Superior Carriers & Henniff

Yup, thankfully the person dealing with pay is on top of it at our terminal, hopefully it gets worked out soon. Superior has already lost a lot of drivers, and with the cost of benefits almost dubbing soon we sure in the hell can't take a cut in pay, because of never ending mistakes.

Merging with Heniff seems to one big headache for much of the office staff & drivers, we're trying to cut them some slack, call everything to there attention, but have a little patience. Patience will run thin as time goes on if things aren't fixed

 

I keep in touch with some people still at Superior. They said the insurance went up like 50% with a higher deductible. Hoses have been really hard to find recently. Then they are making them use Henniff travel orders, which don't list the mileage, directions, equipment needed, or have a tank wash slip. Seems like if you buy a company and some of their stuff is better, maybe use that stuff.

 

That's exactly what you would think they'd do... take the best of each company and do that, and rework what doesn't seem to be working. Instead we're just being merged into a company that seems to have more problems, worse credit and reputation... at least that's what I've been hearing... I hope that's not the case.

As far as the insurance everything we had before as one package for about $112. a wk... is all now separate and comes to about $156 a week, deductible is now $2k per. Plus we had life Insurance with our other plan, and what we now have, we're paying almost double for less coverage. Definitely will have A LOT more coming out of our check weekly, without anyway to change those payroll deductions until next October. If there's no raise, or consistent mistakes with payroll, I could see a lot more quitting.... We're still trying to be optimistic, so we'll see, we should have a better idea what's coming our way sometime next month.

 

Yes, all of that and more unfortunately.

They changed the dispatch system suddenly about two weeks ago apparently in favor of some new centralized dispatch system called "Central Planning" but they did it w/ out warning to the drivers or even sending out anything to tell the drivers how the new system works. There's been mass confusion over this w/ no clear direction many of the road drivers feel like we're fumbling around in the dark for what were supposed to be doing and when in terms of getting loads and then what to do after delivery? It's not clear anyone has a good handle on this yet.

They implemented the "Workflow" system on the PeopleNet devices which is supposed to be like the macros we used to get on the Qualcom system but a lot of the time the Workflow steps haven't been showing up for me consistently so I've had to go off of the travel orders which have scant info.

They adopted a new system for turning in your load paperwork ( Travel order, B.O.L., scale tickets, etc ) called TransFlo where you're supposed to scan the paperwork at a participating truck stop or w/ an Android app on your phone ( don't even get me started about the data security issues ). They implemented this new system about three weeks ago w/ out warning or any kind of training or instruction. The system doesn't seem to work that well as my terminal has had to call me multiple times already to have me re-scan documents either because they say they didn't receive it ( even though you get a transmission verification when you send ) or they couldn't read it on their end. This is of course problematic b/c it's how the company bills the customers.

ALL of that pales in comparison though to the tow biggest issues I've seen:

#1) About three weeks ago they suddenly and without warning ( seems to be a theme ) switched the Superior drivers to the Heniff payroll system and the pay for a lot of drivers has been way off ever since because it appears the Heniff system doesn't have the facility to pay accessorials such as layover, bunk pay, expense reimbursements, etc. the way the Superior system did so all of that pay has suddenly gone missing. Speaking just for myself my pay has bee off 40%-60% for that last three weeks straight and everyone I talk to in the higher ups seems to have no clue as to when the issue will get resolved or even if we will get that back pay?! I wouldn't presume to speak for anyone else, but I am aware of numerous other drivers at multiple terminals who are having the same problem.

#2) The company cultures between Heniff and Superior seem to be seriously clashing and this is giving rise to internal power struggles and a loss of efficiency and efficacy. I'm aware of at least two Superior terminal managers that have been demoted and replaced by Heniff terminal managers and I wouldn't be surprised to find out there are more. Communication from Heniff has been almost non-existent. In addition to not communicating any of the changes outlined above - a simple e-mail over PeopleNet would have been a good start - I've had no success whatsoever even talking to someone about my pay issues and other concerns. I've left a lot of voice messages but none of them have been returned.

Like most folks I've been trying to keep an open mind about this merger. It would be different if there was just one or two things that were being changed that I didn't care for, that's to be expected. But what I'm seeing here is that there's a kind of dark ethos moving over what was once a good company to work for and ALL of the trends are in the wrong direction sadly.

 

I noticed heniff has some new videos on YouTube promoting the company. Bob heniff and several other people out of log ops are interviewed, maybe that’s why our checks were short, needed the money to tape these videos

 

I really hope the best for you folks. We had similar issues when changing over to a new ELD. You wanna talk about driver confusion?! LOL

Hang in there...at least until you clearly see that management doesn't give a crap.

 

Funny that sounds A lot like Schneider...

So with "central planning" what happened to all the dispatchers at the terminals? Do they still dispatch for that terminal and the central people do the System stuff?

 

Yeah, a guy from my home terminal worked for Schneider briefly before coming on w/ Superior and he said the same thing. The way he explained the Schneider system though it seems like Heniff is trying to do some cheap knock-off hybrid system.

As best I can tell so far, and I could be completely wrong w/ what I'm about to outline b/c it's not like anyone in a position of authority has really explained this thing definitively, the person(s) at Central Planning are NOT supposed to interact w/ the drivers. We don't have a phone number for them and they don't call us directly. What they are supposed to do apparently is keep track of all of the company resources ( drivers, trucks, etc ) and where the available loads are and need to go. They then try to match those loads and resources up and report that down to the terminal dispatchers who then communicate to the drivers.

So from the driver's perspective there's no longer any "in-bound board" at the individual terminals. This much I've been told specifically multiple times at multiple terminals. We no longer have the last line on the company travel order ( which is now called a "Delivery Receipt" a la Heniff ) to call XYZ terminal upon completion of your load. Apparently what you're supposed to do is call your home terminal and they'll tell you what to do next > i.e, go to XYZ terminal, go to ABC tank wash, pick up load such-n-such at so-n-so customer, etc.

One of the big problems w/ this system so far though, other than it's apparent inherent inefficiency compared to the old Superior system, is that local dispatchers work 8-5 M-F and if you happen to finish a load after 5 pm you can't call them and you'll find yourself essentially "orphaned" w/ a dirty empty tank wondering where you're supposed to go next and who's gonna tell you to go there?! I've already had this happen to me TWICE in the last two weeks. One time was actually on Friday evening which meant I wouldn't be able to talk to dispatch at my home terminal again until Monday! So I found myself sitting at a truck stop w/ a dirty / empty tank wondering what the H**L am I supposed to do now?!

I ended up calling Log Ops who confirmed that after I unloaded there were no other assignments in the system for me. Log Ops apparently isn't supposed to assign us loads anymore either but the person I talked to said they'd make some calls and see what they could come up w/ for me? Two hours later, around 9 pm, I got a call from a different terminal dispatcher ( not my home terminal ) that needed to have a load "rescued" so they worked out that the next day I would drive half-way across the state to drop my dirty tank at an independent tank wash, go to their terminal and pick up a clean tank, drive to the neighboring state swap the clean tank for a loaded tank and then drive half-way across the country to deliver a load two days late!

. . . at best this system is a work in progress.

 

I’m just curious, why do these companies love that Schneider central dispatch system!!! Don’t know if I would want to model my system after a company with a 100 percent turnover rate, but what the heck do I know, I’m just a truck driver

 

Been wondering that too?! Why you'd model ANYTHING after Schneider who also apparently isn't allowed into some plants b/c of their past performance and safety record is beyond me?! But perhaps that's the sorta thing Heniff is comfortable w/ by familiarity?!