My Brief Time at Schneider Bulk

I recently started training with Schneider Bulk in Houston, TX. Before I get into the details of what was promised, and then what the truth turned out to be, I'd like to point out that every individual I dealt with in Houston was great. There is not a single person I can complain about. They really do have good people working for them. My issues are with Schneider as a company. They lie from the very beginning, even about things they don't need to. With that said, here are the details of what I thought I was signing up for:

Schneider Bulk (OTR) – Reserve, LA
[Note: I was in the experienced class. I have no idea how they handle the inexperienced class. I never even saw that group]

Orientation (Approx. 19 days)

• Paid at a rate of $100 per day for EVERY day there, training or not ($1,900 for 19 days)
  
  
• Single-occupancy hotel room
  
  
• Reimbursement for travel
  
  
• Reimbursement for Hazmat Endorsement
  
  
• Breakfast every day at the hotel and lunch while training at the facility
  
  
• 3 days with a TE
  

Account Specific Details

• $0.38 per mile / $15 per hour while on duty (I will provide more details about this later, as it's why I ended up quitting)
  
  
• $1,000 weekly guarantee for the first 21 weeks (I'll provide more details about this as well, as it also played into why I quit)
  
  
• Average of 2,100 miles per week
  
  
• Home for 3 days every other week
  
  
• Benefits after 90 days
  

I'll start with orientation first:

Day 1 / Lie 1: Before Day 1 was even halfway finished, a person who we were told was a higher up in the Bulk Program was brought into class to explain a change to the pay structure. While we had all been promised $100 per day for every day we were there, training or not, the new pay structure would give us $12 per hour while training only. We were told that Schneider would continue the old structure for the remainder of that week and start the new structure on the following Sunday. Before I continue, let me explain how this would work, as there seems to have been confusion in another thread about how the hours would add up.

Under the old structure, we were getting $100 per day for every day there, training or not. If we were there 19 days before going home, that would add up to $1,900. If the new formula does not meet or exceed that total for the same time period, then Schneider was cheating us.

Under the new structure, we would get $12 per hour for training time only. While we were scheduled to be in orientation/training for 19 days, three days were going to be off days. Another few that fell on the weekend were also supposed to be partial days, but they can be treated as full days to keep the math simple. Training was from 0700 – 1600. I'm not sure if they were deducting thirty minutes for lunch or an hour, but we'll just say thirty minutes, which leaves 8.5 hours of billable training-hours. We were told in NO uncertain terms that we would NOT be getting paid for the van rides to or from the hotel. 8.5 hours x $12 = $102. $102 per day, while in training only. Remember, we were scheduled to be in Houston for 19 days, but three of those were off days. NO PAY during that time. Only 16 of those days would be paid under the new structure. 3 of those 16 days would be with a local TE. This part is important. They were NOT sending drivers from the experienced class out with an OTR TE because we wouldn't be out long enough for that to make sense.

Feel free to play around with those numbers if you want to. I know some of you will try to make the total meet or exceed $1,900. But I think it's obvious Schneider wanted to make it less. If they wanted the pay to be the same, they would have kept it the same. If they wanted it to be more, they would have increased the daily total. Their goal was to reduce orientation pay, which is perfectly fine with me, provided they don't wait until I get there to announce the change. That's where I have a problem. When I later spoke with the head person I mentioned earlier, they even agreed that we should have been told about the change before we got there. According to them, it just came down on too short of notice to let us know. I don't believe that, but I digress on this point.

Day 2 / Lie 2

I was told that I would be reimbursed for my Hazmat that I got on my own at the end of last year. This wasn't a big deal for me, I just thought of it as a nice bonus. Well... Turns out that they won't reimburse it because it's been more than 30 days since I got it. On its own, no big deal. But couple this lie with the previous one and I'm starting to see a pattern forming.

Day 3 / Lie 3

I was told that the pay on the account itself would be $0.38 per mile and $15 per hour while in an on-duty status. $0.38 per mile would be extremely low for any type of trucking, but it's obscene for tanker. Had that been the only compensation, I would never have even considered the account. The reason I accepted it was because of the on-duty pay and a weekly guarantee of $1,000 for the first 21 weeks.

