Western Express

I have come to understand that driving for a bottom feeder carrier is no different than when I worked for that crappy temp agency. They do not care about personal circumstances. You need time off, well they need an ### in the seat of the truck. Can’t drive? They’d rather see you quit and be done with you. Think of not getting home when you want as mandatory OT in a warehouse job. 8 hour shift and go home. Oops, just told I have to work 3 hours over and come in on Saturday. In a truck...3 weeks out and I’m coming home for a couple days. Oops, got a load that needs to go from Dallas to Denver, with a load being picked up at Colorado Springs going to Coeur d’Alene, ID. Maybe I’ll get home after making that delivery. It is no different from any other job that requires scheduling flexibility. In no job, anywhere that I have seen, does someone starting out have the pull to make demands on scheduling. Request it and hope it is granted. Not granted! Move on. That is part of putting in your time.

 

Some of these replies.. bunch of zombies thinking that this is just the way it is.. suck it up buttercup mentality. Pathetic! Good on MGE quitting.

 

Nobody tried to make you do anything. You quit under a load and didn't even have the decency to let anyone know.

 

Forced per diem, you say? By chance, are they CHARGING you for the processing of this forced per diem? Last I checked, no company can "charge" for processing payroll they are legally required to process.

 

Oh and about the OSHA, you may be fighting a losing battle there. It would have been better for OSHA if you had let them terminate you. I do know that. I went through something like this once with a much smaller carrier. Started out with a cracked windshield and by the time I finally told them "hey look, I can't drive this truck anymore, I can drive another if you have it but I can't drive this one until it's fixed". They took it and had one single tire changed on it. And didn't change it, they just moved it to a different position from the steer to inside first axle, with a chunk of rubber missing from right up under the tread on the sidewall. Ignored the air leak which was extremely audible, and the air tanks wouldn't even charge to 100 psi. Long story short, after they changed or moved the one tire that should have been taken out of service they approach with a load to take. I demonstrated right before their eyes the truck would not pass a pre-trip inspection and showed them the list of other things, which were all noted on my e-log report that still weren't fixed. They actually took the paperwork for the load out of my hands like a kid having a temper tantrum and told me to clock out and go home I was fired and they'd find someone else. I just smiled, as I pulled out my trusty ole celly and said "you just effed up" and began taking video of every single SAFETY related issue. Even then, OSHA wasn't going to take it. But they ultimately did. In the end, the company ended up paying me a pretty handsome penny (I think at least) which was still less than what OSHA determined they owed me. Apparently in situations like that anytime you're unemployed after that instance, that company if OSHA determines so is liable for the "back pay" that you would have been paid had they not fired you and you were still working they have to pay it. In my case, they figured even when I had found another job but didn't much like it that company would pay for the back pay following departure from that as well. Lots of people will say "resignation looks better than termination", most of those folks saying that will be "company men". In case you're wondering, I had no issues finding work even putting it down on my application "wrongfully terminated". After that company was forced to pay me that person who claimed to be truck supervisor and director of safety (he wasn't employed by the same company really even) wasn't in charge of ANYTHING related to those trucks from then until they finally closed the doors earlier this year.

 

Shouldn't W.E. have a permanent position in bad companies?

 

You guys are just now realizing this??
That company has been on the bad company forums for so long we could just add chapters to the stories!lol