Heartland Express Does It Again, Raising Pay to a Whole New

Discussion in 'Trucking Jobs' started by Slowpoke1775, Feb 5, 2006.

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  1. torque

    torque Light Load Member

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    Dec 2, 2006
    Ohio
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    I don't know how many places are like this but the company I drive for now,whom I started with december 8th 07,gave me some short runs,had me sitting a lot and basicly ran me into the ground until I hit the 6 months mark with them.Now I know the dispatchers and they know who I am when I walk in and they treat me pretty well.Usually home when I want to be,don't try to force me to run over hours and work with me when I'm low on my hrs and such.The pay ain't 50 cpm but I have taken home paychecks just over $1000 a few times for a week.Not trying to say I do it all the time but usually $500 - $1000 depending on how hard I run.I live in GA so I run a lot from Atlanta,Ga to Wisconsin and down to Texas back up and down and that's about it.I admit there have bee a few times in the begining I was ready to put in my 2 weeks but now I'm pretty happy.I'm not recruiting by any means I'm just saying that when you listen to what someone says about their company ask how long they have been there.They also might treat dispatch like "I'm a trucker you need ME or your freight will never move" and have that all mighty attitude that screws them.Again I'm not trying to talk up the place I work for,they have their problems like the rest of them but I think I found one of the lesser evils in the trucking industry as well as how to conduct myself with them to gain the best benefits for myself as a driver under their employment.I think I make about the average.September will be my 1 year OTR and am getting $.33cpm and they do good with paying me what I run,reimbursing tolls ect.I won't tell the company name I don't want to be banned but I just want to let you guys know it's not all that bad out here.Some of it is the driver's attitude some of it is the company sometimes it's both.Don't rely on a few guys opinions of something good or bad.Like they were saying,scope out a few forums ask more drivers ect.. do your homework before you sign on with anyone.I was in a tight spot,had my CDL and 3mos exp. and was out of work (fiance had a misscarriage) and needed to get back to working and put in one of those online application things that go out to like 100 companies and I turned down JBH,Swift and Schneider just from hearing nothing but bad about them and got a call from these guys and said ok just because I couldn't find ANYTHING about them from the net or from drivers.Figured no news is good news and I am going on way too much.Hmmm good things DOT doesn't know how much time I really spend in the sleeper on my 10 hr break lol well maybe I'll take the laptop back there anyways I'll shut up and let you read something interesting!
     
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  3. lostsoul55

    lostsoul55 Bobtail Member

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    Oct 20, 2006
    ia
    0
    I was leased to them for a few weeks a while ago. I was a midwest regional div. I let my dispatcher know that late the following week my wife had a surgury due and I needed to be home on no later than the evening before the day of surgury. On the day before it I delivered in the Chicago area, and was told there was a load coming in at the drop yard that I could bring in to Coralville.Later on that day I called dispatch to find out when my load was due. She told me it would be in about 9 am the NEXT DAY (THE day of my wifes surgury). I said I had to leave by 5 pm the latest to get home. She said grab an mtytrailer and go home but it would be unpaid. I said fine, I got an mty and went home. Dropped their trailer in the yard and bobtailed home. A few days after my wife had hwer surgury and was getting along better I called heartland and was told my contract was terminated, The reason given was unauthorised use of equiptment. Thats why I call them HEARTLESS EXPRESS. I rather stick my hand in a rattlesnake nest trusting t5hem not to bite me than trust anything they have to say
     
  4. im6under

    im6under Heavy Load Member

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    Feb 13, 2007
    iowa
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    well I guess I might as well be the devil's advocate...

    Heartland pays really well because they can afford to. They just built an upteen million dollar facility down the road from me so I doubt they are going broke anytime soon.

    Freight runs in cycles in this country and generally speaking if you are quitting a company because of seasonal low miles you had best do your homework because it is generally slow all over. stick with it and annually the miles will be there. take your 3 weeks off in the middle of summer and whine like a baby when you sit in the winter... hello???

