Maverick Transportation

ok just got off the phone with maverick. i am approved and on their waiting list. the lady told me it can be up to 2 months or more of waiting. guess i will go somewhere else for a short time then. man that is an awfull wait.

 

Hello, I drove for maverick for 4 months, and they were my first driving job fresh out of the cdl mill. First off, their training is pretty intense, and good overall. It will be your trial as to whether you are maverick material or not. Anyway, after training, you will be assigned to a temporary fleet manager who will help you make the "transition" into being a driver on your own away from the training. After this period of usually 30 days, you will be assigned to your "Real" fleet manager, and be transferred into one of the following divisions, Long-haul, US Division, US Regional, Short-haul, and Specialized. I myself went into Short-haul..... dont repeat my mistake. For one, I enjoyed the miles i was getting in the us division, about 3000 a week, and still got home every weekend. When I switched to "covered wagon" or short haul, that is exactly what it is. I averaged 1100 miles a week in short haul and had to sell my car so I wouldnt starve. Last month, my highest check was $300.00........ or less than what you will make in training after taxes....... which is about $350. I advise you, if you do go to maverick, they are very fair, and i am happy to have worked for them, I am not disgruntled, I realize I have made a bad choice.... but DO NOT SWITCH TO SHORT HAUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is very tempting to, and the temptation is what got me. When I was strapping down two coils on opposite sides of the trailer and had to tarp it twice, all in the time it took 3 covered wagons to strap down their load and leave. I made the switch and regret it. Now, here is how I got fired..... ok, the honest truth and no BS. Ok, I was running a load from ghent ky to chicago, and I noticed my engine was kind of rattling arround alitte bit, I stopped checked the oil, which was a little low, so I added about half a gallon. I stopped about 150 miles down the road, checked it again, and it was fine. I called my fleet manager and let him know about the situation at hand, and I told him I thought the truck would make it to chicago for the drop if I babied it, and then I would be able to get to Gary for service. So it happened, I made it to the consignee, and my drive shaft dropped underneath my truck just as I was pulling into the dock building. They pushed me into the building with a forklift, and unloaded me. Once I got my truck towed back to the Gary terminal, i was holed up in a hotel for 2 days. (This is big, my truck was pretty messy from neglect during the holiday season, I had 3 bags of trash laying on the floor of the truck, and some unfolded cloths on the bunk.) After the 2nd day, my fleet manager called me and said I was getting a new truck and had to go to the freightliner dealership to get my clothes and such out of my old truck and put it into my new one. When I got to freightliner, I had 10 minutes to get my stuff out of the truck, and since the domelight didnt work, I had to do it in pitch black darkness, needless to say, I didnt have time to throw the trash away, and I actually left some dvds and my wallet there on accident. ---------moving on, I drove my new truck for a week and on wedsday, I made a delivery in fort wayne In. My dispatcher called me and told me to dead head to Gary. I knew immediately it was probably about my truck being dirty and I drove on to Gary expecting a full out ### chewing.. nothing more. I got to the terminal and was instructed to finish cleaning out my old truck, which in a way I was thankful for at the time, because I left my wallet in the truck and it had my license, and social security card. ---Thursday-- I woke up in the morning and straightened up my truck from the weeks worth of driving except the mud that was on the floor from walking across Gary terminal's parking lot. (If you ever go there...... believe me, it is a mud hole, doesnt matter if it rained that week, there is standing water between you and the door.) I went inside and talked to my fleet manager and got chewed out as expected. Then, he came up to me and told me I needed to go get a drug and alcohol test from the clinic. I went to the clinic, and when I got there, the nurse had no idea what i was talking about and we had to wait 3 hours for maverick to confirm the testing for the DOT....... I was thinking, "this is all way too convieniant for maverick" When I got back, Someone had moved my new truck to the garage. My fleet manager told me that I was under investigation from safety for having a messy truck, he told me it was a fire hazard. I went inside to take a leak, and when I returned, my truck was where I had parked it originally, only now, my fleet manager was inside taking pictures of my muddy floor, and my clothes that were draped over the seat. He came back inside and told me he had to let me go.... that there is no excuse for dirty trucks. ALL THAT WAS WRONG WITH IT WAS MUD ON THE FLOOR!!!!!!!! I have told countless people about it and my only explaination for the bizzarre firing is that the economy is in the crapper... I called Steven Selig--- VP of the company and pleaded my case with him, and failed.

 

Anyway, my response above is not meant to be a deterrent to not go to maverick, I really enjoyed my job there and I hope all you future recruits go there. I hope to be in good standing with the company in 6 months so I can return and go to the long haul division where the real money is. They are a truely good company, as good as any other out there. If you go there do just one thing for me........ Keep your truck spotless, or you may regret it in the end

 

thanks for the input. i may have to go somewhere else at least for a while. with that kind of wait it is just too long for me. as for keeping a truck clean i am a neat freak anyway. i can see the wait for people needing schooling but for me i already have my cdl.

 

wow,do you think they (mav) would let you go over a truck that isnt spotless...I dont know about that one...at least you figure they would give you a second chance on cleanliness right?....and why did they send the guy for a piss test ...hmmmmm

 

good point!!!

 

I also am waiting on an orientation date from Maverick, since December 26th. I now have my HAZMAT/Tanker so am considering trying elsewhere but will try a call to the recruiter first to see where I stand. Keeping a clean vehicle is no problem for me either. I would really like a chance with Maverick.

This is a slow time for flat bedding and now that a recession is on the horizon, hard to tell what can happen for future employment in the trucking industry.

 

sounds to me like they were looking for any excuse they could to fire you, the muddy floor was all that they could find at the time, it didnt help the way you left your last truck either i'm sure.

they could of much more easily fired you for driving around for a week without your license or DOT card.

 

I think something is missing in this story. i'm not saying it isn't true or anything like that. But what i'm thinking is that you must have made somebody mad at you or something. Have you had any words with anyone? It seems a little strange to me that they would fire you over just mud on the floor if you were in their muddy lot! But then again what do i know. I don't have a clue.

 

Goat88, If you live in Kentucky, you will get home a lot. That is the US division, you won't cross the rockies unless you are in the longhaul division.
drive55cat