You ALWAYS have a choice......

It saddens me greatly to have to say what I'm about to. I've been a torch bearer for this company for quite awhile. I've defended its practices and politics, and even its leadership. Behind the scenes that the forum is not a witness to, my convictions have been tested time and time again. Well, the only faith that should be unbreakable is a man's (or woman's) faith in God, everything else is fallable at some point. Today I reached that breaking point and I must say, I think I can see the twilight of my career at USA Truck.

My last two weeks have been progressively worsening in terms of my attitude towards my job. My mileage per week has been on a decline. Normally, I don't complain to anybody about that as this is the slower time of the year, freight speaking at least, and I know that historical data for me shows that when I'm in the trough, a crest shortly follows. Unfortunately, in addition to the miles, I've had numerous problems at shippers and receivers. I've had issues with scheduling miscommunications between whoever handles that at USA and the customers. Two of which have caused me not to get loaded or unloaded on the day I was told in my load plan. This looks like a second week in a row of 1800-2000 miles. With my new "free Obamacare" contribution being taken out of my check, plus my child support, thats leaving me with about $350-400 take home each week.

Then, comes the home time. I was scheduled to go home this coming weekend (or so I thought). When I sent a reminder msg to my FM, the reply was that I was now on the 3 week/3 day plan which had moved it to the following weekend. We had a discussion about that this morning which turned into an argument over "he said/she said" to which I finally relented and conceded that its possible I had asked to switch to 3 week plan myself. Unfortunately, this screws my plans as I had a meeting to attend this weekend and an event with my motorcycle club. Well thats a wash. I must admit that home time is becoming more and more of a hastle over the last 3 months. I don't blame my Fm because I've always felt that she is professional and fair. She has told me that she's being pressured from above to keep the trucks moving and try to bargain or even buy the drivers out of home time. Well, I don't fall for the old Jedi mind tricks and I've always stood my ground and gone home. This time, I just wasn't in the mood to argue about it as my bank account is hurting anyways.

Now the kicker! I get a call after lunch time saying that I'm being routed to Van Buren to meet with Safety and Fuel Economy. My first thought was that I had done something wrong somewhere and was being brought in for a scolding. So I asked what I'd done. To the contrary I was told that I was being routed in, not for mistakes, but to reward my accomplishments. To this I stated my confusion and the reply was that I was getting "upgraded" to a brand new truck. Still confused, I stated that I had a 2012 with 120K miles on it and no problems. The reply was that I had been selected to join the test fleet for e-logs and they were equipping the e-logs on only the brand new trucks that were filling this fleet. Well, as Thomas has already stated, the brand new trucks have no APUs. I immediately said thank you but no thank you and that I was not interested. I received an unexpected backlash the likes of which I'd never gotten out of my FM in 14 months. I was basically told that I had no choice and I was not being asked to do it but rather told to do so. I'm actually glad I was on the interstate when I heard that, for if I'd been parked at a customer or truck stop, I likely would have unleased a litany of foul language that would have made a sailor blush. My reply was loud, curt, and sharp. "I always have a choice. I don't have to do anything. If the company has a problem with it, I will just resign. Keep me out for another 2 weeks or 3, makes no difference to me. They will be my last."

I think my Fm's shock was worse than mine at my reaction. I was told that I would have to at least speak to the reps from Fuel Economy and Safety before I'd be allowed to refuse it. So I did. I spoke to Fuel Econ for the better part of 20 minutes. The gist of the conversation was that the new trucks were better than the old because the APUs were too unreliable and too expensive. The decision was made to just let the drivers idle as it provided better climate anyways so I should be thankful. I read off a list of objections of why that was absurd. I explained that APUs were unreliable because the drivers fail to maintain them and abuse them. That with an idling truck comes idle time restrictions, non-compliance with anti-idling laws, and the constant specter hanging over your head of having your truck governor turned down due to fuel mileage or high idle time. Amazingly the responses were.....I don't even know how to describe them. Basically here is the summation:
1. The trucks without APUs are being set for temp sensor of between 20-68 degrees so we should never be uncomfortable. They will only idle on a timer for 8 hours and then it requires a reset period. When I asked about 34's the response was that company intent is for drivers to take 34's at home during home time so it shouldn't apply. Any other long down time could be spent inside the truck stop or find something to do outside the truck basically.
2. The official policy on Anti-idling laws is that they don't apply to us. Yeah, I didn't mistype. Thats what I was told. We have CARB certified clean emission vehicles and thats what we stand behind, whether at customer facilities or anywhere else. The company will fight idling citations in court. (I don't believe that for some reason....)
3. As long as you are idling only to sleep then you shouldn't have to worry about not making fuel mileage goals, because we use DEF equipped vehicles. Hahah! Thomas tells us your mileage average!

