My KLLM company driving experience so far...

Wookie Dude · Jul 25, 2012

PowerhustleR said: ↑

I have been driving for Kllm for over 16 years. I have found that attitude and luck play a large factor. I will admit its a balancing act. Also I would say that Midwest is the only way to go. The people up here are phenomenal. Good luck to you in your future adventures..
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I can not agree any more - the folks at the Portage yard are amazingly nice and respectful to the drivers. For the few times that I have spent on their yard they were awesome - I even requested back in March to be placed in the Midwestern region under their dispatch and was shot down because I live in Louisiana. It's like the folks up in Indy are not the same company that I had to deal with for OTR driving - they are 1000000% courteous and respectful. Even the local dispatch up there is the exact opposite of the douchebags that run the night dispatch windows in Jackson and Atlanta. I'd drive for midwestern regional as stated in my last writeup any day of the week - it's a shame because they need to catch a flight down to Jackson and teach those clowns what respect actually is.

Bigdoggie · Jul 25, 2012

Wish you well!

TooGroovy · Jul 25, 2012

Thank you for telling your story in a concise and detailed manner and helping m cross KLLM off my list.

Bigdoggie · Jul 25, 2012

Zantrix said: ↑

So here's why I left, and if you notice this is almost parallel to what Blackshirt has said already.

Miles are gone for solo company drivers. Preplans are a myth of the past - you'll never get one. If you luck out and do manage to get one, it will be one of two things - too good to be true (which results in it being taken away and given to lease) or just an awful, awful run that they will give you on a Friday at 4pm as the dispatchers are leaving the building for the weekend. Many times I've had to call up and argue with dispatch about my next load because it's like it never occurred to them that you are on e-logs, and scheduling a pickup at 6pm after finishing a delivery at 9am might not be that great of an idea and that you'll be out of hours. On my last run with these clowns, I got 13,500 miles over 7 weeks. One of those weeks was a little over 3k miles, leaving 10,500 miles for 6 weeks away from home. My paychecks averaged $395, not including the one amazing week.

Liars run that place and will screw the company driver in favor of the lease driver. If you get a 1k mile load, expect to be swapped out. If you get a preplan that will keep you busy, expect to be swapped out. Honest to you all, I had 1 load during my entire time working here that was over 1300 miles. Last time I had a decent run was from Amarillo to Ottawa, IL and was swapped out. Dispatch told me "we are concerned you might not get there on time" which was complete bs because it was 850 miles for two days of work. I had plenty of time to get it there but it turned out that a lease team from the midwest refused to take their load to Dallas, so I had to stop in Joplin to swap. My load had 850 miles over two days, their load had 450 miles left OVER THREE DAYS. That's the way it works here, company drivers get ##### on in favor of lease drivers.

Night dispatch - I refuse to be yelled at, cursed at, and hung up on by another employee. My parents didn't even do that to me when I was a teenager. I had an instance where I was told to do a drop and hook in York, PA but couldn't find the yard where our trailers were. Our qualcomms were down so I had no directions and called Jackson to ask if I could get local directions sent to my truck. You'd have thought I spit in the guys face and dumped a bucket of crap on his mother by his reaction. It resulted in him cursing at me about how "That's not my god d*mn problem, and you need to be a big boy and find your own ######## way around." Honest to God, that's a direct quote.

Equipment - I already made a post on here about the condition of the trailers. You can see that instance on June 8th where I sat in Indianapolis for an entire weekend because some dummy with a cdl dropped a trailer in piss poor condition. What I didn't get to say was that I also sat that Monday, then was given a 500 mile load that didn't deliver until Friday. The suits in Jackson will say "Safety is the only way", but when you actually are given horrible equipment and decide to be safe - YOU WILL BE PUNISHED IF SAFETY AFFECTS YOU GETTING THAT LOAD DELIVERED ON TIME!!!

Hometime - I can not stress to you guys how annoying it is to be constantly called by your job when you are on hometime. It is unbelievably annoying and frustrating. Last time I went out with this company, I ran for 7 full weeks and came home on a Monday. I swear by noon on Thursday they started calling. "Hey, just checking to see when you're coming back." "Hey, you got only four earned days off, need you back on Sunday!" which of course is a lie because I had earned 7 days. They will call your phone AND your emergency contacts phone to harass you into coming back to work. That's no joke there - they actually called my parents house looking for me.

Communication - This has just got to be the most frustrating thing in the world to deal with. Last time I came home, I put in for a repair on my truck to be done when I got back to Jackson. Got to the yard, fueled up, wrote up the maintenance ticket. Went home for a few days and came back to find that they hadn't touched my truck for the week it was sitting on the yard. Whoever it was that was writing up the tickets that day didn't give it to the shop guys only 100 yards away. Customer service frequently screws up appointment times - happened 3 times during my last run with the company. Says deliver on Friday, actually doesn't deliver until Monday and you get to sit and not be paid until then.

