Shaffer makes the hit list

Shaffer makes it to the hit list!

Things looked pretty promising with Shaffer once I got past the knuckle head driver/trainer and mouthy dispatcher. I have been working with Shaffer for about 2 ½ years now. Their mechanics are somewhat under achievers and for the most part, it takes forever to get any maintenance done on anything and most times it isn’t even done correctly.

This past week I have had two trailers that had mechanical failures to the point that the product was at risk due to the fact that it had to be temperature controlled. The New Kingstown shop (night crew) didn’t seem to care much about getting these units fixed anytime soon and it wasn’t until I complained to dispatch and breakdown did they move on getting these units fixed.

During this past week I also had a breakdown on the side of the road on I70 around the Crystal Springs area. It took breakdown 6 hours to send someone out to me and the temperature was below freezing. Couldn’t run the truck to stay warm as the engine simply shut down for whatever reason. I got towed to Bedford, PA where I spent the night waiting for repairs. The mechanics said that apparently there was some faulty wiring from the battery box and shorted out some other computer controlled devices making the engine shut down. Now keep in mind that when they tow a tractor, they have to disassemble the drive shaft in order to tow it.

All is good to go by the second day and I hook up to the trailer (40,000 lbs.) and head for California. About a block away from this garage where it was serviced is a very steep intersection and a traffic light. I got onto this hill and waited for the green light. Light turns green and I take off from 1st gear. I am already in first gear and start to make my way to the crest of the hill traveling only about 3 feet when all of the sudden BANG! I put on the brakes and get out because at this point I thought I hit someone or someone hit me. Underneath the truck there was laying my driveshaft busted off, like snapped at both ends of the yolks.

I get the rig rolled backed down the hill and into the shop’s parking lot. The mechanics take pictures for liability and warranty issues and send them off to the head of breakdown in Nebraska. Before any work can be done in order to fix this new issue, breakdown has to determine who’s going to pay for it rather it be a warranty issue or improper installation of the driveshaft after it was towed. I call breakdown the next morning and apparently no one did anything with these photos and they became MIA somewhere in cyber space and that’s where it was left hanging.

I call my terminal manager in Deland to give them the scoop and they tell me that they are going to find me another truck to use while breakdown gets their photo album together. I am then told that my truck has been approved to get fixed and it will only be a couple of hours. Deland calls and tells me that this is not the case and go ahead and get a hotel room for another night until theu can figure out what to do next.

I get a call that afternoon from my terminal manager in Deland and they tell me that I have to clean out my truck and find a way to go home as I am now being put on leave without pay until they can figure out who’s at fault. Apparently someone came up with the idea that I may have “popped the clutch” which caused the driveshaft to break. They accused me of being reckless with their equipment. I tried explaining to them the I had been in gear and moving when this happened and the clutch had already been disengaged but they insisted that this is how things were going to go down.

Here I am in Bedford, PA… can’t get a rental car as most places were closed for the weekend. U-haul charges way too much for a one way into Florida and no grey hound buses come close by. Here I have at least a months worth of supplies, clothes as well as all my electronic goodies such as TV, radio and computer and they expect me to simply pack my things and head to Florida. Monday I am supposed to get together with my terminal manager to see where all this is going. This whole thing is weird!

 

Pre-trip didn’t show anything. As I mentioned earlier, this driveshaft was just installed at the shop after it was towed being handled by two different people. The truck was already rolling and I was at 1700 rpms and holding until I got up the hill. That’s when it went bang… in either case, I can’t see kicking someone to the curb out in the middle of nowhere rather it was a defect in the equipment, driver error, or mechanical error. Just doesn’t seem to be a very humane way of treating your employees as if this was a criminal offense. I really don’t think that the actions taken by the company justifies a mishap like this. Even if it was an honest mistake done by which ever party, just doesn’t seem right to kick someone out practically in the middle of a small nowhere town like this. But then again, perhaps it is for the best because if this is how people act in this type of industry, you can have it!

 

Well on Monday I plan on filing for unemployment and hopefully be awarded something at that end. After bringing the tractor trailer back to the shop, one of the mechanics immediately got underneath the truck with his air wrench and started to go to work however, I didn’t see hime take anything off rather just heard the pneumatic wrench working. The Forman came running out and told him that they needed digital pictures before doing anything but the mechanic continued doing something under the truck a few minutes afterwards and like I said, came out without any parts. I am also going to check on this timing theory to see if that has any possibilities as it sounds like it does. Really appreciate the replies here as it gives me a little more info to go on. And no, I’m not sure at this point it is worth going back to a company that cannot be trusted as to being kicked to the curb on a seconds notice like tbis without at least hearing from me what happened as I was driving. As of yet, no one has asked me what happened. Supposed to have some sort of hearing in Deland sometime this week, unfortunately after the fact that I was booted out to defend for myself.