Not a good start with Schneider

You can always pull into a chicken house and ask for a level 1 inspection.
Some of the crappy tractors and tanks I have seen wearing the Schneider logo should be shut down.

 

Come on, I expect better from you.

Every dealership and truck stop shop has an established method of payment from the megas that does NOT involve comchecks. They've all dealt with drivers who try and pull this stunt, it won't work.

Even if it did work - who is to say the dealership will get you in faster or do better work? It took Freightliner 3 attempts to fix a leaking air hose this month. A couple years ago I dropped the truck of for its pm and wrote up tge bunk heater. Called sunday and they said the truck was ready to roll. Got to the truck and saw "bunk heater not done" on the punch list. Asked why, and they said they didn't have the parts. Couple years before I was at a different Freightliner to repair the 5th wheel - you could see the broken spring hanging down. It took 4 hours to get into the shop and then they told me there was nothing wrong. When I made the service advisor walk out to the truck, he said "whoopsie, my bad", but by that time it was too late to order parts. So I sat for 3 days for something the company shop would have knocked out in a day. Shall I go on?

 

I understand you and appreciate the reminders.

Ive also had tractors that refused to do anything without say overheating and shutting down as happened once. Three major shops, Texarkarna, Denver and one other I forget which, all of them did the same routine to try and solve the problem.

The third (Denver) finally fixed it by going all the way down to the sensor that was in very bad shape inside the engine, once that was replaced the tractor settled down and ran right as rain the rest of the time I was there. It cost so much money in those days to get at it. Thousands.

FFE had a account with Freightliner and they handled the payment part themselves. With one exception, when we had the inverter put in at Armarillo, we paid them directly for the labor and parts to do it correctly. The inverter stayed with the truck for benefit of the new CPAP thing in those days.

Finally but not least, many years have passed and with change in the industry. Some of the things Ive talked about doing do not apply anymore. Ancient history. The bottom goal of mine in this subject is to have the driver, whoever it is make sure that they take a sick truck somewhere to get fixed. Shops are no longer allowed to blow off a driver with a company saying there is a problem with such a truck. There has been too much of that in my time. If a company cannot or will not maintain the trucks in small ways, how in the world do you expect them to do great things when the trucks wont run anymore very well or stay in business at all.

This will always be a issue in the industry, and I would hate to think of a thousand little gremlins hiding in the software to drive robot trucks, written by people who never touched one in their life. When the things break down a thousand miles inside a major winter storm it will serve them right. It takes people to do things right at a shop that will do it wherever they are at. Good company shops have been few and far in between with my experience. One in particular I was the shop working under my cab replacing this or that or bolting whatever. I had to do a good job because we are going to the NE for a week and wont have time for any problems. Never mind that I was never trained, never certified never anything. Just me, a tool box and a somewhat bent or damage mechanic whose mind was on other things besides the rig.

I'll learn something new every day, sometimes i must relearn something I have over looked or forgotten. Sometimes I am corrected. That isn't a bad thing. Maybe I am the one who is the strange one, preaching that drivers should try and keep up their trucks against a management determined not to spend a penny or a minute of their time to do it. Maybe I should make war against such a management. There is no point in doing that.

You wont believe some of the trucks Ive taken out with loads, with half the stuff not working and things like the back window missing (And cut glass laying on the floor, aint got time to sweep all that out...) Today I would expect a tractor trailer to be in good condition with none of the BS in my time.

 

This is the attitude Megas love and thrive on.

 

So the "vocational rehab" training DID or DID NOT happen?

 

Please be careful with how you reply to some of the new drivers seeking advice.
Those of us who have been here awhile and are familiar with you know better than to pay much attention to what you say. The length of time you've been away from trucking and your tendency to tell tall tales make a lot of what you post of no real value. We're used to that and we know when to just scroll on down.
The experienced drivers aren't harmed by your posts.
The rookies are a different matter. They don't know you and they tend to take what you say at face value. That's not always a good thing. Following your advice can get somebody fired. Folllowing your examples can get somebody fired and blackballed. I'm sure you don't want that.
Some of your advice, if taken literally, can get people hurt. I'm sure that's the last thing in the world that you intend and certainly not what you meant to do.

 

I appreciate your thoughts, Ive been thinking on this for a while since it came up.

I would have to answer three questions.

First what value am I as a dinosaur.

Second what value is the school that fails to teach the new ones, similar to what ours taught us. (And they taught pretty much everything and THEN more beyond what is required)

Third Has the industry removed so much "Captain of the Ship" autonomy from a legal CDL A driver (Or B or Boat, or Plane or whatever the vehicle is... engaged in whatever operation it is made for. Pleasure, business, military and so on.) a explanation of that question means in the past Dispatcher says here is truck keys, trailer and your load papers to load and be in Texas by Thursday am. Get going yet late. Don't call me or bother anyone unless you have a problem. The implied message includes that you do not have a job if you were not delivering on time.

Has the companies become a problem to where Drivers are afraid to make a decision, however big or small to function in any way to achieve a solution to a particular matter. Like a flat tire or perhaps a bad pigtail or maybe HOS conflict or perhaps axle overweight and so on. More likley having to be buried in make work friviolus messages, check in calls so often, a apparent forgetfulness from Dispatch that your 20 hour day has passed and you need rest tonight before going for that Virginia pickup sometime late morning.


I don't know what to think right now. The more I push back the easier it is for them to fire me. And put a much less problem child in the wheel and tell him or her yes, go to virignia and be loaded by Midnight, get a nap and be in Chicago tomrrow night. Yes you had a long day today. etc follow me?

The more the drivers are not able to do anything on their own the easier for the companies to fire them for not fixing something that should have been fixed prior to that accident they had hit someone somewhere because the driver did not take the truck to a shop. Maybe further charges re made when the Law found out just how far down the cancer is. No pretrip, defective items, unfinished logbook, problems with ELD and so on. Company disposes of driver and sticks another one in that truck.

I'll have to do some thinking. This is not meant to be combative, challenging or anything of that nature. Some of the things Ive done long ago would not be acceptable today. However when I walk into a truckstop and witness how sissified our young truckers have become, asking daddy dispatcher for permission to move truck and get fuel today at the counter eating a meal etc it's difficult for me. I leave them be.

I would like for some way to see drivers and the company people to understand that everyone helps the driver ensure that the company will make money today and a payroll for everyone with the least problems.

At the moment I am leaning towards thinking I am a dinosaur. The newbies entering the industry will need some sort of Guidiance Counsler who they can walk into the office down the hall from dispatch or shop and use a box of wipes to resolve some of the more anxiety inducing trucking issues. It's a little wonder they function with difficulty.

I would like for them to stand tall on their boots knowing that whatever happens today with anything related to THEM, their truck and their load THEY can FIX IT by causing other people to get to work and start fixing it. They are late already customers a-waiting. We already know the calls will becoming in before too long.

 

You can't even drive a car because you're too doped up, let alone a CMV. So how many truckstops do you walk into these days?

You know nothing about truckers, or trucking anymore. Why don't you just give it a rest?

 

He will learn of the tank wash in Keasby, NJ and Coraopolis, PA soon

But it is what you make of it, got to get away from their temp DBL then it gets better, if you get a good DBL it means everything

 

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