COVENANT -- From a wife's perspective

Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by Redcoat wife, Aug 31, 2008.

  1. Rocks

    Rocks Road Train Member

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    Glad to know RC will be soon rolling on his own. :biggrin_25519: Don't know if RC knows, but if driver "cleans" his "new" truck, he gets 50 bucks for that. I got 100.00 cause I cleaned two trucks. What amazes me is these drives that can live in such a nasty pigsty :biggrin_2552:
    Well, about the logs, something has changed. Not quite sure what it is. DOT used to request logs on a random basis and/ or if they wanted to check on someone. But now I heard they will be doing this with everybody, continuously.... I heard rumors that logs will be checked and compared with GPS records automatically when Cov. receives the scans..... I have been very "creative" but this limits a lot what one can do. :biggrin_25510:
     
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  3. dancnoone

    dancnoone "Village Idiot"

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    Crete used this to weed out drivers, and as a way to refuse safety bonuses.

    Fuel...log what GPS says, not what ticket says. Hard to do, if you can't SEE the GPS location. And your GPS is off by 25 miles. Wouldn't you think?
     
  4. Rocks

    Rocks Road Train Member

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    At Cov. we have to fuel where the routing tells us and log it real time. Cause Cov tracks our fuel stops. But, if you "miss" fuel stop, you can send mac 15 requesting fuel and they will send another routing with new fuel stops. Sooooo many times I ran until I was almost totally mpt to avoid that... or would try to get the nice ladies at fuel dept to let me get to shipper with tanks almost full... and other "tricks" :biggrin_25525:. But this is all a pain in the :bootyshake:
     
  5. wsyrob

    wsyrob Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    DOT can now use GPS in company log audits all the time rather than just after accidents. That is causing lots of companies to crack down or face huge fines. Its just paving the way for onboard recorders down the road. One trick that I have heard works on our trucks is to use the red trailer brake button to park if you don't want the truck location pinged.
     
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  6. wsyrob

    wsyrob Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    I am so glad my company doesn't do this. Just find a Loves, TA or Perto and you are good to go. They don't route us at all. I plan to run about 10 miles out of route to pick up some Wisconsin cheese after getting loaded this morning.
     
  7. Redcoat wife

    Redcoat wife Medium Load Member

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    Latest update.

    Redcoat is now at the Hutchins yard and within a week he's gotten his first service failure.

    There seems to be a catch-22 situation with this company in that when you get a load assignment there is a box that you check yes or no if you can get to the receiver on time. If you check no for whatever reason (doesn't matter) then you get chewed out for refusing a load. So you have to check yes whether you can make it or not. THEN after you've said yes, and thereby taking the responsibility for being late off the company and onto yourself, you then have to QC them to tell them why you're going to be late.

    Also on the load assignment there is another box that asks if you can make the delivery on time yes or no. Redcoat has found out that there is a third option in that you can put a ? instead of yes if you know it's going to be close.

    His service failure occurred because he was still under a load when he got the assignment for the next load. This all started a few days ago in Georgia when he was scheduled to pick up a load on Monday headed to Louisiana. When he got there, come to find out (after sitting in the staging area in the hot sun for 4 hours) that the load actually wasn't supposed to be picked up until Tuesday at 8AM. By the time he finally got loaded he still had enough time to make an on time delivery in Louisiana because they gave him a huge window. BUT in the mean time, he'd gotten his next load assignment to pick up in Arkansas going to Texas and the pick up time was BEFORE his delivery time in LA. His DM called him to see if he could make the pick up and Redcoat said yes he could make the pick up within the window but that he'd run out of hours before he could make the delivery time. In order to make the drop in LA, run up to AR to load then dash to TX he would be on duty 16 hours in order to get it there on time. Redcoat says that sometimes you can juke with the times in your 14-hour on duty time but you can't mess with going over your 14-hours which is what he would have had to do to make the delivery time. And not only that, the trailer he had leaked and some of the paper got wet so he lost another hour messing about with the paperwork for a damaged load -- which was also communicated to his DM.

    Anyway, his biggest mistake was in thinking that once he'd discussed this with his DM on the phone that everybody knew what the deal was. What he SHOULD have done was followed up the phone conversation on the QC repeating what his DM had told him that he knew Redcoat didn't have enough hours to make the on time delivery. But since he didn't, it bought him a service failure and the threat that one more and he'd be fired.

    Isn't it ironic that Covenant preaches and preaches communication communication communication but that it is only one way. The drivers are supposed to communicate everything with the DM's but the DM's can't be bothered to communicate anything back. Redcoat sat in the yard at Chatt. for FOUR days and not once did ANYbody come out to talk to him to give him any kind of quickie orientation on GP dedicated and what was expected and how things worked or to welcome him to the division.

    I talked to a recruiter at Boyd Bros. this morning and they want prior flatbed experience so they're out.

    Two more weeks till he can apply to Maverick.......

    Stay tuned.
     
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  8. The Challenger

    The Challenger Kinghunter

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    Tell him to hang in there RCW. He can do it and at least he knows what to do if that should ever happen again.

    KH
     
  9. Rocks

    Rocks Road Train Member

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    YES, one CAN say NO and explain why in the comments area. I have done it and follow up with a free form msg explaining the situation. Everything that is on the QC is record, available to everybody to see. Don't waste time on the phone, put it on the QC.


    BIG MISTAKE.


    .

    I agree. And, should had put on the QC that he couldn't deliver on time because didn't have enough hours.


    .

    It's up to the driver to communicate, put on the QC, anything and everything he/she wants. And be persistent.

    .

    Unfortunately not. it's up to the driver to find other dedicated drivers and ask. Put your questions on the QC, be persistent.


    Good luck.

    I am at a shipper. Thought about the "bad" experiences with shippers you wrote about.... But this one here is awesome! It's Sauder Woodworking. When I told them that I am taking my 34 here, he told me there are showers in the woman's restroom and I am welcome to take a shower there. Told me I can chill out at the driver's lounge...:biggrin_25520: WOW! What a treat! :yes2557:
     
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  10. txviking

    txviking <strong>Trucker Geek</strong>

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    Very good advice. Keep ALL receipts with Covenant. Their payroll people have a tendency to "forget" about reimbursements.

    I kept a scanner in my truck and scanned every last piece of paper into my laptop. I'm sure they loved that.

    Also, Covenant has some rules that, while ostensibly meant to combat fraud, simply rob drivers of money. For example, they will not reimburse you for handwritten receipts. In my case, it was a scale ticket, but it might just as easily be a new tire at an out-of-the-way shop.

    (I would never cheat someone unless cheated, but I got them for that scale ticket. I simply created a fictitious scale ticket for the same amount later on, on my computer. They don't seem to get that printed receipts are at least as easy to fake as handwritten ones. Not that the money really mattered for such a small amount; it was more a matter of principle.)

    When he makes it to Chattanooga, ask him if they still have security guards protecting their dispatchers from their drivers.
     
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  11. halfburn

    halfburn Medium Load Member

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    As Chuck Norris might say
     
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