Company Driver with American Central Transport

I'm not posting a trip update right now...as I only have a few minutes but will come back for that.

Overall, ACT has been a positive experience but lately they did some things that are really irritating me. They gave me a tag axle tractor (has a dead axle) with super singles when I started back in May. I didn't want the truck to begin with but this is the truck they gave me. Fast forward to last week...I safely stopped on the shoulder of an off-ramp. I inspected the truck and went to proceed when I was done. The tires just spun no matter what I did. ACT charged me $400 to tow the truck because I got stuck despite not being my fault I got stuck with a worthless tag axle. They sent the tow truck to the wrong location, too. They paid $100 of it but it still costed me about $400 because they taxed the money. Somehow delivering a load for zero pay is taxed income anyway! O......K! That's just plain wrong! Secondly, they did my review and they screwed up. They cut my pay by two cents per mile last week...which I found out after the fact when I went to review my paycheck for the week. I had just run 3750 miles. Basically, the check showed a four cent pay cut. They are adding two cents per mile because payroll did a four cent pay cut. I told them they messed up but they insist their review is accurate. It can be proven that their fuel stop report is completely inaccurate by reviewing my log and the fuel receipts/transactions...and the QC. They completely botched the fuel stops report as I stop at virtually all of them. I have no tickets, accidents, OOS, overweight, delivered every load on-time, did their safety training videos, stopped at their fuel stops, etc. They gave me 55% of the total points which is a complete and utter joke! Basically, I did my job and haven't had any issues whatsoever as far as that goes. They also told me the sheet that they gave me in orientation for reference isn't right. O.....K! Nice to know that now! Why would you give me a sheet, tell me my review is based on this but then tell me after my review (almost eight months later) this! They didn't even tell me I incurred a paycut. I found out when I went to review my check. I've never incurred a pay cut in three decades of working. In fact, I have gotten a raise every single time at EVERY JOB EVER! I don't do half-### work ever. My pay certainly doesn't reflect that though. I'm annoyed but I'm still not embellishing this post. It's 100% accurate

Oh yeah...and I got stuck about 20 times at a consignee today, too. I couldn't back a trailer into a dock, hook an empty, bobtail or slide the tandems. I drove to the Love's with the tandems all the way to the rear. So basically, even though it's not your fault if you get stuck, it is your fault and your problem...and so is the tow bill. This is because ACT has implemented a policy that prevents a driver from safely stopping to inspect the vehicle because if you get stuck, you get f**ked. Seems like that isn't exactly 100% legal. I can't safely pull over the truck? I tried explaining this to them but my words fell on deaf ears each time.

 

Yeah, so if I drive wrecklessly and roll the truck into a ditch... ACT will pay for the tow but if I safely stop to inspect it and get stuck because a tag axle is a piece of junk, I get the bill. They have a policy if a tow isn't the result of an accident, the driver pays. ACT pockets the fuel savings versus a twin screw and pawns the giant con of a tag axle with super singles on the driver. Isn't that generous? The best part is 88 miles of 99 mile charge which was $198 was because ACT sent the tow truck 44 miles the wrong way and he had to come back 44 miles plus 12 to get to me. So it was $198 mileage + 200 for the tow which was just a winch forward a little bit.

 

Yes.but if they have a policy on their raise system like overspeed and you overspeed, they have legitimized it. If they say 80%+ of the fuel stops and then later say no it's 85%+ but you have hit virtually all of them and they mess up the report and I can prove that via my logs and the Qc and the actual fuel transactions.but they don't listen. Oh, I'm sorry but does that require an actual effort? ...because that IS YOUR JOB!

 

Even better than that, they didn't get me the 2300-2500 average miles per week they told me before I even came to work for them. That is a failure in house not on my part. So my pay was cut to begin with which is a justification to cut my pay further because they couldn't get me enough miles. I didn't turn down loads. That is what they gave me. What most companies call mileage bonuses that they purposely makes sure you come up short on, ACT calls it a pay cut. That is my gas money to drive home and back to work for them to begin with. The whole ordeal is like a giant circus act except I'm not a little kid amused by clown acts.

 

They have a thing that says ACT...chose your pay but they left out the "WE" in we choose your pay.

 

Right before the end of the year, I got a QC message saying I haven't completed the training videos...and they would hate to see me miss out on a pay raise due to that. Was that supposed to be sarcastic? I did in fact complete them all but I went and redid one because it reappeared in there from when they switched the sofware interface. They did a data merge or whatever they did and it screwed up the finished ones and changed it to not finished. I think whoever messed that up, did the fuel report, too.?

 

I think Wal-Mart is hiring toilet scrubbers for 23cpm. How can you even accept that work and stay with it? That isn't even livable wages.