Tattle tales - It's gotten to the point to where I just ignore everyone. I backed into a TA one day and there was another KLLM driver there. He saw that I had a steering wheel knob and called Jackson to report me. Didn't walk the three spaces over to say "Hey, that's against company policy.", instead he ratted me out. I wonder what he got out of that? A promotion? A spot as safety directors special guy? A cookie? I never used it while driving, but loved to have it when backing. But hey, if it's against the policy then I'll get rid of it. Just don't whimp out and call the suits while leaving the truckstop.

Tuition Reimbursement - disappeared one day without warning. Was not told why until I made at least 30 calls to Jackson wondering why they stopped paying. They said that I never got my hazmat endorsement, which I did have and they did have on record. Hell, one of my last runs with them was a Hazmat load. I argued this to the last day I worked for them - they just refused to pay any more of it.

One of the last things that really teed me off to the point that I quit was when turning in my truck to the shop. The night shop window guy basically ignored everything I was showing him wrong with my truck because "YOU'RE JUST A COMPANY DRIVER." Let that resonate and it shows where the priorities are here. He ignored everything that I had said that was going on with my truck even though I was the one driving it for seven weeks because I'm not paying the notes on the truck. I actually do have a decent history in automotive electronics and knew that the On Guard system was malfunctioning and interfering with the cruise control which subsequently would not allow me to idle the truck - but hell, what does a company driver know. Those fools sent the truck to Freightliner because they couldn't fix it after spending three days looking for the problem.

So for the 7 days that I was at home helping my mom recover from knee replacement surgery, they didn't fix my truck. They were calling me two or three times per day wanting to know when I was coming back to work, but they never looked to see if my truck was being repaired. The kicker is that I was told by a night dispatcher that it was MY RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT MY TRUCK IS BEING WORKED ON WHILE AT HOME. Seriously???? I just lol'ed, drove to Freightliner, cleaned out my truck and went home. I sat for another week not working and found a local job, and the sad thing is that I feel more respected at that job as a driver in one week than I did during my near year with Phlem. These guys gave me tools, hourly pay with guaranteed money each week, a clean truck, and top notch trailers to work with while Phllem will give you crap to work with and expect you to be on time during Roadcheck week with a trailer that would get you shut down if caught!!

Here's the funny thing - it's been a week since I put in my resignation with the company but I still am getting calls from these clowns wanting to know when I'm going back to work, if my truck is fixed, etc. Every time it's the same answer - *hangup*

So my final recommendation is this - do not go to work with Phllem as a company driver unless you're going midwest regional. If you're interested in a lease purchase deal that will result in you going bankrupt and your family being starved out for the last three months of the lease, then go for it. I'll never do it, and I will never go to work for a company that puts lease purchase drivers ahead of their company drivers like that.

This company has turned into a joke of the trucking industry with their reputation slowly heading towards Werner level, but what do I know...I'm just a company driver.

*edit* For those who might think that I was a bad employee - I had 2 late deliveries during my time there. One was because I had an overnight load from Alabama to New Orleans and the shipper took 6 hours to load, and the other was for that Richmond debacle with the trailer. Other than that, I was on time, every time for loads and unloads when I wasn't dispatched on a load that was already 6 hours late.
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There must be some sort of new policy where it's OK to tattle on other drivers. This may be the ticket to getting long hauls; who knows. Management can't handle the situation, so let's let the drivers run the show and we'll sit here doing nothing and get a paycheck at the same time. As long as the H28 row with the cream filled donut puffs is stocked up and the vending machine is in working condition; let's just stay in our comfort zone.

Next thing you know, you'll be getting tattled on by another driver for not flushing the toilet after taking a big healthy dump at the Petro. "Hi safety, this is tractor 31959; I just saw another clem driver brushing his teeth at the Petro off of blank blank...he didn't wipe the sink down after brushing his teeth".. Nasty peron anyhow. "Can I get more miles now for telling on this guy...I'm a lease guy after all?"

I believe the tattle tale thing.

Red Hot Mess · Jul 25, 2012

I could add my 2 cents to this but I won't here. Just as a heads up to KLLM...I am coming to Jackson after hometime to see customer service supervisor about what happened this week with the load home.
I like the company but mr. CEO you really have some serious work to do.

Wookie Dude · Jul 25, 2012

Red Hot Mess said: ↑

I could add my 2 cents to this but I won't here. Just as a heads up to KLLM...I am coming to Jackson after hometime to see customer service supervisor about what happened this week with the load home.
I like the company but mr. CEO you really have some serious work to do.
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I'm not trying to sound hyper negative about my experience, but I'll go ahead and tell you what the suits will say and it starts with: "As a driver, it is YOUR responsibility..." That's what I got for my troubles when I went through the chain about everything I posted. There's signs all over Jackson in the yard and in the building saying "KLLM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ...", and hell - even Jim Richards says that on nearly every one of his Operations Updates that he records every Friday. It's ridiculous.

