Take 2 Transport Pros & Cons So Far

Western flyer · Feb 27, 2017

Voodoo Pyg said: ↑

I've been seeing you a lot on this forum. Care to share some of your experience with us here as well?
Click to expand...

I live in east Texas. Got a lot of friends who worked
In the patch. Most of them at outlaw frac sand companies
Like yours.

Very few last more than a couple months. Including myself.
Money was great if you could stay up 36 hours straight.
Sleep covered in dirt,
Run 75 mph thru school zones,
Don't even bother doing a log book,
None of the equipment could pass a DOT inspection,
Break every DOT rule known to mankind.

The money wasn't worth the risk.
One mistake and you don't have a leg to stand on.
Nothing matches up,fueling,logs,BOL'S. nothing.
And the company is gonna blame you for breaking the rules.

I'm having flashbacks when you talk about this company.
It's a splitting image of the first job I had in the patch.
Right down to loosing contracts and being kicked
Off the sites.

That was my first stint in the patch.
Took me a couple years to get over that nightmare
and give it another try.

The next time I spent a month in south/west Texas being
Extremely picky about who I jumped on with.
Frac sand was not a option, found a water company
Running e-logs, 12 hour shifts. 4 on 2 off.
And they paid for my rv spot,so I lived for free.

I wasn't about to be run in the ground again.
Made good money till it all dried up a couple years ago.
I'm with a private fleet now. I make more now than I
Did in the patch.

I still keep a eye on it though. After being on the road
For 15 years I actually felt human again getting off
At 6 pm every night and having real days off.

Donman123 · Sep 19, 2022

Voodoo Pyg said: ↑

Hello friends. It's your friendly Warthog here again with another update. So without further ado, I'll begin.

I returned to work with the company on February 17th to some really ####ed up results. I'll start with the beginning. My great-aunt passed away February 6th after a long life of Missionary work. Around 23:30 that night I had just returned from Houston, Texas with a load and had needed fuel to make it to the staging pad. I was told that someone would meet me at the Flying Hook with a fuel card. Note: There were only maybe 5 or 6 fuel cards to 20-30 trucks at the time. So I waited in the truck stop with the phone practically glued to my head. I did not receive a phone call until about 03:30 the next morning, wondering if anyone had shown up. My answer was an emphatic "no" and Dispatch hung up the phone. I slept until about 08:00 when I was told to go and offload the trailer as "the customer was expecting me". Once again I reiterated that I DID NOT have the fuel capacity to make it there, but obliged the request as long as they were prepared to utilize a wrecker. After much arguing and back and forth throat slashing, I received the fuel... If only the loving could've lasted forever.

I did make it to the customer only to be turned around and sent back as the time had expired on that load and they were switching the well heads on the pad. Right back to the truck stop where I joined the rest of the truck drivers for the better of the next 27 hours. This is where the argument gets good folks. Below, I'll type the exchange verbatim. D=Dispatch P=Pyg

P: Update?
D: No response.
P: @1436 Update?
D: No response.
P: UPDATE?! @1924
D: The well is down. They'll let us know.
P: 27 hours with a load. How ridiculous... May I just go home?
D: The well is down right now. There (They're) changing well heads. They've been taking trucks in there (they're) starting the well at 10 in the morning. But there (they're ) still calling them in slowly.
P: After this, I'm packing it in. I'm taking my ball and going home. Lately, it's been costing me more to work here than I've made.
D: Well your (you're) not gna (gonna) make any money running like you run you guys wanna stop and sleep shut down for 8-10 hours. The guys that make money run. They catch a couple hours here and there.
P: Sorry for not being an outlaw and not trying to fudge a log book. I know they cheat. They admit it wholeheartedly. Not my fault DOT sees you before you see them. And if I did run that way with zero to no assistance as I do legally, what would be the excuse then?
D: I understand but that (that's) the only way to make good money. So you Quiting (quitting) or just taking days
P: Is that a challenge? 1st off, my first check was nearly $2000 back when I first started out here months ago. It's been proven that I'm no slacker out here. My logs were as legal as they came. So if you need proof that I was out here with my foot through this floorboard, I still have those log books. You can also go through the office files on they still have them. I'd turn a load and be ready for more. 2nd, as far as taking 8 and 10 hour breaks, the day you're referring to is the day I was up 26 hours straight. I was NOT going to kill myself or anyone else driving sleep on this highway. I may have a crappy life, but I love it enough to stay free for my wife.
The only reason I'm b****ing so is the politics out here. I just lost someone around the time that I called for fuel last night. Been dealing with that all day. I'm busting my ##* out here for a new vehicle I desperately need so in case another death occurs. Needing $1200 I'm not even sure I made this living through a week worth of breakdown (I know. Even a 2017 breaks) and senseless delays. Been trying to play catch up since. At the risk of getting reprimanded or fired I'll say these are the facts. I'm just taking days. I don't quit without a valid reason.
D: No I understand. All I'm saying is some of the guys that run hard take home 3000 a pay period but it (it's ) up to you we don't push you. I'm sorry about your loss.

