To start are there laws about 8 hour work days? 40 hr work weeks?

Ya reckon?

OH!
So VERY true!!!!
However --- there ARE way to git even with them.
YuP!
But I'm sure not going to give that information to ANYone lacking actual OTR Big truck truckin' experience.
NopE!
Don't even ask.

But I'll give a few examples...............

One involved a REAL O/O.
With his own authority brokering his own loads in his own refer, obviously driving his own Big truck, a long nose Pete.
But I digress, ................................

The receiver was REALLY dragin' their feet.
Not entirely their fault.
It was a new operation, in a brand new building with brand new equipment, and brand new workers.
OH!
Did I mention it was all modern facilities and the computers ran it all --- except for the humans, who can't git 'er done without the computers, ---- and the computers were down.
Imagine that.

The receiver had already signed the paperwork as "RECEIVED".
Big mistake.
That meant the O?O was now legally in possession of a full load of Ivory Soap.
If you don't get this load off my trailer right now, I'm leaving with MY load right now.
They didn't.
He did.
Already had the load sold at a better profit than the load paid, which the O/O would ALSO be entitled to receive.
I overheard him make the arrangements over the phone.
He wasn't kiddin'.

Win/WinBiGtime, for the owner O/O --- who had already been sitting, waiting, for a few hours. He had palaces to go, and people to see --- loadin' and hauling a full refer full of ripe, California Strawberries next, --- providing he got THERE in time to laod --- on a straight shot to Upper State, New York, as I recall, 3,000 miles, -- for he and his teammate/co-driver/wife.
They were treatin' truckin' like a business.
Real business like, ..................................................
it or not.

I have other such stories, but in the interest of time, I'll just leave it at that.
You're welcome!

BINGO!

YuP!
That's the new system.
It is what it is, learn how to, ....... shall I say "work it"?
The MORE y'all know a ABOUT the "system" --- the better your chances are of making the "system" work FOR y'all, IS.

Y'all won't, probably, be able to absorb all that while still a newBee. Just concentrate on drivin' a Big truck and finding hidden addresses 'till y'all are comfortable doin' that.
That's hard enough.
And gets easier the more y'all do it.
Rookies should be startin' to discover that.
Seasoned folks know how to "cook" it ---- just right.

Absolutely!
Firm yet polite.
The MORE y'all KNOW about the "system" --- the easier it is to do that.
And it will take SOME time to fully understand the system, if y'all ever do.
Like they say, you (should) learn something new every day.
I think that'd include RE-learnin' too.And, as an added bonus, THAT attitude can cause their attitude to backfire.
OpppS!
PLAN it, and y'all can be the last one laughin'.

I once convinced, with the help of a few dock workers, a yard-goat driver who sat on his lazy buttox, while I put a 48 footer in a VERY tight dock, with a W-900, rather long W/B, without the aid of power steering, in the dead of a hot Georgia summed day.
His "job" was to do that FOR me.
He was sleepin' over in the shade.
Mad ain't the word, was I.
I was, ...............
AfterShocked!
I have a tire-buddy ---
and I KNOW how to use it.
YuP!
I keep tellin y'all, I'm a baaadd man -------> Especially when I'm laughin'.

Sooooo ----
I convinced him that the truckin' company would have paid him $50, to spot the trailer in --- And another $50 to pull it back out.
The look on his face was priceless.............
Budda-Bing, Budda Bang, ...........
As I apologized TO him for not waking him up, so he could collect a quick $100.
AS I recall, he spilled a large iced tea all over the interior and himself.
Bummers!
And this was on a Friday, and the goat had a hot date that night, and, as I learned, he was already short of cash and had been seeking loans from the other workers --- who all refused.

Puttin' that trailer in that dock while sweatin' bullets is no easy task, but pullin' it back out was even harder because, this time. I was laughin' so hard that the Big truck vibrated, before I even turned the key to start it.
Ever try focusing on the mirrors -- hard -- when y'all are laughin'?
They just wiggle to the beat of the giggle.

THANX!
Yard-Goat Guy!
You made my day.
YeS you did.

And, that day I learned I COULD put a long-nose W-900, (my FIRST ever assigned conventional tractor, by-the-way) in a tight spot if I HAD to.
I SHOULD also mention a sincere thanx to the black gentleman trucker who assisted me in gittin' 'er done.
He told me what to do, and although it didn't really make sense, I was willing to listen to him.
Glad I did,
He was too, because he was a fellow fine cigar smoker and I gave him a nice Arturo Fuente -- Corona -- for his lesson.
Cost? About $6.00 for the cigar.
Return? Priceless!

Don't let THEM know that.
One thang those waskels hate to hear is
Take your time, hand, --- I'm on the clock.
Now, if they ARE playin' games, they'll git'cha outta there -- PRONTO after informed of that.
Maybe he is
Maybe he ain't.
Why take the chance?
Gitt'em outta here, noW!

