Eastern Freightways North Brunswick, NJ

I worked in the office. Ive been in this business for 30 years and I worked with a lot of good people,inclding JIm Gaven, and alot of phonies. Brian,Tom, and Lee are as smart as anyone of them but they dont have one thing. The dedication to the company. I know its only a job but you need to have some loyalty which they dont have. Every job Ive had,which hasnt been many, Ive gotten because Ive been loyal to someone who moved on and asked me to come with them. I knew Jim and Pat from New Penn. There are a lot of New Penn people at NEMF. If Shevell would have let them run the company instead of Mike Bare and his failed philosophy, they wouldnt be in half as bad shape as they are now. Gaven should have gotten Luhrs job. The people would have learned to do it right or they would have been axed. Why do you thing Jim left??? Richie got hosed. Hewas told it was because a lot of loads got screwed up on his watch and he didnt correct them. Truth is drivers were given dispatches they couldnt do just to put a name on the load so the day dispatchers could go home and say the load was covered. How do you expect one guy to walk in cold and deal with 100 drivers all calling in and a dozen or so have problems with the disptch they were given. His biggest problem is after the divorce, the only coverage he had was Easterns. He takes a lot of medication every month. Now they put Ray on nights and they will do the same thing to him next. He wont be able to cover all the dispatching and planning mistakes and he,ll get blamed for it because Bellino doesnt spend any time in dispatch or wants to understand the operation. So the 3 wise men can tell him anything and he believes it. I worked with teamsters for 25 years and believe me, they would have eaten the three of them for lunch.

 

If you did in fact work in the office downstairs I probably do not know you after all then. I rarely ever went downstairs and that was only to talk with Amy or Lee. Eastern office workers really don't fraternize with the "hired help."

I thought there was something screwy about Jim moving downstairs after Rich left and then moving right back upstairs to the dispatch office a couple of weeks later... Looks like Tommy has inherited Jim's desk if not his position at this point anyway.

I guess Jim figured he was the go to guy after Rich left but corporate wanted "one of their own" in that position. Not sure if age was a factor either but it would not surprise me. I have noticed lots of companies over the years are getting rid of their older workers due to the health insurance issues and the higher pay scale they normally receive.

I can't say whether Tommy is loyal or not to the company. I know he was the sacrificial goat during the DOT audit and from what I heard he was scared to death of being locked up due to the investigation years back. When no-one got locked up he resigned and moved on to a different job. I recall him calling me and letting me know he was leaving Eastern. I was sorry to see him go as he was responsible for keeping me running and making GOOD money as a solo even if it wasn't always "legal." He came back but things are not the same as they were. Perhaps I am different too than he remembers.

Thats the story I got too about why Ritchie got fired. I sat in the office with him several times at night and would listen to him field calls from drivers, NEMF dispatch, and even customers such as CON-AIR. At times CON AIR would call him and ask when he was sending a driver down for another load. Of course it was an "extra" load that had not even been entered into the system. He would look through the board to try and find a driver to go secure the load and bring it back to the yard. Heck I even grabbed a couple for him on occasion to help him out and keep the customer happy. I also heard him complain many times about day dispatch dropping the ball and expecting him to "clean up their messes." I think he did the best he could with what he had to work with.

Just out of curiosity where did you wind up after leaving Eastern?

 

Unemployment for a few months, then part time at UPS. In between I sold some property and spent some of my savings that I had earmarked for another purpose. Right now im looking for something perminent but nothing out there. Im not that young anymore and this business is all about connections. I used a lot up, burned a couple, and some others are in no position to help out. one day at a time, like the AA people say. I would like to get in steady at UPS> They will be around for a while. I made friends with one of the shop stewards from local 177. hes looking to see if he can squeeze me in. in the meantime I just keep looking. Talk again soon.

 

I can't believe the forum staff person (Cybergal) would thank roadkill4512 for his post(post #6). This is supposed to be a safe place to report bad experiences within the industry is it not? In case you have not read the homepage of THETRUCKERSREPORT.COM now would be a good time to do so. This is what is written by the founder of this site:
"The trucking industry is basically a slave industry with truckers working on the average over 70 hours per week. Many of which are not paid while sitting in shipper's parking lots sometimes 8 hours or more after specified load time (a whole workday for average Americans!) . Truckers are not paid overtime as others. Yet the Democrats and others, who say they are for the working man, turn a blind eye to this because there is a lot of money involved and a lot of it shows up in their coffers at election time !"