It was explained to me that Schneider is getting rid of most accessory pay and replacing it with on-duty pay. No more detention, layover, breakdown etc... Just a flat rate per hour that's determined by the account and your experience. I was told that I would be able to use the on-duty status the entire time I was at a shipper/receiver. This, coupled with the weekly guarantee, is why I was willing to put up with $0.38 per mile. If I'm getting that, plus $15 per hour for the entire time I'm at a customer's facility, it wouldn't be hard to get my weekly check to at least $1,000, which is the minimum I will accept right now to be on the road. The weekly guarantee provided security that no check would be less than that for the first 21 weeks, which is almost 5 months.

Well... Turns out that part about using on-duty the entire time I'm at a customer's facility was a BIG FAT LIE. It was explained to me by the trainers, and later the head person I've mentioned twice before now, that I can only use it if I'm unloading or assisting in the unload of the product. If the customer unloads it themselves, I'm supposed to go off duty. HOLD ON BEFORE YOU START TO RESPOND!!!!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HOLD ON!!!!!!!!!!!!

I understand that is NORMAL procedure for trucking. I KNOW THIS. I've driven before. It was explained to me that staying on-duty regardless was part of the NEW pay structure that Schneider is trying out. Remember, Schneider got rid of accessory pay, at least for this account. NO MORE DETENTION, NO LAYOVER, NO BREAKDOWN. And I shouldn't have to say it again but I will...

$0.38 PER MILE FOR HAZMAT TANKER

And... For those who don't already know this about Schneider, they DO NOT allow split sleeper-births. You can't stop your 14 hour clock at a customer without this. You can stop your 70, but that 14 will keep ticking away. If I'm not getting paid for all of my 14, but I also can't stop it from ticking away, then I am stuck trying to get by on just $0.38 per mile and what's left of my hours after the customer eats away at them for free. Being told that I would be able to use paid on-duty the whole time was a deal maker. I would NEVER have accepted this position, or any other WITH THAT MILEAGE PAY, without that.

This brings me to my final point, the weekly guarantee. One of the conditions of getting it is that I work at least 40 hours in the week it's paid for. That's fair. I don't disagree with that at all. But... Here's the catch. I'm supposed to be home for 3 days every other week. The pay cycle begins on Sundays. While I shouldn't have any problem getting my minimum for the first week I'm out, either through earnings or the guarantee, the second week is where they would cheat me. If the week starts on Sunday and they get me back to the OC on Thursday, I should be able to work at least 40 hours in the week and get the guarantee, right??? Wrong. Schneider could easily give me short runs to and from facilities that do all the unloading, mixed with a good bit of downtime, to make sure I don't get to 40 using lines 3 or 4. Given everything I've already mentioned, it's obvious to me that this is exactly what they would do. For the first five months, I would get paid $1,000 one week and then scraps for the next week. After that five months were over, who knows what I'd get.

This is the point where I quit. I'd rather just write off the last few days and move on than waste any more time with proven liars. It wouldn't get any better if I stayed. And one last point before closing; In the 2.5 days I was at orientation, we never set up Direct Deposit. I asked about it several times, but they kept putting it off. I have never worked for a company that seemed so unconcerned with making sure their employees get paid. Everywhere else I have ever worked made sure that my pay was set up on or before DAY 1.

 

I appreciate it. I've got all my endorsements and my TWIC. I was willing to take a chance on Schneider to get the tanker training, but I can't accept less than $1,000 per week. Realistically, I would need to be there a year or more for most other tanker jobs to accept it as experience. A few might take 6 months. That's why the guarantee was so important. Five months of a guaranteed grand per week would get me pretty close to six. If it wasn't too bad at that point, I could power through the next six. If not, I could start looking for othet options. But... I saw immediately even that wasn't gonna happen.

Like they say, orientation is an extended interview. Schneider failed miserably

 

I completely agree. Leave it to the pumpkin to not honor a crummy deal that was already heavily skewed in their favor. It would be like me skipping out on a $1 bar tab for 5 beers.

 

You're welcome to call recruiting. Here's the current job posting

 

Experienced in dryvan, not tanker. And I don't live in Lousiana. I'm in Mississippi. Schneider was the only one I found hiring out of my area. I tried others around here but nothing.