Eastern Freightways North Brunswick, NJ

I was one of the dispatchers. nobody has anything to post lately???

 

Well, I spent the last couple weekends laid over in Atlanta Ga due to no freight and another canceled RoadRunner load. I took the time to send a couple of messages over the OBC to dispatch to "officially complain" and to make a record of my displeasure for all to see (if they were interested anyway). I mentioned that being laid over away from home was not conducive to keeping drivers happy while they have the benefit of being home all weekend and can enjoy their creature comforts. I am willing to work over the weekends if needed but the key word is "work." $88.00 lay over pay after 2 days sitting is just not worth it.

Getting 2800 to 3500 miles in 6 to 7 days as a team is simply inadequate and we have been falling behind on our bills. Of course we have been supporting 2 families for the past year (my sister moved in with her 2 kids last April) so that is why we are actually struggling now.

I did suggest they consider working over the weekends themselves to try and locate freight for the drivers that are sitting over the weekends but did not get a response. I did not really expect one (there is no-one in the office on the weekends) although they do have 1 dispatcher "on call" that can be of assistance if needed for emergencies.

Ray apparently read my messages and spoke with me this past Thursday night about it. As I have stated before, Ray is someone I have actually worked side by side with as a driver and even ran together to recover another unit several years back. I understand him and he understands me. We have mutual respect for each other and can speak candidly to one another. He offered us a different route but also made it clear that we would not be able to slack off and would have to actively run as a team (at least on the first trip down each week) to keep the run.

Ray also mentioned if we needed to get some extra miles in we could probably take a run or 2 to NJ and back to Pa Sunday and Mondays.

Instead of covering the Montgomery New York to Ellenwood Georgia runs we will now be running from Camp Hill Pa to Miami Florida and back. This is a dedicated route dealing with NEMF loads exclusively so hopefully this will provide some consistency for us. It will take several months of steady pay checks to dig ourselves out financially but at least we will have a shot at better miles and hopefully less stress worrying about canceled loads and layovers.

The flip side of this is the freight that was being sent via MCI or CRST to Miami will probably dry up for them. Keeping these loads in house just shows me that NEMF and Eastern are trying to work together for a change.

One other good thing is that solo drivers will now have more opportunities to get those loads down to Georgia that we had been taking each week.

I have been researching buying a truck and leasing it on to another carrier during my "lay overs" in Ga. I have several possible trucks "saved" for future reference and a working business plan to fall back on "IF" things do not work out at Eastern. I am not a typical "employee" and have the mindset, stamina, and knowledge of an owner op. I rarely complain and always go out of my way to keep the customers happy. I would rather not pull the trigger on this alternative plan if I don't have to.

Of course this is what happens when drivers are left without work. They look for alternative plans and strategies to get ahead.

 

right on the money about weekends. From the first week I was there I could not believe that nobody was in the office after midnight Friday till monday morning, and back then there wasnt even a lot of weekend work. The company cowtows to certain people like these guys are the savoirs. Tell them when they work and if they dont like it, throw them out. Trucking dispatch and management has become a 24/7 job. get with it or get out and do something else. Ray is good people, you are right about that.

 

When I was their Rich finished up Saturday morning and that was it until Sunday when Vince came in. Is Vince still their?

 

he quit a year and a half ago. the only reason he worked sunday was the circuit city account and sears. he didnt really check the board when he was there, only the drivers doing CC loads. when they lost those accounts no more weekends. only the guy on call. Richie only worked till midnight on Friday night. if he was there any later only if a problem he needed to fix.

 

I'm certainly not a "low life dirtbag", and take much pride in delivering the load safely, and on time, and
have always been extremely pleasant to the customer.
I get totally stressed if I am going to run late for a pick-up or delivery, and I immediately call dispatch to inform them as to why I was running late. Always a ###### good valid reason for it, I'll have you know. Usually, because you can lose an hour or more getting routed to a NEMF terminal, where then, you have to find the office, fill out paperwork to get a fuel key, go fuel, go BACK to the office to return the key....etc, etc, and sometimes, a driver has the fuel key, and you have to drive around the terminal trying to locate him. One driver left the terminal w/ the key, after 45 mins of lost time for me, I left in disgust and went to another NEMF terminal in PA.
Also, DOT rubs their hands w/ glee when they see an Eastern Freightways truck. I got DOT'd four times in the 4 months that I endured w/ Eastern. And you'll lose a ton of time trying to get their crap equipment to pull a hill. My truck wouldn't go over 25, if I was lucky, and that's not even with a FULL load!!!
Because I couldn't make a decent living wage, I ate thru my meager savings trying to eat and shower on the road. That lying, smarmy creep, James B, said "Her performance was less than satisfactory", when my dispatcher always told me "you're doin' a great job". It MATTERS to me that I "do a great job"! And there was nothing in my employee file that said anything negatory about my "performance".
Brian S was the only dispatcher who didn't act like a real "dick" towards me....I can't say that about Tommy, Rich, or Ray (who is no longer there). Jim G treated me with absolute contempt from the git go...it is obvious that he believed that "women don't belong in trucking". I give kudos to Gary in Safety...he was a man who listened to a driver's concerns and saw how we were squeezed between the rock and the hard place. And by the way, those a-holes still own me $20 bucks! And I'm going to give credence to the "majority" vote here. Everyone is in agreement that Eastern Freightways should be avoided like the plaque. So, they have ONE happy driver? Whoopee freakin' doo. I never worked so hard and got so little in return. Excuse ME for wanting a decent piece of equipment to live in for the week, and be able to make a living wage to support myself. And if you really believe that women are getting the respect and recognition that they DESERVE in this industry, in this "enlightened" day and age, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee. I hope any driver will do their research before signing on w/ these people.


