Heading For Little Rock! Maverick

The mid roofs did fit. The directions will tell you the other way.

 

Started Feb 10th 2010. Gave my notice to terminate employment by Friday June 14th.

 

I have mixed feelings.....I will give a full run down once it is all complete.....new company ect.....

 

Spent my last night in my truck Thursday night at the Portage yard. Had some great conversations with the other drivers while waiting to be picked up by the car rental car company.
It was strange knowing I was leaving but 9 years was long enough to be away from home except for the weekends.
On the way home I got the call that all of my tests have come back and background check and I was good to go!
Target date is the 24th to go in and do road test.

 

I am going to attempt to explain my thoughts on the trucking industry and my final reasons for leaving Maverick. My intent is not to step on anyone's toes or to offend anyone. But these are my thoughts and opinions and I am an expert on them...lol.
First off the trucking industry: The trucking industry as a whole takes advantage of the fact that it has been a last chance industry. Not to say that everyone that is in trucking did it for those reasons, but a lot do. They know that many people get into trucking because they have tried all other options or that they realize that because of their present education level, they can never make the money that they can make in trucking in any other industry. Time and money make get them to that point, but they usually do not have the time or the money to accomplish it.
The investment to get your cdl is minimal and in many cases you can get it free and just have to agree to work it off as is the case with Maverick now.
So companies take advantage of this. This is a fact! You do a lot of work in trucking that you never get paid for! You are sold on the line, that it is all figured into the mileage pay! So we as a group go along with this and accept the unpaid work as just something that we have to do.
Trucking allows you to be able to provide for your family a very good life! It did for me! It did not provide me a good life, but I was able to provide for my wife and keep our house. I got to visit on the weekends and enjoy the life that I was providing for her.
I on the other had lived in a truck and spent my time away from the life that I was providing for her and away from what I loved! THAT'S TRUCKING!
I accepted that so I am not complaining...just stating facts. I did make the best of my time and situation and did have fun...but it was not the life that I wanted.
Maverick does a much better job than most when it comes to mileage pay and also to the extra pay which I call Driver activity pay. They are a very good company...but not a great company. I am not sure that there are any great companies out there!
The reason i left Maverick is that I was not going to work for long hours and not get paid for it. The boat division requires you to spend about an hour to get the trailer ready to pull and I averaged about 3 hrs per load unloading from start to finish of non stop work. This included lifting approximately 18- 60 to 70 lb steel cross members and uprights. The cross members that held the top boats were the hardest. You had to slide them across the top boat while standing on a ladder that I had to provide. Most of the time the customer would help you but not always. When the did not it was challenging.
There are also around 30 Two inch ratchet straps that had to be removed. There are also 8 bunks that the pontoons sit in that have to be removed. You need a 3/4 inch ratchet (provided by me) to remove them. They only have to be snug to keep them from moving until the pontoon is resting in them. But many times they are on there so tight that I had to use a small sledge hammer(provided by me) to knock them loose...all while standing on the ladder.
Once all the boats are off, you then begin the process of picking everything up and stowing it away in the trailer.
One day I spent at least two hours in the pouring rain putting everything away...part of boating...lol.
So I decided that I was not going to spend that much time on every load and not get paid for it.
My financial situation has changed and I am not desperate like I was when I first got into trucking.
I am very thankful for all that Maverick provided me during my nine plus years of employment.
Had I not been laid off from recruiting, I would have stayed until I retired. But that did not happen.
So I started looking at everything that trucking had to offer. I found that there are companies that pay you for everything that you do. I found that there are companies that pay for you to sleep in a hotel every night and that you do not have to pee in a bottle in the middle of the night, or take a hike across the truck stop. My best friend was parked at a receiver and had an emergency in the wee hours of the morning. There were no restrooms available so he had to use a plastic bag! This is not the life that I want to live any longer.
So I am, starting work Tuesday at YRC. They are a union company and I will be doing line haul for them. I will get paid for all work that I do. Paid holidays, paid overtime, and free health care. Hotel provided for the night ect.
I do not expect them to be perfect and I am sure that there may be things that I do not care for. But at least I will not be required to do any work that I am not paid for and that will be just fine with me.
So as I told all of the students, you have to find the company that best fits your situation and that is the company that you should work for. Protect your cdl, and when your situation changes, you can change too!
Thanks for all who have taken the time to read my thread. My intention was always to be honest and informative! Hopefully I have achieved that! God Bless you all!
Jim...aka Jim The Hut...aka Seals For Christ Trucker