The begining (so far so good)

Its so cool to read your diary... sounds like me when I was training... couldnt get the smile off my face!
Keep trucking and keep those stories coming! Remember : Rule #1: DONT PANIC! is what my instructor always told me!

 

Hey there Budda, hope this finds you still doing well. I also am enjoying reading about your exploits. I will be starting school in Oct. and am thinking of doing this type of journal also. My co. of choice so far is ATS out of St. Cloud. I found out about TA a little late, so it will be good to hear about your experiences. I plan on staying put for a year at least, that seems to be the general consensus from the veterans here. Hopefully my journal will help someone else too! Keep us posted and stay safe!

 

Buddha;

I'm glad that you like Transport America. Where is your home terminal? My Dad was with Transport America for 13/12 yrs. They are not oonly good with the drivers but they were real good with our family when my Dad had his accident that caused the end of his career as a truck driver. Now one of my best friends drives for TA and he loves it to. Our home termina; for my Dad and him is North Jackson, Ohio. I wish you the best of luck with your career at Transport America.

 

Good to hear your liking your new job mate,

My name is Dougie and I live in Australia.

I am really interested in finding out more about this training facility that hired you, or even some similar companies.

I have had over 25 years experience driving just about anything here all over the country and my father did the same all his life.

Thanks and safe truck'in

 

if you so much as put a scratch on the truck , you will find it on your DAC Rick and Jeff in safety SUCK they think they are god and will slam your DAC record and make you unemployable .

 

Hey Buddha, are you still working for Transport America? I've been reading your posts with interest because Transport America is one of the companies I'm considering. Are you still out there?

Does anyone else have any opinions on this company?

 

I was with them for 3 1/2 weeks. I liked orientation. I was treated right, the food was pretty good, the other students were nice, they paid for my transportation.

I got out with a trainer and it was awful. After hearing again and again and again to not cheat on logs, don't drive when tired, and these whispers that it was all just words, I found out, it was words. While out with my trainer I was expected to cheat logs by breaking the 10 hour and 14 hour rule, and drive fatigued. My trainer's favorite cheat was taking a 8-9 hour break. There is a presentation going on right now called "Value Driven Driving" which is a really good presentation. I saw the two hour presentation at orientation, then my trainer wanted me to watch it again because "if I have to watch it, you have to watch it."

My trainer started getting hostile with my in the second week. While we were at a terminal he called me into a side room and started attacking me on my motivation and commitment because I wasn't motivated enough to break the law. He criticized a safety inspection that I had done the day before. That was one thing he liked to do: to criticize me for things the next day or days later than at the time just to make me look bad. He decided we should talk to the terminal manager about the situation. I told her what was going on with the cheating and she told me that that was wrong and she would talk to him about it. We decided that we'd just try to finish the training and not try to get a new trainer. I didn't call the student trainer manager Sparky because of that.

Another few days went by, my trainer told me to be at the terminal at 4pm, so I was, and he wasn't there. He did the same thing last week. He was 2 hours late. He got there a half hour late this time and we left at 5pm and got to the delivery point at 10pm. We were supposed to deliver at 7am the next morning. So, we could only take a 9 hour break. If he had gotten to the terminal on time though we would have gotten to the customer on time and been able to take the legal 10 hour break. I was done, I decided that my 10 hour break is my 10 hour break and he had no right to expect me to work. So I didn't get up until he was ready to pull out at 7:30. We pulled out of the dock and he started cussing me out saying things like, "I need to get the hell out of bed" and "I'm going to drop your ### at the terminal," and so on. I spent the next two days in the passenger's seat doing nothing hour after hour after hour. He refused to let me drive. When we got to the terminal I called the driver student manager Sparky and the terminal safety manager. That's another strange thing about Transport America, so many people there have titles that include the word "safety."

I talked to the manager about it, I gave my story, my trainer denied cheating and denied cussing me out and turned everything around on me by saying things like, "I don't want to listen, I don't care, I fall asleep while I'm driving, I can't drive very long, I don't get up." I brought up the fact that I had only asked to stop driving once in the two weeks, I never asked to stop for food or bathroom breaks, I never refused to drive or do any other work, I did everything he wanted me to other than break the law. I said that he's just making things up to avoid the issue, and the issue is he's breaking the law and cussing me out. The safety manager said that the company does not condone violating hours of service. At that point I half-way believed him and half-way didn't.