Needless to say that I did in fact go home after that. The truck was still suffering electrical issues and I took it back to the yard and went home for what I thought was just a few days. That turned into a week. As luck would have it a bunch of the trucks turned out to be leased to the company (mine included) and the my boss was sick of the leasee cheating him on repairs. We were short trucks and well all was quiet there. I would call every day for an update and be told one fable after another. On February 13th, I was called at midnight by the boss and told me that he had canned two drivers and there was a truck available. He wanted me to come in at midnight which I declined on the grounds that everyone I knew was asleep and it wouldn't be fair to break another's sleep in the company. So we setup a pickup for the next day. No one showed up. Call? more issues with the truck. Next day? Same issues. Meet them on payday? Truck still ####ed up. My original truck? Out and about with my personal possessions on it. Call the next day? Cursed out and yelled at for calling too much (spouse recorded the conversation). So I opted to call no more.

After receiving a sure call to return, I did return to work on the 17th and my first order of business was finding the truck with my possessions on it. Sadly no one told me about the lease agreement falling through and I was told later (See above). When the truck was found later, I made a horrid discovery. Not only had they "cleaned" the truck , they cleaned me as well. Stolen from me were my jumpsuit, one of my snake skin boots (go figure) my basket with dirty laundry, and my toolbox had been picked through and all of the best tools taken. So all in all I lose clothes, a boot given to me by a man who is no longer among the living, and half of my tools. However I did receive my own fuel card (finally). But again I say: If only the loving could've lasted forever.

After receiving my first load in forever and a quick trip to the Wal-Mart, I returned to doing what I love. I also came to find out that the company was under investigation though the details were obscure. After two loads, I discovered a crack in the seal on the product line that was not allowing the trailer to offload properly. I had to return to the yard for a weld and also explain losing the DOT bumper on my trailer after pulling another driver out of a hole. What can I say? I believe in the days when drivers helped each other though I wasn't around for them. Then I was dispatched again to San Antonio for a load. Sadly the job was put on hold due to the storm system that was taking place in the area. On February 20th, I was told to bring the truck into the yard. Apparently, we were kicked off of that contract though I still don't know why. The date is currently February 23rd and the only call I've received was for missing logs for the DOT audit. No communication since.

Currently, I'm looking into other options for a career. I'm looking into other companies in the area and possibly returning to corrections for work. I'm still currently employed here at Take 2 Transport friends. What will say so far from just how long I've been here is this: This is a good company to get your start in the oilfield part of the industry. They don't require you to be a dinosaur before giving you the job. As far as longevity, I leave that t the prospective driver to decide.

P.S. I know some are going to call me a "whiner" but I could care less. I've been called far worse and don't really mind the go, go, go of the oilfield. On top of that, I do run loose leaf log books. I just don't want to be a danger to the rest of those on the road due to malfunctions of equipment or lack of proper rest in between loads. So save your insults.
~<3~ Voodoo Pyg.
Click to expand...

I'm going through the same bs right now.
I would quit, but don't have gas money to get home.
Plus, they won't pay you the last week you work if you quit.
Unless you trick them.
I'm missing my old reefer unit.

Voodoo Pyg · Sep 19, 2022

Donman123 said: ↑

I'm going through the same bs right now.
I would quit, but don't have gas money to get home.
Plus, they won't pay you the last week you work if you quit.
Unless you trick them.
I'm missing my old reefer unit.
Click to expand...

I didn't even know this was still being read. Now I'm not sure if you realize that the said company no longer exists in any capacity. This company was in Alice, Texas back in 2017. My advice is to work and get whatever check you can get and then bounce. Find another job first. Have you filled out any applications? Don't quit without at least a substantial amount to get you through to a new orientation. As far as not giving you your last check if you quit, that is a labor board issue. They do have 45 days to answer back before you can go through with that.

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