My Brief Time at Schneider Bulk

Stringb8n · Apr 8, 2023

Ok, so for simplicity sake, were you paid the $12 an hour for the days "in training", for all hours except the time that was deducted for whatever poor lunch they offered? If not, I would file a wage claim with the state of Texas. Schneider is known for being rather stupid when it comes to pay. Not sure if it still in there, but they used to charge folks 2 cents per mile for their per diem "option". They were charging everybody who chose to be paid whatever bs per diem 2 cents per mile for "processing".

If they are requiring you to be anywhere, doing anything at all that strips you of your liberty to do what YOU want to, when you want to, they can call it what they want, but it is paid time. With the exception of the lunch break, unless you were interrupted. if lunch was interrupted they owe you for that time, too.

I would file the wage claim and collect whatever I would be getting just to spite them. It likely won't be a big amount of money. But its a matter of principal.

EDIT** the wage claim costs you nothing through TWC except the time to fill out the form. It truly is free to you. No attorney required.

MSWS · Apr 8, 2023

Metalicious said: ↑

Ok, so for simplicity sake, were you paid the $12 an hour for the days "in training", for all hours except the time that was deducted for whatever poor lunch they offered? If not, I would file a wage claim with the state of Texas. Schneider is known for being rather stupid when it comes to pay. Not sure if it still in there, but they used to charge folks 2 cents per mile for their per diem "option". They were charging everybody who chose to be paid whatever bs per diem 2 cents per mile for "processing".

If they are requiring you to be anywhere, doing anything at all that strips you of your liberty to do what YOU want to, when you want to, they can call it what they want, but it is paid time. With the exception of the lunch break, unless you were interrupted. if lunch was interrupted they owe you for that time, too.

I would file the wage claim and collect whatever I would be getting just to spite them. It likely won't be a big amount of money. But its a matter of principal.
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I quit before they started the new pay-structure, so it didn't end up affecting me. They announced on Day 1 that it would change on Day 7. I quit on Day 3. They did send me a check for the time I was there, as well as for my fuel costs to orientation.

Stringb8n · Apr 8, 2023

MSWS said: ↑

I quit before they started the new pay-structure, so it didn't end up affecting me. They announced on Day 1 that it would change on Day 7. I quit on Day 3. They did send me a check for the time I was there, as well as for my fuel costs to orientation.
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Ahh yeah I guess I saw the $12 an hour bit and don't pay this or that and lost my s***. Good thing they paid you what they were supposed to. You're right, 38 cpm is garbage. No wonder all their equipment looks beat the hell up.

Navajo Express JQ · Apr 8, 2023

MSWS said: ↑

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.
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Reminds me of stevens tanker division. I cannot phantom people who stick around after they are presented with bad documents to sign.Which they do it in the end to be sneaky and you hesitate to leave. Always be prepared to get up and leave.It will be more of a headache in the future if they tie your money deeper that you walking out. -Word to the wise-

074344 · Apr 9, 2023

Navajo Express JQ said: ↑

Reminds me of stevens tanker division. I cannot phantom people who stick around after they are presented with bad documents to sign.Which they do it in the end to be sneaky and you hesitate to leave. Always be prepared to get up and leave.It will be more of a headache in the future if they tie your money deeper that you walking out. -Word to the wise-
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Did you go to school in the United States?

Lonesome · Apr 9, 2023

074344 said: ↑

Did you go to school in the United States?
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In the big picture, does that matter?

iceman007 · Apr 12, 2023

Very Well Explained they are no different than all the rest Mega Companies out there

Stringb8n · Apr 14, 2023

MSWS said: ↑

I've looked into them. Most want more experience than I have, and all of them say I'll need to get the "auto-only" restriction removed from my license. YRC wanted me to go through CDL training all over again at their school just to get the restriction taken off. I think they said it would be 4-6 weeks and I'd have to sign a 2-year contract. Obviously, I said no.
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I would outburst a big F-you to them, and walked out. No "no" needed. If they couldn't figure out what the F-you meant that is their problem. Go rent a truck thats manual from one of those CDL schools or rental places and go take your test that way. That's what I would do, if it was me.

Stringb8n · Apr 14, 2023

KaoMinerva said: ↑

It's the auto restriction that's hampering you. I jumped into ltl with no experience but did have 2+years otr experience.
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What LTL company actually requires LTL experience? I did LTL p&d for not even 3 months. I hated that s*** with a passion. Started at $25.50 per hour. There are some companies as long as you have the driving experience will let you go out with a landoll, load a S125 boom lift and be on your way.

KaoMinerva · Apr 14, 2023

Metalicious said: ↑

What LTL company actually requires LTL experience? I did LTL p&d for not even 3 months. I hated that s*** with a passion. Started at $25.50 per hour. There are some companies as long as you have the driving experience will let you go out with a landoll, load a S125 boom lift and be on your way.
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That is true

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