All American Xpress

Today (Monday) finally brought the payday deposits that were supposed to be done Friday (and were originally scheduled for our regular paydate of Tuesdays). I got my large expense reimbursement so AAX has brought its payments to me up to date. I don't get a paycheck this week so won't know if they meet the deadline tomorrow or not.
Meanwhile the fuel situation is a real pain in the butt. They are now strictly using Comdata checks which on one side is good because it means they are paying in cash and not floating a balance on a credit account (Comdata is pretty much like a pre-loaded account). But on the other side, they are so low on funds that they have a limited amount of cash to funnel into Comdata - they are only fueling trucks that are under deadline for delivery. Very stupid (and risky). I have a load delivering in Utah on Thursday evening so after parking near my home in Chattanooga Saturday nite, I was not able to get approval to buy fuel and continue on my way either Sunday or today. I could have delivered early and met this week's payroll cutoff of Tuesday midnight, but now I won't meaning no paycheck for me next week either. Doesn't make sense when you figure if I unloaded Tuesday then I could have been under another revenue producing run on Wednesday. Now, not only are they paying reefer fuel for a trailer that is idle for 2 days, but they lose 2 days productivity for the truck (me, I'm at home, so other than not making the payroll cutoff this week, I don't have much to complain about).
Oh, of course the other idiocy abou this policy is that it takes away any flexibility on a load. Now, if I have ANY mechanical, weather, or traffic delays, the load will be late because they took away my ability to run ahead of schedule. Hope they dont shoot themselves in the foot by doing it this way for the week.
Word today from the load planner who doubles as the fuel account gatekeeper is that we are supposed to be done with Comdata cash this week (Friday) and be able to resume use of a fuel account card. But in the meantime, drivers pay the price by being forcibly idled if their load is not a priority and even if it is we often sit for more than an hour awaiting the approval code to clear us for fueling up.
To G/MAN, yes, Runway will be an entirely independant outfit from AAX. When/if the owner gets his financial backing, personnel will transfer to Runway, new equipment will be bought, and I imagine the assets of AAX will be returned to the debtors. The Chief officers that commited the fraud in AAX are gone and as far as I know, Jamal Lewis will be President AND owner of Runway, and not just the shadow owner as he was under AAX. I believe it is the main broker we use in Lakeland that is basically doling out the cash to float AAX in the meantime which is why the above described fuel management rules are in place (the broker is only paying off AAX as the shippers pay him). I would not be surprised to see that Runway will be at least half the size of AAX by the time all is in place. AAX is reportedly down to a fleet of less than 80 trucks (from a high of 200 and from 130 when I joined in December). So I could very well tough it out for the next month or three only to be laid off when Runway takes over (they could focus on team runs again to be more profitable and dump us solo drivers).
I'll go silent for another week and post when I make the turn in Utah on Friday.bb.

 

Ok, this week I got used to the new fuel procedures so had none of the delays I experienced over the weekend. We are still on Comdata checks, not fuel cards, and we get the approval codes either during the day from one of the load planners or at nite for urgent needs.
Payday this week was late again, but this time was processed on Wednesday, so that's just 1 day late as opposed to two weeks being 3 days late (Fridays) and last week being 6 days late.
We'll see if next week they manage to improve more and get pay deposited on time and switch us back to fuel cards giving us more freedom to plan our trips and our fuel stops. One day at a time.

Drivinmylifeaway - thanks, and yes, I have been in touch with Storey - they aren't hiring now and I have an app just waiting to be dropped in the mail to them that I held off on when AAX called me back last week. Am also interested in RE Garrison but haven't gotten around to calling them (they don't have an on-line app). I see quite a few of them out here running 80/84.

 

I'll try to keep this brief.
In general, no real changes at AAX in the last 3 weeks. I got a run to Ogden but then the clutch went out and AAX did not have the funds to pay for the repair. They paid me cash to cover my motel however and have told me I will be paid the layover/breakdown fee for the week I was there (went to the shop on a Friday but work not started til Monday, completed late Tuesday, finally paid for on Friday).
Spoke to a team during the week and they are using Fleet One fuel cards (they were headed to Cali for a lettuce load) but us solos, at least, are still taking daily Comdata codes for $500 to cover truck and reefer fuel.
Once I got the truck repaired I was sent up to Idaho for a potato load going back east to Lakeland and all went without problems. Other than 3 trucks in Ogden, I have seen NO AAX rigs on the highway, I used to pass 4-5 per day.
Payroll was NOT met last Tuesday and as of today, still has not paid out. Of course that means payroll this week (Tuesday) has also not been taken care of. I was told in Lakeland this morning that last week should be paid today (Thursday) and they hope to get this week done on Friday. I won't be holding my breath.
For those wondering, I figure changing jobs is going to cost me 3 weeks without pay, and I honestly don't think I'm about to be stiffed here, so in the next 3 weeks if I tough it out, I'll still pocket around $2400.
At the yard I was shocked to find about 2 dozen trucks parked. Drivers are quitting in droves over the pay issue - there is still work and as far as I know, once on the road, trip expenses are being meted out daily. I spoke to several of the company people and no one in the office/shop is in panic mode and everyone seems to be comfortable that though it is painful, the transition to RUNWAY transportation is slowly taking place. Supposedly a dealer has 18 trucks (newer, but not new) ready for decaling but no word on when that might happen. Last year AAX was 200 strong, when I joined in December it was around 140 drivers (solo and team) a month ago it was down to 85, and one estimate I heard today is that we have only 40 trucks on the road, many of them teams running the lettuce loads.
I made my drop at Publix and was ready to pack it in, but because of the activity and the attitudes, I decided to take a gamble with at least another turn and was given a run to Spokane and Auburn, WA that delivers next Monday and Tuesday mornings respectively. I'm home in Chattanooga grabbing my 34 hour restart and crossing my fingers to see at least a partial paycheck this week. No signs or rumor at all that Lewis is going to give up and fold but he sure is putting a lot of faith in his remaining drivers (he personally paid for the clutch repair to my truck last week when the company couldn't fund the $3000 fix).
At this point its a race to see if he gets his backing before he simply runs out of money. Fewer drivers = fewer loads delivered to make revenue.
I'm in the process of considering Davis Express for SE regional work, Kenco, a local Chattanooga regional outfit, and Brown out of ATL for an automotive dedicated run from Michigan down to Alabama, but think as long as the money sputters into my bank account, I'll continue to tough it out here.