PTL OMG!!!!

OK.This may be long.Just got a call from my x codriver.The two of us got laid off in November from a good company.So i said im going to sit back because on un emp money untill the new year because it is slow out there and no reanson to rush it.We both after 16 years otr have how do u say less then the best DAC reports.Mostly lots of jobs,we have real good mvr and no fenderbenders but a lot of jobs.So he applys and gets turned down at about 18 DAC companys and he is thinking his otr life is over.BUT NO there is a light!! YES YES OL God yes PTL has hired me,he tells me.Well i say maybe they would take me,but after 16yrs of otr i realy dont know mush about them so i find tis web site and look them up and,WOW!!!! I tell my fried u may not want to work for them because of what i read.OL no he said that is just some winey drivers that are talking.OK i say u go there and i will see how u do. SO he drives to Murry, KY and gets to the hotel,he is the first one there,he is ready to go.He gets a smoking room.Then a other guy is put in his room that dont smoke.So he tells front desk to move that guy,they said they cant that PTL told them that they will not pay for 2nd room.Mind u they getting over 30drivers that 4 orintion that next day.So he calls PTL and a nice girl tells him if u dont like it LEAVE!!OK this maybe a bad start. So he goes threw orintion,out of about 35 7 drivers get sent home.I call them the lucky ones.So after2.5 days they got to pot these guys in truck.Some got a truck in the yard but most had to do recovery pickups.OMG i say to my friend how many drivers throw away there PTL truck away everyday?Aperienty a lot eveyday.Now the light is getting dimmer ok.Now he gets hi 1st load and is running,1st week1000miles,2nd week 2800miles 3rd week 2800miles.Now things are looking up right? He grts a mesg on qualcom to shut down that truck,he is sleeping in Ohio temp 26 and he is on a 34 hr rest.He tells them no,they tell him that he can only idel 4hrs a day and out of 650trucks only 4 have a higher idel time then his 65%.So he tells them that he will freeze,they sent him back a mesg that said"It is not our responsibility to keep u warm"So he is now loseing his mind and told them to get him back that he will not live like that. I am sorry that this was so long but this just shows you what trucking has become.My friend is a good driver with a great safty record an 100% ontime average,but they they dont care about that because u are not human,u are a number and that 30 to 60 people in Murry,KY are waiting 4 that truck.I wounder if that DM in Murry is setting in a room with a temp of 26.Drivers do not work 4 these people,they do not care about you.This storey is true,but,next Monday there will be 30 to 60 drivers in Murry,KY that think they see the light but it is only a flash light that will go out.Be safe guys.

 

Thats terriable way to do someone! Truck drivers need to unite, strike, and shut down for a while, and get some things changed.

 

Look at if from the business side.

There's tons of stuff the driver does not have to pay for... off the top of my head, lets hit them:

Insurance, fuel, wages of driver, wages of managers, wages of dispatchers, wages of janitorial, wages of mechanics, repairs (tires, trans, clutches, breaks, paint, etc), bill as in electric, gas, internet, load boards, truck tags, fuel taxes, special permits for different states, tolls, scales... I'm sure there is a ton more.

Not saying that he should not get to keep the truck on, but what is the use to having your truck out on the road if it isn't making any money? They're doing what they have to to make the most cash they can.

It is a horrible situation, I know, but it's real life right now and finding the loads suck and driving the loads suck. It's just an all around bad situation right now. Work a lot, get paid cheap.

 

So are you going to get in a truck and freeze you kiester off?

Never been a driver? Why comment on this not having any experience?

 

You hit the nail on the head. "The Business Side"
That is not the drivers problem. If the company cannot make a profit at the same time as keeping the driver comfortable and keeping his paychecks current then they need to raise their rates or go out of business. Drivers work hard enough but I tell you if they cannot allow me to keep the temp in a comfortable temp then I'll flip burgers instead.

 

just a update on my friend at PTL.He did idle his truck that day untill they kept bugging him so he said f it !!!!! His was supposed to del at Chicago early in the am but said it was just to cold and didnt want to take a chace and mite need to idle the truck.haha SO he said to him self i am never going to work for a DAC jobe a again,so he did what he thought was best to stick it to them.He took his PTL truck and left Ohio and went way out of route and used there precious fuel and went back to Murry,KY were he droped off his truck.And he did leave it idleing in the yard for the next driver not to freeze.haha So my friend will not most likely never again work for a DAC company,maybe he will just start anew.But he did a least make a DM spit his coffee out when he checked to see if my friend made a ontime del.But it did make one of the 30 new drivers waiting there for a truck and a load happy because now they can go out and make all that money,better bring alot of coats.I almost went there to but thank GOD i read this web site or i to would be freezeing and pissed off in a PTL truck while my DM stayed nice and warm herding his cattle.GOOD LUCK.

 

This is where the Bullcrap meets the Tarmac...Drivers are not to be the turd that should take it up the wazoo so management lives nice and comfy during these cold, cold days of global warming!!!

Fight back first Verbally using Tact and Reason
Then when that fails inform them This will not Work
Then as a last resort Return their equipment and load (if need be) and tell them I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!

 

This is the only message they UNDERSTAND...

 

PTL was a lousey company 6 years ago.My dispatcher lowered my miles,so ideling went up,so the company turned the truck down to 62mph.They haul alot of hazemate freight.And alot of short runs.This company waits for a bunch of trucks to become avaliale,then they have orientation.A mechanic told me that they go through 230 drivers every 3 months.The day I left.2004

 

I still get e-mails from them after I "shotgunned" an on-line app a couple of years ago.

Their latest schtick is paying a whopping .30 for all miles "west of the river", meaning the Mississippi.