of course, then offered positions on the national fleet, running everywhere and for weeks at a time, with little time off. There's no excuse for this type of deception.
If this was not bad enough, their "new policy that allows a driver to take his truck home", comes with a very big catch. If you decide to take more than a day off, you will be forced to give up your "assigned truck" and slip seating rears it's ugly head. Oh...they'll "bank" the time off you have coming for future use, but the bottom line is, if you ever decide to take that banked time off, you're going to give up your truck. When you return to work, the chances are rather high in many areas that you will be put on a "list", and endure a wait of what has been reported to be as high as a week at a time, before you are "assigned" another truck. You'll most likely have to spend a couple of hours cleaning up behind the previous driver and moving your stuff back into another truck. Now I ask you...who would put up with that kind of #### each and every time they desired to spend some quality time with their families? I know I wouldn't.
They offer a claim that their drivers average "more than 2500 miles per week", with no guarantees. That's not a very hard week, and because the claim is so low, I tend to think that the average is not routinely over 2,600 miles either. Okay, 2,550 miles brings you just short of a grand a week in gross pay, but take a couple of days off, and your average declines rapidly. Wait on a truck for a couple of more days, and it's reduced further. They are very non-descriptive about their benefit costs, which leads me to believe that the employee is coughing up above-average suppliments for their benefits. What does this do to a family man? He's falling swiftly into netting about half of his gross pay....real quick.
And lastly, JB Hunt has become trendy and now offers a lease/purchase program, and Mr. Harper's ads are a comedy routine, making Larry, the Cable Guy look sad, to say the least. "In this tough economic climate, owning a truck can now be a reality", he boasts.
The details are skimpy, but in his radio ads, the claim is that they offer "low payments" on a "well maintained" Freightliner. Sources report that the payments are around $1,600 a month for 36 months, with a balloon at the end that is equal to the market net worth of the truck. That's a pathetically poor deal, considering that a driver will have poured in over $57,000 dollars into a well used truck, plus some sizeable amounts in sales taxes and interest, and then the driver will likely have to fork over an estimated $35,000 or more to get the title to the truck. What a bargain!!
The radio ads offer lease/purchaser's a "base of over .85 cents per mile", plus "fuel surcharges and fuel cost savings, that will make him over a dollar per mile". A dollar per mile is currently, with the fuel prices where they are as of my writing this, about 10 cents per mile below the national average in the marketplace for lessors. Without breaking it all down, the bottom line is that a driver will most certainly not make any more as a contractor with JB Hunt, and will likely make less net income. You're taking on all the costs of operating that truck, risking the elimination of what was previously a steady income, and putting all your eggs in their Easter basket.
But...you'll get to take your truck home, and will not have to give it up when you take a little time off....so I guess there is an advantage to going that route after all....right?
Nah...bypass them altogether, and look for a nice company job, complete with benefits, and a steady, spendable paycheck, deposited into your bank account each and every week. Slip seating is all but non-existent with most companies these days. JB Hunt sure is nostalgic.
The opportunities are out there. All it takes is a minimal effort and a little time to find them.
And to the management of JB Hunt, I have a few words for you too. Why not quit playing games, sit down and creat a set of standards, requirements, and working conditions that will truly attract experienced drivers, and by golly...STICK to them. I only listen to, or read the ads, but I'm dizzy from having to figure out just what the heck you people are trying to do, at any given point and time.
Thanks for the entertainment, but you could save thousands per week in advertising costs by simply cleaning up your act and stabilizing your work force. Why not offer jobs worth seeking? It wouldn't hurt for you to clean house in your recruiting department, and stop the deceptive tactics being taken to attempt to keep the seats filled. |
04.21.2006
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