May Trucking Company

My driver trainer gets an idling bonus pretty nearly every month. In the time that I've been on her truck, we've been through ID, WY, CO, UT. Only once were we cold enough to idle the truck. Of course, I have a sub Z sleeping bag..

My trainer told me that May figures idling at $1.50/hour. I need to find out more about it. As I understand it, if the idling goes over the 10%/30% rule - you pay them, if it goes under some benchmark (this is what I need to get clarification on) - they pay you. If the weather is really cold, you can message your DM and get a waiver to idle more. I've heard stories where the DM jumped all over a new driver (in a good way) for NOT asking for more idle time because she knew he was in bad weather.

HG

 

i too got my bouus last month, wifey said it was 77.oo whoo hoo

with the bunk heater the company provides,

WHY WOULD A DRIVER NEED TOO IDLE ?


this is a decent company IMHO.

 

You don't get charged for idling your truck you get charged for OVER idling the truck. And in a situation where you were layed over or had to wait to pickup a load that had a delay you simply get a idle override from your dm. I worked their from April 2007 to the end of OCT 2007 and I never payed them a penny for any over idle but they payed me for not excessively idling the truck.

If your truck has a heater you get 30% of engine time for the 6 hottest months and 10% for the 6 coldest months.

My Idle time was between 2% and 6% and my truck did not even have a heater in it so I got 30% year round.

The good old days of 24/7 idling are over people unless your company likes throwing 3 to 4 bucks a hour out the stack when it is not necessary.

I see people idling their trucks all the time at T/S and rest areas when it is not necessary, and if I owned a company and wanted to stay in business I wouldn't allow it either.

 

It works like this. (just a hypothetical example) If your truck had lets say 500hrs engine time and you had 0% idle then you would be payed between $75 at 10% and $225 at 30%. The more idle without a need to, the less payed back.

Now you ain't going to get rich, but it's money, and I sure most people like any extra they can get. And you don't have to freeze or roast to get it either. You just have to not be a knucklehead. Only the lazy or clueless should even have to worry about the idle policy at May.

 

Thanks, Blue. That example helps to clear it up for me.

 

Amen, I second this opinion! Your correct in that anyone can find a HELL in heaven! Most people create there own problems.

 

This post head 3 years old you just brought it back to life

 

I had a WEBASCO cab heater. It used battery power to run the fan. After 10 hrs DOT break, the batteries were dead in 10 deg weather. I had to call road service to get me started again. It happened several times. I brought it to the shop, they tried to blame me for alterations in the electrical system. (I wouldn't know the first thing about how to change something in the fuse box.) The mechanices e-mailed pictures of the alterred fuse box to my DM. Thank God he took my honest word for it that I didn't change a thing. (BTW, the picture could have been from any tractor, there was no way to show that it was from my truck. Go figure)



On another truck, the heater broke in the middle of the night. I woke up freezing my #$#$$ off. Brought the truck to the show, and was promptly told it was probably my fault. I probably didn't follow the correct procedure turning the heater on/off when the engine was running. The heater is supposed to turn off by itself, when the engine is started. In any case, it's always the drivers fault when somethiong breaks on the truck, even if there is no evidence, and the truck is 3+ years old with 600,000+ miles on it ,and umpteen drivers had been horsing around on it before me.
I know, a tractor can easily do over a million miles, without problems, if it is maintained. Big trucking companies try to save every penny they can on maintenance. If it's not a safety issue, it doesn't get fixed until the tractor breaks down on the road somewhere. There are only a few exceptions in big company shops.
I'm not going to mention any names, but in a CA shop I received superb treatment once, they really wanted to help me keep my tractor going. (in 2005)

Thanks for reading!

 

You have to make copies of everything you send in. It costs you a little time and a little money. However, if you don't want this to happen, money taken off, etc. Then make copies so you can prove your case.