Heartland needs to be in the BAD company list

Its funny that you say that. I drove for Heartland for 4 months back in 04 and that is exactly what they told me! I had a dispatcher start cussing me when I refused a load because I didn't have the hours left to make it. I hung up on him several times before he got the hint I wasn't putting up with it. When they got me back to the terminal I was told that I wasn't going to work out because I didn't perform to their standards.

 

Most of that sounds about right. Last time I was with them (6 years ago) was 48 cents per mile and idled without being hassled. Truck are slow though, and no easy pass. There are times I've paid out of my own pocket just to be able to take the toll road in order to get home time else get stuck with another 10 hour break in the truck (your forced to go home WITH a load which dictates when you go back to work). Could probably make the same at 48 cents per mile doing 1500-1700 miles a week vs 30 cents per mile doing 2500+ miles per week.

With all the bs aside, here is the bottom line. With Heartland you will make a decent paycheck but the 'price' is lack of home time. So if home time is important to you, don't bother. If you have no family, friends, social life, etc and only care about money then they could be a decent choice.

 

lawrencehowardjr79 it looks like you are a student. wait until you have been on the road some before you talk that trash about home time

 

gearhanner1977, it looks like you are a new poster. Wait until you have been around here for some time before you talk that trash about another poster. You are responding to someone's statement from seven months ago and he's not been back here to receive your wisdom. Share the love with those who are present.

 

I worked for Heartland Express for 5 months 23 days and 13 hours. In order to quit I actually had to wait until I had a load going from Cleveland to Kentucky so i could drop the truck off at the terminal in Columbus. I actually had to plan quitting for about 3 weeks.

I went there after a friend of mine worked there a few months. I got tired of where I was giving my miles to new recruits who made a few cents less per mile. He put me into his Qualcomm as they had a macro for driver recruitment, and maybe the next day I had a call from some recruiter. I went System, because I wanted a Pro-Star and more cpm. The Pro-Star had the worst seat I ever sat in, they couldn't get new cushions. See, they order the bare minimum to get the job done. It's the whole philosophy behind the company. Starts at the log book, goes all the way through everything you'll ever do. I went from a Pete 387 to a Pro-Star, so I am probably biased. But, there's not a lot of creature comforts in that poorly constructed cheaply built pile of trash. But at least it was quieter inside than a 9400. But they ordered the cheapest seat cushions available. They actually had to special order sh*ty seats, lol. Very little storage. No inverters, they will fire you if they find one in your truck. I always hid mine in my dirty clothes bag or in my shower bag. In the event they went snooping they had to dig through my not showered in 3 days sweet sweaty salty drawers. I also left plenty of truck stop mags on the dashboard for whoever was working on or snooping in my truck to see. I left them things everywhere. Funny how Heartland is in everyone one of those truck stop mags, with a 3 page gate fold, explaining all the advantages of working for Heartland. I think i started at .44 cpm with 1 year experience and HAZ-MAT. I think it was like .48 cpm if you were running the green zone. Which is anything east of I 81 and anything north of I 70. Which is pure north east hell. I spent a lot of time in the north east. I also spent a lot of time driving all night, sucking down monster energy drink, running with my windows down in the dead of winter and my radio blasting screaming at my front window, every now and then stopping so I could do jumping jacks or jog in place in the glow of my headlights, to stay awake. This is all because, after you pick up your SEARS load from Columbus at 4pm going to Connecticut or Eastern PA, you got to(if you were lucky)spend your 10 hour break in a 30 degree dock after driving all night. If you were lucky you got to sleep before the sun came up. But bright and early 8AM CST my dispatcher was calling me to get me to make a minimum of 4 phone calls for my next load. See, as a System driver, you get dispatched out of Iowa, but your loads are all determined in whatever region your in. SO if you were in Northeast regional's coverage, you got the scraps of that terminal. Which was probably some bs load of Poland Springs water that was heavy enough to where you couldn't put more than 1/4 tank of fuel in the truck. My friend got to run a sugar load from Jacksonville to Minnesota and it was so heavy he got 13 fuel stops and ran at roughly 1/8 tank the entire time. Best part was he hit every scale after his fuel stops, so he could never get any fuel without fear of being over weight. it was pretty spectacular. Now mind you from Sept until the New Years Eve, I made roughly 1000 dollars a week before taxes. As soon as the new year hit, I was lucky to be making 600 a week after taxes. 2100 miles a week is all your going to get if your lucky. 1500-1800 is typical. They give you little bs 500 mile weekend trips to avoid paying you layover. Lot's of drop and hooks. Lot's of time spent at terminals getting the truck inspected. They have an inspection line that you have to run through if you are there between 8 and 4. It's a real easy way for the regional terminals to pull your load off you and give it to a regional driver while you sit for 6 hours on your break. Awake the whole time. Then you get one of them good ole 4pm pick pu SEARS loads to Eastern PA. The trucks were in decent shape, but they dropped speed if you idled alot, that is unless you knew the trick with the penny That only worked on the CUMMINS powered trucks. We didn't have many I-Force trucks at that time, if any. i worked there 09/10-03/11 if my memory serves me right. Home time consists of 34 hour resets, where you get in just about 34 hours away from the last possible second you could leave on Sunday to deliver on Monday. You know, drive all night deal. I'm not sure if it would have been any different if I was regional out of Columbus. But I doubt it. Chromedome and Truthin are company yes men who have been there a while. They will say anything you need to hear to think about working for Heartless Express. Apparently they were a really good company to work for up till about 2005 or so. Then the old mans son took over. He's been trying to sell it ever since. Not sure if the old man's alive these days. But it's a company built on the freight no one wants going to places no one wants to go. They make a lot of money on this freight. That same friend who hauled the sugar load, ended up quitting and going owner op. He ended up pulling a few Heartland loads they brokered out. They are sticklers for the rules within the boundries of the company. I.E company tractors and Leased on O/O. But they had no problem paying my friend a boat load of cash to run a hot load. They pay good if you are brokering their freight.

