Just A Story

Not sure if this is the right place or not,just kind of looking for some input or maybe even a cuff to the head for being so naive. Anyhow I have been in trucking all my life as my family owned and operated a small company for many years up untill 5 years ago when we finally got smart and shut the doors. At that point I found my self trying to find somewhere where I would be happy, I have worked for a large flat bed carrier as a regional driver, here on the east coast,which worked out well untill the whole company had wages cut by almost half, as I looked for new work a family member of mine still in the industry suggested I talk to a gentleman from a F.B. carrier who used all owner op's here in the north east, which I did. I was told that if I purchased a truck and worked for him I would average a certain number of dollars per year, it was not miracle money but I would be earning a paycheck which was reasonable here in the Northeast.I went and bought that truck and got right to work. First let me say, and I am not pulling my own chain here but I want You to have a feel for my work ethic, I have been driving TT's for 18 years now,I am accident and aside form a seatbelt violation,violation free for thoes years. I worked 15 to 18 hour days on a salary to try to keep our bussiness alive and have done everything under the sun in the industry. What I am trying to get across is that I am not afraid to work and for lack of better terms come from the old school of transportation.
Things went well with this company for about three months, and at that point died to a point of only getting a load maybe 2 times a week, being stranded after unloading 300 miles from home a number of times and paying a very high rental fee for a trailer. Times are tough and I understand that, so I found new work and gave a notice of a week to the gentleman and returned my trailer at the end of that time. I brought my trailer back to their main facility and upon doing so was approached by one of the actual owners of this comapany,and was asked why I was leaving,I explained the situation to him that I could not afford to run only 2 times a week make a truck payment,and all the other goodies that go along and also support my family. He understood and asked if I would give it another go with them if I was kept busy and making money,sure I said.
It has been 3 months at this point since that day, again at first things went well for a couple of weeks, then came the 150 to 200 mile dead heads between loads which I never complained about,even though they dont consider this travel time when scheduleing delivery times for the load you are after, I found my self at times, many times,,OK all the time, running 18 hour day's which is fine I really dont mind it but keep in mind this is for a 450$ run, dead head miles are unpaid here and there is a strange system of the FSC being totaled to the rate before your precentage is figured in, boy if we knew that when we were brokering loads instead of giving all that money to the driver brokered to, we might still be in bussiness, sorry I digress, at this point three months in to my "trial" of being kept busy I find my self constantly under loads which I wait anywhere from 5 to 28 hours for, I do a ton of jobsite deliveries which as You know can take hours to get off,if not that long to get You in. Again I understand all this but have never been paid a cent of dentention since I have been signed on here. And now the funny thing of not receiving a settlement since mid november has popped up. I wonder if this is because I have piped up a bit that I am unhappy with the situation, keep in mind only 3 weeks ago one of their head dispatchers was prasing Me for being one of the best and eaisest going drivers he has ever dealt with, now that guy won't even give me the time of day when I call, before the lull in settlements the ones I was getting were either short a run or so depleated due to trailer rental they were usless, Needless to say I am done at this point, I am still getting no answer at all where my past 3 now 4 settlements are and I have not had a run over 450 miles in over a month, its all deliver at 7 travel 100 to 200 miles to pick up the next one drive all nite to go maybe 300 miles for a 7 am delivery. I have interviewed for a state job and things look well with that. I will let the bank take the truck, and start right away to fix my credit, I have not mentioned any names intentionally because this story is very young and i have not actually offically quit yet.And does it really matter who. I am telling this story not because it is a revelation, it is not the sad fact of the matter is this is a common one, bussiness profiting from owner operators one way or the other, all sorts of tactics and policy's even language they use to squeeze what is possible from owner op's, Let it be a guide to thoes who are looking to sign on, remember even if You are quoted a yearly estimate of what you will be taking in, they will tell you thats what everyone els here is doing, Go find everyone els and ask to make sure, ask if they are renting a trailer, ask if they actually own that truck they are in or is it owned by a dispatcher and they are being paid to drive it. Ask where there work is comming from or where your work will come from dedicated accounts they have or mostly just stuff pulled off a board picked by the vultures 20 times over. Companies are robbing o'os to the teeth, take a look at some of the towing and recovery stories out there! You will be appalled, and I see very little or no protection for the o'os. What You will hear is Hey! You signed on, if You don't like it leave, it's not all that easy and You all know what I am saying, I hate pissing through jobs, I want to stay somewhere work hard enjoy myself and be compensated fairly for it, and when I am in the wrong I can take responsibility for it, hmmm, funny word Responsibility.

 

I hope You are right,although there a few larger fleets that have good management, I was foolish to do what I did,I put trust in the numbers he gave me and I #### know better,there are many very successful OO's out there all got to that point with some amount of plain old hard work and a larger amount of luck, sometimes landing that account or customer that You dream of is being in the right place at the right time, where I went wrong was not taking a good investigative look at who I was signing on wth, I took the word of one man,we had allot in common with many similar likes, he also has a very good and profitable history as a dispatcher with this company, well in to six figures some years.The problem was and I was not aware of, that all his eggs were in one basket and if it broke we were doomed, and it did, this is a perfect example of asking the right questions and doing Your homework. Although please keep in mind that I was guided by a family member to go and speak with him so my guard was down,..The part that steemed me, is that I fell for the will ya stay if this happens part, this is a mid size carrier with all oo's I am nothing but a number and aside from that 5 minute conversation with an owner that day I was quitting, I will continue to be an number..
By no means did I want the story to be a sob poor me story, it is not I can pay off my truck if I desire, for that matter I can keep it in my yard and not really feel the dent, at one time we had that dream customer actually we had a few, many years of hard work on the road and off paid off dividends, and continues to do so, and so is the point of the story, I see guy's and just experienced it, myself that do work hard and have put in their hard knocks, have the backgrounds to prove it,keep their equipment nice dont ride 3 inches from a slow 4 wheelers bumper in the middle lane, and so, on being taken advantage of constantly by theese companys. If one young guy sees this and gets even the slightest bit of info from it,but enough to save him then I am happy,
What worries me is that an experience like this could put a good guy out of commission not just with the truck but his whole family and that is not fair, it's too bad were not all on the same side.