    Heartland will keep you busy if there is any freight to run anywhere just like any company will. They don't buy all of those new intl's so they can park you somewhere and look good in it.

    they'll also expect you to pound out the miles on a moments notice after having sat doing nothing. not because they are mean but because this is their business model.

    half of their miles come from snagging dropped loads from other companies and getting them there on time.

    if you can play the game and keep up, you'll get paid...

    credibility: I'm friends with one of the v.p.'s sons. he's the black sheep and had been working in the maintenance dept and wanted to go play trucker. they wouldn't hire him... lol he didn't have his year's experience and they didn't care who his daddy was. they wouldn't hire me either, and they didn't care who my friends daddy was.

    to be fair, yes, half the company's will screw you... The other half of the time its drivers who think people should ship stuff where they want to go, when they want to go there, and for the money they want to get paid.

    What you keep forgetting is you're in competition with all those other gear-grinders, which gives you a job, but also guarantees it ain't gonna pay what it ought to. if it did... somebody would already have it, keep it, and take care of it like it was the goose that layed golden eggs.
     
  5. Truckerjo

    Truckerjo Road Train Member

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    Sep 5, 2006
    Indiana
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    I have a buddy who was wanting to get home more often (Myrtle beach SC) and Hartland told him they would do it... Well after he went threw their orientation he found out that you get charged for a bunch of small things... Example they take out money from your check till you hit something like 500, they say this is in case you have a bad week you will have money... Well the trick to this is if you borrow money from "your" money they charge you for it....?????? There is a bunch of hidden little fee's a such.. not to mention if you don't get exactly the amount of fuel they tell you.. example lets say they tell you to get 120 gallons and you get 125 gallons you are responsible for the extra 5 gallons..
    Hartland also will shut you down and you have no choice in bad weather.. even if the roads are not bad in "your" area could be in the just vicinity

    He went out with a trainer for 1 day and quit then went back to Crete taking his trainer with him lol... Crete has had changes recently (the past year) and is kind of going down hill a little.....
     
  6. im6under

    im6under Heavy Load Member

    782
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    Feb 13, 2007
    iowa
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    I think my buddy trumps yours...lol

    Not just Heartland but for any company I think you need more experience with them than one day before you can even guess what is going on.

    With turnover rates what they are in the industry, I believe more than half of the guys that quit early like this have no clue what trucking is about at all.

    When you work some place for six months or a year and it just isn't working for you, I understand.

    When you quit with 2 weeks notice because a better, for you, opportunity has come along then I also understand.

    If you can't follow along in orientation and have a very good idea of what the company is doing and what is expected of you then I tend to believe it really is the drivers fault and he has wasted everyone's time and money, including his own.

    There are some very low paying jobs out there and a few that pay really well. Regardless of where you are on the spectrum the company didn't hire you planning on providing you with personal daycare services.

    I'm sure he "said" he did, its the part about the guy making 70k had this sudden urge to listen to and believe a newbie... so he parked the truck and they rode off togather.

    *I'm smearing common sense on my toast* Care for some???
     
  7. fastSVT

    fastSVT Light Load Member

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    Oct 17, 2007
    Louisiana
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    So if all this negative about Heartland is the norm, why are they under the small list of "good" trucking companies on the main page of thetruckersreport.com?
     
  8. fastSVT

    fastSVT Light Load Member

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    Oct 17, 2007
    Louisiana
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  9. HardlyWorkingNeverHome

    HardlyWorkingNeverHome Heavy Load Member

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    Mar 18, 2008
    Hamden,CT
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    Can you imagine they even try to recruit here? I can't seem to find one good thing written about heartland on this site!!!:biggrin_2552:
     
  10. tuckerndfw

    tuckerndfw Light Load Member

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    Mar 16, 2008
    Dallas, TX
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    My report about Heartland is posted under "Trucking Company DAC."

    Any company that is paying over $.50 a mile and is still spending the money advertising for drivers that Heartland does ought to tell you something. . .

    The best thing that can be said about Heartland is they have friendly people and a nice terminal in Coralville. Their motel isn't too bad, either.

    But, that's about it.
     
  11. HardlyWorkingNeverHome

    HardlyWorkingNeverHome Heavy Load Member

    709
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    Mar 18, 2008
    Hamden,CT
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    That would be N. Liberty. They moved, and they dont even trust you with the remote for the tv LOL
     
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