Zero motor freight anyone remember or drive for these guys?

I remember having to pull 32 boxes of lemons from the back to the front with 3 feet to spare to the
ceiling at the banning scales

 

I remember doing stuff like that.When i left looking for another job,i knew exactly what i didnt want .

 

I drove for Zero Motor Freight out of San Antonio. I drove from October 1994 to October 1995. If we ever passed through Dallas we were to stop at the facility for a truck service... no exceptions.

 

I drove for Zero Motor Freight out of San Antonio. I drove from October 1994 to October 1995. If we ever passed through Dallas we were to stop at the facility for a truck service... no exceptions.

 

I remember a guy by the name of Wes that was in charge of the Dallas yard.We would go in there mostly for pallet exchanges.I also remember that in Wes's office there were newspaper articles about Zero's truck accidents from all over the country.They were interesting because some of those accident articles went all the way back to the early 60's.

 

I know this is an old thread.. but sorry I just can't pass it up. Zero was the first trucking company I worked for out of Trucking School.. easy to see why in hindsight- they were a driver mill who used and discarded drivers. When I got there in Jan of 1993 the driver with the most seniority had been with Zero for 2 years. Should have been a red flag, but, I needed work.
My starting pay there, solo after I had trained, was 18 cents per mile.
Broken down to brass tacks... if you drove 10k miles per month with them.. at 18 cents per mile you were grossing $1800.. about $1600 after taxes. Divide $1600 by 280 hours ( 70 hours/week x 4 weeks) and it turns out you were making $5.71 per hour. Of course, this would have been if you were offering the office the sexual favors of your girlfriend just to get 10k miles per month. None of the drivers were doing that.. 7,8, 9k per month was the average.
They had a deal there that the drivers called.. The "Texas Bermuda Triangle".. Where they would bounce you back and forth between Dallas and Houston.. Dallas and San Antonio.. 250 to 280 miles for the day at .18 cents .. $40 dollars for the days work. You never knew when you were going to be thrown into it.. or how many days it would take to break free. Their Lumper fee schedule was equally bad.. set up, just like the driving pay scale, to benefit the owners and to hell with anyone else that needed to make a living.
My exit from there was quite colorful... I had just driven 2 legs of the Texas Bermuda Triangle and when I called in for my next load they offered me another leg of it.. another $40 day to add to a month of under 10k miles of work. I asked to speak with the recruiter there.. a guy named David I believe.. our conversation went like this " Hey David.. Im on the Texas Bermuda Triangle, Im not going to make 10k miles again this month-Actually, I would have made more this month working 70 hours at McDonalds vs 70 hours for Zero.. how about I go with you on one of your recruiting visits and I show potential drivers what they will REALLY make if they come to work at Zero" .. and the conversation went downhill of course from there.
That d- head Bishop called me in when I got back on the yard and started trying to tell me what for., insulted that I dare speak to the recruiter in the fashion I did.. And I wasn't having it at all.. I just layed it out for him simple.. with my pay stubs and miles/sheet in my hand as proof.. "My pay.. my miles.. my time... I would have made more in 70 hours as a burger flipper at McDonalds"....
The office personel at Zero.. and their whole high pay for themselves on short runs and low driver pay scheme was one of the worst situations I've ever encountered. Most of the drivers didn't get it for a while... then when they did, they were gone. A driver mill. To this day the #1 worst company I worked for in the trucking industry. The Zero office was a ship full of rats.. can't say how happy I am that the ship sunk.

 

I worked for Zero in 1984 on the road they called us zero hero's. Then they had double bunk GMC Generals I ran team with a gal I met at Sam Tanksley. We got good miles but the pay was low & we didn't stay long.

 

I almost went there. Lol. Living near Lawton Oklahoma at the time.

 

drove for zero refrigertad lines, then became zero motor freight when it bought dry vans , between nov 1983 and nov 1985 . some good memories and many not so good . but since i was fresh out of the service and the old timers in the office were also ex-military, i understood their ways and knew how to take the abuse .

 

why was there a red arrow on zero's trailer ?
so the dispatcher knew which way we were going .
why were we zero's heros ?
because we worked for nothing .
i started at $0.08/mi in 1983, $0.09/mi as 1st seat and 12 or 13 cts as solo . whoopie ! but then it was my first otr job thanks to a referral from my xo who used to lease trucks to that m.f...ing company before deregulation .