Heartland Express - I was asking for it.

loose_leafs · Jul 31, 2014

T_TRUCKER;4163409 said:

I see them a lot, they get a bunch of drivers with that whoppin .52 CPM and 1000 miles a week
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They still have a bunch of those trailers saying "we're not bluffing" LOL... they sure aren't.

joseph1135 · Jul 31, 2014

drvrtech77 said: ↑

They've been lighting up my email and phone for weeks asking if I'm interested...if haven't answered, take a hint...but seems they can't but I wouldn't even consider them if they were last co around.
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You've got a good job. I know where you work. Lol.

loose_leafs · Jul 31, 2014

It could have been worse. If he were working for Marten, Randy Marten would have mailed him a handwritten note whining about how much the towing bill cost. That guy is legendary for having the last word!

Oscar the KW · Jul 31, 2014

joseph1135 said: ↑

If the guy had an attitude and quit because he told them they were scumbags, ok, don't worry about getting him home. His mom has cancer for Christ's sake. That is such a scumbag move.
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While I can agree with you, there is always the other side of things that should be considered as well. They more than likely get more than their fair share of BS stories all the time, how are they to ever decipher between fact and fiction? It would take a full time staff I'm sure for any of the mega's to sort thru these types of things and decide what is real and what isn't, and then try to do the compassionate thing and get the guy home.

074344 · Jul 31, 2014

kid_cardiac said: ↑

I want to preface this by saying I took the offer extended by Heartland Express out of desperation. So everything that happened in the three months I was there, I guess I deserved it. Well, most of it.

I was given an offer by Heartland where I was home every weekend. It was strictly a Florida and Georgia running area. Sounds great on the surface, considering my mother is battling cancer. Being home every weekend sounded like a great idea. Until you realize you're only going to make .34/mile. If I were to have taken the Jacksonville regional, I would have made a whopping .04/mile more, but no guarantee of the hometime. So I took the pay hit in exchange for the hometime, citing my mothers' battle with cancer.

This past Monday (7/28 ), I received word from my mothers' oncologist that although her condition has improved, she needs someone at home full time. Being I'm the only family member within 100 miles capable of taking care of her, I sacrificed the job for taking care of her. Since I was still under dispatch by Heartland since the previous Friday (they usually send out preplans on Friday for a Monday appointment), I was forced to pick up the load. It was at Sonoco Products in Orlando, going to Savannah. I called Heartland with the news that I was quitting, saying I would pick up the load, take it as far as Jacksonville, then turn in the truck there at the terminal. The office agreed.

So I get there for my 5pm appointment and get loaded up without issue. When I pull out of there, I get as far as the intersection then the truck just dies. Completely dies in the middle of a rather busy intersection at that hour in Orlando. The truck wouldn't even turn over, as if the batteries just decided to give up at that moment. A phone call to the breakdown department and thirty minutes later, the wrecker arrives, pulls me out of the intersection, and hooks up the whole vehicle, truck and trailer. Another phone call to dispatch later, and I was instructed to take the loaded trailer to the Orlando drop yard and drop it there, which the wrecker and I did. Now with just the truck, I was towed to the international shop in Orlando and arrived at around 7pm.

Now here's where I'll eat crow and admit I was wrong. Once the truck was dropped off at the shop to be repaired, since I had given my notice earlier in the day, I was, at that moment, no longer an employee of Heartland Express. I couldn't even get a hotel room out of them, even though I had no way home, fifty miles away. They had every right to do that, but one might think a little human courtesy and compassion would rule the day. I guess Heartland thought otherwise.
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Always remember that OTR companies could care less about you. Heartland always advertises for drivers. I guess they can't keep the ones they have. I'm sure there is a good reason for it. The best to you and your mom.

MACK E-6 · Jul 31, 2014

loose_leafs said: ↑

It could have been worse. If he were working for Marten, Randy Marten would have mailed him a handwritten note whining about how much the towing bill cost. That guy is legendary for having the last word!
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Let him show up here and see if he has the last word. Somehow I doubt it.

My prayers go out to the OP here. It sounds like you did right by Heartland to the extent you could, despite the initial mistake of going there to begin with.

Like someone else here said, the smaller the company you drive for, the better the atmosphere will be.

joseph1135 · Jul 31, 2014

Oscar the KW said: ↑

While I can agree with you, there is always the other side of things that should be considered as well. They more than likely get more than their fair share of BS stories all the time, how are they to ever decipher between fact and fiction? It would take a full time staff I'm sure for any of the mega's to sort thru these types of things and decide what is real and what isn't, and then try to do the compassionate thing and get the guy home.
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True that. But he was 50 miles from home and the truck broke down. I agree with you and the BS stories that most have to sift through. But there is those 2 other circumstances

tow614 · Jul 31, 2014

I wonder if heartofatrucker will chime in here and give us a few statistics about happy heartland drivers and their new trailers... perhaps a few pie charts to go along....

hoat never responds to drivers first hand mistreatment by their company....

he cant handle the truth.

kid_cardiac · Aug 1, 2014

I've never been one to spread BS all over a forum like others with a gripe do. The bare minimum they could have done for me, to show just a bit of compassion, was either a hotel room for the night, or the bus ticket home. But it was their decision not to help me, since I had told them I was quitting. I didn't want to leave as quick as I did, but I really had no choice.

And to those sending well wishes to my mother, thank you. It really means a lot to me. She is doing better, but not out of the woods yet. But I know she'll beat this.

Oi! · Aug 1, 2014

I would rather work at McDonalds than work at Heartless Express. I mean it.

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