Schneider National Carriers - Green Bay, Wi.

i currently run for schneider as well my tip to any one who wants to be home on time join the national guard or reserves and stay out between the one weekend a month which is what i do i always get home on time because uncle sam says i have to be home. i take sat sun and either fri mon or mon tues then hit the road again. i have been bobtailed 450 paid miles to get me home for drill, now thats guaranteed home time. sni is a big company and is no different from other big ones put your time in and find a smaller company

 

I hate to be a hypocrite but after reading the last few posts I guess I have to be. I knew what I was getting myself into when I applied at Schneiderso I shouldn't complain. From my experience out on the road they're are a lot of "whiners" out there. I guess also from reading other people's post on here I should concider myself lucky, maybe because I work for the Canadian Division of Schneider I do not know but I do not have majority of the problems people complain about.

I am very curious to how many of the American drivers that post on here cross the Canadian/American border on a fairly regular basis? The reason I am curious about that is because in my own humble opinion I believe that is the worst part about being an OTR trucker. I have only been driving since Oct 2007 (not counting driver training to get my "what you Americans call a CDL") and I have had my share of what I thought was bad experiences, but after about 6 months I realise thats just the life of trucking.

To sum it all up for all you new drivers thinking about a career in OTR trucking you really need to do the research and understand that it is not just a career change it is a lifestyle change and as previous members have stated you have to put in your time before you can get some local or dedicated work. Things do get easier as time goes by and things also get better for you when you learn to adapt to the industry because the industry doesn't adapt to you.

I just want to end this by saying I apoligize for my last post, I tried to break this one up a little bit for ya Proper english has never been one of my stronger attributes.

 

you do have the same "problems" but you just deal like i do long hold times with sem trouble with 2nd and 3rd shift but its a big company and we both know there bad and deal with it instead of wine.

i have crossed the American/ Canadian (a comes before c in the alphabet) border several times and find its just a paperwork headache but if you have your paperwork in order and arnt an ### its just like a dot log inspection, they look at it and say have a nice day.

isnt that the way every industry is, as you do the work it gets more familiar and the headaches just become one of those things you learn to deal with

youll make a perfect truck driver then the classic stereotype is a redneck with less than a command on the english language

 

hahahah long hold times with SEM is an understatement. If I have issues with equipment I send in a MAC29 even if there is still tons of time on a load. I was down in Roanoke, VA with 5 hours left to run and had to get to Covington,VA to pickup a loaded trailer and get atleast another 150 miles after the pickup. I got to the facility and the loaded trailer had a flat tire. 8 hours later I finally got somebody to fix the tire. That was the worst I've ever had though. Usually anywhere from 2 - 4 hours from the time I get ahold of SEM until the time the repair is complete. As for 2nd and 3rd shift, if you can figure out a way to fix your own problems you better do it. Usually 2nd and 3rd shift are useless.

I wish it was that easy. When you're paperwork is right it is that easy, but sometimes that is not always the case. The worst I have ever had was I had a pickup from a company named Melaleuca out of Tennesee and I faxed all the paperwork to the broker with my PARS sticker and before I got to the border I called the broker to verify that it was setup and had been accepted by Canada Customs. I got to the border in Windsor, ON and ended up at Secondary inspection with Canada Customs for 17 hours. The broker kept telling me the load was clear and Canada Customs kept telling me the load had been rejected by the Department of Agriculture because there were some "Suspect Dog Treats". After trying to get things straightened out between the broker and Canada Customs I was finally released. Schneider was again of no help (including my regular DBL/STL). The only response I got was "sort it out with broker we can't help you". The kicker was the broker did not understand why the load was rejected so therefore could not fix the paperwork. It wasn't until Canada Customs informed me I could leave but the trailer/load had to stay, that Schneider finally decided to do something to get it straightened out. I guess they wanted that load delivered afterall.

Now with that being said that is the worst time I have ever had with the border. At most they might x-ray ur load on occasion and do a quick search of the inside of the cab and thats it. I was referring generally to the paperwork involved with the procedure in crossing the border. I would say about 95% of the loads I haul are international loads and its a pain in the ##$.

I don't want this to scare anybody that is thinking of a career with Schneider because like all big companies yes they have problems but they also have a lot of good things about them.