In the first post of this thread I shared an experience with one of my trainers and an error that happened. Now that I don't give a rats ### about backlash - I'll say what happened. We went on a run into Wisconsin, delivered, and was given a run from somewhere in Minnesota to San Fran. We went and got the paperwork, and specifically heard my trainer say "We have a run going to San Francisco, load number XXXX". Lady at the desk gave us the paperwork and we hit the road. On the qualcomm it said to go to San Francisco and had the routing to go to San Francisco. We went on that route through i-40 for some reason, and when we got to northern New Mexico and emergency beep came across and they told us that our load was supposed to go to Alabama. We had a blind bill of lading (which does not list the delivery address), and pointed out that they sent us info and routing to the place in San Fran.

Guess what? Company didn't take responsibility for it, refused to reimburse my trainer for the fuel and sent him some scathing messages over the Qual blasting him for going the wrong way even though he checked with the shipper and checked the bills and decided to go the way the company had routed him and told him to deliver.

Totally fair. As a result he turned in his lease truck and quit the company because they hit him for a $1,000 penalty on fuel.

That was the reason why I never wanted to go lease - the company will do you no favors or accept responsibility for their own screw ups. The screw up that I found (and this is just an example of the number) was that they routed us to customer 1234, but the actual receiver was customer 1243.

TOTALLY NOT THE COMPANY'S FAULT.

RetiredRelievedRelaxed · Jul 26, 2012

Zantrix,

I have been following your post and as result, I was thinking of going with KLLM if I go into trucking. We are practically neighbors as I am from Livingston Parish. I retired about a year ago and was thinking of going into trucking. Too, I was looking at the Coastal Truck Driving School in Baton Rouge. Maybe I had better take a closer look at FFE or Schneider. I am taking KLLM off my short list.

Bigdoggie · Jul 27, 2012

Red Hot Mess said: ↑

I could add my 2 cents to this but I won't here. Just as a heads up to KLLM...I am coming to Jackson after hometime to see customer service supervisor about what happened this week with the load home.
I like the company but mr. CEO you really have some serious work to do.
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This is not a surprise. This company needs some help. There is an almost 100% guarantee that you will be at fault no matter what the issue is.

I honestly don't believe that they want to retain any good and talented people and have an agenda and or time frame to literally be-little you over the phone and send crappy trips when you're getting close to paying your truck off (If you're a lease op). I've talked to many drivers; seen both sides. One thing is always constant: lack of respect. Load planners and dispatchers have a real bad attitude.

Bigdoggie · Jul 27, 2012

Zantrix said: ↑

I'm not trying to sound hyper negative about my experience, but I'll go ahead and tell you what the suits will say and it starts with: "As a driver, it is YOUR responsibility..." That's what I got for my troubles when I went through the chain about everything I posted. There's signs all over Jackson in the yard and in the building saying "KLLM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ...", and hell - even Jim Richards says that on nearly every one of his Operations Updates that he records every Friday. It's ridiculous.

In the first post of this thread I shared an experience with one of my trainers and an error that happened. Now that I don't give a rats ### about backlash - I'll say what happened. We went on a run into Wisconsin, delivered, and was given a run from somewhere in Minnesota to San Fran. We went and got the paperwork, and specifically heard my trainer say "We have a run going to San Francisco, load number XXXX". Lady at the desk gave us the paperwork and we hit the road. On the qualcomm it said to go to San Francisco and had the routing to go to San Francisco. We went on that route through i-40 for some reason, and when we got to northern New Mexico and emergency beep came across and they told us that our load was supposed to go to Alabama. We had a blind bill of lading (which does not list the delivery address), and pointed out that they sent us info and routing to the place in San Fran.

Guess what? Company didn't take responsibility for it, refused to reimburse my trainer for the fuel and sent him some scathing messages over the Qual blasting him for going the wrong way even though he checked with the shipper and checked the bills and decided to go the way the company had routed him and told him to deliver.

Totally fair. As a result he turned in his lease truck and quit the company because they hit him for a $1,000 penalty on fuel.

That was the reason why I never wanted to go lease - the company will do you no favors or accept responsibility for their own screw ups. The screw up that I found (and this is just an example of the number) was that they routed us to customer 1234, but the actual receiver was customer 1243.

TOTALLY NOT THE COMPANY'S FAULT.
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I just can't believe that you'd get a blank BOL sent to you...Imagine that. They'll just fill out all the important stuff later I guess.

Ever notice that when you're hauling a hazmat load for phlemm, they send you routing. Right down the turnpike, through Penn tunnels, through populated areas etc just like you're hauling onions. You mean to tell me that place cannot tell the difference between a Haz-mat and non-hmat load with regards to the routing? WTH? I guess that's my responsibility too (which I always did anyhow, I don't need your silly routing anyhow). I was out in Ohio one time and they routed me South of Columbus, I had a written route plan with company routing written down and following it to the T. Oh gee wizz...here is a low bridge 13' 0" coming up. Time to get turned around, pull over, take a look at the map and find another route. Hmm, think we might need some new software a little more modern that 1978? Are we still playing "PONG" or what? Send a message to dispatch on what I just encountered; no response.

So; in two days, someone else will encounter the same thing and same situation but might not notice the sign 13' 0' coming up. End result might be different. That will be a late load for sure. All because management is non-existant.

A shame....

bama07football · Jul 29, 2012

i do drive for kllm but i am on the lease side....i have no bad stories ....YET

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