Diary of a Gainey driver

Week5 was a short week as I was due for some home time. I put in for hometime about 2 weeks ago to give them plenty of time to plan ahead. I only missed my target date by a couple days, but it was just an approxamite time to give them something to go on. I ran a load from northern Vermont down to the Atlanta area. My truck was very overdue for a service, and being that we have a shop in Conley, GA, I decided to put MY time on hold so I could get my equipment taken care of. The truck was rolled out of the shop later in the day, so I just stayed at the terminal for the night. The next morning, I ended up repowering a load that was bound for Tallahassee. For whatever reason, I could not get anyone to send me directions over the QC. I call the customer and their automated directions say "we're west of the mall". Oooooooookay! Try not to be too specific! So, once again, Mapquest bailed me out. Let me say...I do NOT use Mapquest to get directions. I mearely use MQ to look at the location of the customer, and from there, I decide how Ill get there...or I can compare directions with what MQ shows. I like to use the "Arial View". Sometimes its so detailed you can even see the arrows on the roads!
After delivery, I dead head 120 miles to the house. I guess that was better than a 240+ mile dead head from Conley...

Week 5-1696 paid miles
To be continued...

 

Week 6 started coming off hometime at mid-day Monday. I find out Sunday, that the batteries are completely dead. I message breakdown and they get a mechanic out to my house to diagnose the problem. I guess his way of diagnosing the problem is just to jump start it, which I could have done. $270 later, the truck was up and running. Yeah, thats $270 to jump start a truck. Un-real!
So...I got my load info and was sent to pick up some bottled water about 70 miles south in Florida. This load was bound for Texas...for the areas hit by the storm.
After MT in Texas, I was sent on a whopping 486 mile dead head to central Kansas. Im glad they dont sit me until something pops up closer. They do keep me moving which does make up for some 'shortfalls' of this company. This load was a high Priority load meaning I had to send in messages every time I stopped. Where, how long, why, things like that. No big deal though. I was dispatched from Texas, not knowing where the load was going from Kansas. I later found out it was going to Greensboro, NC with a very nice delivery time that would net me about 550-600 miles per day.
Once MT, I was sent a couple hours south to South Carolina. This load was bound for Canada, but being that I dont have the proper credentials to cross the border, I would have to T-Call it in our Carleton, MI lot for another driver to take across the border.
This week was an un-interesting one, though a very productive one although it started with the truck needing a jump.
Week63057 actual miles-2870 pd miles
To be continued...

 

Week 7 has ended and went well up until the last run of the week.
It started with repowering a 2 stop load bound for Hartford, CT. Never been to Hartford, so I was expecting a hassle with streets and traffic and whatnot. Turns out the customer was a straight shot off the off ramp, so I didnt get to play with the hairpins and 4wheelers. The highlight was dealing with the dock guy who had the deepest "New Yawk" accent I ever heard. He even came complete with a huge cigar(that smelled pretty good actually).
Once MT, I was sent 30 miles south to get some paper bags going to a DC in Alabama. It was an open window delivery time, so I could run this one out and turn some good miles, right? Nope. Thanks to my earlier cries for a 34hr restart being answered with another load offer, my 70hr clock kept me a couple hours away from Hartford, so I shut down at the Milford, CT Pilot. Once I was legal, I was off to Alabama.
Heres where things got interesting. After MT in AL, I was put on a load that picked up an hour away that was bound for Michigan. I was just about to get off the exit for the shipper when I got this. "I need your help on a hot UPS load" Ok, no problem, I say, load it up! Its going to Mobile, then reloaded and going back up to Birmingham. I get the info, and once again, am right at the exit ramp for the shipper. "I need you to go to the Pilot and get this load from trk xxxxxx". WTH, coulda told me that earlier! So, I get the load and head down to Mobile. After a few hours, Im reloaded and headed for Birmingham once again.
From there, Im headed to northren AL then to middle Ohio. Its another Priority load, so Ive got to stay checked in with Big Brother, but I dont mind.