Schneider operating centres are a big plus in my book. Some are better than others. Generally I try to get to an OC whenever I can because its a nice secured parking location (unless you're in Atlanta or Dallas haha), a free shower is always nice and the free WiFi!!!!

Also with Schneider in regards to reimbursements I never have had any problems with them. I get 100% back on all necessary expenses including weigh scale tickets, cost of faxing paperwork, windshield washer fluid just to name a few.

I have also never had a problem collecting my paycheck on time. If I have ever had an issue with my pay my DBL gets it fixed right up for me and it is reflected on the next pay check.

 

They were supposedly hiring more people (like 3 or something, haha) to work in SEM. I think that now that fuel prices are getting as high as they are, they are getting REALLLLLLY stingy with repairs. I thought my tires were ok and had plenty of life on them, until I went in to repair a flat tire (on a drive) and the tire shop refused to let me leave unless they could put on new steers. To them, I had six bad tires at least, that they felt wouldn't meet DOT regs. The steers were especially bad and if SEM didn't let them put on new tiers, they weren't going to repair the flat and were going to send me down the road. I originally got hold of SEM in about 30 minutes for the original flat, but when the guy took a look at the tires at the shop, it took another 3 hours for SEM to get things straigtened out. The shop was pushing to replace six tires (of which they hardly get anything because of the national account, so they weren't in it for the money), SEM didn't want to do any, they kept asking for depth measurements of the tread, to take pictures of the tires!....back and forth,back and forth. Finally I got new steers put on, and one of the bad steers replaced the bad drive.

Of course, they enver told me what to do about the other bad drives so I sent in a mac 21, and told them what went on and what to do, and they sent me to a tire bank where I was to get 4 drives put on. There was something wrong with another drive tire, but if they replaced that one, they would have to replace its twin because of the height difference, so I was going to call SEM...at least I Thought about it....and then finally just told the guy to replace those two as well. So now, of 10 tires, I have 8 new ones...will see what the remaining two look like before winter hits.

One thing I learned is to get a little aggressive with SEM and anally specific. One time I told them I was not in the truck (had a flat and was home, asked for a PO number)...told them so, yet they still replied to the qualcomm instead of calling me! So I went to the truck and told them very clearly what was going on and they called me back in like 5 minutes.

A couple of weeks back, I had a trailer tire that had a flat. Sent in a mac21 telling them to send me up to X or Y town or give me a PO for my hometown when Im finished because I was not going to their nearest tire bank. They got back to me in 30 minutes telling me to go to Y town and the tire was swapped out in about 10.

 

I'd like to find whomever told me I was crazy and SNI was turning its trucks up to 67 MPH. Look in OOIDA, there is an article stating Schneider is turning it's trucks back to 60 MPH. Now, if they cut my pay I'd be screaming like a BANSHEE whatever that is. My brother quit SNI and went to work for a co with big trucks because they cut his back.

 

When and where did you hear that?
The CB?
And why on earth, with most ALL the companies turning their Big truck's speed DOWN and watching idle time closely, would you be surprised that Schneider wouldn't turn their's UP?

And you might be screaming like a BANCHEE for another drivin' job that pays as well as the one you just quit because they "cut" your pay.

Build up seniority!
If y'all keep job-hoppin'y'all will only be continually hoppin' to the bottom.
Every time you start at a new company, you're a newBee there.
Oh, ...... you'll be gaining experience all right.
Just not being paid for it at newBee wages.

SENIORITY IS AN INVESTMENT THAT PAYS.
If y'all keep thinkin' like a newBee,
don't be surprised if y'all are treated as such.

EVERY truckin' company has it's good thangs and not so good thangs. If y'all are quick to abandon ship, y'all will never know what it's like to experience the respect y'all deserve.

Check out the UNemployment percentages.
A LOT of folks are outta work -- and are YOUR competition when seeking employment.
Y'all know what'cha have ---
but do y'all know what'cha will get?

Many drivers do that.
Some do better, and some don't.
I did.
How 'bout your brother?

 

wow i needed this thread i was thinking of doing the same training with tham, good to hear some info on how they treat the students, this has made my disition less painfull thanks

 

Just out of curiosity, what is your decision?

 

A banshee is a type of ghost.

Second...they didn't cut pay, they cut speed. NOT the same.