I almost quit driving a truck because of that company. I quit there and found a few local companies to work for over the last 2 years. It was regional, home a lot during the week, home every weekend. No one told me what to do, I actually felt like a truck driver. Just keep the log book looking good and stay out of trouble, get there on time. I got lucky. Now after 4 years, as of this past March I found a local job as a yard dog. 7-430 daily, hourly pay. Overtime after 40. Uniforms, benefits, paid holidays and vacation. The owner actually lives like a mile from my house. Might not pay the most, but they treat me the best. I thought at the time, Heartland was an awesome carrier where I would be there forever and make lots of cash. Now I know, that every time I pass a guy in a Heartland truck that looks like a zombie, it's better to not run with the big red heart on the side of the truck and trailer. However, I will thank them. In the 5 months 23 days and 13 hours I was there, I got out of the red, got my finances in order and my credit score to 837. With enough money in the bank to put down on a car and a Harley. I learned how to back a truck into "that spot" at 2am dead tired holding one of my eyes open in one shot, because I was so tired all I wanted to do was fall over and die. I will also say this, I put on 30 lbs in that 5 months 23 days and 13 hours. My first 18 months driving OTR, I was at a truck stop every night around 6pm, jogging or doing some sort of exercise. There was no time for that luxury there. You'll spend a lot of time counting the bricks on the back of the k mart your delivering at on your break, with nothing so much as a McDonald's around for your gourmet dining experience. Not very much time to park in truck stops to get a shower or a half way decent meal.

