Maverick Transportation

What I did not like was losing the 800 mile weekend pay. I made over on that a couple times like a bandit. One time stayed in Gary. Had to pick up east chicago on mon....

 

well thanks to truck driving school, i can actually figure that out if i know how many miles i'm going and how fast i'll be going!! thanks, notarps! it makes since now

 

I bet you got spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle too!

THD it boils down to this and no one can deny it, Maverick advertises in all the free rags at the truckstops, and on XM. They have an orientation group weekly and have done so for years, meaning they have have the same 120% turn over rate as the rest of the bottom feeders. This is not the custom at a truly elite company. If you really want to flatbed move on to TMC, Werner, Tandem, Hunt, JB or any other company in your area and get your training.

This is not meant to bash current employee's. One man's Paradise is another man's Hell. If your happy there I wish you continued success.

Good Luck

 

Depends on the truck, where your fuel stops are, and the needs of your schedule. I think Maverick trucks have dual 100 gallon tanks and Detroits, so probably about every day to day and a half (600 to 800 miles). For the purposes of quick and dirty planning divide the miles from your trip plan by 5 and that'll give you a pessimistic estimate of how fuel you'll burn. When I was OTR I usually tried to hit fuel every day either with a meal break or a ten hour break.

Make sure you fuel before going to an area where fuel stops are thin on the ground. My stupid newbie story was with Schneider. I had a load from Indiana to far eastern Texas. The fuel optimiser said "no fuel needed" so I drove right by our fuel stop in Mt Vernon, IL . Get my dispatch out of Eastern TX going north and ruh-roh the optimiser says "no fuel solution" and I didn't have near enough to make it to the next fuel stop on my route (this was before you could use just about any Pilot). So I have to call my STL (dispatcher) and do my "I'm an idiot" speech and get authorization to buy $50 of diesel out of my pocket and get reimbursed.

 

never mind

 

Please allow me to make this CRYSTAL CLEAR; You may call me anything you wish, but one thing you can bet your tail on is that I am no liar. I tell it like it is from my own observances. When the opertunity allows me, I will investigate, research & inquire what ever I have to, in order to get the truth. I never have nor ever will, Hide any thing from anyone. For Any Reason. Period.

While most folks have a problem of hearing the actual truth, I on the other hand, have none what so ever, a problem of letting folks know the true details as they happen. If you ever lie to me, we've got a problem.

While Instructors at Maverick claim that they will never lie to folks nor will they tollerate anyone ever lying to them, then PLEASE, tell me as to why they tried to BS the entire class in regards as to why the trucks will only get about 6.5 - 7.0 mpg? Claiming that "It's The Driver's way of driving" Anyone, with any ounce of knowledge about automotive engines, will tell you, In order to get better fule mileage, you need tourqe, and in order to obtain the best tourqe, you need Horse Power in order to create that tourqe. Yet, mave claims that it is not so.

Funny, if you go to not only Freightliner, which by the way, if you go & speak with any of their enginiers, will tell you, the cascadias are designed to achieve 10-15mpg. Straight from the factory!! (why in the world, would anyone attempt to fix something that isn't broke) Those trucks are desinged to achieve the optimun fule effeciantcy, even if you place the govenor to 65mph. Go to any Nascar engine shop & they too will tell you, "without Horse power, you can not achieve tourqe needed to increase MGP. (Being here in NC, we have several Nascar Shops close by, and each and every one of them has shown, even from their computer models of various engines, both gas & disel, one can place a restriction on the actual speed a vehical can go, WITHOUT, messing around with Horse power & tourqe.

Oh, ok, Mav claimes they get a better insurance rate on their insurance if they turn the trucks down, X amount for each stage they trun the truck down. But what is that exactly achieveing here? It is really justifiable in the amount being saved by the insurace with the total amount their dumping into the amount of fuel they're actually wasting? Gee...Hmm 6.5 mpg vrs 10 - 15 mpg? If Mav was truely all about new technology and sincere about it, One would think that they would actually take the advce from a true engineer that knows everything about motor mechanics than some have crazed insurance sales rep looking to make a buck.

