Hicks Trucking Warning Litchfield, MN

Hicks Trucking is a flatbed carrier in Litchfield Mn. It is owned by Lyle Hicks which was givin the company by his father. This company is truly a bait and switch. They will promise you the world and deliver nothing. First they will tell you start pay is 42 cents per mile. They include tarp pay, benifits and the like in this per mile. Your really getting 34 cents per mile and they will try to take away your dead head miles as well. Lets go into this company further.
It is owned by Lyle Hicks but run by a guy named Adam. Now Adam has never driven a truck and tells you all the time how stressed he is. They even gave him another dispatcher 2 weeks ago. Now this is a company that has only 30+ drivers company and owner operators. 3 dispatches and they still can not answer the phone when you call. I guess they know little about Jb Hunt and Crst which there supevisors have 75+ drivers per manager. That is stress. 3 dispatches and they use plenty of brokers and have very little freight accounts for themselves. No real sales here. There trucks are not new. Older peters with 800,000 plus milage and 1995 trailers with boards rotting away the trailers look like swiss cheese. At least this is what they gave me. Now they want you to run around all tolls. This means route 30 and route 6 through indiana and Ohio. Any trucker that has experience here will tell you it is foolish and more costly to run these roads then the toll roads. They will charge you to send your paper work and deduct toll expenses from you if you run tolls. Penny wise and very pound foolish. Wear and tear, cost of fuel, stopping for red lights every few feet and the danger of getting into an accident are all real here. Yet, save that toll. Scarey! This brings me to Adam. Very confrontational. He will push your buttons and they let him get away with it. Has been there for over 12 years and all the drivers that have quit and moved on have left because of Adam. Like I said. Lyle may own the company but he does not run it. Adam does. They have very few experienced, well rounded drivers here. I never had any violations in logs, missed appointments or any other problems in work performance. Just had to fight tooth and nail with Adam everyday. I was warned in the begining about Adam from a man that has been with the company longer then Lyle.A great man who has so much respect for the company but not how it is run now. Adam is not high on his list either. Disappointed yes, for being let go because not of job performance but because of one man who I will say could not run a day care center. Sad. Yet as I was driven to the airport to fly home with the man who knows more about Hicks then Lyle himself. I realised that even though he as well as others were very taken back from my dismissal, life does go on and with one phone call I already had a new job lined up. This is because I am very good at what I do and in the new trucking industry you you have to be if you want a job. In all and all I could trash this company further but it is not worth it. Move on. But a warning here. No one can work for a company they feel abused in. Especially when the guy thats abusing has no clue about the job he is doing and would never be hired anywhere else. Adam is lucky he has a job. Yet Hicks will not have good drivers that will stay. If your a great driver and take pride in your work do not go here. They do not appreciate good drivers only ones Adam can control. A sad day for Hicks and Lyle I know your Dad would not be proud of the way things are run now. You lost a very good driver. I did like working there but not working with Adam. You need to step in and get out of the buses for a while and knock Adam off his high horse. Or you can settle for low class drivers. Maybe you do not care. Yet, it is going down hill and not helping your image. One your father worked hard in building. Best of luck and to my friends at Hicks. I will always be in touch.....................................

 

Well wining is not the word for it. Profit over safety and just plain stupid is not an excuse. Adam has no excuse and since all there drivers are leaving there trucks and walking away does tell something. I vented but I will always have a job. Adam can not go anywhere else. So hes lucky to have a company hang on to him. The buses make the money for hicks not the truck driving. Without the buses they would be out of business. I have moved on and hope others will too. Too many trucking companies hiring out there to be stuck on a company who screws there drivers. What goes around always comes around!! Each time a driver walks away, there getting there's! Thanks for venting. Professional drivers are far and in between. The good old days are gone. A bunch of cowboys now. I will keep my eye on the road and ear to the wind. I am done here---Moved on to bigger and better things..

 

It would be close to 100. Now again wasted time stopping at red lights,dogeing cars. Using the clutch speed limits to 35 mph. It all adds up. Will cost you twice as much to run secondary roads. It is funny how the smaller companies have no clue yet the larger companies want you to run the tolls, Why? Cause they can afford it? No, because they have the knowledge to know the costs, the safety factor and so on. Smaller companies rely on managers and dispatches that have never driven a truck and have no clue. Commen sense is not used in smaller companies,PERIOD! I know owner operators will pay the tools if they feel those roads are wasting their time. Most just pay the tolls so they can get their load off and go for another. Why spend more hours doing the same job. Makes little sense. The roads are getting more dangerous. Wait till winter comes. Would you pay your toll or take a chance in a snow storm on a secondary road? I think not. I have learned first hand that smaller trucking companies are penny wise and pound foolish. This is why they are small, can not grow and keep drivers. I would feel better driving a road I am not frustrated on by construction, road hazards,more cars, red lights and so on. Thats just my years of experience!!