CMX

Discussion in 'Report A BAD Trucking Company Here' started by Wayneo, Jun 29, 2013.

  1. Wayneo

    Wayneo Bobtail Member

    31
    8
    Dec 11, 2012
    Western Canada
    0
    CMX Motor Xpress

    I was on my way back to work in the oil field when I decided to apply for a job running step deck for CMX Motor Express Inc., a company located in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. I had some experience hauling pipe in Saskatchewan.

    On April 23, I meet with Ken Campbell, who identifies himself as President of CMX, who also says that he is concentrating more on his golf these days and that his son Drew Campbell is taking over the company. The meeting goes well and on for a couple of hours. He gets me to promise that I will not take another job and to hang on for a week, when his truck gets back. He states that he will get me on the road immediately. He advises that they pay .44 cents a mile and that they would keep me really busy, driving what he described as a beautiful well-kept Peterbilt. The following Tuesday when I had not heard back from Ken I called and he said that he was just about to call me. He said he had an owner operator that was having a hard time keeping drivers and had gone through three in the previous two months. He asked that I come in on Friday to meet Hong Ya Lui, and that they would get me on the road immediately. Friday May 3rd I meet with Hong Ya Lui and Ken and the deal changes from .44 cents a mile to 25% of line haul, which I am assured is better for both of us. (Note: Hong Ya Lui speaks next to no English, not sure how he makes it on the road, but apparently dispatcher does his talking with the customer for him.)

    Sunday May 5th by 1:30 P.M. I am on the road with a 42,000 pound crusher going from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada to Eugene, Oregon, driving Hong Ya Lui's 2000 and something yellow Sterling, which he warns me, "has steering that really makes you tired".
    [​IMG]
    Line Haul $6375.00, Gross to HongYa $5,100.00, my end $1275.00. So far, so good. Except for a rear tandem blowout on the first day on the highway outside of Battle Creek Michigan, the first leg of the journey went without a hitch. Crusher was to be in Eugene by Friday. I got it there Thursday afternoon.

    By Friday morning May 10th I was already loaded with a crane in North Bend, Washington going to Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada
    .
    [​IMG]

    The truck had proven to be especially difficult to handle in the mountains and seemed to be getting progressively worse. After loading in Washington, and clearing it with dispatch, I took the truck into Freightliner. The steering was not too bad on the straight even highways, but in the mountains and around curves and on uneven roads, it was almost impossible to hold the truck in one lane. The mechanic took it for a test drive after which he stated that 'he would not even try to drive it through the mountains' and that 'the shimmy between 50 & 60 miles an hour was extremely dangerous'. (I was glad it wasn't just me, and that my concerns were well founded). The mechanic referred me to a Good Year Tire Centre where I spent the weekend waiting for it to open. Good Year discovered that one of the front tires was walking badly, and front end turned out to be in bad need of alignment. Got the alignment done and was off to Quebec with somewhat better, but constantly deteriorating handing.



    By May 21 at 7:00 a.m. I was unloading my cranes in Three Rivers and by 3:00 the same afternoon I had 31,000 pounds loaded on the truck in Lachine Quebec, destined for Douglas, Arizona.
    [​IMG]

    But not before a side trip to Sudbury, Ontario Canada, to fill out and tarp another load, also bound for Arizona, in dark 2 degree temperatures with lots of wind and very cold rain. ( LOL ...not a lot of fun, but definitely a learning experience)
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    From Sudbury, instead of heading to Arizona, I am asked to come to office first. Turns out that Hongya L wants to drive the truck,and takes my load to Arizona. Pays me 1275.00 of over 4700.00 owed and promises that he will pay the balance in two weeks on his return. Balance is never paid, in spite of numerous promises and delays. Both Drew and Rod the dispatcher tell me that "what HongYa is doing is not right" but, "not to worry" and that "they will deal with Hongya and get me my money".

    In the meantime, they want me to drive their Peterbilt as soon as it comes in, with a new and better deal, this time 20% of 96% of line haul. The Peterbilt is their one remaining truck. They had two up to a few weeks previous, but when the other broke down in the U.S., they left it there there.

