Total Transportation (retaliation lies)

Discussion in 'Report A BAD Trucking Company Here' started by James Wilson, Sep 14, 2017.

  1. White Dog

    White Dog Road Train Member

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    There certainly was.
    I tried to be nice, and I tried to be "adult" about it....but as weeks went by, I hounded (reminded) them every day that I was done GET ME TO THE TERMINAL and they constantly told me "they had no freight going that direction"....yet I saw trucks from the same company going that direction. Silly childish games.

    Knight even told me "if you wanna go home, leave the truck in Denver and go home"----NOPE....the truck belongs in Eagan, MN. (numbered for Eagan fleet), and I wasn't gonna get an 'abandonment' on my record.
     
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  3. Bumper

    Bumper Road Train Member

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    I had the same issue with Crete the first time I quit them. I was in the Columbus Ohio yard and my home terminal was in Phoenix. Took them 3 weeks to get me a load back there. The second time I delivered a load in Phoenix and went to the yard and cleaned out my truck.
     
  4. taodnt

    taodnt Light Load Member

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    Thanks Myturn,

    What are these "right questions"? Being asked by someone that does not even have CDL yet. Just reading my brains out before I get trained.

    thanks

    taodnt

    Teaching an old dog new tricks
     
  5. SoCalRed

    SoCalRed Medium Load Member

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    There are no "right questions". Some or most companies will lie to you.
    Talk to the drivers before you put in an application. Even then you'll find plenty of people that will not be happy no matter who they work for.
     
  6. blindsidebacker4life

    blindsidebacker4life Light Load Member

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    A few things you won't read about on the internet about U.S. Express A.K.A. Total and won't find out till you're at orientation(the recruiters all tell you South East and no forced dispatch if asked)

    1. There is no difference.. One has white trucks.. If you worked at U.S. Express you already know all the policies, DriverTech macros etc..
    2. The CEO himself will tell you it's just a leased fleet company which is a subsidiary of U.S. Express. He's usually at the Jackson, MS terminal
    3. Forced Dispatch(it's in bold print in orientation papers and they tell you straight up there). Recruiter when asked won't actually answer straight
    4. You have to use DriverTech and report everything.. Slow going through a construction flagging or inspection? Get ready to be flooded with messages unless you quickly punch up a custom message while driving.. You have to report even if you get green lit at the DOT scale and at a Love's scale.. They have a massive amount of macros plus mandatory custom department messages you're going to use every load at least once.. There are a lot of things that do the same thing the panic button does as far as timing goes with certain macros and "cycle of service"
    5. Lumper process is a nightmare... Call in a check number(and you have to keep grabbing the books there are only three per book and you can only grab one at a terminal) and they put it on your fuel card then you scan in the check with BOL and other stuff at a Transflow. Getting the balance on the card is a process..
    6. They tape the cab facing camera but still fix the forward to use reflection so they can say they don't watch you. Yes it has an active mic and it's all cycled remotely despite sensor feedback
    7. CA and Oregon are teams only because it's usually expedited. You WILL run NJ, NY, NH, MA, ME it isn't a South East grid like the recruiters are still telling people..
    8. They have like ten cubicles that are people who do nothing but monitor Facebook and forums like this for negativity and they try to get it taken down or trace it to an employee. You'll meet some of them and be told about it at orientation
    9. DMs have favorites.. If you average 2,500-3,200 a week they REALLY like you...
    10. A lot of the people in dispatch and management and the yard are from neighborhoods like the ones around the terminals. You'll figure out why this is sometimes a problem pretty quick..
    11. Orientation is two weeks(not 3-5 days like they tell people) of mostly CDL school stuff in the yard($225.00 then $90/day second week) and then no OTR training for active drivers and 50+ based on PSP and DAC
    12. The most experienced trainer I've come across had 1,100,000 miles and looks and acts like a millennial male hair stylist..
    It's just another "foot in the door" company I wouldn't recommend it to someone with options.. <4 year cascadias with DT12 tranny and 2KW inverter and no APU(stupid proof)
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2019
    Lonesome, Frank Speak and Bumper Thank this.
  7. Frank Speak

    Frank Speak Road Train Member

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    @blindsidebacker4life, nice write up. They sound a lot like Davis Express out of Starke, FL. Micro manage drivers to death and are vindictive when a driver stands up to their nonsense. I quit that crap hole in less than 4 months.
     
    mjd4277, Lonesome and 28 Thank this.
  8. Anonymousproxy

    Anonymousproxy Road Train Member

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    A few things I can say about companies claiming they have “non forced dispatch”...THE WHOLE INDUSTRY IS FORCED DISPATCH. Even if it’s “non forced” mostly they will expect or coerc you to accept the load... and if you refuse often they will have you sitting all the time until you get fed up and quit.

    Also... how is being expected to average 2500- 3200 miles a week a bad thing? Unless you are on percentage, salary or hourly pay there’s no excuse for not being able to run that kind of mileage.
     
  9. blindsidebacker4life

    blindsidebacker4life Light Load Member

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    2,500-3,200 a week isn't bad. I meant to put it as if you're getting that you're probably buddies with someone at the office.. Plenty of people I know and myself can do 3,200 without layovers and detention and with loads that have the miles..
     
  10. Boomer453

    Boomer453 Bobtail Member

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    My experience has been a little different from blind sides. Been at Total going on 2 yrs so far.
    1. Orientation was 5 days for newbies, started on Monday and friday you got assigned a trainer. So.e had to wait a day or so for their trainer to get to Jackson. Experienced drivers started getting trucks assigned on Wednesday and all were gone by thursday.
    2. You do use the dtech for everything, how much is more a matter of who your dm is. I dont normally here from mine unless its hazmat, high value, FedEx or Amazon. All of those require some verbal confirmation regarding pick up and delivery times etc. I believe there are about 12 macros that you will actually use. It does get aggravating being asked questions via dtech while driving and have no way to answer them.
    3. Lumper fees, I've used 2 bank checks I the past 2 yrs. I send a message to my dm with the amount and he puts it on the card. Once it's there call the number on the check and get an authorization number.
    Forced dispatch-yes. I've been north of new york 4 times. The majority of stuff for non teams is Ohio east to Jersey and south to Atlanta. Make a triangle between those 3 and that's where you spend most of your time.
    Not saying they're a great company but I've always been treated with respect, never not made it home on time, and they have always done what they said they would.
    2 yr avg miles is down a bit to 2784. I only use full working weeks for my avg.
     
  11. blindsidebacker4life

    blindsidebacker4life Light Load Member

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    Yeah that's the old orientation.. Now it's 2-3 weeks.. One week of basically giving the same information you put in the full-app the recruiter sent you to, then 1-2 weeks of what is basically CDL school stuff out in the yard. After that you'll probably be doing local runs slowly getting your 50+ hours or waiting on a truck if your PSP allows you to go out after DriverTech training..

    I've been there months and used two lumper checks already, and have to send macros for just about everything.. Got a green light on a DOT scale and have no hazmat? Macro or get flooded with messages and calls.. Same with using a Cat scale at a Love's.. Macro or basically panic mode..

    I work out of the Jackson terminal

    I won't go in to what happens if you argue with safety or the DM over DriverTech stuff either..

    Take away the macro and "hurry up and wait" style orientation and it's probably the best rookie company out there.. Hell I accidentally got a big check in addition to orientation and training pay after giving direct deposit info very early and nobody ever noticed.. I've heard of people who didn't make it through orientation for whatever reason still getting paid weeks later for time they weren't even there for.. lol
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2019
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