I called Sparky who was really angry with me from the moment he picked up the phone. He had obviously already talked to my trainer and made his decision on who was lying and who wasn't. He asked me if I was on my 10 hour break at a dock yard and a customer asked me if I would bump the dock before my break ended. I didn't know what I should say. I told him I wouldn't get myself to that point in the first place. I would show up on-time and plan it so I could make on time deliveries without breaking the law. He told me he doesn't care if it was the beginning, middle, or end of my 10 hour break if a customer wants me to make a delivery, I do what they want. Being the person who I am I didn't say anything in response, but my question to him is who is he to expect me to break the law and put my butt on the line to prison time or crazy fines? And just to make sure that this was Transport America's true unwritten policy, I called and talked to some of the people in my orientation class. All four of them said the same thing, that their trainers broke the hours of service, some of them even ran team. Sparky told me that he and my trainer had been friends for a long time, that he was a good trainer and he never knew him to cuss at students. I knew I was screwed then. I got fired that day. I believe the official reason was because I didn't listen and follow my trainer. I asked then to let me go with another trainer and show them that I could drive all day and that I have a good attitude and so on, but they refused to even give me a chance. The only thing I admitted to was refusing to drive in violation of HOS, and this is obviously the reason why they fired me.

The story doesn't end there though. My trainer told me that he would take me down to the terminal where my car was, but after I told on him he told me he wouldn't. That's the kind of person he is. I won't say his name here but he's the trainer from the North Liberty, IA terminal and he really likes the Green Bay Packers. I was fired at the terminal in Eagen, MN. I got a taxi ride to the Greyhound Station, took two buses on a 12 hour trip to the Iowa City, IA station. At this point it was 3am and I was about 15 miles away from the terminal and my car. The station was closed, so I was stuck outside in the middle of the night, in January, it 5 degree weather, in a strange town. I called the terminal to get a taxi and was told by the fuel clerk that the message he got was that I was either to pay for my own taxi or wait until the morning and someone would get me. I guess they expected me to wait another 4 hours like that? Luckily someone was nice and helped me out and I made it back. If I hadn't gotten help from someone or didn't have enough money for a cab I don't know what I would have done, probably called the police.

I look back on the situation and think it over. There's nothing I could have done differently than cheat and put myself and others at risk. My trainer might be able to drive breaking the HOS, but I can't, not at this point. Why should someone have to die so Transport America can make a few more dollars? I really regret going with TA. I regret putting up with that for so long to. If you go with TA and want to quit or think you're going to get fired, try to do it when you're at home or near your car. They're pretty nice to you until you tell them no.

On another note, I got a company wide message saying they're discontinuing a reward program that allows trucks to go 68 miles per hour, and setting the max to 65, and max cruise to 62. They also said freight is going to be slow for 2008 because of the economy. They're demanding more out of their workers for the same pay. That probably means for breaking HOS too, which means more deaths cause by TA drivers. For now I'm going with Schneider. I checked out their ISS rating and it's better than TA's. Overall the chance of a Schneider driver killing someone is lower than TA's.

 

Hi I am an ex employee of TA and have become black listed because of DAC entries from Transport America . I am asking anyone who has had false and misleading entries to their DAC record by TA please contact me ASAP.
My first year with TA was great I had Bob for a FM and this man is awesome I just wish I had got the chance to meet him in person . Things changed very fast as my trainer told me right before he cut me loose , he warned me that TA would look for a way to get rid of me if I did the right thing . He was right. They have charged me with 5 accident/incidents and refuse to give details and have lied about damage. All of these things were NON PREVENTABLE INCIDENTS but they refuse to tell the truth to anyone . The last thing that happened took place right outside the gate at North Jackson and it was told to safety that IT WAS NOT DRIVER FAULT and a witness also told them what had happend the witness was told to get out of the office and keep your mouth shut . Not to mention the mechanic who told safety it was not driver fault
Anyone having had a problem like this with TA please contact me ASAP

And to all of you who are under the impression that DAC will do the right thing and help you . I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THEY WILL NOT DO ANYTHING FOR YOU DAC gets paid for every page that these companies submit and then they sell it at a huge profit . Do not trust them I have been reserching USIS for over a year now and its the same thing over and over .
The courts are siding with DAC and the companies who use them .Ladies and Gentleman open your eyes and open your mouths and lets do something about it , the more we ##### and make waves the more the powers that be will be forced to listen and take action . USIS needs to be put down and the only thing that these companies should go by are your state MVR and a simple drug test and a basic NCIC report .If you have an accident , it will show on your MVR how do I know this , my dad was a cop for many years and you learn alot growing up in a house where your dad was a cop and your mom works for the legal Dept for the US Government not to mention al the lawyers in your home . But not to many lawyers are aware of DAC and their unlawfull practices . WE HAVE TO POWR TO STOP THIS MADNESS SO LETS GO