    CMX has no yard, so I am expected to keep truck and trailer.. This works for me as I have a truck stop 20 minutes from my home which makes it convenient to drop by and say hi to my wife occasionally, as I am passing through.

    I wait until May 28th for the truck to show up. What has been arranged is for me to pick-up the truck, bring it home, clean it, personalize it etc., and to be ready to go in the next day or two. Instead what happens is the old driver of the truck is in the office. I am asked to do a favor and drive him home and that they will gladly pay me 44 cents a mile for doing them this favor. I am later told that they only pay one way and that I am being paid $56.00 for 6 hours and $60.00 in gas I spent getting this driver home in my own car.

    The following morning (Wednesday), I have no time to do anything with the truck, I know it has been in an accident. The hood will not open or close properly, the air conditioning is not working and in general it is pretty apparent that the truck and trailer have been badly neglected. The cabin is filled with dog hair and smell of pet urine, which becomes particularly nauseating with the humidity and lack of air conditioning.

    CMX
    Peterbilt
    damage1.jpg

    I do a quick clean-up, throw in my gear, including Printer and Computer (which turn out to be useless as I discover that there is no inverter in the truck) and leave for Stoney Creek to pick up part of a paint booth that is being used for submarines.
    paintbooth2.jpg

    I already have on the trailer a Lehman Lathe Bed, which I am taking to Hartford CT. The Paint Booth is going to the Electric Boat Company, in Rhode Island, which unbeknownst to me is part of the U.S. Department of Defence. It takes most of the afternoon to get the Paint Booth properly loaded around the Lathe Bed, but by 4:00 I am off to Fort Erie to prepare for an early morning border crossing.

    I reach Buffalo at 4:30 a.m. with no line up, but am held at the border for 10 hours because the Broker for the Lathe Bed refuses to act for the customer, stating that they are not a customer. By 2:30 in the afternoon, the broker and it's customer work things out and I am into New York. Rod the dispatcher, tells me, “don't worry we will make them pay for this”.


    One thing I learned really quick was that when either Rod or Drew said “Don’t Worry”, there was always something to be concerned about.

    Later I am advised by Drew's GateKeeper, Jennifer T, "We don't pay for waiting time". Geez, you would think there would be some consideration for this.


    Dropping the paint booth was not quick. In fact at the beginning I was advised that I could not even drive on-site because I was not a U.S. Citizen. I was told I had to get an American Driver to do it, until they finally realized that the load was going to a site still under construction. Lots of waiting though. 3 and 1/2 hours later I was off to Connecticut to drop off the lathe bed.

    Temperatures were in the 90's and the cab of the truck was even hotter and with the windows open there was a constant mind numbing whistle on the highway. The only thing worse than working outside sweating, then driving in a hot cab without being able to cool off after working on a load, was trying to sleep in a cabin that was often 100+ degrees and which smelt like dog urine. However, I was on a number of occasions assured by Drew that as soon as I got back into Canada that the repairs would be immediately made and that the air would be working.

    The lathe bed drop was followed the same day by a pick-up of 30,000 pounds of posts in Bloomfield, CT., and then a pick-up of 15,000 pounds of 13 foot long aircraft parts in Grafton, Ma. I rolled into the truck stop in Grafton, shortly after 10:30 p.m. Friday night. Posts had to be moved to the step to make room for the 13 foot long aircraft parts. I was sweaty, dirty, hot and unable to sleep. I rolled my ankle falling over the winch bar and was in quite a bit of pain, so I sat in the truck stop till early in the morning trying to keep cool, with ice on my ankle, but was happy knowing that by Monday I would be back in Toronto area, and be able to get at very least the air fixed before heading to Saskatoon to deliver the posts.

    From Ma. I took my time heading back to Canada. I had lots of time to get to Kitchener before Monday morning, and made frequent stops to cool down and rest. The 4 way flashers which used to lock up occasionally were now not working at all, and the only way the signals were working is if I manually switched them up and down.

