TransAm Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.?

I wanted to finish this 6 month(second lease) but the lore of making money no matter what and benefits is just to much plus more time at home. Stay strong company guys in 3-4 weeks see what these know it alls are doing. Most don't make it 4 weeks and that is what the company hopes for cause they get to write BS bills to the drivers after they leave and every lease driver gets them for wear and tear to the truck and usually most leave in the negative. The company got paid on all miles but the driver does not and the company gets huge write offs at the end of the year so they don't have to pay much in taxes. That is the true nature of getting new guys to lease.

Cranky just having a little fun but at your expense I figured at your age you would be used to it. LOL

 

Well the cab is comming get me to take me to the airport. I fly out at 5pm will be there by 7pm. The guy told me they have a t700 there waiting on me. Sucks I have to fly but I'm happy all this is over.

 

Look on the bright side, flight is 2 hours...bus ride would be 2 days lol.

 

Yeah that's very true! So I guess I'm being alittle ungreatful lolol

 

Talk about some knuckleheads! !! We've contracted with Werner to do a frozen load. Was given to me, and with my lack of hrs, was going to have to do a split. Get up to this place and was told, your a day early and the product isn't even ready. Argggghhhhhh! !!!! Perfect ending for this day.

Only good thing was a 3900 mile week, with an hr left on my 70.

 

see these kind of things you have to learn to figure around every day
you dont need to learn how to lease properly too
If jaso who has leased with 3 companies can't make it work
and trains to make enough money
what hope does anyone who just got out of school 3 weeks ago have

that said anyone who chooses to lease we will NOT say I told you so
but will help if we can
if you don't listen i get cranky

 

Leasing is a risky proposition. However, not every lease is as bad as what Trans Am offers. I think they have one of the worst leases in the industry right now. They gate your earnings while doing nothing at all to mitigate your losses. I don't know the badger well but I do like her spunk and I think that she is a good driver, if she ever.decides to leave TA once she sees how much money she had been leaving on the table she will probably want to kick herself for staying so long.

 

I see there has been some good conversation while I was gone today. You are absolutely right, sharp dressed man. Honeybadger is one of the few to make it past a year .....she is a good driver and could make it with any company that she chooses. She has plenty of perseverance ....I call it a unique brand of pure stubbornness.
That is one more point that needs to be brought up. As a driver you are totally dependent on other people .....sounds wrong, doesn't it? Driving is a pretty independent and solitary job. Always you will be at the mercy of shippers and receivers, that's a given. You are also at the mercy of your own company and the economy. There are a couple of months during the year when freight slows down ....and then there are the times when the economy slows. Add to that the fact that the turnover rate for dispatchers is as high as it is for drivers and you have the recipe for your income to be drastically reduced. There was a time that TransAm seemed to be in transition as far as driver managers go. Thankfully I believe that has leveled off and they have a fairly experienced team right now. We had 4 dispatchers over a period of years, 5 if you count the one that lasted less than a month. The first two dispatchers were experienced and knew what the inside of a truck looked like, then one that was a nice lady but couldn't have found her way out of a paper bag and the last one that was so so. With the last two, even though we had pay increases our income went down dramatically because of their inexperience. BUT, we always had a paycheck. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be a lease driver during those times.

 

More like stubborn to the point of stupidity sometimes, but Im that stubborn I HAVE to stick with it. Im basically going to go at it til I have the title to this truck and can say "I told you so" or die trying because I have nothing to lose. I have plenty of days where I wonder why Im doing it and dont move on. But I use this past year as motivation. This last year was hell, but I got through it and this year is already looking better than last. If I walk away, it was all for naught, save the experience I will take with me. I just temind myself "one down, four to go". A solid year leasing with TransAm is more than a lot of people can say. One foot in front of the other and I take it day by day.

Last night was frustrating. I went off on the baboon troop on the other end of the satellite. I had an 11pm pickup but neither pickup number they gave me was correct. They said try back after 0700. Had I not been so exhausted, I would have gone back home for another couple days. But I was too tired to make the 5 hour drive back. Spent the night in the shippers parking lot, got my number this morning and made it clear to my DM that my quota for BS this week has now been exceeded. 5400lbs of bathtubs going to Cheyenne. That is the only place I hate takingli
taking light loads and Im practically empty. All the scales from AL to Kingdom City have given me the bypass. Tomorrow is going to be a loooong day.

 

This should be a really good year for freight ....even after a slow start. They expect it to almost double in profits .....from 600 billion dollars to over a trillion dollars.
honeybadger, ya gotta know that I WANT you to walk away with that truck. I also want you to be paid well while you are doing it. I think when you put in the kind of hours and sacrifices that a driver does you have earned fair compensation. That is the basic problem that I have with TransAm's lease .....one hiccup and it can take a year to climb out of the hole.....and if you have a family with bills to pay it can be financially and emotionally devastating. I just don't want everyone thinking that they can do what you are doing.
There are several companies out there that are starting to take a long hard look at their leases and changing them in order to attract better more experienced drivers. I wish TransAm would.....you deserve better. I am starting to see companies base their lease payments on a portion of miles driven. If they don't give you the loads with good miles ....then your lease payment goes down in proportion with those miles. If you have a breakdown and the truck can't be driven then you don't owe them a payment at all. The risk and benefits are equally shared between company and driver....I like that idea.
We just don't want to see you selling yourself short. You are a proven driver with over a year of experience. You should be making your lease payments and making enough to support your family every week.....and still walk away with that truck at the end of your lease.