Why Did You Quit Schneider?

I was going to title this "Why I Quit Schneider" but instead wanted to include others in the thread who also quit the Pumpkin. I know that there will be others who never drove orange that will chime in but that's what truckers do - sound off even when no one asked them. Kinda makes life worth livin', eh? LOL.

Now I haven't drove for Schneider for a while but I doubt they've changed all that much since I turned in my keys. Before I get started I do want to say that Schneider is by no means a terrible company. They are nowhere near the best - not by a long shot but they also aren't the worst. Close but there are plenty of trucking companies beneath Schneider.

So, I quit for a variety of reasons not the least of which was the disrespect and lies, Easily the most disrespectful thing that Schneider routinely did was believe complete strangers over me - one of their own drivers, They would routinely call me up out of the blue and accuse me of unsafe driving based on an anonymous phone call from someone claiming that I was driving unsafe.

Instead of asking me about whatever the supposed incident was to get my version of events it was "We got a complaint about you! We're routing you in for some more training!" No innocent until proven guilty. No 'I know this driver and they're always safe'. Not even a simple 'we got this complaint about your driving and wanted to let you know about it and also we're looking into it further to see if what the caller said matches what your truck's computer says.'

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. that I pushed back against these unfounded accusations - EVERYTIME - Schneider's own records conclusively disproved the allegations of the callers. But instead of giving me the benefit of the doubt (which I thought I had earned) Schneider would routinely just #### all over me because some anonymous stranger called that ####ing toll free number on the back of their trailers. And forget apologies. Not one time did anyone at Schneider ever apologize to me for accusing me and believing some stranger. Not even when they saw that they were wrong. Why would I want to continue working for a company like that?

Lies. It's hard for me to rank which lies are bigger than others. Let's start with "you'll get about 2500-2600 miles each week." Try 1800 unless I was going home then 1200-1500. I broke 2000 miles only three time while I was there and when my DBL found out my miles were slashed the following week. If it wasn't for their per diem I never would have broken even.

"You're part of our 48 state OTR fleet." They why the #### am I always on the east coast???? 48 states includes Texas, California, Washington and all the states in between. Did I ever see them? Nope. Texas four times about 3-4 months in between each visit but that was as far west as I ever got. And not that far either. Dallas, That was as far west as Schneider sent me. Otherwise it was Georgia to Ohio to New Jersey to Massachusetts to Virginia to New York to Virginia to Connecticut to Virginia to North Carolina to Georgia to....you get the idea.

"If you stay out more than two weeks at a time we'll get you west." I stayed out 5 weeks at a time, even 7 weeks at one point. East coast or midwest - NEVER west.

"You'll get detention pay." I'm still waiting. I earned more than $400 in detention pay during my time at Schneider. Never saw a dime of any of it.

There were more lies but the few I've mentioned will do for now (I'm getting angry all over again and am losing my train of thought - LOL!)

Slow trucks. I absolutely HATED! driving Schneider's slow ### trucks. 60 mph? Really?? 60 mph was all the faster we were allowed to drive. Cruise or no cruise. And that ####### On Guard ########! It's not bad enough that Schneider trucks only go 60 mph but I had to put up with all that electronic garbage that would slam on my brakes whenever someone would get within 300 feet of the front of the truck. ####ing 300 feet!!!! 300 feet ain't nothing and Schneider has their trucks setup to slam on the brakes whenever someone got closer than that. Plus all that electronic garbage was useless in the winter when it snows. And because it's tied to the cruise control when the garbage stopped working so did the cruise. FFS!

The Gary, Indiana Shop. Don't get me wrong. MOST of the guys at the Gary shop were great but honestly....SIX ####### HOURS to switch out an airline on the back of the truck??? FOUR HOURS to change out a mudflap??? FIVE HOURS to change ONE outside trailer tire??? Really??? Express ain't.

Appointment loads. Over 85% of the loads I hauled were appointment only on both ends. Not dedicated loads just regular go somewhere different every time to different customers each time loads. Live load at 7am Monday which would take 3-4 hours going to live unload 1pm Tuesday 250 miles away which would take 3-6 hours. WTF does a 250 mile load require more than a full day??? I hauled more than my fair share of them and I still ain't got a clue.

Heavy loads. Over 90% of all the loads I hauled for Schneider were 40,000 lbs or heavier (okay that's a lie but the overwhelming majority of them were HEAVY! so it seemed like over 90%. Sue me.) Hauling heavy ### freight in a weak ### 60 mph truck handicapped with electronic garbage up and down the hills of east coast America is not the 48 state OTR I hired on for. But it's what Schneider gave me. #### Schneider.

Proctor & Gamble. ####! P&G.

So. (LOL!)

Did you drive for Schneider? What were your experiences? Why did you quit? Do you still drive orange? If so, why? Feel free to add your Schneider stories to this thread. Or don't. I'm just happy that I don't drive for them anymore and felt like saying so. There IS life after Schneider regardless of what Schneider wants you to believe.

Stay safe out here.

 

Which temptation? Driving orange? Or blasting me for creating this thread? LOL!

 

Thanks. I guess it's true what they say about idle hands being the devil's workshop. LOL!