I don't know if this is enough detailed information for anyone to make an informed decision on employment there. Perhaps regional is better. I ran system, so I'll never know. However, I'll never work for this company again as long as I live. I'll work at McDonald's or get a paper route before that day ever happens. Everything I say here is factual. There are more details I am forgetting or leaving out. But I feel I have explained enough. Every now and then I cruise the board, and get enraged by the comments made by a few company yes men. I am planning on going back to my truck driving school after I get 5 years in. Mainly to make a buck on the weekends, but also to help educate tomorrows driver on whats waiting for him or her in terms of these companies and what to expect. It's really too bad, a lot of the old timers talk of how fun driving used to be, and how the FMCSA, DOT and companies like Heartland Express are really making trucking unbearable.

ps- I almost forgot. Unless they approve the tolls you will be paying for all your tolls out of pocket. The northeast is loaded with tolls. You figure it out. I gotta tell you though, I learned to drive every back road in the northeast avoiding tolls. Which came in real handy for the next job I took.

pss- I dare Chromedome or Truthin to try and rebuke anything I've typed here. It's all true. I would never lie to anyone about my experience at Heartless Express.

Drive safe and keep the shiny side up.

 

That was a good post if you where pulling the kind of miles we used to do back in the ninety's. But I just don't see how you can be so tired running under 2k per week in miles.

 

Before I worked for Heartland Express, I worked for May Trucking Company out of Oregon. I was used to running 11 hours a day in a 12 hour period and rolling like 600+ miles a day, in a 62 mph truck that was grossed out. I usually ran until i got to my destination early and took a 34 or ended up scheduling a repower a few days out, unless they just rescheduled the delivery. I made a lot of milage bonuses as well. I think you needed to hit at least 10k a month to get the bonus. So i guess I was usually getting about 2500 miles. I routinely drove weeks on end without going home, and as much as 2 and 3 months out unless I took a 10 or 34 at the house on my way to where ever it was i was going. However, it was a regular daily schedule for the most part, aside from the occasional 4am delivery, but I was already at the receiver and would just send in my empty call and then wait till my 10 hour break was up to depart for my next pick up. Made a lot of money and saw most of the country and made some good friends and had good times. I still miss driving in their big ### not turning very good space shuttle looking 387's. Real Cadillac's of a truck.

Here's a typical week starting off from Friday working for Heartland.

Arrive home sometime around 6pm Friday with a loaded trailer for somewhere in the northeast. For example we'll say Connecticut. Doesn't matter where but it will be about 550 miles from where I live near the Cleveland, OH area. So figure at least 9 hours of driving, maybe 10 depending on weather. The appointment is around 8am. So basically, you can either leave exactly at the end of your 34 hour reset around 4 and hope to get parked by 2 at the receiver, or you can leave around 8 or 9 and drive all night, hope to make it on time, and hope they get you out of the dock with at least an hour to get to a truck stop. So after we remember virtually no one in the northeast allows you to take a 10 hour break on their property due to lack of room, we decide to leave at the last possible moment. Drive all night, get there with a few minutes to spare and get unloaded with just enough time on your 14 to get to a truck stop. It's now roughly 10am. And instead of you taking a nap until at least 2 or 4 pm, you get phone calls all day starting at 9am from your dispatcher. Then you spend the next hour or so confirming to 9 people you will be where you are supposed to be around 8 pm at a local drop yard or pick up the next load. By the time you get this done, it's roughly 11 o'clock. At this point, you are not going to get any sleep until around 2-3pm when your arcadian cycle kicks in and you get sleepy. If your lucky you get a few hours of sleep and then after getting dinner and a shower, it's now roughly 730 and you better start getting ready to get moving. This repeats for 2 weeks until you get to your next home time and get in roughly 6 or so Friday with another loaded trailer. You get a series of naps until maybe 1 day in the week you actually get parked at 10 or midnight and actually get a few hours of sleep, however, that's typically the day your scheduled to deliver at 4 am. This is all following 11/14/70/34 hours to the letter with e-logs.

