Good and bad companies

yeah but then everyone's experiences are different. One guy may have a great time and one may have a bad time, and there may be varying reasons for each one. And then you may only hear about the bad experiences and not the good ones. shrug

 

Oh for sure for sure. I know people that swear by a company that I would never work for because they told me to drive when I had been up 24 hours and was ready to vomit I was so tired.

 

Which company was it?

I had a guy tell me Pam didn't pay enough and went to a different company (Heartland). I told the Pam recruiter I had heard from this guy that they didn't pay enough and that's why he left, and their response was, "Well, it depends. Did he take loads? Were there places he wouldn't drive to? What was his work ethic? You can make a ton of money, but if you're only willing to work under certain conditions, then no, he probably didn't."

I'm sure the truth was probably somewhere in the middle...I think he had an issue with getting enough loads w/ Pam, but I can't swear that he was talking about Pam and not Heartland. I think it was Pam though.

 

The company that told me to drive tired was Ozark.

While I would NEVER work for them again they are not a bad starter outfit for a new driver since they do take drivers right out of CDL school. HOWEVER, you will get the ####ty loads that pick up at 10pm and deliver at 7am. You will then be given a load that delivers at 4pm so you sleep all night and are ready to go the next morning. You'll then be told "drop your empty at FedEx and take your 10 and be ready to drive at 10pm. So you'll be up all day ready to drive with nowhere to go and about the time your body starts to shut down and it gets dark and you're ready to sleep, THEN they expect you to drive 8 or 9 hours at night. By the time you arrive at your destination you would have been up nearly 24 hours straight.

My point is they will switch you back and forth day and night so you will NEVER get a good nights sleep.

After falling asleep 3 times and being woken up by the rumble strip, I finally told them I was done. Best decision I ever made.

They also think good miles are 360 miles Fedex memphis to Fedex Atlanta get there at 5am, sit all day, be ready to leave 11pm fedex atlanta back to memphis, 360 miles. So in two days, you drove 720 miles, all at night, no showers no nothing. Closest free shower would be Loves or Pilot and the closest one to the Atlanta airport is almost an hour and you get one hour per day of PC. So showers are out of the question.

Yea, that was pure misery. As soon as I could find another job I got the hell out of that place.

One more thing, they do "city to city" for mileage calculations. What does that mean? I got ROYALLY screwed many many times driving for them. How? I'll give an example. One time they gave me a delivery in south east Houston. WAAAY down there. Then the pickup was in the very northwest corner of Houston. 42 miles away, AN HOUR AND 45 MINUTES OF BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC. ZERO PAID EMTPY MILES. Why? Because Ozark says there are no miles between Houston and Houston. Yea......I hate those people.

 

Sounds like a trash outfit

 

My company is out MO, dry van regional. If you know you know, yard used to be dirt but is a fully functional paved facility with showers, laundry and a decent lounge now. The good: nice trucks with fridge and EPU (I actually like them better than tricraps), every trailer is new (but leafspring not air ride), lots of light loads, no driver facing cameras. Pet friendly. If you get put on a load, 99% chance you are keeping it. Plenty of drop and hook. Lots of 700-800 mile runs, even some that are 1000+ (they are midwest and southeast). They are pretty good about picking customers that get you in and out. They have a portable truck wash service on the yard most days. If you do your job they leave you alone, and get you home when you want. You can pretty much work as hard as you want.. so if you are tired and don't want that 400 mile load, you can usually turn it down, but that can be the difference between an extra 400 miles for the week or not and quite possibly put you out of an area with good runs out for the next week. Non-forced dispatch. Shop takes care if you if you break down - I broke down before a holiday once and they towed me from several states over and put me in a new truck and got me home on time. If you pass another truck they'll likely wave, lots of good attitudes there despite the pay, which can be worse but also better depending on how many miles you get vs say a company that pays like 65cpm but only gives you 1800 mile weeks.

The only things I don't like are recommended fueling 2x on the short runs, and because of the economy there have been a lot more than usual, especially the ones on the yard that they'll offer you just to get you out of there (sometimes it is impossible to avoid the yard every weekend) and if you dont live near a terminal, or have a nice hidey spot to park on home time, parking/taxi is coming out of your pocket. Miles are down for me but that's because of me, I have spoke to a few drivers that are still getting theirs but doing a lot of extra work here and there that's IMO not worth the money on its own, but does help strategically in the long run. Me, I'd rather just take the runs that will keep me going while still being able to enjoy myself without bending over backwards without any favor pay. So really, like most places, drive make money don't drive dont make money. I am actually considering reefer work just to see more of the country again and get those consistent long hauls, but I know I'd end up missing this place eventually. Really after reading some of the stories here they're like a dream come true except for the pay.

 

Here's a real genius. I bet after his 15 years at yellow freight they gave him a free house to appreciate his slavery...

 

My experience after 15 years with only 4 or 5 companies, I did haul rock for 2 months but I don't usually admit it, is that no one has a great time. You just have the guys that put up with it better and stay quiet, do their job and adjust their driving to please the camera watchers. And every one of those I know ended up in a wreck or situation they were trying to please the company. I haven't even locked up the brakes in 15 years of driving because I drive there way Smith driving taught me over a decade ago, I feel like the only truck through Dallas these days using only my Jake's while a truck left off me almost pancakes hondas regularly. Yes there are #### drivers everywhere but when a company tells me to change my driving based on camera footage I tell them to get ####ed, I'm the one with however many million miles 15 years was worth and no incidents PERIOD. This has got me fired twice now since leaving Weatherford International and I'm convinced trucking is going to lay us all off one day for self driving trucks.
The last company I just quit or they fired me, I could care less they didn't like my seat position and wanted me more upright for the camera footage to drive 62mph in Kansas. .. again get ####ed I don't even use brakes, that's my mic drop I guess.

 

Hey old Teabag, does your company want to hire me I'm in Oklahoma? I'm about to call and go back to Acord that was best company I've ever worked for, but they are a show truck fleet and while it was cool and all, living in a flat top sleeper is hard to go back to....