Bad Tanker Companies

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Oakley is one of the least driver-friendly tanker outfits, their a smaller food grade company out of Florida. I had a death in the family, they chose not to get me home in time for the funeral...(otr-drivers know how this is). I was less than 200 miles away, and they had 2 days to get me home. I sat with a load for those 2 days, begging & pleading with dispatch to let me swap trailers with friend of mine that was delivering less than 5 miles from my home.

And they couldn't do it.

Well, I said, "thats it." Why on earth should I work for some one that cares so little about me. So I delivered the load, the day after the funeral, and drove straight home. "Funny" they where blowing up the qualcomm with my next load, headed back to Florida...I was in California, and I live in California.

They couldn't even say sorry for your loss. I was not a person, not even a human. Just a number of an available-empty truck. "Heart-breaking," because all thru orientation, I was told, "We don't have a job without you." "We have a great company because of our drivers." WHAT A LOAD!!

After being home for 24hrs I shot them a message saying: I'll be home for the next 3 days, taking care of my family, dealing with our recent loss. If they needed the truck I already cleaned my things out of it, and it's sitting directly in front of my home...I got no response.

After much thought, I decided to drop their truck off at a local Mack dealership. I called them and told them what I was going to do. I was choosing to end my employment with them, I would not be going back to Florida to drop the truck off as they requested. And I refused their bus ticket over 2500 miles, back to my home in California.

I had 2 trips that I was not paid for, one for $398.89 & the other for $573.25 and their reason for not paying me was I did not turn in Oakley ID card, and my driver packet, which consisted of a expired $3.00 disposable camera, a fake leather pouch, some recruiting cards, and some accident waviers. Mind you, I turned in $900.00 dollars in pipes, and fittings to another driver of their choosing.

Total cost of ID & packet: $19.59(I know because I asked during orientation.)

Funny thing...they flew me to Florida, from California...then put me in a seedy hotel, filled with roaches, bugs, crack pipes, whores, and drug dealers. And their reasoning for this was...well if we don't spend that much on the hotel, then we can give you a $5.00 dollar hat and a $9.00 dollar T-shirt. JUST PLAIN FOOLISHNESS!!

This company is just like the big companies...if you just like being a number, and dealing with careless, unsympathic dispatchers and a management team that only cares about the bottom line...this is the company for you.

Jim Aartman Inc, actually used to be a great company, now their still above average in comparison to some trucking companies, but they just have incompetent, bullies in key management positions. Their bottom line is now taking presidence over driver safety, and driver treatment.

This company is sly, dirty...as of August 2006, they now require all new employees to sign a arbitration agreement. Basically making it near impossible to purse anything legally, or sue them, in an unfortunate instance of retaliation, discrimination, or wrongful termination. Further giving them the green light to treat you anyway they see fit.(BE CAREFUL, research this be for signing your rights away!)

Now, if they were still such a great company...ask yourself...why would they need something like that?

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Small, I have heard experiences like this about Jim Aartman. A buddy of mine just quit, because they wanted him to run 800+ miles a day. And when he refused to do it on a daily bases, his boss John P. out of their Ripon terminal, berated him, told him he was a *****, less of a man.

Well, it was sad because he worked their for 3 years, and he said he just couldn't take it anymore. I remember him saying that, he was use to driving 650-700 miles a day. But they usually let him have a day to rest, and catch up on his logbook. But now its just PUSH, PUSH, PUSH, with no rest accept on your home-time. He almost wrecked 3 weeks ago because he was to DARN tired.

Last month I tried to sign-up with them, but when I saw that arbitration agreement, I said, "**** NO!" "NO THANKS." My farther-in-law is an attorney, and said, please don't sign that, if I did, I would have no power, I'd be like a slave. They could treat me however they wanted, and I couldn't do anything about it

DRIVERS BEWARE: Its just another way for them to ***** you.

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Man I don't know many driver's could drive 800 miles a day, what a jerk let's see him drive 800 miles a day. It's a good you got the heads up!

Thanks Tanker Yanker,

Some of these food grade companies are morphing into the big companies like swift and jb. Its sad, only because their used to be a kinship, a brotherhood of sorts. Where they took care of us and we took care of them. But its changing for the worst, it they don't fix it soon.

You have to watch these food grade tanker companies because most of them are private, so they can keep 99% of their info quiet. I'm not trying to tell anyone want to do, I'm just looking out for the little guy, like me. I'm a truck driver of 6 years and I have great pride in what I do.

It has been quite a while since I posted anything, but this caught my attention. I just quit a milk hauling company and I ran into Jim Aartman and Indian River drivers all the time in Winter Haven, Fl and I heard the same type of stories from them. I talked to an Indian River driver who told me that he stayed out for 2 months and when he got home they gave him hell for taking a week off.

The company that I hauled milk for was a pretty decent outfit, but the pay was real low and you spent your time hanging around the dairies trying to get unloaded. When you figured the time involved and the miles, you would hang your head and cry. I would not recommend the milk hauling business to anyone. I had an old black man tell me in Spartanburg, SC that running illegal is just part of the job when you haul milk. You are always dodging scales and fudging on your log. I left Harrisonburg, Va going to Winston-Salem,NC with 61,000 lbs in the tanker, when I weighed in at the dairy, I was grossing almost 91000. And you talk about beating you to death, you get a tanker that is grossing around 47000 and the load will beat you to death.

I dont understand why DOT hasnt come down hard on the milk haulers. The company that I drove for has drivers that turn Harrisonburg, Va to Florence,SC back to back for 3 straight trips. There is no way that you can do this. I know drivers that pick up at the farms and then run to the dairy, they dont even log the farm pick ups. I never would pick up at the farms, I only ran the road.

Stay away from milk hauling.

Never, never, never sign an arbitration agreement.

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--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Small Thanks for the info on aartmans arbituary agreement. I talked to john out of ripon, and he told me he wouldn't even look at my app if I didn't sign that agreement. Heard the big boss is tired of being sued by drivers. I heard over and over again that they use to be a great driver company, but now like you said they have trash in key management places. Talk to a driver thats been with them 8 yrs, he said there HR director is a complete *********, talks and treats drivers like trash. Thats to bad, that aartman would let some new bad apples run his company into the ground. Its getting bad there, they just shutdown there buckeye, az terminal, just fired all the drivers, didn't even give them any notice. This company might have been good back in the day, but now it seems there just bad news...too bad.

To the driver who was with Oakley.....watch your DAC, since you didn't bring the truck where your company requested they can slap you with an abandoned truck.

Anytime you don't do what a company wants explicitly when turning back in your truck they can get you for abandonment.

I been away fer a long while, but this kinda thinkin just gits me stirred up. I just dont belief how sorry ### whiny you folks is. You wine when you dont git yer miles. Ya whine when ya get do many miles. Whine whine whine. Git yer own rig, be yer own man, or stop a whinin. Workin for a bad company is like doin time, or being on parole, always lookin over yer shoulder, worryin bout some stupid DAC.

Hey Small & Peterbilt06,

Get a load of this ignorant guy...talking about someone whining .

Funny how some people take information & knowledge??? I love how he took the time to criticize this post...but in the most pathetic & tacky way... Bumdaddy, next time you post your super intelligent thoughts, please invest in a SPELLCHECKER. To many "fer's and yer's. You just sound dumb.

As far as, "Gittin yer own rig" all three of us our Owner Operater's, and now were in the process of incorporating a business...bumdaddy. I hate to critique another driver, but dude, honor us with some intelligence, something wise. If your an older guy, and you "git on" like this, well I feel sorry for you.
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I love what I do, I take pride in being a Driver, and I'm always a
Professional on the road.