The company I quit Heartland for, was a real trucking company. Regional based, flat bedding company. Home every Friday, sometimes very early, every now and then I would leave Sunday night If I didn't feel like getting up at 4am. And basically I have redone a log page 4 times in a 24 hour period for 250 miles due to the nature of the freight. But the only reason i was ever tired there was because I was working with tarps and climbing all over the deck and playing with chains and straps. If I needed to shut it down for a few hours and take a nap, I did. i got to sleep there, it was just physical labor intense, which was coo, to a point. That company had windowed appointments for most of the freight and usually you were delivering to some sort of home improvement store so you had a big parking lot to go hang out in a corner to take a nap, grab some grub and get the coloring book in order. They just asked that fuel on the road, dot inspections and turnpike matched the log. That's why smart drivers avoided the turnpike and fueled as much as possible at terminals. They also had plenty of loaner trucks if you needed repairs, and all you had to do was tell the shop foreman and schedule it in advance, well you did if you were intelligent. I was home a lot with that company, I decided if i was going to stay out over night or not. If it was less time driving and more time to chill out and rest at a truck stop i would opt for that. Especially if it was out of the way and extra driving. I treated that truck like I owned it. i was training myself to be an owner op if i ever felt the desire to do so. made a lot of money working for that outfit as well.

I left them for an even smaller flatbed company, but things didn;t work out as advertised, but I found the local job I have now. So, no worries.

I have no issue running 600 miles a day or more. Realistically, you can probably hit 3000 miles a week, if all the variables were in your favor. Like a running lane where you can average at least 65 miles an hour, either drop n hook freight or really quick loading and delivering for live loads, but it would be hard legally. I have always run in some sort of legal parameter. Even with multiple books, I never went over 12 hours driving, just pushed the clock around a little. I also never went over a certain average speed if I was doing the log old school. I never had any issues with dot or my log department. I would say, for cross country freight with live loading/unloading and a 60 mph average 2500 miles is typical. Any one who says in this day and age they get 3200 miles is either a fool or a liar or both. The days of playing cat and mouse with smokeys and running to cali and back twice a week are over. This is a new age, and honestly, why the hell would you want to work more than 55 hours a week, let alone most of the 70 allowed in an 8 day period. The more you work, the less you make per hour. If the companies are paying you decently to run about 60 hours a week and fit in your fuel and pre/post trip inspections and loading/unloading, why should you be running illegal as hell. Does it pay that much more? The answer is probably not, an owner operator running 4000+ miles a week is just paying out more fuel. You need to find better rates on better trips and drive 60 mph or slower. That's how you make money as an o/o. Company drivers need to get to their destination as quickly as possible, take a 34 and be ready for a new load come the day they deliver. If your always ready for another 4-5 day load, you will always make good money.

I don't know what else to say here, but again everything is from experience. I've only just hit the 4 year mark and I've seen 48 states in all seasons, been over most of the countries mountains east and west coast in all weather conditions,I've hauled reefer/dry van/flatbed and now tanker and roll off, I have veterans calling me how to do a split sleeper birth provision, and I have had 4 jobs in a row I didn't deserve, going back to Heartland based off my limited experience. Learned to cook the books and even trained a few people and even did some heavy haul. I graduated truck driving school in February of 09 and have been out tearing up the pavement ever since. I'm probably one of the few greenhorns out here that can actually get it done, although I have a long way to go until I'm no longer a rookie steering wheel holder. But I learn more every day. My first trainer beat me into shape, and I met some incredible people out here who have taken me under there wings and made me better. Hell one day, I might be awesome.

 

Anyone know how their dedicated runs are? They are hiring for dedicated from Fontana, CA to Denver, CO. 3 trips a week, 46 cpm and home on weekends. Conway load one way and FedEx Freight the other. Gonna be a tough run and in teams. The only drawback is the weather up through there and maybe getting burned out on the run. Any info appreciated.

 

I'm guessing you mean three round trips per week? Google says 970 miles one way. 3 rounds a week? 6000 miles a week as a team, and home on weekends?

You don't actually believe this is possible do you?

That is a very dangerous route...I70 from the I15 deadend in Utah to Denver ain't no joke.

 

I forgot to add. .46cpm for teams ain't so great a rate. You can do much better.