Schnieder National ..... What BS!

We had 2 classes of almost 30 each and about 90% graduated. I would say 1-3 still are driving after 2yrs (I am one). I don't see them very often so I really don't know.

What really bothers me: Every time I am in GB I see these ex-trainers/teachers in crappy moods or just plain ######## away. -School is over, so you better just suck it up. =There is no crying in trucking !!

Don't feel so bothered about Schneider either -they are eating it right now like most other trucking companies.

 

I hear what you're saying. My current income is $0, so this will be an increase. A dispatcher hassling me long distance is far different from a psychopath getting to within an inch from my nose and screaming at me for something that was his fault in the first place. This was on a daily basis and I simply refused to put up with it.

Like I said, I am aware of the issues as I have been reading this forum for over two years. Yet, I am ready to go ahead with it, despite the problems.

 

And people like you with the "any job is better than no job " , "will work for a place to sleep " attitude is the reason drivers starting wages have fallen back to where they were 30 years ago .

 

We were never forced to sign the contract. We were told to take our time. My contract was 2 pages long. Pretty clear: Go through and complete training, once you get your CDL, SNI will help pay off the tuition...they pay 50 a week, you pay 25. Meaning you pay 1/3 of the tuition. If you quit at any time before training, the cost is prorated for the time you spent at their school. If you quit or get canned after getting hired, you will owe the remainder of the balance in full. As far as legal terms, everything in there was pretty straightforward.
The tinfoil conspiracy theory about getting drivers through the door has been a gripe for years. However, its flawed. When I went through...SNI paid for 2/3 of the training costs. Meaning, if I bailed out...I would owe something like 1,800 bucks. They aren't getting rich off of the FEW drivers who complete the course and quit, oweing them $1,800.

Sorry, you can't prove anything about what they want unless you have it in writing..actual documented stuff from SNI saying they want high turnover. Because...if you think about it...again...your thinking is flawed here. They stopped the schools because they had too many drivers and are only taking on experienced drivers because they have started to see that experience helps their costs stay lower.

I didn't keep in contact with any of my classmates. However, I know that a few of them were Hispanics and I think their background stuff didn't clear through...sent home. One guy was a pompus bass, and wouldn't follow safety procedures. Another I don't think lasted with the company because he kept talking about his previous company. The two gals we had in class didn't make it, they couldnt back; one of them went on with Werner.
They don't want high turnover. I heard that the instructors get bonuses on grads they had who stayed with the company AND who are safe. SNI wants people who can do the job they were hired to do. Apparently, the high student turnover shows alot about the students. Maybe we should get Obama in on SNI training...pass a "no trucker left behind" act...so that you can't fail...no matter how much you need to.

As far as mileage pay in writing...I got an email telling me what I would be getting paid as part of the packet of documents I recieved from recruting.

I would think that the home bound program would be fairly exact with the miles because they have to know what and where you are hauling ahead of time to get you home on time for the next drivers. So...Im assuming the milage is what they promised. PLUS, if you are on their home bound program where you work 2 out of 3 weeks...one would think you would get less money. Maybe thats just me.

You are making it sound like their pay schedule is ripping you off. You get paid for the work you do. Period. You work wednesday to wednesday for two weeks. For this month...June, if you started on the 3rd, you would get paid on the 12th for June 3-6. On the 19th, youd get paid for 7 days and then on the 26th, you would get paid for working four days. July 3 would suck because you didn't work at all that previous week. But that is where the concept of money management and budgeting comes in.

A DBL is not going to fire a driver for getting a truck worked on when that truck NEEDs to be worked on. Like you said, the truck was still operable and within DOT compliance. She could have taken the load. Should have taken the load. $$. So basically, she got fired because she refused a load because she was waiting in line for a maintenance thing that didn't need to be done. A day and a half wait isn't that bad at all for a driver on a 34 hour restart at an OC. Not bad at all.

I don't know about you, But I've only been to an OC 14 times...the two weeks I was in training. We KNEW as students, not even hired by the company yet, that the loads that are marked as 'sensitive' or 'high value' have specific requirements placed on them by SNI...BECAUSE the shipper pays for that additional treatment. In fontana...the high valuable loads were dropped right by the service bays. The company has the final say on where you can and can not park the truck and the trailer with its valuable freight. If the shipper pays for that freight to be treated as extremely valuable and sensitive...its rather stupid to have a driver who parks the trailer off in the boonies, which is unsupervised, not protected or secure...etc.

He didn't get fired for taking off the new alternator. he got fired for installing the new one. And it was, like they said, a modification to the truck that was unauthorized. A simple clearance through his DBL and confirmation via QC would have resolved this. He performed work on his truck that SNI does not want him to do.

 

Already wrote a lot...will try to be short. my replies are with SNI in mind.

There is nothing wrong with the QC watching you since you should be doing everything legally.
The computers tell you where to go since they, not the DBL's tell you what freight to haul. They tell you when the customer wants you there or when they want you go be there...so yeah, they are telling you their expectations.
As far as routes, they don't tell you what routes to take. You can take most any route you can...as long as you fall within their allowed mileage. As far as fueling, well...they can negotiate great fuel prices by working with one or two truck stops. They don't tell you where to stop or sleep...just in this case, where to fuel.

On restarts, your DBL might very well let you drop and secure the trailer and drive around town on personal conveyance. And...well, lol...even if they didn't allow it...who would know? The DBL doesnt review logs, so you can just mark it as off duty and personal conveyance which is legal. If it comes up as a ding or violation, you would contact Green Bay directly and resolve the issue with them because you don't need to log it as driving or on duty if you are bobtailing around for spits and giggles.

When I trained up here, the guy that was training me was an OTR driver and was using his truck before I came up and got mine. He would park at the local FJ and drop the trailer and bobtail around town. Never had a problem. I also don't think SNI has a policy forbidding bicycles on the catwalk. Could be wrong there.

 

I'm sorry I missed this post..I was workin

Let me see, psycopath you know somewhat....compared to a dispatcher who may dump you out on your ### 1000 miles from home, in the company of MANY psychopaths, of which you know nothing about.

Screaming about something that was his/their fault.....Hmmmmm.

Like last Friday, loaded trailer with flat, other driver had brought in. Dispatch says give it to D, he'll cover it.

Load is on verge of being late....so it is D's fault, if it doesn't get there in time. Everybody #####in at D to get moving....

Despite the fact...other driver dropped with flat. And customer loaded, knowing it had flat. And ALL parties knew D would have to wait on repairs.


Yes....life is good.

 

My comments were related to cariers in general , not just Schneider . But as far as who would know about using the truck without authorization , the Qualcomm would record the moves .

 

The QC would record the moves but it still takes a human that cares to go look and see if anything was recorded.

 

Every job has its problems. It is work after all. I am sure I will have bad days. I don't expect it to be all roses and sunshine.

I don't want to hijack this thread. I was simply trying to agree with one poster, that anyone who decides not to go into this industry because of all the negative comments, really didn't want it that badly in the first place.

I have already made up my mind that I am doing this. I have been waiting for my kids to grow up, so I can be free to be away and not miss all the things I enjoyed with them. I still have many working years ahead of me and look forward to driving.