My new adventure with Gordon Trucking

Funnee!! What a crock!!

Gordon didn't give a flying flip whether drivers made any money or not. With 1 of 4 loads under 100 miles and 66% less than 400 miles, those peewee loads, combined with free (unpaid) loading and unloading, scaling and fueling, amounted to laughable peewee pay checks. The positives with Gordon were great equipment, terriffic driver support and tons of freight.

That peewee freight had to be delivered and grinding through drivers was just a practical fact (existential fact, if you want to go there) and Gordon simply dealt with it via large recruiting bonuses and not being forthright about what to expect. This thread, in fact, was a rolling hallmark of that deception.

The less than 100 miles loads far, far exceeded the long miles---by miles and miles and miles. Very few drivers got real miles. Yet this thread portrayed Gordon as a long haul carrier with tons of miles as long as you kept the left door shut and 'learn how to work, kid'. Fact was, the miles were never there. Median load 300-350 miles.

(Median = point where half the loads are below and half above. The 400-mile 'average' reflects a meager 7.9% of loads over 1000 miles and brings the 'average' up. Those 'long' miles were thin and spread amongst a few.)

The Gordon 'machine' needed new drivers to grind through and did just that. If you look at the 17% of GTI drivers with one year or less, and then how the number of drivers with 2, 3 or 4 years experience drops to a mere few per cent each, that 17% represents drivers coming into Gordon through Orientation then quickly moving on for a livable wage.

Don't forget that Gerdin expressed that HTLD had much to learn from GTI in terms of driver retention!

HTLD will not likely be any better in the 'caring' department. What's more, it runs an even tighter ship with 26% operating income, compared with GTI 6.5% operating income.

The idea that 4800 drivers have to avoid tolls and fuel at the lowest cost to drive driver wages up is facetious. It drives dollars to HTLD's operating income, yes. To drivers, no.

That's laughable. But no ha-ha.


/joseph's on my ignore list. All I see where joseph posts, like below, is a pleasant blue ignore list blocker.

 

What I know now at this stage is that the heavy haul and reefer divisions are continuing on as they have been. Heartland's customer base brings the opportunity to do a lot more refrigerated across both networks, so if it is profitable it will expand. On the equipment side, Mike's philosophy has been to have the newest equipment on the road. He trades out Heartland trucks while they are still fairly new and under warranty (generally around 350,000 miles). Oldest trailers in the fleet right now are 2008, but I think he is selling those and buying brand new 2014's. He likes new equipment. Currently he and the Gordons are looking at the potential for additional new smurf blue GTI trucks.

 

Heartofatrucker... since you are new here.. let me take this opportunity to introduce you to victor..

He has been our resident thorn in the flesh for sometime now...

Dont worry. His bark is worse than his bite..

Overall he's not a bad guy ....

He happens to know everything about everything. . If you don't believe me just ask him .....

 

Actually, tow was dead set to play thorn in my side, not the other way around. Some decided I was an 'adversary' before I even noticed they existed.

There was such a stark disconnect between the image of Gordon as a long haul carrier, contrasted with low pay and low miles that I began my narration of my Gordon loads, low miles and meager pay to shed light, let the truth out.

Pay sheet by pay sheet.

tow backed off after I drew certain crazies over to the 'sesspool' thread to battle it out there rather than pollute my own thread any further and I think the vitriol was even too much for him.

Now, the facts about Gordon's real miles are (thanks to HTLD) public record.

Thanks, HTLD!!

 

Currently he and the Gordons are looking at the potential for additional new smurf blue GTI trucks.[/QUOTE]




Haha ... now we got him saying smurf blue ...

Before you know it Gerden is going to fall in love with smurf blue and change his whole fleet over....

Trust me .. it grows on you ...

 

Question for current GTI employees:

If it's true that GTI has adopted the 'bypass-toll-roads-if-possible policy,' do the drivers get compensated somehow for the extra miles they drive? That seems problematic to me.

 

Oh. I saw a GTI truck and a Heartland truck parked together at a truck stop yesterday. The drivers were talking and they WEREN'T FIGHTING! That has to say something!

 

It was an Australian trucker, I think, who said the only difference between the American mega carriers was the 'color of the bonnet'.

His point was, so what?

Same smoke blowing up your backside, too.

Most any claims can be made here. Quite different than can be said by publicly-held companies to their investors. I'll have another commentary out encouraging HTLD/GTI drivers to buy a few shares of HTLD stock. You can become an investor for under $100, shares run just over $17 right now.

That way 1) you can participate in the operating income that results from avoiding tolls and driving a truck w/o an APU (--I think HTLD will review this policy carefully, including GTI's better fuel mileage and driver satisfaction, who knows?--)

and 2) you can inquire at heart o fat rucker's statements, that you are an investor and is this an oficial HTLD claim??? Or just more smoke?

3) Have a voice, however small. Even a vote, however small.

Further, gives drivers additional 'standing' to sue over misrepresentations, purposeful or not. After all, hofr says drivers will get raises, if anything, not lose pay... is this an 'official' statement? It should be regarded as such.


/Denali, you should have gone over and introduced yourself!!

//hofr claims $77K top pay and $57K 'average' pay, has been silent as to true median pay (half above, half below), or low pay number. No explanation why Driver Safety CSA so high--anecdotal stories of waiting all day and then 100-mile-away load for delivery 400 miles at 0500.