New Century Transportation

I've read all 20 something pages of posts to this thread with much interest and a little laughter. I'm going to NCT to be a third leg of a three man team. I've been driving a truck since '89 and started out as a team driver. But I've never heard of it run quite this way and I must admit I'm pretty intrigued. I hope it runs in reality as smooth as it looks on paper. The way it's supposed to work is 20 days out and 10 days off, while getting paid for all 30 days. A paid vacation every month! Drivers A, B, and C are a team and all live in the same area. Drivers A and B will go out for about 10 days while C gets his 10 days off. A and B will come back, A gets off the truck, B and C go out for about 10 days. B and C come back, B gets off for his 10 days while A and C go out for about 10 days then come back and do it all again. All the while the truck is running and A, B, and C are splitting everything 3 ways. Even when you're home you are still making money. I let my hazmat go years ago when it was only $7 for the endorsement 'cause I wasnt using it. Now it's costing me nearly $200 to get it back. Just waiting on my background check to come back and the state to mail me a new license. If all goes as planned I'll be in Jersey on January 9th for orientation. The other 2 guys in this tripod are already there since just before Thanksgiving. They were told new equipment would start coming in the first of the year and that the teams would get first dibs. I guess by what I've read in here though I wont hold my breath! I'll try to keep everyone updated on progress and how this 3/20/10 program works in practice. Hope to meet up with LOONEY TUNE, HOUSECAT, and SARGETOM eventually. Sorry I missed Mushroom. Wish you all the best and be safe.

 

All the New Century trucks I've seen look new and well maintained and I think most if not all have APU's installed in them. Good Luck!

 

Yeah, they said it had an APU in it but it didnt work and they werent gonna fix it 'cause they were getting new trucks first of the year.

 

Some of the new trucks are in. They are Internationals and should be going to the drivers that have trucks with a lot of miles or repairs. (I have a "low mileage truck"- with 450,000 miles on it). Our equipment is in need of replacement and trucks should come in each month. I do know that we are getting several different brands and models in (they won't all be Internationals) and this delivery just happened to be Internationals. One thing I do like is that the company lets us do what we want to our trucks. I wanted a dash mount cb and they said it was my truck-do what i wanted with it. The new program (that you are on paintball) sounds interesting! I don't live near the terminal, so it's not an option for me-but it sounds likeable. Will be interested to see how you like it!

This dispatcher that I have in my life now is the worst dispatcher that I have ever had! I know that they are still training them, but I have never thought about leaving this job until him. I have worked for two gigantic companies in my career and have never had one as un-truthful or un-trustworthy as this one. Tonight he has sent me to a customer (with a guarantee instruction on the qualcomm) for a 1700 delivery. The actual delivery time is 0800 tomorrow and so I sit behind a barn in upstate NY until tomorrow waiting for the farmer and his crew to come unload me! I am lucky that he put it on the computer, because I will get paid for sitting here-just a little honesty would be nice! Sitting somewhere with facilities would be good too!
He seems to want all of his drivers to run only when he is working, so he can keep an eye on us (?)-I don't know! I prefer to drive in the evenings after rush hour when I can and he always pushes me to run early in the morning. He originally sent me a load number and a wrong phone number for the broker. When I told him it was the wrong phone number, he told me to just head to the small town in upper Michigan and he would send me the information the next day when he got in. He wouldn't tell me who the broker was, so I called one that we use alot and got lucky (they had the load information for me).
Regardless of my frustration, I feel like I am running my own truck completely. In the past if I had questions at least they would be answered! Now...nothing. If I think I'll be late on a delivery, he will tell me to make it or ask for a relay (even if it's the day before and not predictable at the time). Really just not liking it at all right now. I was told adding dispatchers was an idea to slow down our turnover rate (which has increased dramatically over the past year). I know this guy's not helping it and wonder why they actually did it. I'm not trusting things now, and that's never good. Going to try and wait it out-hopefully things improve. btw, money is still good and that's why I'm trying to deal with it. Not sure why the old guys are still hanging around-what a difference even since I started here!

Good Luck paintball!

 

OH-btw-all of our trucks have APU's and household electrical 1500-2500 watt inverters in them. I couldn't live without it!

 

paintballjock.....interested in hearing how that 3-man team thing is working for NCT as well as the actual teams that are running it. I read about it in MovinOut paper and in theory it sounds like a fantastic idea. We tried something similar to that a couple years ago at the company I work for running reefers, but the freight that was "suppose to be there" died off so we really didn't have a chance to see it flourish.

 

My cell phone is currently off so I'm a little long in between posts right now. Hopefully get it back on next weekend. One big reason I'm going back on the road. Hey Housecat, you dont have to live near a terminal for that 3/20/10 program. I live in Palatka FL and the other 2 guys live near Sanford Fl. You just have to get 3 guys who live near each other for it to work. Those two were already there and I answered an ad they put out looking for the 3rd guy. As for your dispatcher issue... do they have an open door policy with management? Just say " hey, we dont mesh well". I'm not a whiner and there are dickheads wherever you go but sometimes you just have to speak up for a little change to happen. It would be a shame to let a narrow minded desk jockey run you off from a good paying job. It sounds like everything else there is pretty good though. I got my new hazmat endorsed license back in the mail yesterday so I plan to be in Jersey on Monday the 9th.
NYSupertrucker, (I'm originally from Jamestown NY) the two guys that I'll be running with are already there and currently running as a conventional 2 man team. They say theyre staying busy and reading back over all these posts I dont recall anyone saying they were hurting for miles or freight. I guess I'll soon find out firsthand.
Be safe everyone and keep the shiny side up. I'll check in again from orientation.

 

What are the trucks governed at? That 62 or 63 mph crap puts me to sleep!

 

We are governed at 67 mph, but some trucks run faster.

 

Paintball-sorry to hear that you are having phone issues! On the phone issue-New Century will give you an extra $50.00 each month (separate from your paycheck) for phone expenses. It is dropped onto your comdata card each month along with your out of pocket expenses like scales, wiper blades, etc. Also, they pay for any fluids or load locks with our comdata card, so we don't have to get authorization for them (or buy them with our own money).

There is an "open door policy" (of sorts) and I have spoken with everyone short of Harry about my adjustment issues with my dispatcher, but I appreciate your advice! Being one of a few solo female drivers at the company-most people know me inside by name. They have told me to "be patient". I am trying....