I wish I had before I worked for them!

 

I do not believe you were being singled out at all NJKatwoman.

You have valid complaints about the equipment and the NEMF fueling protocols as well. I have had similar frustrations with NEMF personnel regarding fueling. Everything from the guys driving around with a fuel truck that will fill NEMF tractors but refuse to fuel an Eastern tractor (Pennsauken and Pawtucket for example). To no fueling available on the weekends at most NEMF terminals (Elizabeth and Baltimore are the only exceptions to my knowledge). Some terminals such as Irwin and Buffalo have run out of fuel in the past while I was running on empty (I had to get an EFS check for emergency fuel off site on those occasions), to frozen pumps in Syracuse but no alert about the pumps being down before I wasted my time to go there, to pumping bad fuel into my tanks in Baltimore (they had just had a fuel delivery and it churned up all the sediment in the bottom of the tank which got pumped into my truck) and effectively stalled my truck right there at the pump (I had left the truck running and it choked on the sludge).

Eastern is not a large carrier. It has "maybe" 100 trucks on the road at any given time. There are local drivers, team drivers, and the largest percentage is regional drivers. Eastern does not really call the shots in regard to equipment utilization. We use what NEMF provides for us. The senior drivers get the best equipment. The newbies get the left overs until something newer or better comes available...

There has to be a dozen drivers at Eastern that have more seniority than I do. Lets not forget that Eastern has only been up and running for about 10 years or so. It was mothballed for years which effectively broke the union and was brought back to life as a non union truckload subsidiary of NEMF...

All I can say is if you are willing to work hard and volunteer for extra work you will move up rapidly at Eastern.

This is what I did to achieve my current position at Eastern; I would volunteer to work the weekends on many occasions to pad my pay check while other, more senior, drivers opted to go home. When there was a load that had a priority delivery on it I would do what it took to get the load delivered on time. At times I would have just gotten home and would receive a call from night dispatch asking me if I could cover a load asap due to a driver "being out of hours." I would get back in the truck and "take care of the problem." I built a reputation for being the "go to guy" and have been rewarded for my efforts.

Having been a lease operator before going to work for Eastern I learned very quickly that my on time service record and attitude was what would distinguish me from all the "others." I may not own the truck I currently drive but I treat it as if it does. That means repairing minor things myself and getting major things repaired asap.

For me it is much better to work at a small carrier where my hard work is noticed and appreciated than to simply be a number in a behemoth organization. There are plenty of companies out there that cater to drivers with newer equipment and nice terminals. New equipment and nice terminals do not necessarily mean a good pay check, benefits, or respect though.

Lets not forget the entire country is in a terrible recession (on the brink of depression according to some) businesses, carriers, and owner ops alike are closing up. Some say this recession began over a year ago and will probably go on for at least another year before things turn around. With that said I am glad I "still" have a job.

 

Nothing to post J ? Always curious to hear about the circus at Eastern.

 

Not much going on lately. Kim and I are doing the Miami turns now but they threw a wrinkle into the mix. It seems NEMF wants the Friday Miami load taken to Elizabeth NJ rather than Camp Hill.

When Ray originally talked to me about going to Elizabeth on the weekend he assured me we would be paid to go back to Camp Hill Pa. On the first trip to NJ we made it into Elizabeth around 1900 (NEMF line haul doesn't come in 'till 2000). I called the EFW weekend number and got Tommy on the phone. I asked him to check to see if there was a load to go back to Camp Hill Pa but he said everything was already covered and just grab an empty and go home. I assumed that we would get paid for the empty miles. I was wrong.

When I questioned Ray about it Tuesday evening he got a bit testy with me and stated; "we don't pay you to go home and you didn't wait for NEMF line haul to offer you a load back." This was not what he had agreed to in our conversation but apparently was over ruled by Tommy. We did push to get to Elizabeth earlier so NEMF wouldn't latch onto us and play "clean up" for the next 36 hours so I let it slide.

The following week we took our time getting into Elizabeth and did check with NEMF line haul. They had no load available and gave us an empty to go back to Camp Hill Pa for our 34 hour reset. Again we did not get paid for these miles. Ray is attempting to line up some freight on Saturdays through Nemf or something from the EFW yard that can be relocated to Camp Hill Pa so we don't get screwed over each week.

The original route was simple. Camp Hill Pa to Miami Florida and back twice a week. 1162 paid miles each way. Now NEMF wants the weekend load to drop in Elizabeth which increases that leg to 1273 miles. Then another 180 miles to get back to Camp Hill to park the truck and go home.

We are based out of Camp Hill and that (IMO) is where we should be routed to. Of course this has been a continual battle between drivers and management from day 1. The way I see it we are repositioning an empty trailer which will in fact be used by NEMF. We are also repositioning ourselves to be available for the next run on Tuesday morning. Based on these 2 factors alone the miles should be paid.

As I understand it, the NEMF drivers do in fact get compensated to return to their home domicile whether there is a load or not to get them there. Perhaps this is something negotiated by the union but I cannot say for sure. I know there are differences between the divisions but, as I see it, this is a question of fairness.

For now I need the job and based on the job opportunities out there I am better off toughing it out and keep pushing for an alternative plan. I will be keeping track of the "unpaid miles" though.

 

I bet if you talked to the old man next time you are in Elizabeth, youll get paid. Obviously youre getting screwed and Ray is being made to look like a dope. Enough is enough.