    I was in Kitchener, Ontario, early Monday morning and had the aircraft parts unloaded by 8:00 a.m. I was on route to the office in Bowmanville and just passing Yonge Street in Toronto, hoping that I would at least get the signals, 4 ways and air fixed, when Rod the dispatcher calls and tells me I have to turn around and go back to Etobicoke to do another pick-up.. He said the repairs would have to wait and they would arrange for something for me on route to Saskatchewan. He said they had mechanics in Wawa. There was no concern expressed about the signals or 4 ways not working.

    After picking up the tubing I headed up the 400 on route to Sault Ste. Marie and decided to stop and meet my wife for lunch along the way. During lunch Rod the dispatcher called me and told me to go back to Cambridge (from Barrie) and pick-up a tank after 6:00 p.m. It took me 6 hours to go back south to Cambridge in rush hour traffic, load the tank and get back up to Barrie. Had I not stopped for lunch I would have been nearing Parry Sound when he asked me to turn around.
    copperandposts.jpg

    The following day the plan was Barrie to Wawa, but a maxi blew out at the top of Lake Superior half way between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, so I was forced to stay on the side of the highway at the top of Superior for the night. I spoke with Drew so that he could arrange for a service truck, and after reaming me out for not having my own tools and spare parts for his truck, states “that every driver he has ever had puts his own tools in his truck", and further "that if I had brought my own vice grips I could have fixed the Maxi myself, and that everybody knows how to do it”.

    The Maxi on the trailer was replaced the late the following morning and by early afternoon I was in Wawa. I contacted Drew for directions to his garage , where at long last I thought I would get the air, 4 ways, signals fixed and jake repaired. Drew gave me an address to the shop and told me they were expecting me. When I got to ( I believe it was called VM or VX Motors), the place was abandoned and there was a for sale sign out front. I went to a neighboring business to enquire as to whether they had moved, and was advised that the shop owner had died over a year ago and the shop had been closed ever since.

    So, it was off to Cromer Manitoba. The tank was being dropped at an oil lease outside of Brandon Manitoba in Cromer. Getting off the Trans Canada and unloading the tank took 3 hours. ( 3 + 6 = 9) My total pay for this: - $153.00

    From Cromer, MB, it was off to Saskatoon, where I dropped off my copper pipe and posts. By 5:00 I headed to the Petro for the night.

    Both the copper pipe and the fence posts were dropped off in Saskatoon on the same afternoon, Friday June 7th. The fence posts were picked up on the Friday afternoon and the copper tubing was picked up the following Monday. The copper tubing paid me $355.20 and the fence posts paid $1209.60. Guess which one was omitted from my pay cheque? You guessed it $1209.60. I was told it would be on my next cheque, but frankly I am not holding my breath. as I am writing this that delivery was almost a month ago.

    I stayed at the Petro in Saskatoon that night and upon arrival, knowing I was headed back into no mans land ( South Saskatchewan farm country) and then the U.S., asked Drew about the repairs. He told me to just go get everything fixed. Since it was getting into Friday evening, I enquired as to whom I should contact regarding payment, and he barked "You know I have nothing to do with money, you have to contact Jennifer for payment” ( who incidentally makes payments with Drew's personal credit card). I am guessing that had I found a garage open, willing to take the truck in on a Friday night, and able to find the needed parts in Saskatoon, on a Friday night, that Jennifer would not have been answering her cell phone. Do ya think?


    Saturday morning I was to pick up an oversized load of hay in Bengough Saskatchewan going to Burnt Wyoming. I delivered the hay in Wyoming on Monday afternoon in a dust storm.
    hayduststorm.jpg
    I had already been told that once the hay was delivered that I would be running empty to L.A. to pick-up a $9,000.00 load, but no other details at that time had been provided. I called Drew after the hay delivery on Monday about 4:00 p.m. and he told me to head down to California immediately. He said that it was only 800 miles and they wanted me there Tuesday morning. After hanging up from Drew and getting a text with the pick-up address, I checked the mileage. It was not 800 miles, the distance was almost 1200 miles to the port in L.A.. Drew had deliberately misled me again. I called Rod, the dispatcher, and told him about the difference in mileage to which he responded "I know, don't worry about it". I advised Rod that I would be there early Wednesday morning, to which he said, "that's fine".


