Schneider, and the post I never thought I'd make

hell no.

last thing i want is some union boss telling me i need to stop working so hard.

 

Ok folks I'm a bit confused here. Schneider does not have a policy for short hair & no facial hair. There are tons of company drivers who have long hair and most have facial hair. They do ask that you keep a neat appearance. That's not an unreasonable request. They ask that you not weat clothing with obscene logos, etc.
They foot wear policy is a bit of a pain, but I've not seen it enforced.

Your right on some of the rules, they are rediculous, I'll elaborate more when I'm not so tired & can form more coherent thoughts.

 

One of my instructors told me this during training...that the reason there is a rule in place...is because some ##)(*####* did something stupid and ruined it for everyone. My take is that...that is true, along with the fact that the company doesn't want to present a certain appearance either.

Also, their driver handbook is simply their overall handbook...not filled to the brim like many would twist it to seem. Basically filled with info on the trucks, the companies policies, etc...all sorts of info.

As far as their rules...it depends on how you look at it. I use only one macro...about once a day (if I remember, lol). I get in the truck, do my route, turn and burn home. Rinse and repeat the next day. I don't talk to my boss unless he is manning the phones when I call the office with a question or something else. I see him.....twice a year. I don't see anyone else from SNI nor do I hear from anyone. My pay...not bad considering what I do. Equipment...ours is maintained pretty well. Mainly because we don't have many (if any) extra trailers...so if there is an issue, we report it and get it fixed asap. last thing I want to deal with is a crap Xtra lease trailer again...grrr.

Their viewpoint on GPS is that they don't want you to rely solely on them for your directions. Lots of people think that a GPS is the gospel when it comes to directions. Since there is no good GPS out there for trucks...they would prefer their drivers don't use them. I don't think its a company policy to NOT have them in the trucks.

Cell phones, you can use them...but like any company, their policy is not to use them while the truck is in motion.

Well they provide free boots, its simply a matter of being dressed for work. You work, and should be dressed for it. Lots of accidents occur getting in and out of a truck...wearing boots helps reduce that risk, also is a huge safety thing..rather dumb not to wear them.

We had a student in our class, we nicknamed Jesus...long hair...hippy...free wheelin kind of guy...had the guts to come to training in sandals...A OC lot is not a good place to be wearing sandals.

If anything, this policy here pertains to their bulk / tanker operations. If you want to have a beard, I think they don't care about the length...just that it looks half decent. The handbook says otherwise...but I haven't heard of this ever being an issue.

No, not right. You can't wear stupid redneck cowboy hats which would embarass a real cowboy. Also, they don't have a uniform policy, just a general "look decent, shower...etc" dress code. Anyway...since I actually work when I work...I sometimes wear a SNI shirt, so I don't ruin my regular clothes. Maybe thats just me.

 

Or if youd like you could get his info and log onto crossroads to find the driver handbook on there.

Im not saying you are wrong on what I posted above...its just that I have yet to see any driver get fired / chewed out for having a beard, sneakers...etc. Case in point...one of my coworkers was doing a routine run and happened to have the safety guy onboard for a check up. The driver answered his phone, and when they talked about the phone policy and such...the driver made clear he was going to answer his phone if it was from certain people and that it was important. They just talked about it for less than a minute, never materialized to anything more than that.

As a matter of fact, it was spring time so I was wearing my "no traction at all, completely bald" shoes when I got a qc message saying he was going to join me later in the day. Never said one thing.

As far as uniforms, we are "encouraged" to wear them, not mandatory.

 

Well yeah, I agree with you somewhat there. If a company wants to fire you, they will find a reason easily to do so. They don't need a policy or anything...and can most likely twist what limited policy they do have in order to do so.

I agree on the beard and clothing thing...sounds silly but they have their reasons...and Id have to be a dumb bass to hire onto the company only to have a problem with it. Since I shave and don't wear silly hats (their prob is with the far out cowboy hats...not even regular cowboy hats are an issue)...its not an issue. As far as GPS's...I don't think a driver should be fired for using them...but if their using it, caused an accident...then yea. GPS's are not designed for truck use...many drivers think that if its on the GPS, it must be accurate. They might not think to check for a clearance...etc. I heard of a driver recently in WY who schmucked a bridge and damaged the trailer. He was a fill in driver, missed an exit, and then used his GPS to navigate around...and he didn't check the height clearance for the bridge he hit.......but it was OK according to the GPS.

 

You seem to have an irrational hateful attitude toward Schneider. You're condemning SNI for what they may or may not do? That Schneider is doing OK in a bad economy seems like a positive to me.

 

Correct. Everybody calm down. SNI isn't the Evil Empire.