COVENANT -- From a wife's perspective

Latest update.

Well, Covenant strikes again. I've heard so much about some of the ineptitude of certain people at the company and the shame of it is it's the drivers that pay the price.

I'm not certain of all the details but from what I can gather, Team Redcoat made their drop at Georgia Pacific in Green Bay this morning. Then they had a pickup at another location very nearby but when they got there, apparently they were supposed to have an empty trailer with them. So they went back to GP but the security person said that they didn't have any empty trailers scheduled for release (or something like that). Anyway the gist of the matter is that something got fouled up as far as coordinating the loads and empty trailers and Team Redcoat is now bobtailing in search of an empty trailer before they can get their next load.

If the company can keep up with their tractors, why can't they also keep tabs on their trailers??? I remember Redcoat telling me that when he first started driving with his very first trainer they drove three hours around Dallas looking for an empty trailer before they could head up to Kansas for their first load. Fortunately his trainer knew all the good places to look but Team Redcoat ain't got that much experience yet. So they're stuck until their DM can get things sorted out I guess.

The saga continues....

 

Hey Rocks. Still keep an eye out for Team Redcoat. They are 130 miles out of Indianapolis. They're supposed to deliver in the morning then head out from there to a town in Kentucky (he told me but I forget) and then head from there to the Bronx. So it looks like y'all are kind of headed in the same general direction.

So now I have a few questions for those of you with more experience than Team Redcoat.

First, I have to tell the story of how they managed to get an empty trailer. Yesterday they made the drop at Georgia Pacific in Green Bay. Then they had to go to another GP plant to pick up a load but found out that they needed an MT trailer. So they went back to the first GP plant and found an MT but the security guard chewed them out saying they couldn't have that one. So they called the office and got permission from someone to take it and by the time they got back to the security shack, apparently the man was gone so they made it out of there. Redcoat observed that it's a shame they have to steal their own company's trailer just to do their job.

One of the questions I have is Redcoat said they got their chewed out for making an early delivery and were charged with a service failure. He said his logic was that if they could deliver the load early then they could get another load sooner. I can see the point of the receivers in that they are trying to coordinate load arrivals but if a driver shows up early why can't they just turn them away if they're not ready for the load? So my question is why is the driver charged with a service failure?

The same thing is happening now in that Team Redcoat is 130 miles form Indy and the weather is crap. Redcoat's thinking is that since the weather is so bad, he'd rather try and get the load there today and take his time driving on the bad roads rather than trying to time it out to get there on time and take the chance of getting caught in accident traffic or whatever and then end up being late and thus another service failure.

Do those go on your DAC?

And here's another question I have. Redcoat says they already have their load assignment for the freight going from Kentucky to New York. The standard set of questions for load confirmation come across the QC: Can you make it on time? How much fuel do you have? How many pallets do you have?

Redcoat says he has no clue if he can make it on time because he's hasn't even gotten to Indy yet for the load he has now. He also has no idea how much fuel he'll have left because it depends on what kind of traffic he runs into. The how many pallets question obviously can't be answered until he gets to the shipper. I told him maybe they're just wanting his best guess. He said if he was that good at guessing he'd be winning the lottery.

So my other question is how do all you other drivers answer these questions? Or do you do like Redcoat does and just ignore them. Redcoat says when he makes the delivery of the load he has now, then he updates his status and confirms the next load. Is that pretty much what everybody else does? Or do you just give them some kind of figure and positive answers to go ahead and confirm. But if you do that and then something happens to jam you up, doesn't that set you up for another service failure?

The weather here in northern Alabama (like everywhere else it seems) is crap. Super windy, rainy, overcast, and bone-chillin' wet cold. At least there's no ice or snow....at least not yet anyway.

All y'all be safe out there in this nasty weather.

 

Change in plans.

Team Redcoat is in Hebron, IN. They got permission to drop their load in the yard at Indy today and then head over to Stevensville, KY to pick up the load going to the Bronx.

NOT a place he looks forward in going to.....

Spring can't come soon enough.

 

Hey Rocks! As always a wealth of information. You should be a trainer. Get the BIG BUCKS!!! LOL

Anyway, I will copy your post and email it to Redcoat.

Latest update.

Team Redcoat is spending the night at the yard in Indy. They were ordered to come on in with the trailer this morning and they found out why when they arrived. The company wanted to drug test his teammate. Well that took most of the day. They are not allowed to take their load to the shipper until in the morning so that is why they are spending the night in the yard. There is no running water there as it is frozen so they bobtailed down the road to the Pilot and showered there. They weren't allowed to keep the trailer hooked up in the yard so Redcoat said they were sitting there looking at their trailer until one of the security types came over and told them they had to move. Redcoat says that now it will be a pain in the in the morning as they'll probably work up a sweat getting the legs up since everything will be iced up. They plan to leave before 7 because the office people come in at 8 and they'd just as soon not have to deal with a log check. They have 3 and a half miles to go to drop the trailer. They don't know yet if they'll have to wait until it's unloaded or if they'll have to come back to the yard after an MT. Hopefully they can get in and out before all the office types arrive. Redcoat's partner had a paper that needed to go to somebody there for the drug test and Redcoat told him to just put it in an envelope and slide it under the door.

I think that their load assignment has changed (as usual) because Redcoat said the distance was over 2000 miles so that's too far for the Bronx. He's hoping it goes out west. I guess they'll find out in the morning.

So that's the latest. Team Redcoat trying to sneak out of Indy and keep rollin'.