Terminal Rats

They cant do anything at the terminals. Do you think it might be because they are so called regional?

 

Dont say that Klatu. Thomas will tell you that he gets excellent miles. I tried regional for a month. Not one week over 1800 but I was home every weekend! Lol!

I'm still convinced a lot has to do with your work ethic. Even a new FM can pick up on that. If you have a reputation for being late or whining then you are unreliable. Something else many drivers might not be aware of is the customer survey. A load coordinator showed it to me one time at Van Buren. Every customer we service (shipper or receiver) has the opportunity to fill out and return a customer survey sheet. It has such categories as : driver appearance, equipment condition/appearance, driver punctuality, driver attitude/professionalism, and so forth that they can rate and comment on.
So if you are one of those drivers that show up with an unswept trailer, trash falls out of your cab as you hurry to get out because you are late, you look and smell like you slept in the dumpster last night with the crackhead who "is trying to get to Atlanta to visit his dying grandma," and then argue with the shipping/receiving office about whatever...guess what....USA knows about it!

 

I will refute that comment Chemsoldier.I dont recall ever saying my miles were excellent on here.I typically get 1800 a week.Far from excellent.I run regional but i dont hang out at terminals either.When i started here in 2007 i ran otr and did not hang out at terminals back then.I am with Klatu that all they do is sit around and complain at the terminals.I am happy with the miles i get .Do i think we can run more running regional absolutely.I am a divorced dad so gettin home 8 days a month to see my son versus 3-4 days a month before works for me better.

 

I'll tell ya like it is and I aint afraid of nothing. Truth most of what you hear is bull. Basically it's the drivers own fault he can't get enough miles because of several reasons beyond his control. Number one, he's got a lemon for a truck and he spends more time at the terminal getting his truck fixed than he should be. Number two he or she never really proved themselves to their dispatcher that they can handle the loads, and the big one number three, to many break stops on the log. Which resulted in not only late deliveries, but also plenty of late pick-ups...

Your first year, hey at USA Truck, like most companies you got to prove yourself or bite the bullet and see what happens. Me" two years ago I was up front to begin with, either keep me moving or send me home. And if you don't keep me moving I'll be moving to another company that can. My miles average from 750 miles up to 3000 a week depending on how lucky I am or how lucky they want me to feel, personally I don't give a rats but what they say about their competition because personally I think most of them are all in cahoots with each other. Just like football players, they get swapped out all the time, except in trucking you got to swap yourself out to a different company if you can't stand the one your in. Me, I get decent loads, not all the time but hey they do keep me moving. I get home seldom and usually have to complain just to get time off, why because I deliver onetime every time. As for breaks I take few but I drive nights mostly because traffic is better at night than daylight, also a lot of the scales are closed and most of the other truckers are asleep. Less complaining on the cb and less congestion between us slower drivers and the faster ones, besides you can almost always find a good parking space in daylight hours compared to night-time hours.

Either way you look at it, USA Truck is just like any other company, it's just a weigh stop to the next one. Ive worked for several over the years. I've done refer, flat bed, tanker, and now dry van. They all have their pitfalls and so do the companies that employ the drivers, really its up to the driver to decide how they'r going to show their own worth.

Keep it simple, were all out here to make a living, dising others sometimes is a way to let off steam. Basically they got no one to complain to about their problems.

Me I say what I mean and mean what I say with no regrets... Thats just me...

Be safe and have a good ride, Sincerely, DMus

 

Well I actually didn't say you have said that, just that you would say it. It's nothing personal and no ill will intended. The regional thing works for you and it doesn't for others. You usually are defending it in the threads I've been in with you. Honestly, if USA used the sliding pay scale for regional drivers that Heartland does, it would be more enticing. Since nobody has thought to make this a loud of enough issue yet, it's business as usual at Van Buren.

Sometimes I miss regional, like when I was in Madison last week and there was so much ice and snow in the TA that I couldn't get the trailer to back straight. Or the last 3 days when I've been making shuttle runs from the Baltimore yard to points around Maryland. I also miss tackling my wife almost every weekend. But then I remember coming home with enough left on the check after deductions to go out to eat once and nothing else.

 

I'm confused. I drove for USA Truck from late November 2010 till late in August 2011. I don't remember anywhere hearing all you had to do was tell your fleet manager and the load planners you wanted to go sit at a terminal. Nothing wrong with your truck not called in for a powwow with a safety person or someone in Operations. You just wanted to go hang out at a terminal. In all seriousness though I don't see how you can JUST GO HANGOUT at a terminal when there is nothing wrong with your truck or you have not been called in. Please tell me how a driver can do this outside of home time? If you had been around the Vandalia, Roanoke , Spartanburg and Van Buren terminals in July and August of 2011 you might have seen me in these terminals because of chronic problems with the regen system on Truck 1832 and the DPF system on the APU of truck 1719. So I guess you would have also called me a terminal rat. Yes I know the conversations at the terminals are mind numbing at times. I remember a guy in Van Buren that could not have said anything good about the company if it killed him. However I don't ever remember chatting with a driver at a terminal that was just in there shooting the breeze for no reason. One more thing has it crossed your mind that those same drivers you have reported about might have said the same thing about you?

 

34hr restart.