Schneider dropped the ball... twice.

So, did you ever end up going with Schneider?

I was initially going to go with Schneider but got an offer that I couldn't refuse driving a box truck for a local school district. At the time, Schneider had a lot of options for the Houston area for dedicated accounts. About a week ago, I applied for both the regional tanker position and the Costco dedicated account, called recruiting, got all the information for both jobs, told them that I needed a night to think about it but would definitely get back to them the next day. I asked if I'd lose either position by waiting a day and was told absolutely not.

Decided on Costco, called back the next day and was told "Sorry, that position is no longer available."

Now the only account they have that isn't tanker, team, or all 48 OTR is a dedicated Coca-Cola position.

I was kinda wondering if you ended up going with Schneider, what account did you get?

 

That’s know as the “bait and switch” or what ####ty company’s do to start off lying to the drivers right out of the gate.

 

Not necessarily.

We have an account that is supposed to have 22 drivers. We (finally) got it fully staffed with dedicated drivers in the beginning of March. Middle of April we had one driver quit due to out of state family issues and one fired for gross stupidity. A new, inexperienced, hire started orientation on April 26. Another started on May 3rd. At some point around that time two current employees applied to transfer over. We now have 4 applicants for two openings.

As an employer would you rather risk an 'experienced' employee quitting or a new hire? Would your answer change if you knew the first inexperienced hire failed orientation (didn't even get to the second week)?

Every week we have 15 slots for inexperienced drivers to start orientation. Recruiting is 'allowed' to book an additional 5 'drivers' because we know that a couple probably won't show up in the first place and a couple more will fail the drug test/pre-work screening. Statistically, one out of three doesn't make it to a trainer's truck; overall two out of five who start orientation don't ever log a single mile on their own. I'd like to say this is because of our strict standards, but if I did I would be lying. If we still made them use manual transmissions and paper logs I think maybe a third would be able to pass.

If you had 5 targets, but knew 1/3 of your rounds would misfire, would you show up to the range with 5 rounds, 10 rounds, or 15 rounds?

 

It sounds like after they brought two guys to orientation, the two current drivers applied for positions that were already filled and should have been told that? If I hired for a specific job and showed up and was told that I would be doing something different, I would at minimum fell lied to. Depending on the situation I would possibly walk.

How could I ever trust a company if they start off lying from day one?

 

JB Hunt does the same thing. Look at the drivers of these 2 companies on the road.

If you can call them drivers.

 

And that's a fair thought, but it's not necessarily accurate.

I can't tell you the exact time line, but from this particular example over a 30 day period they hired 4 people for two positions, and only three started work. I don't know how many other people applied for the open positions.

Look at it this way. 10 people apply for 1 position. At the end of the interview process the company chooses the candidate they think is the best fit, but there are 2 other candidates who they think they can use in other roles. Should they just reject those two, or offer an alternative, definitive job?

It's not an intentional "bait and switch". It's playing the numbers. If you have 100 applicants, you chose the best 10 to interview, give offer letters to 3, and take whomever accepts first. If the other two also accept, offer other applicable roles.

Any outside applicant to a trucking company, particularity those without experience, is a very ephemeral applicant. I know we 'hired' 13 different mechanics for a mobile mechanic role before we found someone who could pee into a cup without issues. If the company doesn't proceed on multiple tracks they may miss out on filling the position.

A real 'bait and switch' would be advertising for a role you knew was already filled (or didn't exist in the first place).

 

I did get another job just recently, but I'm going to keep the name off these forums. Here's the kicker:

I let my CDL go a few years back. My medical card was never reknewed so that dropped my CDL back down to a regular license, here in Florida that would be an "E". When I decided to get back into driving over the road, I was told by everyone I spoke with... CDL schools, trucking companies and so on.

Many companies said I would need a refresher course since it has been so long. So I renew my DOT medical card, head down the the DMV to take my permit tests. The first medical card I got was only good for 90 days because my sugar was a little too high. Then it came time to update that DOT card. Both times I went down to the DMV none of the clerks mentioned anything regarding my CDL.

Got my permit and medical card and start looking for CDL schools to go through this whole nonsense again. The schools told me that the refresher courses were for those who already had their CDL, in order to get my CDL I need to go back to school. I spent 7 painstaking months trying to get on with a company who would train me and start my career all over again. Schneider was the first, then there was 2 others that didn't work out.

Last month I signed up to go through a school with a one year contract and I just returned home, this was an out of state school and they only trained on automatic transmissions which means I would have this stupid restriction on my license. That school is supposed to send in my test results to the Florida DMV where I head home to get my license. It took the DMV 2 weeks to get around to finding those results. Between the trucking company calling the DMV and several emails, the DMV finally found my results.

I had visted the DMV 3 different times and even spoke with a supervisor, no one could find my results. OK, this is where it gets really interesting... my last visit to the DMV I hooked up with a person behind the counter that didn't have his head up his poop shoot. He couldn't find my results either, and then he says, "so why are we looking for test results when all you needed was an updated medical card and we would reinstate your original license?"

I just about fainted, got my original CDL back and no manual/automatic restrictions. So I get home and I get a phone call from the DMV main office. "We have your test results ready so you can now go pick up your license." I get a call from the trucking company who said the same thing. I just thanked them and said "ok".

Obviously at this point I don't need a refresher course because I just went through an Approved FMCSA ELDT Class A school, 160 hours long and two flights, 4 weeks in a hotel room only to start out at very low CPM pay. And now I'm under a one year contract with this company that has all automatic trucks which I hate. It seemed that every training truck had a messed up transmission. Since then I have found several companies who will take me after everything I went through. Heck, who needs a refresher course when I just went through the whole entire course?

The other companies I found, much higher pay and no automatic transmissions and are a much smaller company. Yup, this Monday I'm off with a 4 week finishing program and then a year to get this contract out of the way.

 

Glad everything worked out for you!

 

So, I talked to a recruiter this afternoon and agreed to sign up for a Texas regional Coca-Cola account (if was the only dedicated account available for Houston with weekly home time.)

Is there a real possibility that I could go through orientation and training, then be told that I'm being assigned to something else?