bruce oakley

Well, guess I'll jump in. I was leased to Bruce Oakley , for about 9 months. End dumps. They ran my ### off. Literally. I weighed 230 lbs. when I stated, when I quit I weighed 140 .you need to understand their setup. They hold some part of you mileage pay , 2 cents , I think it was , as a end of your year bonus.if you start in May , for example, your bonus will be paid the next May. If you quit 1 day before your anniversary date , no bonus for you. In fact , your dispatcher and the company split it between them. If your dispatcher needs some money, or doesn't like you, he will make your life a living Hell , trying to get you to quit .
You can end up sitting at customers all day. And forget about demurrage . I spent 2 full days , at a railhead in the middle of nowhere , in southern Illinois , waiting , along with about 2 dozen other Oakleys , in the middle of winter , temps below zero , then , when I did finally get my load of frac sand , with my holey tarp , which you are expected to keep patching , cause the expense of the new tarp costs your dispatcher a little of his bonus , I ran right into that big snowstorm in Arkansas . Cost me about 2 days .
They wouldn't even bill their customer , for the demurrage , so I sat at that railhead , running my truck for 2 days , for free. Free for them , not for me.
On another load , from Michigan to eastern Ohio , the only logical way to run it , was I-80 , thru Ohio. By then I had learned some of Oakleys little tricks , and had called in , to make Sure that I-80 was the approved route to take. And , so I did. As you know I-80 , from Toledo to MM215 , I think it is , is a Toll Road . Well, not according to Oakleys shiny little computer program , it ain't !!! I turned in the Toll Reciept , and they Refused to pay it. That's another little expense that comes off the top , of the trailers maintainence account. So, less money for your dispatcher. Well , by then I'd been with them long enough to have learned the ropes, so after arguing with my dispatcher about it , ( I should jump in here now , and tell you my dispatcher - in - training was Justin Oakley , the son of the Owner , and Justin will someday Own , and Run , Bruce Oakley, ) . Anyway I went right over his head , trying to get my money , to no avail. I was told that if the computer program said it was Not A Toll Road , then it was not , and the fact that I-80 thru Ohio has been a Toll road since before I was born , didn't make a dam bit of difference. And neither did the Toll Reciept. Which they wouldn't return to me , so I could deduct it.
So, go ahead , lease on to Bruce Oakley. You can be screwed 6 ways to next week , just like I was.
Ever wonder why they are Constantly advertising for New O-O's ?
Or why they are a constant , and I mean Constant , advertiser on XM radio ? Why their recruiter is always on what's - his -name , Dave somebody's morning Truckers talk show ?
Do as you will , just my 2 cents worth.

 

You ask 10 different people and you get 10 opinions....
ive been at Oakley a little over a year and half and am
pretty pleased with the money and the attitudes I recieve
when I call in or stroll through the office

 

REALLY!!! You lost 90lbs working for Oakley??? You quit over a toll ticket. I fully understood no tolls paid. Every body got a hell story I sat 3 days to unload watermelons broker paid me 100. I was leased to Landstar should I be pissed at them or the grocery warehouse? You got to move on stuff happen Oakley didn't shaft you the customer did. That's trucking.

 

I grew up in the South, worked for years in the South, and have many close white collar relatives in the South. White collar, administrative types in the South view blue collar workers with disdain. It's ingrained in the culture. When I was 21 I dropped out of college to go see the country as a trucker. My white collar relatives were horrified! My grandfather scolded me especialy hard, saying "Why do you want to drive a #### truck! That's a negros job. You should be managing those negro drivers instead."

Old Southern culture is not kind to working class people. It's deep ingrained and started many years ago. That's why the Republican Party is so much stronger in the South, and why religion (Southern Baptists) are so powerful and controlling.

 

I'm not gonna disagree with anything you said in your post, as I live here in the South. I am trying to figure out how in the hell it relates to the post in which you responded to? Were you trying to start your own thread?

 

I was their for nine months and quit because of a few reasons. I will first say they are good people and are straight foward. Your their to work. My dispatcher was all business but he was new so at times that sucked. I pulled an end dump and lived in Oklahoma and was on the regional board to be home on the weekends. The dispatchers get paid a small salary then they get a big bonus check for a percentage of the revenue, they have a lot of short hauls that pay good to the company but running on mileage sucks for an O/O and what I was getting was some real short stuff and then toward the end of the week he was trying to get me some longer stuff to get me around 2,000 miles for the week which won't pay the bills so their were a lot of weekends stayin out on the road to make a decent check.

The reasons for quiting was one they like to micro manage you. Every morning you call in with your hours left to work that day, okay I knew this when I started but my dispatcher sometimes would want to plan my trip for me by saying well if you run until a certain time tonight then you will pick up this amount of hours at midnight so if you get up at 4am you can be there by 8am. I have been trucking for over twenty years and don't need your help. Another the miles just weren't consistent, some guys say they got all they wanted but hey some don't. Another reason I just hated working by the mile, I always worked by the load and on percentage and made alot more money. Work smarter not harder and at Oakley you will work harder for that pay. Another reason I just got to hate scrap yards. They are very strict on safety which is a good thing but remember there phone number is plasted on your truck and there trailer. Another reason their fuel surcharge was one of the lowest and they didn't seem to care either that it was, that was in 2009 and 2010 when I worked there and things may have changed since then.

I guess the biggest reason for me leaving was after nine months I just felt like a company driver with a truck payment. I am just one of those independent types that like doing it my way so I just went and got my own authority and I am Happy, Happy, Happy.

But they do have a lot of owner operators that have been their for a long, long time so their is a lot of drivers that like it so you just have to try it and see for yourself. You may end up liking it and making it your home. Good luck to you!

 

Yes , I lost a lot of weight. Been keeping it off , too.
I think ya'll misunderstand my quitting. A company that will screw you , for $ 20.00 , will have no ethical problem with $1000.00 , or more ! And , when same company decides not to even TRY to get demurrage that's owed , well , not someone I'm gonna haul for .
Before I started with Oakley , I ran an end dump for over 5 years . I know a little about tarps.
When I'm responsible for making sure a load arrives as DRY as it was when I picked it up , and I can clearly see the Tarp needs to be Replaced , only to be over-ruled by some clown of a " head mechanic ", who Doesn't have to pay for that decision , like I do , it's not only time to move on , it's time to warn others.
So, I put it out here .
I did my part.

 

There not a bad outfit...stayed with them a lil over a year, it all depends on your dispatcher and if you have a lil backbone! I ran regional and made it home every weekend...they will try you on that, had to remind them a few times that they had a decal on my truck and my name was on the title! Pulled an end dump all over the southeast and a lil up north, against my will...can be hard work when a load sticks or freezes in your trailer...they want you to scale as much as possible...you'd have to risk your tires in crappy scrap yards to get another 400 pounds...an it ain't easy to keep a truck clean in there line of hauling...
Safety is all you here about! Real strict on matching that log to fuel times and scale tickets...the miles are give and take, one week your on top and the next week your wondering why you don't get a job at walmart? I used alot of fuel with them, always being 79,800 plus...on the up side, you make a consistant income and they are real resonable on there insurance...take dang good care of there trailers too....
To sum it up, they are some good people...all business, straight forward, an out to make the $$$, I would go back if my local gig ever gave out on me...best of luck

 

I see they pay mileage instead of percentage how much money do you guys think you lost out on if any