All the while I was there, every driver that came in complaining about how majority of other trucks out there on the road are just blowing away MAV trucks on both flat & climbing the hills. Mave calims its all about safety, NOt nessisarily true. To some degree, yes, but not all.

Oh, & Lets not forget those horror slide shows that they show the students about what could happen to them if they are not carefull. Yeah, remember those? Hmm...do you know who the driver was in the one all sprawled out of the windshield nearly escaping death, all because he wasn't "Doing his Job"? ...Nooo? That was instructor James... Don't believe me, Look it up the where the accident was taken, then look up the local police report, Then you'll know, I'm telling you the truth.....Oh, and another one.. remember the photo they showed where the driver of a mave truck that was laying on its side & all of those coils were tossed and sprawled out along the country side? Hmm... Remember that one?

Take a guess as to who was the driver in that one? Don't have a clue you say? ....That was none other than Dean "The head Safety guy" that caused that one. noticed how he, in his little speaches, he makes sure that he tells everyone that the driver is no longer a driver for Maverick? While he is right on one thing, he doesn't drive for maverick any more. Instead, He's got the balls to stand up there & tell you a bald face lie about the various accidents from previous Mav Drivers. (Yeah, I found that one too searching DMV, DAC & dot reports)

YET, THEY DON"T WANT YOU TO LIE TO THEM....other wise you are history? What about them. Is it ok for them to tell you bull faced lies & expect you to believe it as Gods honest truth? I think not.

Yes, Notarps, you are right when you said, they are looking for drivers willing to do it the MAV Way. They Don't want you to ask questions (even though they say you do) they're looking for "soldiers" to follow orders without even questioning their motives, policies, etc. They (the instructors anyway) claim to be family oriented. Yeah, to their individual family maybe.

What about those 200+ drivers they cut lose back in 2008? Those drivers that were once hired because they were "in Mav's Hiring Area" & then, all of a sudden, because Mave was no longer hiring in those areas, they sent messages to all of those drivers "via Qual Com" to take their trucks into the nearset term, empty out their trucks, pack it all up into boxes, take their things to UPS & they would ship it to their homes, & be given bus tickets home?....IS that looking after "your Family". The folks that were your bread & butter? The folks that spent countlss days & hours away from home from "Thier individual families", their endless countless, self sacraficing, hard working & loyalty to thier company?

What about their IC drivers? Those, whom for what ever reason, decided to walk away from MAv? I bet you didn't know about how they (Mav) handle those guy's employment history reporting do you?

Here, let me tell you about just one of them, (Since I've had the oppertunity to speak to several & all of them stated "the same exact thing") : When they came to Mav, they were hired as company drivers, (Normal Right?) Then, when they switched over to IC, they're still working for mav, recieving their paychecks from the same company, from the same exact checking account, the same exact ICC #, Right? So, one would think that they are working for the same exact company, RIght? NOT!! At least not technicly?

In fact, when they switched over from being a company driver to IC, they were then concidered, an indipendant contractor, & therefore, according to how MAV deams it, is No longer employed by the company. So, when the driver goes to put down their work history and list as workling for MAV from "X DATE - TO XX DATE, (XX meaning the very last date they pulled the last load for them) (And the beginning hire date is the actual date you agree to their terms, not the first day you arrive for orientation) In essance, the driver is lying on his work history, meaning, the driver is intentially falsifying their work history, resaulting in this information to go on his DAC Report as one who falsifies information, making him undesirable as a possible employee. Does Mav Tell them up front? NOt a chance. By the time the driver finds out, its TOO LATE! The damage has already been done. Can the driver get this info removed from his dac report? Possibly, with the right lawyers.

From the time the driver switches over to being an IC Driver, he needs to list that as working for another type of employment, (Like as if he went to work for another company) by doing so, he eliminates himself from this "branding".

