Honey Transport

Honey Tranport, aka Bestway Refrigerated, aka CC&T Trucking, of Plymouth (Apopka), FL is not a good company to work for. This is only my opinion and others could be different. I will list my personal experience.

Went to orientation in Apopka, FL for this company and it consisted of watching a 6 hour home made video. It was made by the old orientation person that worked there. This guy goes thru the office and introduces you to the President of the company, his son, the VP (who retired 2 years ago), safety (who is no longer there), and the shop. You get introductions and each has a little spill for 45 min or better on what not to do with their trucks. General no nonsense stuff that every CDL driver with 2 years exp (which is required to work there) should no not to do. Stuff like speeding, tailgaiting, falling asleep behind the wheel, etc. Just as you are starting to fall asleep after the safety one, they pause video for a break. This is already 3 hours into their so called orientation.

Then you load up in a ragidy truck and take your driving test. It is good for if you can't shift this hunk of junk, then you can't shift their new truck. I can see that making sense, but you better have a towel to put on the seat or you will have grease all over your pants. You do a quick back up into the make shift dock, park truck, then go back to video for the shop portion. Keep in mind that the only interaction you had up to this point was the road test. No one else says a word while you are wathing this lengthy video.

Then in the shop portion, the head mechanic (who was fired 4 or 5 years ago) shows in the video step by step on how to do a pretrip inspection, how to "thump" your tires to verify you have "proper" tire pressure in them (which I disagree with for only way to properly tell is to put a gauge on them), How to check your oil, haow to add oil, how to check antifreeze, etc... I mean it is really asinine. Then it goes into how to set your reefer and check your unit. Best part was, the video showed a Thermo King SBII Unit and they don't even use that type anymore. They are using a Thermo King SBIV Super Freeze units that are designed for -20 and -30 quick freeze loads... If you never have operated one, this video won't help you for you still need to pull up to shop and ask how to use it. I mean this veideo even shows you how to place a lock on the trailer door. That is how ridiculous this video is. I was so bored out of my mind.

After the video, you go to lunch. It is now 3 PM. They say be back at 330 PM for last part of orientation. They say they cover lunch, but you find out that they don't at orientation. They tell you they add $10 to you first check to "reimburse you for lunch and cleaning supplies." That should have been sign number one of the lies. I was stupid and kept on. I am optimistic and thought ok, maybe "I" misheard or something with all the info from various companies.

You come back from lunch and the recruiter pulls you aside. He then tells you taht because of your exemplary record, they will offer you another penny per mile and 2 pennies in 90 days. Just don't tell the other 3 peole at orientation with you. I was like, ok, cool. You go to room and notice recruiter talking to next guy that showed up, and the next. ! walks in bragging and you find out that you all 3 were told same thing. I was like, wow...

Now the payroll gal comes in. She takes 10 min and goes over the paperwork right quick and hands you a little book. She says all you need to know is in the book and to read it. It explains how to do the paperwork and she is too busy to stick around for drivers are on hold on the phone for her. Now the fuel cards, keys, logs, other paperwork are haded to you. Recruiter says welcome to a HTI, a "family owned" company that treats you like family, not a number. I stood there with my jaw dropped and thought, if family owned, I wouldn't have wasted all that time watching a video. Instead, I would have met these people and been on my way.

You go to truck and find it trashed. So you tell shop that the 2006 KW T600 is filthy and it needs to be cleaned. The bed looks like someone pulled it out of dumpster, dash has soda all over it, floor is caked with mud, garbage in all the cabinets. Then they say, oh, here is a rag and bucket. Soap over there. You clean truck. Then you are looking around wondering, where is the qualcom. You are told there is a qualcom in truck, but you can't locate it. I didn't even to think of looking for it when I first got in for truck smelled like a farm and I wanted to clean it, then look for what needed to be fixed on it.

I go to shop and ask about qualcom. Shop laughs at me. They say they don't run qualcom in their trucks for they cost too much. I go to office and look for recruiter. I ask about him telling me there is a qualcom and there isn't. He said he told me they give me a reimbursement on my cell phone. I just send bill to company and they reimburse it. I was like, ok, this is weird. I ran for a small outfit that didn't have qualcom before, but they issued Nextel radios. That company was local, not OTR like this one.