    Monday night I hardly slept. The drivers window which only opens or closes when it feels like it, had decided that it did not want to open Monday night. The heat in the cab was horrible and I was still only in Wyoming. Tuesday morning my priority was to find a service shop to get at very least the air done. I rolled into a T/A and enquired about service and although they were booked, they were able to book me an appointment two hours down the road at another T/A. I called the office to advise Drew what I was doing and he said to make sure they call him with a quote.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Now to me, the very worst thing that happened on the trip, in spite of everything else.
    The T/A took me in immediately and quickly identified the problem. They got some prices together, I believe including labour $1,200.00 aftermarket or $1,300.00 OEM. I was absolutely blown away when the service manager got off the phone and said that Drew had said “It’s too much money. Tell the driver to go do his work and we will fix the truck when it gets back into Canada”. The little weasel could not even say it to me directly,and my name was now driver! Had it not been for my fear of getting ripped off for my pay, (which turns out would not have made any difference anyway), and had there been an airport across the street, I would have flown home right then and there.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Wednesday I arrived at the Port at 9:00 a.m. There were a few trucks ahead of me, but the shipping supervisor was pretty sure he would get me in by noon. (All shipments going in and out of this facility are oversized.) Everybody got their permits as the day progressed except for me. I called the office numerous times and all they would say is “we are working on it”. I found out later that the first time they even called California about issuing a permit was after 1:30 PST - 4:30 EST that day.

    I had spent most of the day with two really cool American Truckers, Chris and Bill. Chris was with Landstar and Bill, an owner operator, not sure, but may also have been contacted with Landstar. They were both loaded and back on the street securing their loads hours before I finally got into the yard to load at about 6:30. I was really surprised to see them out on the street waiting for me when I finally came out of the yard somewhere around 8:00 pm. They asked me if I had my permit yet and of course I didn’t. Their purpose in waiting for me was to help guide me out of LA and to make sure that I did not try to wait down at the port overnight, until the permit came the next day. Their positions were that no trucks stay there overnight because the area is filled with gangs; and, without even the ability to close up the vehicle, without sweating to death, that my chances of making it alive until the morning in their views were slim to none.

    (If I was a dog, a cop would have broken the window and taken me out of the truck, called the SPCA and the owner would have been charged and faced fines and possible imprisonment. Interesting how much better dogs are treated than truck drivers.)

    The plan was to follow them out to the interstate, and then head to the nearest truck stop, and wait for the permit.


    Well it did not quite work that way. Unfortunately, I missed the exit for the truck stop and ended up travelling straight into an inspection station without a permit, 8,000 pounds over on my tandems and with a GVW of just under 90,000 pounds, two tickets were written and the trailer was not to be moved. The cop took my drivers license and then asked me to sign the tickets. (Not sure exactly what the specifics of the tickets were, but she said one was a misdemeanor offence.) When I said I had to get my glasses out of the truck, she said I would have lots of time to read them, and that I was only signing for receipt. As soon as I signed for receipt, she took the tickets back and said she would hang on to them for now, and hung them behind her on a board with my drivers license. It is now after 1:30 a.m.. I go back to the truck to sleep and the station closes and everyone leaves.
    weighstationcalifornia.jpg

    The following day, Drew sends the California Permit to cop at the inspection station and it is immediately voided as it does not reflect the truth about my weights or load. Everything is showing 80,000 pounds, with 20 on tandems and the company knows exactly what my weights are. In fact after receiving the permit the cop goes out to the trailer, measures it and determines that the trailer is in fact illegal in the state of California and cannot be moved at all. Arrangements had to be made to get the load off and onto another trailer, and the trailer had to be transported out on another trailer, according to the cop. Drew Caampbell tells me it is going to cost him $12,000 to get the trailer out of there.

