McLeod Questionable Hiring Practices?

McLeod's Orientation IS NOT DOT compliant

Last week I went to McLeod Express's so-called Orientation. To start off with when I walked into my hotel room the first thought that came to mind was Amateur Porn Video. Now this was on Sunday, May 16th. They told us to be ready to go at 8 AM Monday morning. It was 9:30 AM before anyone came to pick us up. During the time that we were waiting for a McLeod Rep to pick us up there was a recruitee stating that he had only 6 mos experience and could not even read a map. Said his prior company always routed him. Right there should have been a red flag.

Anyway, As we are sitting in orientation they told us NOT to log any of it. Including the DOT drug screen. Red flag number 2.

Day 2 of orientation they picked us up at 11 AM. Said that we didnt need to inspect our trucks just grab our loads and go. Red flag number 3.

Before we got to get up into our trucks we had to go through safety and get all required items needed. During my visit with safety I was put on a medical safety hold.

Explanation: When I emailed my resume I also emailed a Drs. Release statement for an injury that I substained in Feb while climbing out of a truck while employed with another company. I inverted my right ankle. On the Drs. Release the Doc stated that I was released to go back to work full duty. He also stated that I was expected to reach MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement) in 4 weeks from the date of April 30th. Mitzi in McLeod's safety dept argued with me that this was a Restriction. We argued back and forth for about 15 mins. She then told me that I needed to get ahold of the Dr. and tell him that I needed a statement stating that I was released back to work full duty and that I was at MMI. So back to the hotel I went.

Day 3. I began calling my Dr. at 7 AM EST. Finally got ahold of his nurse at 8 AM. I explained to her what was going on and she said no problem that she would not only fax them a new statement but she would call them and explain the MMI. The nurse called me back at 1 PM and said that she had tried all morning to call someone there but they wouldnt answer the phone but she did fax a statement. About an hour later Sherri called me and told me that she received the statement but since I didnt have my ASO brace that they were going to get me a rental car to drive all the way back to the house for this brace. She called me back 10 mins later and told me that there were no rentals available untill the next day that I would be in the hotel a 4th night. By this time I was furious.

Day 4. At 1 PM I was called and told that my rental car was ready. I had pretty much made up my mind that I wouldnt be back so I went to the terminal and grabbed all of my stuff and headed home.

Day 5. I finally got ahold of Mitzi - Safety director if thats what you want to call her. I told her that the new statement should be there on her desk because thats where Sherri said that she had put it. She told me that it was there but it wasnt good enough. Now before I had called Mitzi I investigated DOT Medical Requirements. MMI is NOT a restriction and my Dr. statement was legal. When I brought this to her attention she said that she made the rules not me. My response to her was: U.S. Federal DOT Commission makes the rules, your job is to make sure that your company and drivers are in compliance with those rules and regulations and you are not. She then asked what I meant. I told her that she was the so called safety director to go figure it out.

I gave it a few mins and called the Dr. once more. Talk to his nurse once more. this time she faxed a totally new Release statement and then emailed me a copy of it. NO WHERE on this statement does it mention anything about MMI. It states that I have been fully released to go back to work. Once I received it I called Sherri. Now I have to wait until I go back and see my Doctor on June 11th before they will put me up in a truck. I told her that I wasnt waiting that long.

McLeod Express is not in compliant with DOT Regs for the way they handle their orientation. You have to log any and all orientation for the simple fact that when you begin filling out ANY kind of paper work for a company that is DOT regulated, those papers become federal documents. Especially the DOT drug screen once you sign it. And during our orientation they came right out and told us that we would be running illegally at times. 3 of us stood up and told them that with the new CSA2010 laws that are coming out we run legal or we dont run at all. They just dismissed our comments.

PLEASE. Anyone getting ready to go to one of their orientations..... S T O P..... RUN AWAY.....

Since this has happened I began using this sight as a investigation tool. Hopefully I will be going to orientation this coming week with Seward Motor Freight.

Be careful out there my brothers and sisters. Keep that dull side down and that shiny side up.

 

No Im not new to this industry. I have 10 yrs out here. However by law you have to report the situation due to the fact that IT IS documented by the other company. If not you can be held liable for falsification of an application. Its not a matter of whether or not there was an arguement. The point is I knew that I was right and I needed to get that point across. I never had that problem with Summitt Trucking and the safety direct and I got into these discussions all of the time. It wasnt the fact that I wanted to argue. It was the fact that McCleod's Safety director began yelling at me infront of everyone. I kept my cool didnt raise my voice. I let her make the folol out of herself.