I clean truck, get new mattress in it, get repairs made and head out on road. 1 week later, truck starts coding out and making "burping" sounds. I go to shop and get new Turbo put on. Wastegate is bad and Turbo gets replaced. I return home a week later. When I get home, I have a letter in mailbox of a write up for not calling company each day, twice per day, to give status checks. They dispatcher didn't even tell me this when I call for load info, at my stops, etc... I call HTI and ask about it and they said dispatcher isn't who I call. I got to call someone else twice per day, even if I call my dispatcher. I was like, this is really weird. Do they want me driving ar calling everyone in the office all day?

I go out the second time out. I then get told my dispatcher is no longer my dispatcher. Now I have dispatcher in different regions of country and this all depends on which part of country I am. On top of that, these people work for sister company, Bestway Refrigerated. They are sales/brokers. The dispatcher in beginning was only there for first trip out so I could transition into this system, or so I was told.

I get a load going from Theodora, AL (at a warehouse that they own) of Frozen Food going to Deepwater, NJ. It has 16 stops on it. 1600 or so miles and a week later, I am in Deepwater. I am told no freight. Must sit weekend and run local loads int NYC. Monday comes and I deliver 5 stops around NYC, then pickup 3 stops in Elizabeth, NJ to take to Deepwater. I ask Deepwater when will I go out. They say at end of week when loads are built up. I was like what? I run locals all week? They say yep. I then do the week of locals and Friday night I get a nice load to Burbank, CA. It has 1 problem. It has 11 stops on it and I don't make Burbank for a week and half later. I asm calling dispatcher in Florida asking why so many stops and I am blown off. All I get is talk to recruiter.

I call recruiter leave message after message for him. Friday evening, while I am in Burbank waiting on a load to San Francisco and back, he tells me that they are an LTL company. They specialize in LTL freight. I told him that he stated that company averages 2800-3000 miles per week. This is what was told prior to orientation, during orientation, and bragged about by some drivers in yard that were coming in when I was heading out. Why am I getting only 1800-2000 miles with a ton of drops, plus I have to unload trailers for "lumpers cost too much?" He says, that is the nature of the business. After I have been here for a couple of years, I will start seeing those numbers for the senior drivers get the truckload freight. All the new drivers do the LTL freight.

Now I am upset and ask to go home ASAP. I do my run to San Francisco and return to Burbank. I am told I have a load waiting to be loaded there going to Theodore, AL. I get there and learn that it is on 5 other trucks waiting for me to arrive. These drivers all look upset for they have been wating on my for 2 days. I tell them I had to run a load to San Francisco that took 2 days to get off and drive down empty. They said they were told I was already in Burbank and I was empty there whole weekend. I'm thinking that the right hand and left hand are not communicating in the middle anywhere.

I get the 7 stop load from these drivers loaded on trailer. I finally make Theodore, AL and am told to drop trailer in door with their 3 pallets of Ice Cream bars. I am to grab another trailer out of another door and take it straight to yard in Plymouth (Apopka). It is load of tires, parts for motors, trailer parts, etc that was lying around in Theodore from a wrecked truck that they are rebuilding for local use in Florida.

I pull into yard and go straight into recruiting office. I tell him that this company isn';t working out for me for I was lied to right from the start. He actually told me that if I was told truth, I would not have worked for him. That if I saw my check and see how much money I made, I will change my mind. He then hande me my check and says look at all the money I made. It grossed $686.51. I laughed at him and said you call this good money? YOu are out of your mind and I quit. Keep in mind, this check for 2 weeks of work for they pay bi-weekly. I unloaded all my gear into the car and before I even turned the keys in, some other driver walked up and said that he just got out of orientation and was told that I had the keys to his truck. I was thinking wow, they sure know how to turn over their fleet of trucks.