And what about how MAv handles work history verifications from potential employers? It's definately not what you would think. Infact, those in HR have been told not release that info, but instead, pass the inquiries up to upper Management, to be handled. And depending upon how the driver left, will determine how quickly a responce will be made. Heck, one driver had been waiting over 3 months, after having his potential employer, fax the request (after Mav requesting that the driver to sign a release form granting permission) 15 diffent times, each time, calling back to HR with a confirmation # of reciept, yet being told, they hadn't recieved it. .....I smell something fishy here & it Ain't oiled slicked fish from the Gulf.

Yes, at first, I too was blinded by all of the smoking mirrors that Mav has spent countlss hours out there trying to make themselves shine above everyone else. Cudos to them! However, like any place you go to work for, you, just do not really know, untill you are in the door, after which, the truth begins to unravle. You have those that will just keep their mouths shut and go along with the lies & BS just to keep money comming in. Others, who are acutally honest & hard working folks, find themselves having to walk a very fine line, always being afraid of asking the wrong questions, or walking or talking in a wrong way. To me, NO BODY deserves to be made to feel like that, NO BODY! We are human beings, not dogs. We all have families, and by so, we all deserve to be treated as such. Not slabs of expendable meat.

So, in conclusion, while yes, I am greatful for Mave giving me a "Chance" to work for them, little did they know now, how greatfull I am to find out as to just what kind of company to look out for, and to which I Do Not Wish to work for. I'm now much wiser to the smoking mirrors, and realise the old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, It most likely is"

 

Thanks. I'll be looking into them on Monday. I've already have a small group of friends who are into research, digging up info on these companies actual hiring practices and work ethics. I got burnt once, don't care to waste any more time with another. I REALLY & TRUELY Want to learn flatbed, but not at a cost where I can't support my family, you know what I mean?

 

Your out of your flipping mind and don't know what your talking about. Thanks for proving it with this statement....

 

Your welcome. I always kept track of my fuel mileage every time I fueled. Remember if you run mountains it will effect your mileage as well as other factors.

 

I never once said that it wasn't my fault, & never will. Do I talk to much? Not in person. 90% of the time, I'm the quiet one sitting in the back of the room taking it all in, soaking in as much as I can. IF I do not understand something, heck yes, I will ask questions. If I've forgotten something, I will ask questions. If I am unsure about something, I will ask questions. But to just go out there, when I'm trying to learn soemthing, just flap my jaws just to hear my own voice? Not a Chance.

Before you begin to pass judgement upon someone, you need to make sure that you were there & acutally see for yourself. He said / she said crap doesn't cut it.

On the other hand, on forums like here, heck yeah! I am going to speak out, I am going to share past experiances, I am going to pass along information "THAT I KNOW FOR A FACT IS 100% TRUE". I never have nor ever will, for what ever reason, try & blow smoke up someones tail pipe

I had one instructor there while sitting outside during a break, that had asked me a question about something that could potentially be controversial. I told him straight up, not to ask me questions that her really didn't want to know the truth about, and if need be, could & would supply documented proof as to what I was saying. He insisted, so I told him. He couldn't or wouldn't believe it, until I produced the documentation. From that point on, he stated sincerely that he would never doubt me again.

The same goes for anyone any time. IF you can't handle the truth, don't ask me. As you might not like what you hear.

I have no hard feelings against you notarps, as yes, I knew you were neing sincere when you stated that I wouldn't make it. Ok, So you were right. But that doen't make me one that can not learn to become a flat bedder. For many years, I was nothing more than a steering wheel holder, true. NOw, many years later, I know without question, Flat bedding is what I really want to do. I know it's hard work, it daunting work, it's trialsome work. I get that. But it's that kind of work that build character, and while yes, I've been mostly air-conditioned most of my life, it soen't mean that I can not learn to deal with the elements. I just need someone to have faith and determination to help me to succeed in this & to help me to become a true flatbedder. Is that so much to ask?