I'm almost afraid to post about a bad experience here now or give my feelings on the industry, the forum staff might beat me-up over it. I don't think it's a good idea to bash people with years of experiences in this industry just because you do not agree with them. This can only harm the reputation of this site. I browsed this site many years before joining and posting and I cannot recall any of the old moderators thanking or bashing an experienced drivers opinion. Not to bash you Cybergal but if you are not a trk driver then you have not paid the dues some of these guys have and should refrain from bashing those that have.

 

And a fella with such little experience on this forum shouldn't presume to understand how its run or all the work that is put into keeping it running

And so that people like you rude and ungrateful still can have the privilege of reading and learning about trucking

 

Thanking a persons contribution is a simple way of saying I agree with what the poster said. It is not a block on someone offering a countering viewpoint.

At some forums they have derogatory rep points which can be used to "bash" someone and does in fact penalize people for offering a different, non mainstream, comment. Enough of these negative rep points and people will feel their contributions are unwelcome and will not participate in future discussions which limits the growth of that forum as well as the perspectives. Wiseone showed some real "wisdom" when he got rid of the old system in favor of the simple "thanks" button instead of the scale with an option to post a comment on the users home page.

I personally thanked roadkill4512 in that post as well for zeroing in on a disenchanted individuals comments on a company he never worked at and used this thread to once again harp on the "trucking is slavery" angle grudge he keeps feeding.

seanoleary1979 and I have had disagreements in this thread as well as others. We simply have different perspectives. He walks to the drum beat of "this industry sucks" and it equates to "slavery" in his opinion. This is a rut he seems to be stuck in and continually beats the same dead horse time and time again. Read through his posts and you will see what I mean. If a person is THAT unhappy with the job they are doing then they SHOULD find a different line of work.

I try to focus on the positive aspects of my job and the company I currently work for as well as HAVE worked at in the past. I try to be as informative, open, and honest as I can.

Many people join this industry and believe it is the answer to their prayers in regard to a job with great pay, benefits, and travel. They fail to research the industry thoroughly and then get upset when the "industry" does not meet their expectations.

Here are some of the reasons I still work for Eastern Freight Ways (and please feel free to compare what I offer with the standard benefits offered by the "mega carriers");

A driver must have at least 5 years experience with EFW to qualify for the following levels of compensation;

1. 6 Paid holidays based on my average daily earnings (around $285.00)
2. 5 Paid personal days based on my average daily earnings (3 sick 2 personal days).
3. 3 weeks paid vacation after 7 years (1/52nd of yearly earnings).
4. Breakdown pay at $11.00 per hour.
5. Detention pay after 2 hours past appointment time based on drivers hourly pay rate (in my case $18.50 per hour).
6. Paid for every drops, every hooks, ($5.50) every stop ($11.00), monthly .01 cpm safety/compliance bonus.


Now if you are familiar with the larger carrier pay scales you will notice right away that they do not (as a rule) pay for paid sick days, or personal days, breakdown pay, drops, hooks, or EVERY stop.

It is not enough to simply look at a companies trucks or terminals to decide whether they are a worthwhile outfit. Some of the best carriers out there as far as compensation and benefits are the ones that utilize older equipment, have a limited operational area, and do not spend their money on huge fancy terminals.

 

Being a truck driver is not the only way to have an understanding of the industry and what actually goes on out on the road. There is more than one way to pay your dues in the industry than being on the road.

The forum staff does not 'beat' anyone up over their opinions. We enforce the rules set down by the owner of the site. We are also allowed our own opinions.

 

I have the utmost respect for every driver who goes out on the road and lives the kind of life he or she has to so they can make a decent buck. I base my opinions on what I saw and heard at my time at Eastern. Everyone does what they have to do to pay their bills. If I wanted to drive I would have 30 years ago. That doesnt mean I dont understand what someone goes through every day wehen they are in that cab. If you can trade the inconveniences for the benefits, more power to you.

 

You have no idea how it is out there unless you have done it, sitting in an office and going home after 8 or 10 hours doesn't come close to what we put up with. I guess you know the pain of giving birth too since you've been around pregnant women.

 

And with some of the members here, you have no idea until you read their posts, whether they are former drivers or not.

Also, certain people can get a very good idea what things are like out there IF they pay attention to what is being said to them. I did some time in the office at a trucking company I worked for (along with driving), and one of the other office gals had a very good grasp of what it was like, even though she did not drive. How? She listened to the drivers, she talked to them, and she was a good person as well.

Most people don't have a clue as to what it is like out there unless they have been out there, but there are some that do have a grasp on what it really takes.