Maybe even sooner.
Y'all would be surprized how fast y'all can go forward in REVERSE pshchology.


Hmmmmmm
I know folks who work for THAT.
And git it, too.
Why is it so easy for THEM to "succeed"?

BiGBlU!!
How DARE you be so logically blunt?!!!
Are YOU a baaadd man -------> ,.......... TOO?!

lcl try going to celadon they may take you
way better then werner

I am always amazed at the people that take the 26cpm just to run the FrankenWieners (Werner FreightShaker Classic). I guess if you live on your truck it really doesn't matter. -still better than CRST or an England Fleece.

Maybe Werner is only for the die-hards that tote the company line --> you need to really be a believer to make that 26cpm work to your favor. It's surprising this company isn't out of Utah or faith based. Some sort of brain-washing is at work here.

and i was considering going to werner!! after the #### i go through here at COVENANT i am seriously once again considering taking my CDL and tossing it. but i would love to see someone stand up to them and if not drop them to the floor--at least give them a good black eye!!!
people just don't listen! it's like in my other posts, listen up yall----these companies are all out to grind you into sausage, eat you,then ###### you out, or whats left of you.
i just did a JB HUNT "puke" load, one they wont do but sell off to a #### comp. like COVENANT, 800 miles, 3 1/2 days to do it and directions that leave you pretty stunned. real bottom feeder ####, can't do much about it, my --dm-- is man of the year there, for analy ripping his drivers at his pleasure and whim.
if the industry were to stand up to these companies, i would be on the front lines slinging my ###### at them! but we will not unite and fight, but just B**CH moan and whine Here and on the cb, thats why things are the way they are.......
AND ALWAYS WILL BE----PERIOD-----
be well and be safe.
from the GRAND SAUSAGE HIMSELF.

Would like to see that link myself.

__________________
I'd rather be brewing

All we would have to do to fix this is convince a bunch of ignorant congressmen and senators that they should craft a bill that would get rid of the unskilled labor classification. If they did that, then labor laws would apply to company drivers.
There is way too much money in there pockets from the ATA and others to allow that to ever happen though.

Well, for starters--of course they are gonna pop you for excess miles over top of what you should have been running--You should have paid attention to the routing, since I know for sure that Werner sends you a routing when they send you a load. I mean if your load is say 500 miles paid and you drive 750, then plan on getting popped by the company. Your maximum out of route miles should be no more than around 10%-12% overall, if they are not then you are not paying attention to how you drive or where you drive. If I realize for some reason that my out of route will be much more than that, due to either road work, detours, or just plain wrong info, then I contact my dispatcher and let them know, that way they have an ok on it, you then can use the qualcomm messages against them if you have to (they are there basically forever) NEVER drive excessive miles overtop the paid miles unless they tell you to. NEVER!

Numer 2, Werner cannot do anything adverse to your DAC, you should order your DAC so you have a copy for yourself(you have the right to a copy every year under the Fair Credit Act), I have outlined how to do this under the Swift thread.

Number 3, if you cant afford the $100 in order to keep your hazmat endorsement, then find a company who doesnt require one--a lot dont anymore because of this. Also, if you went to the right kind of truck driving school then you should have lifetime access to their recruitment files of who recruits there, ask them to send you some info--you may have to start over as a rookie with less than 6 months experience. I see you say that you have about 20,000 miles, that is only about a month and a half experience--so you are probally gonna have to go back with a trainer.

Number 4, why would you move to Florida to get into the trucking industry?? Anybody who is in this industry or has researched it before they got here knows that Florida is one of the worst places to live and be a driver. Tons of freight goes in, but very little comes out--anybody who has taken many loads to Florida, as I have, knows that unless you are lucky you sit and wait for a load or you will dh out to say Georgia. And your chances of getting home often if you live there are probally not good. So if you want to live in Florida, then obviously you have to take what comes with it.

Absolutely. A lot of the problems in this industry would be quickly solved if we were covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Pushing this angle may be the way to go.

Oh, Timtruck...there's freight in Florida, if you're willing to run Food Grade tank. Bynum, Oakley and Indian River are all based out of the Sunshine State.

__________________
No load is worth your life. Or anyone else's.

Don't be exploited--DRIVE LTL!!

You have some of the problems in this industry, thanks to dereg. That is why we are not covered under the fair labor act. Also, you ae not gonna get the drivers in this indusrty together to do anything, we have already figured this out--most just complain and moan about how they are treated but when it comes right down to it, you cant even get 2 to agree on the time of day. The drivers have nobody to blame but themselves for problems in this indusrty. If as many drivers who talk about the problems, were actually interested in solving them--they would have been solved long ago--the government knows this, this is why we have the problems that we do.

Also, I know about the food grade tank, but he said he worked for Werner, how many van loads is there? That's right, not many.