RC Wife - I've read this thread from the beginning ... but I mainly only read your replies. What can I say? I wish I could be of some help.
I am currently not a (professional) truck driver, and never have been. I currently have a good job (relatively speaking) and stay right around home. But in the last few months I've been considering getting my CDL and doing a training school for #####-n-giggles, and as something to fall back on in case this economy doesn't turn around, and I get laid-off.
After reading this thread, I now think this would be a last ditch option. You're thread is spectacular. It has been a hoot to read, plus a real eye-opener. Red Coat should thank his lucky stars for the support he is receiving on your end. I'm about 99% sure that if I were in his shoes, my own wife would talk to me on the phone and mainly just mention that I should be at home. No mental support, no following up with the company, no help or advice, etc etc etc. He's a lucky guy.
I've subscribed to this thread so I'll read everybody's replies from now. I can't wait to read your next update.
I still wonder if it were possible to get my CDL, do the training and establish a relationship with a trucking company where I could do a weekender run maybe like every other weekend. That would give a driver a weekend off occasionally, but logistically would probably be near impossible to put together.
I wonder what the feasibility is of getting my CDL & training, and then hold right there until (God Forbid) I got laid off. At that point, I'd be ready to jump in on something. Of course, after reading your thread, I might be better off working at Taco Bell ... or selling crack.Ok, just kidding on the crack thing.
But there has got to be a better way for a company to show their respect for their driver's. This is unbelievable. Some things like the almost continuous bait-n-switch of loads I can kind of see. For instance, Covenant was able to get RC near you when he needed to get home, and RC to Memphis for the Green Card, and the trainer to FL. Well in cases like that, RC & his co-driver may be swiping loads previously given to other drivers ... in order to met RC's logistics. And and turn, he may get some of his loads swiped to meet other drivers' logistics.
I bet those folks you've been posting with will have something to say about my consideration to get my CDL & training ... and I welcome their comments. I have had to skip their posts (up til now) due to not wanting to take a month to get to the end to see what your current status is.
BTW - Sorry about your aunt, and sorry about your mom. I realize that must be a tough situation.
- JyRO
COVENANT -- From a wife's perspective
Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by Redcoat wife, Aug 31, 2008.
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Yup , don;t ya love the scuttle butt.
That's why i went and got a laptop, so i could look up the most current condtions anywhere in the world.
If you pm, i'll give ya list of diifferant states and weather sites to look at. -
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If you're in an unsafe area, as another Covenant driver was. You'll put them on.
It took 4 tickets, before Covenant "allowed" the driver to put his chains on. Mandantory shut down, I'm sure you're familiar with those.
BTW, they were Covenants tickets -
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I want to say that right now, I am very happy with the co. and the work they are giving me.
Since I got in the Walmart dedicated, I have been constantly running. Send them my PTA before I ldeliver load and they accomodate appts with shipper according to that. Dlvery has a big window of time but I always dlver asap and get ready for the next load. Pre plans are sent before I finish delivery so that I can plan myself in advance. DSP, load planner and night DSP work as a team, they are all very nice, very professional. No bull.... Last night I was in WI, it was -1 degree, I didn't idle because my two sleeping bags and one blanket were enough to keep me warm. But I woke up two hrs prior to going to shipper and couldn't turn engine on. The battery froze...
So, called brkdown, and night dsp, who said, shipper would be ready for me as soon as trk was fixed. Nobody would take "my" load. Repair guy came, got trk fixed right away, and ran to shipper. They were already loading another Walmart trl and all I did was drop and hook. Was able to dlver early and now getting ready to pick up another load tomorrow that will be going to a warmer place... TEXAS!
Unfortunately, got a cold and pretty sore throat.... from all that really
freezing place. "Up with the sun and gone with the wind.... Stay safe and roll on... "
Last edited: Feb 4, 2009
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MCR read this and could not believe it.....after all he wrote and said....
It's good that you are happy with the job and being otr...but really.... you will not be a heroe...dead or alive, and for the pay we get, doing what you did only strengthens Covenants power to make you not Idle and die from exposure and heat stroke.
You need to realize that you and other drivers set a dangerous tone when you do things like this, and this is why MCR gave up and quit. I hope that you get better..... -
Speaking of training, are there any Covenant students reading this thread (or recent students)? On Covenant's website (supposedly) they say the initial training time with a trainer is 45 days. But Redcoat's trainer says it's really 35 4-hour shifts. Has anybody else heard about this 4-hour shift deal?[/quote] <------- that is redcoats quote, sorry
Hi there, I have loved reading your thread. My husband left home on 12/28/08 to work with Covenant. He has told me that you need 35 4 hour shifts. I wish it was 45 days. I have not seen him once since he left. Does anyone know.....is this normal. Do you not get hometime if your training goes this long? He is not getting a CDL from Covenant. He had it from the school he went to. -
Latest update.