    It’s a pretty warm day and although there is driver seating in the air conditioned office, cop tells me I can't sit inside - (she wanted ability to talk personal matters with another male cop, that it appeared she was trying to impress). By 4:00 p.m. I had had enough. I hadn’t eaten in two days. I had been out of smokes since the previous night and had used up the last of my warm water, hours ago. I went into the office and said I wanted to leave and cops response was “ Who’s stopping you?” I said “you have my drivers license” and she came over to the counter, separated it from the tickets and handed me my license. I enquired, “ what about the tickets” to which she responded that “she would hang on to them for now to make sure that we just don’t leave the trailer there for a long period of time”. I shrugged my shoulders, walked out with drivers license in hand, unhooked the trailer, and headed for the nearest pilot to shower and eat.


    When I arrived at the Pilot, Drew Campbell called and demanded that I wait til after midnight when the inspection station closed, then go back, hook up the trailer and run for the Nevada Border. He said that if I didn't I would be sitting there for two weeks, waiting for somebody to come down with another trailer. ( I recorded this and many other of Drew’s conversations with me). I told him I did not want to do it.

    Ok, so the following morning ( Friday) let’s just say I met the trailer at the Pilot, in Las Vegas Nevada. Drew was really happy, told me “you have a cheque for over $2,000.00 coming this week and this is just the beginning. You are going to make lots of money with us”. My other permits had come in, I printed them, and was off.

    Question: Although I signed for receipt of the two tickets, I never received or read the tickets. In my mind, I have not been served with the tickets. Perhaps the officer had second thoughts about giving them to me. Would they be automatically voided? Do I need a lawyer? Comments, recommendations and opinions on this would be appreciated.
    Saturday afternoon the XYZ on the transmission shorted out just outside of Salt Lake City. Truck gets towed into Kenworth and I spend Saturday, Sunday & Monday in hotel - ( Sunday and Monday in bed with a flu bug I must have picked up at the hotel.)
    towedsaltlakecity.jpg
    (I don’t get paid for waiting time)

    Tuesday morning I head down to Kenworth and picked up the truck and trailer.


    Wednesday June 19th - I hit open inspection station near North Platte, Nebraska. I present the permit and it is immediately voided for inaccuracy. No tickets for me, but officer notices the truck is licensed only for 80,000 pounds. Company faces impoundment of the trailer or pay $1200.00 fine. They pay the fine and Drew says he is getting a new cab registration for the truck that makes him legal for 90,000 pounds. Trailer does not move til then. Also need to shift weight of rear tandems. Not sure if it will be enough ( probably not) but try sliding the front tandems forward however, because of the weight on the trailer, there is less than an ⅛ of an inch difference between trailer with air and without. Tandems won’t budge. Officer who was really quite accommodating, contacted permit office to enable me to get a temporary permit to go back 20 miles to a crane company where we could adjust load and hopefully resolve the overweight issues on the tandems. Although she got things in motion right away, it could not happen until Drew got new cab card for 90,000 pounds. In the meantime I receive a call (recorded) from the gatekeeper, Jennifer T saying “Drew said, tonight he wants the same thing to happen as did in California”. I said "Absolutely No".

    Late the following morning (Thursday) I finally got the revised 90,000 registration and a permit # verbally from Pam at the permit office and was off to the crane company.
    craneadjustment2.jpg
    It took most of the afternoon, moving, scaling and readjusting, but we finally got within a few hundred pounds of where we needed to be on the tandems and were ok on the drives and steering, so I left with strict instructions from Drew to do whatever it takes to avoid every single inspection and weigh scale from North Platte, Nebraska to St. Catherines, Ontario. He even had the nerve to say it was easy.

    (Fact is you don' just have to miss scales, but you also then have to route around roads with weight limitations, low bridges and inspection stations not shown on 2013 map . ie 4 way inspection station in Wahoo - hwy. 77& 22.)

    (I figured there would be some appreciation for what I went through. If I knew I was going to get totally ripped off by this company, I would have dropped it off at the the first inspection station in Iowa, a state with no tolerance, and strict rules about overweight vehicles, and where our permit amongst the usual inaccuracies even said I was driving a Kenworth instead of a Peterbilt).

    Thursday I drove almost 600 km. It took over 9 hours, and at the end of the day was 80 km. closer to home.Spent the night in a very hot cab filled with mosquitoes, because drivers window did not want to close at all.