Week7-3363 Actual miles 3213 pd miles

 

May the force be with you. If youre anything like me, youll be in for the shock of a lifetime. Im a couple occurances away from having one of the mods move this thread to the "Report a BAD trucking company" board.
Sorry if it sounds discouraging, just tellin' it like it is. Good luck to ya!

 

Maybe I am over-reacting about all this, but (IMO), this amount of un-compensated work adds up to a pretty good bit. I just think that its a shady way to save money. Though I am not pleased with some ways the company operates, I take the punches and roll on. I see no point in getting worked up over something I have no control over. My main gripes are No EZ Pass and zip code to zip code mileage. If Gainey would get these two things taken care of, I think they would be a pretty good company to work for. I heard(from another driver) that the reason Gainey doesnt use EZ Pass is because drivers were taking out the transponder and putting it in their personal vehicles. If thats true, then I can understand why they got rid of the EZ Pass.
OTOH, there are many things I do like about Gainey. 68-72 mph trucks(though I usually stay around 65-66, but its nice to have the extra pedal if you need it), Preplans(really love these), politeness over the QC(quite often I get thank you's and 'youre welcomes', no such animal at my last company), Prepass(would trade for EZ Pass though), the fact that they have d/h me some LONG miles just to keep me from sitting waiting for closer freight(if thats the reason)...
As for miles...yeah, last months unpaid miles were a pretty big chunk IMO, but they also included out of route miles that were my own doing. Ive been keeping a very detailed record of this current months miles, OOR miles, Act MT miles, Act ld miles, total miles driven, pd miles, and so on. At the months close, Ill post the data which will be much more accurate than last months numbers. I am doing this because I want to give everyone some actual numbers to go on rather than just speculation.

BTW, yes, Gainey pays d/h miles. If they didnt, Im sure theyd have many trucks with no drivers!

 

Week 8 is in the books, and it went pretty well.

It started with a load bound for a Lowes DC in middle Ohio. Other than having to go to a Best Buy DC nearby to hunt for an MT(I got their last one-suprised they gave it to me), it was an eventless run, but had and open window delivery time which I love since it allows me to put in some killer miles and deliver asap.

From there, I headed to southern Ohio to get some appliances bound for Long Island, NY. Ive never been to any part of the clusterfark part of NY, so I thought I was in for one heck of a time. I was wrong. Other than the painful $100 tolls I had to pay, it was painless...except for one part. Backing into their freaking dock that was meant for straight trucks! I swear the customer SHOULD be charged for the difficulty required for backing into their dock. My guess was the docks used to be open, but at some point in time, some genuises came along and built a wall in front of the docks forgetting that sleeper cab semi trucks had to dock there. If I could have charged this place, it would have been 50 green ones. One driver I spoke to blew a line on his power steering pump trying to manuever into position. For those curious, it was PC Richards and Son off hwy 110 in Farmingdale. Bring your daycab!

So...after I was MT, I headed a 1/2 hr east to pick up a load bound for Indiana. This load fit perfect! It had ok miles with a great delivery time. Well, it turned out too good to be true. I was told to Tcall it in our Bordentown lot and repower another load from there that was going 24 miles north. It was a Home Depot load which I got 19 pd miles out of! Heck yeah, Im rackin' em up! This day netted me 132 miles, but what can I do except complain? Bad with the good, I have to tell myself.

I got a message saying "Ill get you a load with good miles" (for delivering that short hop HD load), so I was a little optimistic of what lie ahead.
It turned out to be a 1200+ mile load headed for Jackson, MS. It picked up an hour north in Jersey City, and was a drop and hook to boot! I was able to run 2 600+ mile days and get this joker delivered asap. I then took a 34 hr restart in the wonderful(all sarcasm intended) city of Jackson, MS.

Week 8- 2862 act miles, 2770 pd miles thanks to that 132 mile day playing around on Long Island and NJ.
To be continued...