What? No Horror Stories On CFI???

It's not the "new" ownership. It's the retained management of CFI.

If you do a side by side. Old policies of Conway Truckload vs New Policy, you'll note the drivers that were hurt the most, drove for Con-Way before the buy out. Although, a lot of CFI drivers are being hurt by current Conway policy they are just being introduced to also.

MANY of Conways teams, Quit CFI and went to Conway before the buy out. Now they are being handed their own heads on a platter by the very people they tried to get away from.

Usual practices are to allow the current management to stay with a company, as part of any buy out deal. Few make it to their 14th month. Most are let go once the staff has been brought up to speed and can manage the day to day operations of the "new" company, without the "retained" management.

Mark this day on your calender. Herb Schmidt will not be running that circus in October of 2008.

 

Since Herb announced recently, it's a 2 year deal. I have to revise that to August of 2009 unless they force him out.

 

And this would be a problem because of ??

Companies buy out contracts all the time. It's not a big deal, it's figured into the package.

 

Herb is trying to be the mayor of Joplin anyway so I doubt it will bother him.


I won't spew a lot of hate their way but I will say I won't return to them. I started running solo and after spending my savings account to keep from foreclosure and still getting behind on bills (yes the miles were that bad) I started running team.

To get to the point about bad miles, this was a typical week. Dispatch from a tire plant in Wilson NC on a Sat to deliver in Terry Haute In on Tuesday morning at 1am, cannot deliver early. Make it to the Flying J just south of Terry Haute on Sunday and hang out for two days, deliver the load.

Make an empty call, wait.....


sleep......


wait.......

call........

Get a load Wednesday morning, pick up 100 miles north, FRIDAY MORNING!!!! To deliver when? Monday in Pa!!!!!

I am not stretching this at all, my BEST week solo with them was 1800 miles but I was thinking maybe I had to prove I wasn't a complainer because all these guys talk up how GREAT CFI was (Conway, whatever) so I just took my lumps, watched myself go completely broke, and held out for this amazingly great company I would be willing to retire from to surface.


It didn't.

Went to driving teams, the Monday I picked up my team mate I got a 2200 mile load, by Saturday we had been dispatched 5800 miles on a pay period that wasn't even a full week. This is more like it right?

Not so much, granted the money was there but I was in a solo truck still. I went through terminal after terminal that had empty T2's and other team trucks hanging out calling Steve Studor asking if we could get one. The answer was always "soon", call me back in a day or two. Now I am not one to ##### like I stated before but I have a trashed back and knees from the Marine Corps. I will sleep in the worst possible conditions and smile about it as long as it's soft and mine wasn't. I stuck out teams for 2 months sleeping 4 hours a day because I would lock up and have a #### muscle spasm from that #### rig. My partner also wasn't the greatest log book keeper so I could see myself getting a guilty by association when he screwed up so I finally had to call it quits and put in my 2 weeks. I tried like hell to make it work but I decided to drive a truck because I am used to being completely alone/on my own and not having to rely on anyone but myself. CFI/Conway just wouldn't play out that way no matter how hard I tried so I have moved on to bigger and better things.

I will admit that the money running teams was #### good and if they had put me in a better truck I would have dealt with it and kept going even though I only saw home once a month but I can make the same money by myself driving skateboards and be home every two weeks which is about right for my preferences.

 

I make as much, sometimes more. Driving solo and home weekends, since I left. And I still recommend them for new/student drivers.

I've been offered my job back multiple times. I finally told them to quit calling. I can't see myself babysitting their truck for free, 2-3 days a week. When I can be home sitting on my couch. Eating food that was cooked on my stove.