TransAm Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.?

How do they treat there drivers it seems like the miles and frieght is theee

 

TransAm offers company and lease driver positions. However due to the highly restrictive terms of the lease we are all really company drivers. TransAM pushes like CRAZY to get you in to a lease. You can make money in a lease but the reputation of the program is really not good. Do a search and you can read an eyeful of horror stories.

I am a company driver. As a company driver they seem to push off a lot of the shabby runs that the lease drivers reject (as a company driver, we can not reject loads). Shabby as they tend to be shorter and you have long wait times for pick up and/or long wait times for unload, delivery. Company drivers also get stuck with swaps (T-calls) with often awful terms, short paid miles with multiple stops that eat up your clock (I think that is why lease drivers find an excuse to dump them off). I don't want to overstate, it is not 100% bad runs. My miles per week avg over the last 10 weeks is about 2,350.

I have also been shorted pay and not always been reimbursed for company expenses that I had to pay (low level stuff like scale, fax, etc. charges) due to paperwork BS.


Having said that, TransAm is not all bad. The people in their two terminals Olathe, Ks. And Rockwall, TX seem like generally nice and good people. I complain about not being reimbursed for expenses but on the other hand when I lost a $75 company lock, that by rights I should have paid for, a replacement was given to me no charge and no hassle. The equipment is in generally good shape and if you report anything wrong they jump right on it to make it right.

 

Im on a multi-stop Florida load now that I picked up in Liberal,Ks Thursday.

 

Im confused about the stop pay, as I have never had any loads with multiple stops. I have 3 stops. Shipper to #1 stop, to #2 stop, and then #3 final stop. So I should get paid for 2 stops? Am I correct on this? Also do you get paid for multiple pick-ups?

 

Oh by the way the Safe Haven Rule is a crock of BS. I used it the other day. I ran out of my 14 at the shipper, and had to leave the property, and was in the boonies with no where to take a break so I ended up going to my next stop 2 1/2 hrs away, because I knew I could park there, but Safety said I did right by using Safe Haven, but I drove for to long. So I had to sign the paper saying I would not do that again. Guess what I wont do that again. I would rather get in trouble for being late as to have H.O.S violations on my C.S.A. Score. So if it looks like I might run out of hrs while picking up, or delivering Im just not gonna go untill I have enough hrs to finish what I start. Any comments,or suggestions on the Safe Haven Rule?

 

well i have delivered with just a few minutes left then left the property over my 14
but never driven more then an hour to a place to park
i think it was the 2 1/2 hour part got you in trouble
i find david in safety easy to talk to personally

 

Yeah, when I talked to David last time I was on the yard he was saying that Safe Haven should be two hours, tops.In regards to stop pay, you will get extra pay for deliveries 1 and 2. Delivery 3, the final, is part of the base run. You get paid for anything between shipper #1 and the final. So if you get a multi pick load and pick up product at three different places, and then make two deliveries, you get an extra $120 for the extra shippers and the first stop. The load Im on now is three stops all in Freakville, so its an extra $80.

Apparently TransAm is taking the drama with my swap the other day seriously, which is nice to know. Both our DMs and fleet managers are involved and I got a call from Human Resources today. Two thumbs up for them. I cant complain. Im sitting on the yard now, opting t take a 10 before continuing on. Picked up a trailer from Tyson toda and half the passenger side trailer skirt was ripped off and the driver decided to be Macguyver and rig the thing up with a bungee cord and two shoe laces. Risk Management agreed with me that since I had the time, I should go ahead and bring it to the yad for some TLC. I wish more of our drivers would take care of their own repairs instead of leaving them for the next one!

 

before form 50 the trailers were a disgrace
i changed 6 tires in 2 days once

 

Ugh, I cant even imagine. A friend of mine just had to replace four tires on one trailer the other day. The worst Ive ever had was a flat tire on pickup which ended up being a six or seven hour ordeal and two flat tires in the end. Otherwise its been basic stuff like the occasiona light out, bent mudflap bracket or missng mudflap.

 

You can get a ticket using safe haven, there is no safe haven rule for D.O.T..

The only thing close is in part 395.1 part b for emergency conditions which allows 2 extra hours. It does explain what emergency conditions or adverse road conditions, nothing close to what Trans Am is telling us to use it for. I can't find anything in the FMCS using it the way Trans Am says to. So my guess if you get pulled over or in for an inspection it would be a log violation and ticket. Just not a "talking to" from trans am.

If any one knows where in the FMCS this is at the way trans Am says to use it post the section please.