We MIGHT be going with Covenant

Discussion in 'Covenant' started by Rocky64, Oct 27, 2010.

  1. Rocky64

    Rocky64 Medium Load Member

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    Oct 3, 2010
    Greater Chattanooga
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    Pre-Hires from CRST, Swift and Covenant. We have been out of the truck for more than 3 years, so, this is what its come down to...

    CRST wants us to do CDL school and 4 weeks training after we sign an 8 month contract (cut and dry, no smoke and mirrors....)

    Swift wants us to come in and pass a road test, then train for 6 weeks (likely are going to pass me and fail the wife, and then want her to sign a year contract for CDL school)

    Covenant wants us to do a free 4 day refresher after orientation, then start co-driving (no trainer)

    My gut tells me...

    1. I regret ever leaving the truck in the first place. This is me learning a lesson.

    2. CRST will be like it always has been (I would be a rehire) and it wasn't awful, I just dont want to go thru the re-training or the contract.

    3. Swift is where we wanted to go, but the recruiter called last night at 7:30 pm to ask the name phone and address of my wifes cdl school, 2 days after he told me that if she fails the driving test he will offer her cdl school and see to it she is taken care of. Bad vibe.

    4. Covenant is going to assign us a filthy truck, run us on super-solo miles (if we're lucky, if not we'll see less miles), deduct $$ from our first few paychecks for ?? stuff, and be nasty to us if we ever need to call for any reason.

    We anticipate being able to make the best of it with indifference to which carrier we run for, however, it will likely be harder to deal with the company BS than it will be to drive and deal w/shippers, receivers, DOT, ect, ect. Covenant will allow us to drive (or sit waiting for a load) together from day one, which will lower our costs on the road, lower our stress level because I wont be worrying about the safety of the trainer who my wife is with(she's mean). Additionaly, I dont think either of us needs 6 weeks of training, not with the experience that we both have.

    This is what we have to do to get recent experience. Expect a thread from me, that relays all the positive things about our time at Covenant.
     
    FEELTHEWHEEL and Everett Thank this.
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  3. FEELTHEWHEEL

    FEELTHEWHEEL Medium Load Member

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    Oct 19, 2010
    EL Cajon C.A.
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    Good luck to both of you at covenant, hope it works out well for you. I have been out of seat since 2003. That little bit of info about crst has helped me make up my mind.
    I can deal with an 8 month contract.
     
  4. FEELTHEWHEEL

    FEELTHEWHEEL Medium Load Member

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    Oct 19, 2010
    EL Cajon C.A.
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  5. Rocks

    Rocks Road Train Member

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    Husband and wife can make better money running together than two strangers. If you guys can work well with each other, and hopefully you get a good dispatcher that will not screw up all the time and keep you busy, you can do well. But if dsp is not good, send an email to his/her boss and complain and demand another dispatcher.

    We, Cov. drivers are very cheap for this co. and they better take advantage of us and quit screwing up and don't waste our time and give us miles and let us do our job.

    Keep good communication with everybody, they are very disorganized and don't communicate well with each other. Too many people, too many departments.... it's like a dragon with so many heads and one doesn't know what the other one is thinking or doing.... seriously.

    Hopefully they will give you one of their new trucks, with APU and electronic logs.... it may work well for teams.

    GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!:biggrin_25519:
     
  6. Rocky64

    Rocky64 Medium Load Member

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    Oct 3, 2010
    Greater Chattanooga
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    I am glad you posted here, Ive read a few of your posts on Cov.

    A few quick questions.....

    On the topic of communication, who should we be communicating with? load planners, fleet managers? or just the DM, and share everything...???

    It appears that a few of the whiney posts here on TTR indicate that, often teams are running solo miles, now this inst bad news, itll give us time to get re-acclimated to life on the road. I imagine some experienced successful teams are running "team" miles?

    True average length of haul?

    Your reply is appreciated, and we will be at orientation on monday at 7am.
     
  7. Rocky64

    Rocky64 Medium Load Member

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    Oct 3, 2010
    Greater Chattanooga
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    We just made our way over to Hotel Covenant to check in and see where we're gonna live for the next 7 nights. We got to see some of our co-orientationee's while we were there, and because these folks are my peers I feel ok saying wow! Me and my peers ARE the bomb, like a bomb just went off. LOL! We're back at the house doing the last of our chores, packing and planning. I have a lot of the things and truck supplies that I used a few years ago on my last driving job, and well I am going to orientation loaded up! My wife hasnt ever done 48 state OTR, and she thinks Ive packed in preperation of the zombie invasion, which, by the way if it happens, I am prepared. I am going to update every evening during orientation on this thread, and hopefully if we become Covenant employees, I will start a new thread about all the good stuff going on there.
     
  8. jphill3426

    jphill3426 Light Load Member

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    May 6, 2008
    West Point, MS
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    Not saying it doesn't exist but I haven't seen it. However good luck with your adventures.
     
  9. Rocks

    Rocks Road Train Member

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    Communicate everything over QC and email if you get their email address. I found that they don't respond very well and quickly enough if I call them over phone.

    Get name and email addresses of Director of Operations, safety supervisor, your payroll coordinator, fleet manager, load coordinator, your dispatcher's boss, team coordinator, and everybody that might be key important if you need.

    Will send you pm.

    Most of their substitute dispatchers (nights and weekends) are incompetent, don't read QC messages well, misunderstand messagers and other details, don't have enough time to deal with all drivers, are rude, impatient and don't want to be bothered on the phone... Try to avoid dealing with them if all possible.

    About miles, I heard a couple of teams saying they were running well (last summer) and making 6 thousand miles a week. I guess that all depends on the team, and the dispatcher they have.

    I run solo at Cov. pulling only for WalMart. They keep us busy (kindda).... Guarantee 2500 miles a week and reset almost every weekend. Last week I got a good run from Calif to NC 3000 miles :biggrin_25519: Now reseting and will p/up tomorrow.

    I love my dispatcher!! He never bothers us (except when his boss tells him to crack down on drivers who are idling above Cov. ridiculous idle percentage) :biggrin_25510: But he gives us the load assignments and leaves us alone. Always responds our msgs right away and he is always helpful. I have access to my load planner (only one load planner). She is great too and never gives us any schedule that is too tight. We work as a team, we are respected and treated as professional adults.

    Unfortunately the rest of Cov. doesn't follow the same... :biggrin_25513:
     
  10. REDD

    REDD The Legend

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    Dueling Banjoville
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    If you live in Chatt, then why are you staying at hotel Covenant?

    1nonly & I drove by that place several times this past week. If we would of known, we would of stopped & said HI! Still right now your only a couple miles from my place.
     
  11. Rocky64

    Rocky64 Medium Load Member

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    Oct 3, 2010
    Greater Chattanooga
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    We live in Cleveland, and I didnt want to drive in the traffic in the AM and then back in the PM. Not that I dont like to drive, LOL! Just taking it easy. Stop in or drop me a pm and I'll give you my # myself, my wife and you can grab a bite to eat...



    Rocks, Thanks so much for the info. We will use these tips to make the best of things. We like to operate seamlessly, and this is a lot of help.
     
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