Just quit PAM..

Good luck at Crete

 

so i just submitted an application to PAM and there seems to be a lot of negatives about them. where should i go for training and a job.

 

Good luck to you.

 

Just quit Pam..

Yeah me too ... wasn't going to make nearly 24,000 ... $7 paychecks and all. I thought it was because they were deducting money for paying Driver Solutions/C-1 ... they haven't paid C-1 a dime in my name since I started I found out. Where all that money went I'll probably never know. I owe C-1 some $6,000. Since I started PAM I was stuck out on the east coast mainly in CT,RI, MA with no loads going out. And those pick up Wednesday and deliver on Monday 300 mile jobs. Lots of 300 mile dispatches. I complained about miles and pay .. it was looked up and was told "yup this wont work at all". Had one good week and than the same old stuff after that. After being sick with pneumonia in New Braunfels TX (ride in a taxi to the hospital folks .. fire dept charges $2,000 to go 10 miles to the hospital) I racked up a $4000 in medical expenses (the truck had an exhaust leak PAM swore there was no leak until Freightliner later found it).
I sat in West Memphis AR for 3 days waiting to turn in my truck to Tontitown yard (only place you can turn it in). I got sick again and was asked to take a load to Mississippi. I told them that wasn't the direction I wanted to go and told them I was leaving the truck in their yard in Memphis, TN (highly secured yard). I was charged with abandonment on my DAC, they couldn't get me to Tontitown. PAM's excuse was "busness is slow" though other companies are doing great PAM seems not to be. Bad qualcom supplied directions that put you in residential neighborhoods. Loads that will never make it to the consignee on time legally (its not official but driver managers do expect you to fudge your logs as I was told a couple of times. PAM has a hard time keeping dedicated runs lately, they have been loosing many and not picking up any new accounts. PAM puts no money into any of the facilities outside of its headquarters. Most yards are shared with Central Transport its sister company and have no facilities other than maybe some mechanics. Some of the dispatches PAM gets is double dispatched by Decker dispatchers and the load is gone when you get to the shipper, or they give you the wrong shipper address, or the wrong consignee address. I sat at Freightliner almost a week just waiting to get my broken rear view mirrors replaced waiting for authorization from PAM for the repair (PAM tried to get me to deliver 800 miles away with broken California mirrors), a new driver 10 hrs over HOS picked my load up, it was to be delivered the next morning, she arrived about 10pm at night to pick up the trailer.
Detention pay - after 24 hrs - not good
Layover pay - after 24 hrs - not good
Breakdown pay - after 24 hrs - not good
even Decker (a PAM company) gets better pay for these after 3 hrs or so.

I can go on but I don't want to write a book.
People warned me of the industry, of the company, but I never listened.
I made a mistake and got a verizon cell phone plan when i started out but never made enough money to pay that and mortgage etc .. my contract was canceled .. I owe Verizon some 1200 dollars.
So its costing me some 12,000 dollars ... good grief !

 

Well ive been with pam for 8 months the first 2 months was good. Since then its bad i have spent the last 3 weeks in the shop. That is a month without a paycheck.

Sorry i need to vent some. About 80% of all trailers i have picked up needs work done on them. About 60% of all loads I have gotten could not be delivered on time legal. All loads i have had i have delivered have been on time or early. I have asked for another truck while this one is in the shop and was told there wasnt any. Meanwhile they are still hireing new drivers last week when i called Tontitown they said that there was 10 new drivers there waiting on a truck. I dont expect a new truck but I would like one that will stay running. Im looking for a new company while im broke down. I dont think I can afford to continue to work for this company.

 

I am sorry for your bad run with PAM, but I had heard from another driver that they were like that....they wait a couple of months and then its like you owe them instead of them owing you....been there and done that with my first company....hey, you will find another job and probably a much better company....I wish you luck finding another company....

 

Tazzman691 thats what I hate to hear, going to my 3 week CDL thing this week and guess what company I am going to work for PAM TRANSPORT! I hope and pray that I don't run into the same luck you did but I will keep in mind what you have said and hope that things get better for you. Good luck friend!

 

Join the Army... it's better than working for PAM.