Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by supersnackbar, Oct 26, 2020.

  1. supersnackbar

    supersnackbar Road Train Member

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    Thank you for reminding us of your dislike for megas...it's been a few pages since the last time.

    Once again, there isn't a lot of options where I live. I could work for a mom-n-pop that doesn't have any insurance, or it's so friggin expensive I can't afford to use it. Or a 1099 company that pays good...but once again, doesn't have insurance. There just isn't that many options out of the state of FL. Besides, fewer megas go out of business compared to small family fleets. With the way things are going in this world, a deep recession is coming sooner rather than later and I want to be with a carrier I can survive with...and that will survive as well.
     
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  3. Skootlez

    Skootlez Light Load Member

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    As annoying as it is over there, they kinda got you in a good spot with pay/job security/benefits. But then again is it truly a decent job if you don’t quit 2-3 times a week?
     
  4. BM 58

    BM 58 Heavy Load Member

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    Snackbar,
    That’s not point I was trying to make. I know with your situation a mega is your best option. But Freightliners seem be all that they have in their fleets. So just deal with it. You keep bouncing around and changing jobs every few months and no one is going to hire you. Whether you have 3 decades or 3 months of experience they don’t care. They are all driving the same equipment. Other than your truck issues this seems to be a good fit for you. You keep posting your complaints on here and eventually someone at creeper will see it and you’ll get black balled like you did at the last job. Just trying to help Bro.
     
  5. Dale thompson

    Dale thompson Road Train Member

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    Pfffft SSB is hardly a job hopper. Myself being a classic job hopper let’s me judge. I think this business could use more turnover because I haven’t seen any real serious attempts at retention yet.
     
  6. drvrtech77

    drvrtech77 Road Train Member

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    And frankly nowadays with the way all this equipment is I don’t care if you’re driving a paccar, Freightliner, international or a Volvo Mack... these trucks are going to have these issues at some point in time on them and frankly the quality of everyone of these manufacturers anymore has gotten to the point of pathetic they’re more interested in quantity then they are in quality anymore
     
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  7. supersnackbar

    supersnackbar Road Train Member

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    The biggest rub I am having right now is them #####in about idle time...'it costs us soooo much money in fuel'. But....they're throwing money at us right and left with pay and bonus increases...I would gladly stay where I am with pay, and have an APU installed. It's more efficient, it makes staying out here more comfortable, it helps the emission engines last longer...and I am willing to bet that I am not the only Creaffer driver who is almost to the point of leaving because of their excessive nagging, so an APU would help retain and attract qualified drivers....APU's make way more sense than opti-idle, especially when fuel prices are at the level they are now. As good as this company is at making money and staying profitable, I can't believe they have resisted going to APU's.
     
  8. JoeyJunk

    JoeyJunk Road Train Member

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    Were you there when they had or tried APU’s back in the day?
     
  9. Skootlez

    Skootlez Light Load Member

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    Knoxville, TN
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    So how does that opti idle work if you’ve got a fridge, microwave, or a laptop hooked up in the truck? Does it just drain the battery?
     
  10. Onadetour

    Onadetour Medium Load Member

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    When I started here 9 years ago, my first truck was a Century with 500k and a diesel Apu. It was great but sounded like a lawnmower. Didn’t bother me but pity whoever parked next to me. The next couple of trucks had battery packs. Bunk air would work about two hours. Not much fun in the summer. When Opti idle came, I found I could sleep through the start up but the whole truck would shake when it shut down and I couldn’t sleep through that. Wasn’t so long ago. Overall, things are better. Inverters and refrigerator (no more Coleman cooler) I eat a lot healthier now. I don’t hear much about idle time either, but ignored it when I did. I don’t like to waste anything but if it needs to run it runs.
     
  11. supersnackbar

    supersnackbar Road Train Member

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    Yep, I had 2 different ones, 1st one I got a brand new TK installed, and had decent luck with it until someone bought the truck. The 2nd was well used and abused. The biggest issue back then was that they maintained the APU's like they maintained the trucks...as little as possible, and don't fix something going bad, wait till it breaks, and then breaks something else when it goes. Very little 'preventitive' work was done even though they had a killer warranty on them

    our Junk-liners have a dedicated button on the wheel that takes you to the opti-idle screen. It defaults to 'battery mode' with the option of 'comfort mode'. Battery mode also has the weather mode, so if it's really cold, it periodically starts the truck to warm the engine coolant and oil. On battery mode, most trucks you just use your 120v equipment like normal, and when the batteries need charged, it starts. This truck, the inverter sometimes cuts competely off before the truck starts, and you have to go under the bunk and reset it. Plus, the inverter completely blanks out 120v power when the engine starts, even if you're not drawing anything other than the display on the microwave(it also occasionally does the same thing when you hit a big ski-jump size bump). Our Marietta shop says it's going bad... Pennsylvania shop says that's normal.
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2021
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