    Reached the Ambassador Bridge at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning and spent the day getting to customers in St. Catherines, as Essex, London and QEW all were doing full vehicle inspections.

    Dropped the trailer at 5:00 happy that I made it, and knowing I would never pull the load again and headed out for dinner.
    stcathdelivered.jpg
    7:30 Sunday night I get a text from Drew telling me not to drop the trailer because of $$. ( I assumed somebody wasn't paying him or he was trying to extort more money for the delivery from the customer). He demanded that I drive it another couple of hundred clicks to his office. I refused and said that I was not moving the trailer another mile, but that I would hook it up to the truck in the morning and wait at the customers until they worked it out. It got worked out. I was out empty by noon and dropped the rig at the Husky Truck Stop near my home. After getting home Drew called and demanded that I bring the truck into the office first thing in the morning, as it was booked for repairs. I told him I was busy in the morning and could not come out til later in the day. I said that if he wanted it right away he could pick it up himself, which he did. Drew Campbell told me he is religious, but I believe the only thing he worships is himself. He said I would get the rest of my pay next Friday, but frankly, I am not holding my breath and I have lawyers waiting.


    Drew Campbell supposedly has 17 owner operators. He is holding back payments of at least two weeks on all of them. At say an average of 10,000.00 to 15,000.00 per week, by my calculations, he is holding onto between $340,000.00 to $560,000.00 of the drivers money at any given time. What stops him from closing the doors and walking with their money tomorrow? Certainly not any sense of decency, conscience or scruples.
    If you have a sleazy trucking company you want to expose, or if you are interested in helping to get rid of these unscrupulous operators, pm me.
    Whether you are in Canada or the U.S., I want to know your stories and can help.Thanks. Wayne
     

    Attached Files:

    • hay.jpg
      hay.jpg
      File size:
      108.7 KB
      Views:
      119
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2013
    scottied67 Thanks this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. russellkanning

    russellkanning Medium Load Member

    640
    142
    Jan 22, 2012
    Frost, TX
    0
    crazy man
    makes all my troubles on the road seem like a picnic
     
    pattyj Thanks this.
  4. crosscut

    crosscut Light Load Member

    226
    126
    Feb 23, 2009
    FL
    0
    Unreal.....you swiped a out of service trailer from weigh station when they closed....REALY? Man that's just crazy! I am sitting here shaking my head...really?...lol....crazy story glad you made it out with not being arrested. Hope your next job works out a little better for you.
     
  5. Wayneo

    Wayneo Bobtail Member

    31
    8
    Dec 11, 2012
    Western Canada
    0
    Hahaha... Although there is no mistake about the fact that the company is absolute garbage; on the positive side, albeit the hard way, I am sure that I have learned more in the last 8 weeks than some guys that have been driving for years know. But, yes, I am counting my blessings and never will I allow myself to be put into anything even close to a similar situation again.
     
  6. Wayneo

    Wayneo Bobtail Member

    31
    8
    Dec 11, 2012
    Western Canada
    0
    Response to Crosscut (sorry I forgot to put the quote in)

    Actually, for the record, I believe I said I met up with the trailer in Vegas. Thanks for the well wishes.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 23, 2013
  7. dwamberfirert

    dwamberfirert Bobtail Member

    11
    0
    Dec 20, 2013
    0
    That is one crazy story but I believe it all, as I worked there for 7 months and lets just say my time there was NOT any better
     
  8. workingkitty

    workingkitty Bobtail Member

    1
    0
    Jan 8, 2014
    0
    My husband was an owner operator for this company and they treated him the same way. They always ripped him off on his loads and when he quit he didn't get the rest of his pay because they came up with a whole bunch of stuff he apparently charged on their credit card. I would not recommend anyone to work for this company. All they know how to do is to rip drivers off and always said don't worry about it.
     
  9. Florida Playboy

    Florida Playboy Road Train Member

    4,102
    6,620
    Dec 19, 2012
    Florida
    0
    So did the OP finally get his money? Also why wasn't the trailer legal in California?
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.