Calex Express....My New Home!

I would never want the luxury of having to dissenfect one of those 9 year old trucks, hell, it was bad enough dissenfecting the last Volvo I got, and that was only 9 months old at the time.

 

I'll be glade to voice my opinion as to what has happened here. Last time I checked I lived in a country that allows me the freedom of speech. If I've proven anything with this blog the last 4 years it's that I will always tell the truth, good or not so good. Let me start by saying this, I am not privy to the financial goings on here. But if this company is like any other one out there they are only working on a 3% margin of profit at best. Which means, for every dollar they make, .97 cents of it goes back into the company to keep the doors open, trucks on the road, office salaries, driver pay, health insurance, grass cutting, snow removal and lights on.

When I first came on board I was told they had a freeze on raises. Ok, I understand, almost 4 years later same pay freeze. Now look, I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. When I first got here they said 2 years experience, then it went down to one, then six months and now we are hiring drivers right out of Stevens Transport that have three months experience. What incentive does an experienced driver, like myself, that has 3.5 million safe miles, no accidents, 1 ticket and a 99% ontime p/u and delivery get to come onboard or stay here? I am making the same today as I was in July '09, except now I have a dedicated run to the house, drive the oldest truck in the company with the most miles, health insurance that has tripled since I've been here and oh, no raise. I don't agree with raises across the board, I believe each driver has to earn it. My record here is impeccable. I'm not rewarded at all. I've been told numerous times by the president of the company I have the best run in the industry, really? I don't think so or better yet if you look at what I do, the freight I haul for the best paying, most time sensitive customer we have, don't you think a raise would be in order? My southbound load is so time sensitive that they would unload all the stops anytime of the day or night to make sure it's there before Sunday's printing schedule.

I don't belive for one minute there's a driver shortage. Experienced drivers, like myself get to a point that enough is enough and they leave the industry. This leaves the mega carriers scrambling to put a seat warmer in my place, which is pretty scary if you think about it. How's this scenario play out for you, Bob gets terminated from his office job after 18 years and decides to hit the open road, I mean how hard can it be, right? Lets see, CRE out of Utah is hiring new drivers, they'll train me and I'll be behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler in no time. Ok, in September I get my CDL, I'll train for 3 months and then I'll be the captain of my own ship. Oh but wait, no one told me Elk Mountain in Wyoming has 60 mile an hour winds, blowing and drifting snow at 2am in the morning, how hard can this be? Next thing you know Bob is lucky and doesn't hit anyone as he jacknifes into the median. All for 28 cents a mile. You see, you get what you pay for. Pay more, get more. Go to these shippers and tell them I can't haul your freight for that price, you want it delivered on time, at the consignee safely right? Not scattered all over the median strip at the 264mm in Wyoming during a blizzard. I would have parked the truck, Bob kept on going. You get what you pay for.

Calex is no different than any other company out there. To me it seems like they are tripping over a quarter to save a dime. We have a bunch of new trailers coming in, they didn't by any new trucks for our OTR division because they bought these little tonka toy trucks for a customer of ours in Brooklyn., along with highly decaled reefers. So now I have the honor of driving a 13 year old truck with 1.5 million miles on the clock and a trailer that's 10 years old that they felt needed those side skirts on, you know, those things that California mandated. This trailer will never see California. My whole turn is 2725 miles per week, when I park this truck at the house on Thursday nights I feel as though I've driven 4200 miles for the week. Contrary to the President of the company's opinion, I don't have the best job in trucking. What I do have is 33 years of safe driving and a knowledge and work ethic to get the job done and be able to think for myself, all that with no raise. They are making out like a bandit with me, they get a whole helluva lot more from me then they are paying for.

I can choose to go someplace else, but I choose to stay here, for whatever reason that goes through my head. All I have is a set run, .36 a mile and off the chart health insurance. There's alot more reasons why I stay here, home every week is the number one reason, actually, it's the only reason I'm here. I will say this, if this run was to end tomorrow, I would be home tomorrow night. August 4th is my four year annivesary, by the grace of God I'll have 4 years of safe driving here, ontime delivery and an impeccable record, I just hope they see the same thing I do and everyone is on the same page.