Central Oregon Truck Company liars and cheats

Maybe they are spending all their money on safety instead of paying the drivers. Their Driver and Vehicle SEA scores are below 50 and their ISS-D score is 36, Recommendation = PASS. Maybe the OP can get real specific about the issues he had with them!

Sorry, I misread their ISS-D, it's actually 31!

 

do they still have a yard in alabama, because when i talked to them, they told me i can make 60,000 easily.

 

You worked for them for 1 week. You didn't even give it a chance. You should give a carrier at least 90 days. 6 months would be better. Any thing less is a waste of there's and your time. A week, something tells me the problem was 60+% you.

 

I haul alongside those guys quite a bit & I've never heard more than the routine complaints from any of their drivers.

I don't understand how they can have "run down, broken down tractors and trailers" when everything they have is basically new!

How can you complain about home time if you only worked there a week?

 

FYI, traveler44066 and mojoe are the same person.
I read through numerous entries and all the complaints trying to find a good company with a minimum of complaints. When I read MOJOE's entry for Central Oregon Truck Company, I can state categorically and from first-hand experience what he wrote I experienced. His was not the grumblings of one dissatisfied driver.
Central Oregon Truck Company repeatedly lied to me. What COTC didn't know, and I highly recommend all drivers do this, is to record all telephone conversations with the company. I now possess the actual voice recordings of all phone conversations I had with the COTC staff. After five court venues, two in State court and three in federal district courts, it makes it very difficult for COTC to deny having said something to a driver when it is on tape.
I was hired on by COTC to do a dedicated lane between Denver and Albuquerque. This was in the contract. It never happened. The COTC recruiter stated specifically that the dedicated lane was well established and was one of COTC's most productive areas. This position was well advertised in the Denver Post and Rocky Mtn. News want ads. A later investigation revealed the Colorado DOT and New Mexico DOT port of entry records showed I was the first COTC tractor to pass through the Ft. Collins POE . There were no entries for the Raton Pass POE for COTC. They lied to me. No route had ever been established nor was it viable. COTC clearly knew this. This was a fraudulent employment practice better known as bait and switch.
During the orientation I attended. I was informed COTC had a driver turnover rate of 67%. This is staggeringly high for a small company and clearly indicates a real problem. He would say anything to get me into the seat. I was repeatedly informed by the COTC safety manager that all tractors and trailers were up to date, inspected and ready to go. The orientation group was informed that we would be paid tarp pay of $10.00, be paid for downtime, deadheading and detention. After leaving orientation, I was assigned a tractor trailer and told to go pick up my cargo located in Saganaw, OR to be delivered in Denver, CO. Upon arrival I would commence driving the previously assigned dedicated lane. The first day, I lost 8 unpaid hours at the shipper for an electrical breakdown waiting for the repairs. Day two, the right side trailer tires shredded just inside Utah Idaho line and I lost another 8 unpaid hours. Day three, the left side trailer tires shredded in between Rawlins and Ft. Steel on I-80 losing another 6 unpaid hours. Day four, I dropped my cargo and proceeded to a trailer repair yard. I lost another 8 unpaid hours waiting for a trailer re-alignment. Proceeding on, I was directed by dispatch to proceed to Gypsum, CO to pick up the cargo and proceed to Mtn. Home Idaho, not on my assigned dedicated lane. Dispatch misdirected me on the wrong roads. After dropping the load in Mtn. Home, I was directed to Boise to pick up another load, nowhere near my assigned run. Upon arrival, I found another company was departing with my cargo. I call this in to dispatch. They inform me I am to drive where they tell me to go. Further, dispatch tells me they are unaware of the dedicated lane I was assigned and contracted. Dispatch then directs me to Pendleton, Oregon, still further from my assigned lane. I loose an additional 24 unpaid hours due entirely to dispatch screw-ups. 0ver 48 hrs were lost due entirely to downtime and dispatch errors in the first week. I never got paid. I was never reimbursed for the scales. I was never paid for tarping. I learned quickly that COTC dispatchers were unable to read a road map. Promises, promises, all on tape recordings.
A number of writers on this thread defend the company stating Mojoe should have given the company 90 days. When it becomes clear the driver is getting screwed, why would anyone continue to let them screw you? Do drivers eat air? Who can pay their bills with company promises? Other than Mojoe, I would suspect several of the the thread writers probably work for COTC.
I was contacted by my former employer and asked to return immediately. I made arrangements to be met in Stockton, my drop point. Upon arrival, I located the trailer within the fenced yard, tossed the keys on the seat and called in telling COTC I would not be continuing with them any further. Oregon is an employment-at-will state and no reason or notice is required by either party. In fact, the COTC personnel manual requests the driver complete his run before he quits. I followed the manual. I get in the plane and head for Long Beach, my next point of departure. I am certain I will be paid for my labors.
Two days later, I receive several calls from COTC. I am now in the middle of Missouri with a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the passenger seat next to me. COTC wants to know where the load is. COTC files a police report seeking restitution from me making the false claim that the trailer was in both Kansas and Oklahoma. COTC is a confused bunch. Another driver is dispatched to Stockton. He verifies the cargo is where I said I left it, along with the paperwork, inside the locked gate.
COTC lists every infraction known to DAC and apply to my DAC report. This includes using the fuel card in an inappropriate manner claiming mishandling of company funds.
I file suit against COTC in Deschutes County for libel and defamation. The judge, having been a resident of Prineville, OR is highly biased. She actively protects both COTC and their attorney from me. She does not enforce the laws or rules of procedure. She was a former resident of Prineville, OR. After dozens of subpoenas, motions to produce and writs of mandamus in four court venues, COTC failed to produce any evidence or documentation I had never committed any infraction. I delivered my cargo on time. COTC was unable to produce even my drivers' log books much less any evidence of disciplinary action. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, they are required to do so. Had they had any evidence they would have waived it around like a giant red flag. There was nothing. I came very close to cleaning out COTC and their employees. Had the judge been fair and unbiased, the COTC employees would have lost their possessions and a lot more.
I have now disputed my DAC report four times. The latest I used six pending subpoenas to produce the same evidence previously demanded. All parties to the law suits including COTC's attorney, clearly recognized the statements made by COTC were false and could not be corroborated. I will be filing a complaint with the State of Oklahoma Attorney General's office and the Federal Trade Commission against Hire Rite/DAC for making and maintaining false/untrue statements on a credit report, a violation of 15 USC chapter 41. I will also be filing a complaint against COTC with the Oregon Attorney General for filing false statements and filing a false police report. The filing and subsequent publication of false reports falls directly under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Any statement made must be true and well documented. I am certain I am not the first COTC driver to get screwed, right along with Mojoe. In short, if anyone even thinks of dealing with COTC, record all conversations and get ready to file a complaint.
There isn't a trucker in this country that doesn't know the DAC reports are based on personal opinions and subjective at best. Hire Rite/DAC does not require proof or evidence, only the company's statement. If the company doesn't like you for any reason, the you're screwed. Hire Rite needs to be stopped through federal and state action. So does COTC.
My attorney in Bend managed to tell me the truth only twice. He stated the witness against me was unreliable, and he informed me COTC was a sleazy company. Moreover, the summons server I hired to serve papers on COTC stated he was down there (to Prineville) at least weekly. The 67% turnover rate speaks for itself.
Be careful with this company. Be forewarned and hire on at your own risk. Record all conversations. Hope you get paid.

 

I don't buy that. Sometimes, on the first or second day you know you've made a mistake. It's happened to me a time or two,and not anywhere near the experiences written about here.