This is only my personal experience with them. If you like LTL freight, lots of sitting (you won't complain of not sleeping), unloading all your own freight for $75/trailer, doing loads to California with lots of stops in between, then this is a great company for you! It just isn't that good of a company for me.

I will say that they did not ding my DAC report. In fact, they put on my report that I was a "Exceptional" driver. It just isn't the work for me.

 

It says exceptional. I am looking right at it.

It goes like this.

Contributed by: Honey Transport Inc
General Delivery
Plymouth, FL 32768

Original Data received by DAC on **/**/****

Period of Service: ****
License Number: ****
Eligible for rehire : Yes
Reason for Leaving :Resigned/Quit (or driver terminated lease)
Status: Company Driver
Driver's Experience: Over the Road
Single Driver
Freight Handling
Equipment Operated: Refrigerated
Loads Hauled: Refrigerated
Work Record: EXCEPTIONAL

I left the personal info out for my own protection, obviously. This is exactly how it is shown on my DAC report from Hire Right, dated Nov. 20, 2009.

If you run out of the Florida yard, your pay is now bi-weekly there. Call Lori, she will confirm with you. The recruiter is John. He is a prick. Marty in Alabama is a low life as well! Only guy in Alabama I really cared for was Randy. New Jersey people, forget about it. They act like you don't exist. Even if you are standing right there in front of them, they act like you are not there.

Ask around to all the people there. I guarantee you that if you find any of the guys that have been there, they will back up my story. They have you cook the books. If they are not right, they tell you to sit there in the office in Plymouth and "show" you how to do the log book so it will look correct if they get audited. Per stories there, they call you while you are on road and tell you to be clean for a urine test by time you get to yard so your test is clean. These guys are really shady. Only drivers that are there are drivers that can't work elswhere and I guaranteee that old Patrick (who posted up top) is one of them. This comany advertises that they will hire you if you are a felon that has been off parole for 1 year.

Want to know how bad this company is and you can call them up and ask about the "true" owner of the company. Ask them on when his parole date will be for you need to talk to him. The "true" owner is in prison right now. He was caught running dope in Texas. His name is Thomas. His brother, Dave, took over in 2007 when Tom was arrested. 2 weeks later, the VP was fired (told to retire or else) and that is when Ricky took over. That is also when the trucks were cut way back on their speed. They cut them to 75, then to 70 to "clean up what Tom did."

I bet you are going to tell me these are lies as well? Before you do, ask Randy and Kenny in Mobile the truth on the ownership of the company. Heck, ask HL the next time you see him in New Jersey. He is the other brother and he is the one who told me all this info. Why would he lie to other drivers about his own brother? You think he is driving that truck because he wants to? Being a part owner of 100 trucks and driving truck and delivering some loads worse than the other drivers because he enjoys it? Trust me. There is more going on there than you think. HL wouldn't be driving if Tom didn't go to prison, HL let Tom take the fall and he got out of the office to cover his behind to make him look clean...

But that is such a great company...

 

Per Charlie, the one eyed guy with glass eye that works on weekend, you will not get a blemish unlesss you owe money. If you owe them money, they will place an abandonment on your record until you pay it back. Then they will change it. This is what he told me when I gave him my notice and he was correct. However, kiss your escrow good bye. They say you will get it back if you give a notice. They sent me a picture of a tire and said it was on a trailer that I was pulling and I damaged it. They took my escrow and said it was to pay for tire, but they did give me my full final check. So beware of that when you leave. If you owe nothing, it will be Exceptional every time. They just mark "Review required" on the rehire. This is if you resign. I heard that if you get fired, they will ding you on your DAC.

I'm not sure on where to look for work in Mobile. I can give a few places down here, but they are all local gigs and you would have to live within 50-75 miles of their yards.

I wish I could help you out. I acccept your apology for calling me a liar. I know you are just protecting your company and I understand that. I also agree that all companies have their issues. I have worked for several, but won't say anything of them. These guys, however, will get you busted and thrown into prison. I would feel like garbage if I didn't warn anyone. Some drivers are happy there for they get to run in big KWs, but equipment is nothing when you get low pay, ripped off with lumpers, treated like a kid, etc.