I also asked what I would do about the battery saver for my accessories if idle time was limited. I was told that I would just have to decide what to sacrifice such as fridge, microwave, etc. because I really didn't need that stuff on the road anyways. Needless to say my response to Fuel Economy was short, curt, and painful as well. It hurt me to do so because I actually LIKE the guys in that department and have always had respect for them. I explained that as a divorced single male, I essentially LIVE in this truck. Additionally, I'd become accustomed to a certain quality of life and I was not going to be quiet while it was yanked out from under me. We went back and forth with him trying to convince me that all of these things were really an improvement and I should be pleased and grateful at the prospect of being offered a brand new truck. I explained that NONE of these things are a good thing, and giving up my amenities was NOT an upgrade by any stretch of the imagination unless a guaranteed mileage per week was involved or an increase in pay level. Neither are available according to the powers that be. End result was that FE told me they would look into retro-fitting my current truck with the e-logs instead of having me swap if it was that important to me. I said that was fine and was passed along.

Never talked to Safety but I got the note that I would be when I got to the terminal to take the E-log training. I was also told that e-logs will be implemented fleetwide in December.
The worst slap to the face to me today was when I was given the guilt trip and tried to be shamed by saying that "I was not being a team player and I was not willing to do my part to help the company." I had a stinging response to that. It essentially was this. "(name not disclosed), this company is on the ropes right now. You know that, I know that, we all know that. I've heard the rosey stuff the DM's say about stock prices going up and all that hoopla, well I've read the financial statement! We are skating on thin ice with magnesium skates! This is nothing but a cost cutting measure that you guys are trying to achieve on the backs of the drivers and thats a load of crap! You guys got us into this mess and now you want me to feel guilty for not wanting to go to a more austere life just so ya'll can save a few bucks? No thanks."

Well in the end I agreed to come to Van Buren to have my truck retrofitted with Qualcomm elogs but I refused to swap trucks. I will run the e-logs for the remainder of my employment here and will do my best to report my experiences with them to those that peruse this section. I am going to insist that they leave me the option for bobtail privileges or off-duty driving, which USA Truck has always extended to its drivers in the past for local shopping or errands while on break. Somehow, I doubt that will be the case here.

On a brighter note, I did get a call from a local company I'd applied to. I had been interested in their dry van fleet or forestry products but both were fully manned. However, their dry-bulk pneumatic fleet needs another driver and the manager for that fleet was very interested in talking to me. If I get the job it will be home almost every night, only sleeping in the truck 2-3 nights a week when they run to west Texas or south Texas. Pay will be close to what I'm making here but possibly more on the busy weeks. Irregular schedule but manager assured me that the pay makes the schedule and hard work worth it. Plus, I might learn to love the long hood Pete 379s they run lol! That and my head hitting my own bed 4-5 nights a week won't hurt either.

I apologize for the long post. Those that read this far, the message is this. Don't ever let somebody tell you that you have no choice in a matter. There is always a choice. I've always said before, and I still maintain, you need to do what your employer tells you to do. You are in his equipment servicing his customers. But with that comes a responsibility from the employer to respect your desires and needs as well. Sometimes it doesn't work out the way you want it to, and thats life. Other times, you are taken for granted and then bullied in the attempt to coerce your cooperation. Its up to you to make a career decision about whether or not its in your best interest to cave or stand your ground. I have always caved before, today I'd had enough. In the beginning, I said it hurt me to make this post, and it does. I grew to love this company and I still don't think its a bad company. I owe a lot to USA Truck for the training they provided, the patience and trust they had for me, and the fact they gave me 2 years experience to put on my resume'. I would still always recommend this place for a student driver or anybody needing a driving job thats willing to eat a little crow once in awhile and doesn't want to work for a megacarrier. I will be with the company for the near future until I know whether this new offer pans out or not, and I will update as I know more.

Be safe out there!

 

Yeah, its strictly frac sand. I told the fleet manager I had no experience and he said it wasn't a problem. He said training could be done in a day on how to operate the equipment and the rest was just getting used to doing it. But I guess his fleet operates in packs that all go the same places at the same time so its more of a team effort. Should be easy to acclimatize.

 

Hey, Ill be the skinnier pissed off guy lol! Ill come sit with you buddy!