First, thanks to JyRO for all the kind words. Not sure how lucky Redcoat thinks he is as he constantly reminds me that this trucking idea of mine was the worst one I've ever had. If I hear, "This is not what I came to America for..." one more time I'm going to scream. I have to bite my tongue not to reply that going broke paying for someone's green card isn't exactly why I got married either. Truth be known, I am very much worse off now financially than I was before we met. But that is not something he needs to hear while he's dealing with his own demons disguised as a trucking company and so I just listen to him rant, threaten to quit, and moan about the ineptitude of Covenant. Then I use this forum to vent my own frustrations.
The point you made about swapping loads for logistics is a good one and I've already pointed that out to Redcoat as a possibility as to why loads get taken from them. He was pretty much buying into that logic until they got to Kansas City. After KC they had two more drops to make and 500 miles to run so by Redcoat's figures, they should have made $175 each for the next two drops. But when they got to KC, they were told they had to repower the load so that made him mad. Then he REALLY got furious when he found out the other driver was one of the committee members. He took that very personal like this man was literally taking $175 out of his pocket. OMG he was so mad he could barely speak.
After that Team Redcoat got a load to the Wal-Mart DC in New Albany, MS and that is where they are now. Redcoat pointed out that they are doing runs that solo drivers should be doing, not team drivers.
So that is where they are now, waiting to see what they get next.
On the home front, I spent the day yesterday trying to thaw out frozen water lines in my rig but these aren't like a house where you have a good idea of where the freeze might be. The temp never got above freezing yesterday here around Huntsville and so I've been without water since Tuesday night. But it's supposed to get to the mid-40's here today so maybe everything will thaw out and I'll be able to take a shower so I won't offend anybody. I told Redcoat I'm starting to live the trucker life what with scrounging for a shower. I went down to Wal-Mart and bought several gallons of water to brush my fuzzy teeth and help flush the toilet.
Then I ran out of LP gas and so had to pack up the house, close the slides, raise the jacks and disconnect the sewer & electric to move 50 yards so I could fill up the LP tank. It took me 20 minutes to chip the frozen ground from around one of the pads that I put on the ground under the jacks. A couple days after I arrived, the gound was soft and the one of the rear jacks sunk into the ground pushing the pad into the ground a good 6 inches. So that was all encrusted and I had to chip away the dirt using the claws of a hammer. I finally got it pried out and had almost worked up a sweat.
Once I got all filled up, I made a big circle around the campground to repark, put the jacks back down, slides back out, and unpack everything. I was hoping the LP would last another week or so but it's just been too cold. I have a heat pump on my rig but it won't run once the temp goes below 38 degrees in which case it automatically switches over to LP once the temp inside goes 5 degrees below what you have set on the thermostat. I figure that's probably why my water lines froze because while I was at my mom's Monday and Tuesday I'd turned the thermostat down to 60 to help conserve LP while I was gone.
I just got off the phone. Team Redcoat has a trip to go 340 miles from New Albany, MS to Mount Vernon, IL to pick up a load going another 300 miles to somewhere in Ohio that has to be there in 18 hours. Redcoat says if they can get loaded within 4 or 5 hours in Mount Vernon then they should make it ok. His comment was...just call us Team Expedite working for .15 per rather than $1.20 per (or whatever the going rate is) like a normal expediting company. So, yes, there was a bit of dripping sarcasm in there.
Finally, I can see Cannibal-Man's point about the idling issue BUT I can also see what Rocks was trying to do. By following their stupid idle policy to the letter, she cost them MORE money by having to get someone out there to fix the truck than it would have cost them to just let her idle. So much of what this company does is a knee-jerk, over-reaction to simple things that could be dealt with using just common sense. I'd be willing to bet that if the drivers could find a way to keep warm in the winter without idling and just let the truck coldsoak overnight in some of these places that Covenant would be shelling out so much more money trying to fix dead batteries, etc. that maybe they would change their tune and see that idling was more cost effective than emergency road service/late deliveries -- since they obviously don't care about driver comfort/safety in that area.
Stay tuned.CANNIBAL-MAN Thanks this. -
Also get used to the idea that birthdays, holiday, and anniversaries are just another day. Don't expect him to be home for any of those either. If he does make it home for important days, think of it as a bonus. Then you won't be so disappointed.Last edited: Feb 5, 2009
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