Trans Am Still

Slacker! Wanted to beat Cranky to it. If he had said it first, I would have been reduced to just letting him know he was right.

Old story, I am in Kansas now. If I am in Boston again, happy to meet you and let you check out a TransAm ride.

On the home time issue, I have always heard and read here TA is good at honoring home time requests. Part of my recent disgruntledness is that TA blew 2 out of 2 of my home time requests this year. One was for a court date for a traffic ticket, I put in the request two plus weeks in advance. No notice they could not keep my HT request, I just figured it out when my loads did not match my requests. Took an ordeal for me to fix that one.

I had a 3rd one missed but I was on breakdown that screwed that one up and I don't count it. Last year they did fine on 2 out of 2 requests.

 

About 40 miles further east, exit 21 Brookville, there are two large truck parking areas for a McDonald's, KFC and a motel. Lots of free WiFi and you don't need the special outside ant to grab it. Nice big park nearby for some exercise before you start your driving day.

 

I don't do the lease thingy but to back up HTQs point, I have always heard TransAm pays a bonus to lease drivers to drive through the Christmas/New Year's holiday period. Freight needs to move 365 days a year, no company wants to turn away a load. Not just for that load but for a chance to gain an ongoing customer.

 

passport, did you ever get a new DM as was promised to you when you decided to stay on? Your current DM sounds like the one that we had that was so horribly unqualified for the position. You should not be missing home time because of someone's screw up.....that never happened to us.....the bad DM the King had just absolutely didn't know what she was doing ....but at least was honest enough to have to go ask Conrad every little thing. While very time consuming it wasn't the deceit that you seem to be dealing with. That would have driven the King over the edge.
If they haven't lived up to their promise to you, you need to call them on it.

 

While there isn't a like button for this thread, jungHo, there is a rating up in the top right hand corner - Rate This Thread. We have a 5 star rating. You can add your vote there ......I don't know what it does for us, but it's nice to know!

 

They started the bonus a few years ago to encourage the lease drivers to stay out over Christmas. I know when they first did it many company drivers were upset because they didn't get anything extra if they stayed out. But the bonus helps the lease driver out at a time that is normally a bit slow and because many of them will stay out to get the bonus it ups the percentage of trucks on duty and allows more company drivers to get home during that time period.....so it's really a good thing for everyone, in my opinion.

 

You're right.

I have always been disappointed that when problems come up TA they can not be settled with civil, professional messages. Seems like the first course of action for a DM when a driver wants or needs something that does not match TransAm's plans is to just blow the driver off. Tell them "will see what we can do" and then do nothing. They then stick to that course. Needs to turn more dramatic, refusals, shut down, quit notice before someone starts to take action.

I put in my notice last time as I thought it was better to end my employment that way then with a long unauthorized drive to Olathe or Rockwall turn in my equipment over some problem that is sure to happen. I am not sure what is going on with my DM but I am tired of fighting with TA. I have my final flights scheduled for January, I will serve out my time, put in appropriate notice and move on as you and Cranky have correctly pointed out, it is a bit past time for me to do.

 

I stayed out over the holiday period last year, I will do it again this year. I will not get a bonus as a company drive. I have no agreement to get one, no reason for any company driver to run their mouth about it.

I get plenty of perks as a company driver that lease drivers do not enjoy. If a lease driver enjoys a benefit good on them, I know those folks have a hard enough time as it is.

 

I was telling the King about your DM this evening, passport. He said the same as Pete and I .....it's time. The DM will eventually move on or be moved but part of the problem is that you have matured as a driver, your experience level surpasses that of your DM. With the turnover rate of dispatchers at TA there is, as a guess on my part, an 85-95% chance that is going to be the case from now on. If you have a dispatcher that is pleasant and tries to do a good job then that scenario is tolerable but far too many times it will not be the case.

We've always talked about TransAm as being a starter company for drivers, with their pay scale I think that is also the case with dispatch. They hire people with no experience at a beginning pay and try to get by with a few good DM's to train them. They either decide they can't handle it and quit, just as the drivers do, or they gain experience to put on their resume and move on. It is a starter company in more ways than one.

 

That was always our feeling also.