Heartland Express Inc. Of Iowa - Coralville, Ia.

I don't care what anyone says I would rather be told to shutdown when its not that bad and use the time to catch up on sleep, laundry, or whatever then to be told that my job depends on me driving threw weather that has me scared out of my mind where I risk hurting myself or others. Just a thought.

 

Welcome to the forum. I have been here over a year now and that is what it seem like to me also. What I did get out of this is you get out of trucking what you put into it. Just like most jobs it is a job. Good and bad. Trucking is not for everyone but there is no perfect job out there. I got my CDL over 2 years ago and got into trucking and loved it. I didn't stick with it because of the money. I am still going to get back in trucking, but I have no idea when. But you are right, for every person that likes a company there is someone that does't. So good luck finding one that is right for you. This is a good place to come for information on trucking and alot more. Many very good people here that are very helpful. Some that you will be able to tell in time that are just full of it.

 

I been with Heartland for 2 years. The fuel limit is 75 gallons per day. If you need more then you have to call the fuel department and get a PO#. The truckstops allowed to fuel at are very very limited, and almost all Pilots. They perfer we get fuel at the Terminal. The 200-300 gallon tanks did help though.

Yup, they have a shutdown policy during bad weather in your area, and you must obey. I have no problem with that. Good to be safe.

Home time for me sucked and I lived in Indiana. I talked to other Heartland drivers, and it was 50/50 if they had good home times, or bad home times. I was system, so was supposed to get weekend off after 2 weeks out. But some times at end of 2nd week, they claim no loads going thru the house, so I have to work a 3rd week, and sometimes a 4th week, before they can get me home, but you cant bank up days off, so still only 2 days off after 4 weeks worked. Oh, you have to go home WITH a load, they wont allow deadhead or empty.

Trucks are no Internationals. Just 1 bed. Passenger seat doesn't move, uncomfortable for a friend/spouce to ride with you. They dont like passengers. No pets allowed.

So with the bad home time, limited fuel stops, their trucks, and shutdown policy (which Im ok with), I stayed with them for 2 years because of the 48 cents per mile at 5 years exp total. They abused the drivers mostly with home time, but the money made me stay with them, until they fired me.

They fired me cause I refused to work illegally. They had a load that was late before they even assigned it to me. I was low on hours and needed a 10 hour break. The only way I could have delivered the load on time is if I took a 7 hour break. They said they have other drivers that could deliver on time, and that my employment with them was terminated.

I know Heartland will publicly and repeatedly state that they want their drivers to work safe and legal, but the truth is, you need to cheat on the log books for the loads that they dont schedule del eta intellgently, or else they'll find another driver to fill your seat. Im not willing to do that, cheat on the log book. Maybe I round off 15 minutes up/down to give me extra time, but Im not rounding off 3 hours.

This was my 2nd company and was with them for 2 years. Previous company was at for 3 years. During my 1st year at Heartland was first time I ever requested new dispatcher. He wanted to get me home for only 24 hours on Christmas, but I told him thats unacceptable, and I need a load that gets me home for at least 2 days. I was told if I refused a load based on home time, that he'd route me to a terminal to be fired. I dont accept threats like that, and calmly requested a differnt dispatcher.

I liked my new dispatcher, for a while. He never yelled or got upset. But just quietly reported to supervisor about the late load that was impossible to deliver on time, and I got terminated. I guess thats turnover, and they'll hire the next eager driver hoping he'll cheat on logs to deliver the critical loads.

So now Im looking for a new company, one that runs legally. Im willing to work the full 70 hours legally. I just refuse to cheat that much on logs, and perfer better home time. Im hoping not all companies are the same. So I'll continue reading here for more info about which company I would like to apply. Shouldn't be to hard with a good CDL of 5 years.

 

If they will ever stop preplaning me and let me turn in this truck they can have the guaranteed 825 week no home time program been trying to quit for two weeks keep being told I am under dispatch and if I turn in truck will be considered quit under dispatch well quit dispatching me PLEASE

 

I have about 3 weeks in with Heartland and here is how things are going for me:
I was allowed to show up for what ever orientation class I wanted to. I was told when they started and I told them when I was going to be there. I had to pay all my transportation costs but they never promised anything there. The put me up in a piece of *insert bad word* hotel room for free. I actually went and paid to stay at the hotel next door after someone opened my door in the middle of the night.
I was not paid for orientation but I wasn't told I would be either. But, they did buy me lunch every day and a Hometown Buffet. At the end of the 3rd day I was given an '05 International mid-roof with 178,000 miles. Its not new but it was in great shape. Runs good but it is geared for flatlands so I don't climb anything in a hurry. The terminal manager even came out to make sure it was clean inside and out and in good working order. I requested that I sleep for the night and leave out in the morning refreshed. Was told no problem, at 8 AM I had a load assignment. I ran about 6k miles in my first 2 weeks. Then everything slowed down for tax time and easter. I called and said I was hoping for more miles when I saw I was starting to sit more. After that I have kept running good and the only day they couldn't find me a load to pull they paid my $75 for having to sit. As far as the fuel goes. I fuel when I want to. With a truck that holds 300 gallons on regional runs there is no reason why I can't hit one of 8 fuel stops in the 5 states I run in. I have never been told how much fuel I can buy. I always top off when I get low. The only thing is they don't want me to buy fuel in CA because of the price. No big deal there.

I am still trying to figure out where I want to move to so I am living in the truck for now. I was actuall told that they want me to take sometime off every now and then so I don't get burned out. When I have requested that I have always been right where I need to be when I ask for it.

I'm happy so far. We will see how this goes in the coming months I guess.

 

Thought I would make an up date,

Shortly after my last post I was pulled into my home terminal and the terminal manager gave me the keys to a new truck and kissed my hind end for about 20 minutes about how good of a driver I've been and that he heard about my low miles complaint. He told me that things will get better and if I ever have any problems call him directly. From that time I have been preplanned constantly. I'm only sitting when I want to. I like to run at night and after telling them that I get a lot of loads that pickup in the afternoon and deliver after dark or early morning. My only problem was when I would be sleeping was when they wanted to talk about my next load. But, now they understand just give me the work, if I have a problem I will let them know. Still getting where I want to be when I want to be there. I know that there are several different divisions of HL so I should say I'm in the Western Regional division.

 

Anyone w/Heartland working out of the Coralville terminal? I've recently moved there and need to find a company that can get me home at least every other weekend and preferably every weekend. My 16 yr old daughter has decided she wants to come live with me and so now I need to find a company that can get me home more often.

They advertise .42 per mile but this includes hazmat endorsement - being fairly new to the industry I'm wondering how much extra they pay for that, or in other words how much you're paid if you don't have the hazmat endorsement?

 

Been with Heartland Express for all most a year. In a nutshell they suck. Top mileage pay but no miles. Lots of sitting, then when you get a load you have to run ilegal to deliver on time. They have no respect for drivers. They will fire you on the spot for whatever reason they chose. Very hard company to work for.

 

They suck big time.They do have a few favorites though I must say lmao.Lie's Lie's all Lie's.