Heartland Express Does It Again, Raising Pay to a Whole New

I don't have a favorable impression of Heartland, and there are some very good reasons for this. First and foremost, I've spoken with too many of their present and former drivers, and the picture painted isn't great.

Their Carlisle, Pennsylvania terminal has a horrible reputation, in the way they treat their drivers, and for the lack of miles that those drivers received. They can't keep people there.

I've never met many drivers that spoke well of that company. They offer the pay per mile, with little hooks that are attached in getting that pay, and most said they were beat out of it one way or another.

And the number one reason why I know they are not what they claim? They advertise EVERYWHERE. There is no end to their edvertisement, and they keep claiming to be the greatest, but where's the proof?

My number one rule of thumb that I use, is simply to understand that if a company is as good as they claim...then they wouldn't NEED to advertise all the time. The applications would pour in like water.

 

Heartland Express always advertizes they pay a lot per mile. That's great if you're running a decent amount of miles. When I was feeling out companies, Heartland Express was one that caught my eye because of the pay. I didn't see too many Heartland drivers out on the road, but the few I did, and the few I talked to, all told me they were on their last run for that company. They were going to finish this run and turn in their keys cuzz they were being layed over a lot. Other drivers that USED to drive for Heartland told me they quit working for them because they weren't getting any miles with that company.

I'm not saying some drivers, a few, or the majority...I'm saying EVERY SINGLE driver that had personal experience with that company, told me they weren't getting any miles when they were with that company. While my method of gaining information was in no way scientific ( I was just trying to feel out companies because I knew almost every other company paid more per mile than Knight Transportation), I think that even with a margin of error, the percentage of people that drive for Heartland that don't drive a lot of miles is probably close to 100%. Also, 50c a mile is a VERY good pay for a company driver. Why does a company that pays their drivers almost twice the industry average have to advertize for drivers at all? They should be turning people away.

Just my .02c.

 

I had opportunity to speak with two more of their drivers just last night. One, a gentleman that was the same age as I was and from the Birmingham, Alabama area, had been with them for two years. He was very happy with them. We talked for at least a half hour, and he acknowledged that the terminal in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was bad, and he simply didn't put up with the crap that they try to do to people. He said he made $60,000 last year.

The other driver from Spartanburg, South Carolina, whom I talked with for another half hour, was behind me as I was nearing home this morning. He was completely fed up with them, and had been there for about six months. He couldn't get any miles. Over the last month, his best week had been 1950 miles. At the time we spoke, he had left the house six days earlier, and by this MONDAY, he will have attained only 1050 paid miles for what will be eight days on the road. The bottom line was, he had a monthly total of just under 7500 paid miles. Even at this wonderful rate of pay, without the miles to make it pay off, all it is, is smoke and mirrors.

The guy I talked to last night made it very clear, that the key to doing well with the company is to have the right driver manager, which he had to fine tune over his time with them. He admittedly quit once and came back over that very issue.

 

I know for a fact that Heartless Express is owned by LIARS. You people lied to a whole community when you purchased Munson Transportation. If you'll lie to a town what keeps you from lying to a driver.

Signed:

Former Munson Driver and resident of Monmouth, IL.

 

Heres a little comparison on $$$ since most truckers look @ the almighty Miles per Week (MPW) #'s:

2200 x .35CPM = $770.00
2200 x .43CPM = $946.00
2700 x .35CPM = $945.00

thats a difference of $176.00 $$ for running the same amount of miles...

Most trucking companies are all the same unless you have that precious DEDICATED run that all truckers seek. And generally you have to put up with the same BS at anyone you go to. Those of you that like OTR versus working a local job should understand this.

So would u rather have to run an extra 500 miles per week just to earn the same money ???

As far as sitting, thats just the nature of the business and each and every driver doesnt like that. You are gonna have that just about anywhere you go. As you all know since most of you have worked for atleast one or more of the major trucking companies out there, they alkl have just about the same customer base. Along with that each company makes their own agreements on how their freight is taken care of (drop and hook, live unload, detention)...but most of these are the same..the same goes for driver unloads ...you may del a load for jb hunt to kmart and all they pay you is 35.00 and hen you go to work for Heartland or another company and they pay you 50.00 or maybe higher...

With that you have just made more money... also as any driver will tell you that sometimes money isnt always the main factor for choosing a company, sometimes its hometime... You will find those that promise you guaranteed hometime each week are also the ones that pay the lowest.

Do your research before your sign on with a company, but also remember that when u talk with a driver on the road about their current company and they are slamming it, ask them how many jobs they have had in say the last 5 to 8 years...it would amaze you how often some jump companies. Those are the ones that are the most discontent on a company are most likely to portray a bad situation.

 

o chatted with a recruiter on thier website.
what seemed odd to me is that they don't pay orientation, at least that's what he told me.

and that bs about regional opportunities - you either run west or east of mississippi, what kind of regional ist that?

 

Eastern Regional, or Western Regional. A few companies do that.Carlisle,PA. Terminal also has a New England regional fleet too. I see a lot of Heartland trucks up here.There stripped bare bones "Cornbinders"Not even with the
Eagle Package.But there running hard up here.Atleast thats what I've noticed.

 

I too,believe this is a good company. I had talked to some of thier drivers when i was at NFI running nj to me. Quite a few older drivers there also. I called them a few months ago but was told I needed to have Hazmat, I gave hazmat up 20 years ago when I wasn't using it. I didn't want to get it now. At the time they were promising 50cpm for ne worlk. if anyone is working there,let the forum know. thks

 

After reading this, I went back to another forum and read what they had to say about Heartland, and I tend to agree with Turbo on the opinion of them. While they do offer high pay per mile, there are a lot of strings attached to the offer. I don't think I would ever have them on my list of places to look into. Do a search on some other sites for their name and see what turns up.

 

My opinion of all these "high paying" companies such as Heartland is that more pennies per mile does not equate into more dollars per week. I have a couple of friends who went to work for a company because there were more pennies being thrown at them, but they eventually learned that the paychecks weren't any more than they were making, and at times even less.

Just remember, if it seems too good to be true, it most likely is.