All American Xpress (AAX) in Calhoun, GA

Do they allow pets?

 

sorry, I dont have a clue, you'd have to talk to the recruiter. Right now they are not hiring. I know they have a rider policy, but dont recall any mention of pets.

 

bbmyls2go how are you? just checking in to see how things are going for you at AAX.

 

Well, the last few weeks haven't been great, but I can't really complain any more than usual, LOL! Started with me in Lakeland trying to get a load with enough time on it to get 2 days off in Chattanooga. They still have not arranged for me to be in Chattanooga NOT under load since beginning in early December. When underload, my "day off" consists of two 30 mile round trips from my home to the truck stop where I secure the tractor trailer to check on the rig and the reefer.
Anyway, they said they had nothing so after repairs to my truck, I sat and waited the rest of Friday (they made two of four requested repairs declining to give it a much needed alignment or tighten the clutch because I was told on the down low, that when I get back from my next west coast run in two weeks, my unit is being traded in and I'll be put in a new 2012 Cascadia.
Then they went home and I sat til Saturday, stewing. Still no loads offered. I ended up staying at a motel all weekend - not sure yet if they will at least give me one days layover (figure truck was ready Friday noon, have to wait 24 hrs til layover kicks in, so they owe me Sat to Sun).
Office crew was P. O'd on Monday when I walked in. Someone had brought a load to the yard Saturday evening going to Utah the following friday evening (would have given me two days off under load). SO I took it and went home for one day off.
7pm delivery Friday and I was in Cheyenne 8 hours away, no need to leave til 11am so I stayed up late intending to leave late. Wakened at 6am by one of our two idiot load planners angry that I was still sitting after a 12 hour break - why wasn't I moving? Then she tells me the load can deliver any time. My load info said it was an appt at 19:30 hours. I got in her face for bothering me and went back to bed. Left a few hours later and still got there by 4pm but then was stranded in Ogden, UT for the weekend. Another lost weekend and the week was 1000 miles short since i went to Utah and not all the way to Washington state.
The OTHER idiot load planner then let me sit til 3pm Monday before giving me my next assignment - long enough for another snow storm to come in from Idaho. So I drove 7 hours to Payette, ID thru a snowstorm and 45 mph winds in an empty trailer because she waits til quitting time to send loads out to western drivers.
But, it gave me an extra 350 miles running west added to the 2400 miles running east to DC for about a normal week. Again, a Friday delivery.
Again, no load Friday dashing my hope to get another 1000 miles to FLA under my belt before payday cutoff. Oh well, I'm from Maryland so went to Jessup to drop the truck for the weekend. Enterprise lost the car I was supposed to rent. The Jessup TA wants $12/day parking and no longer allows dropped trailers. So I left and brought the rig to my neighborhood in Laurel late Friday afternoon and enjoyed the weekend off (I wont try for layover though I suppose I could since I told the new load planner I didn't mind if he couldn't find me something Saturday).
Finally, Monday got sent to Harrisburg, grabbed this load delivering in Miami tomorrow at 1pm. I'm guessing from there I'll deadhead the 250 miles north to Lakeland and find out if they really have a new truck for me.
Other company news is that after they fired the President of the company last month, the VP was elevated - his son was placed in charge of Safety (nice guy, no real issues with him, he tried to help with the confusion the company had in getting the new FLA base plates and the IFTA decals out to the trucks at the end of January). Anyway, this week comes the announcement that Mr Robert Farley, former VP and now President of AAX AND his son have been dismissed from the company. So the top two guys, accused of much corruption, are gone. They were/are long time associates of owner Jamal Lewis, so I'm guessing Jamal is truly taking the reins now and calling the shots - that's good news from what I can tell.
Some more delays in fuel card accounts and one in payroll, but they get things straightened out within 12 hours, seems to be an overnight banking problem they have moving cash into accounts managed by the TCH company that does both our fuel cards and our payroll. I haven't missed a paycheck or had one bounce in the 3 months I have been here though.
So who is in charge now? No statement made yet, but the head of maintenance who ran the Calhoun, GA terminal is a guy named Ron and it seems that he is being given a lot of new responsibilities and his name is on the qcom messages this week, so I think he is being bumped up from general maintenance to operations manager if not the VP or President slot (I'm only guessing - maybe Jamal will seat himself as owner AND president now, and have Ron take the VP post). Now if they would only remove the two horrible and disrespectful women load planners and hire a couple of driver managers, things might be bearable for us guys out here (I won't even dream about a 5cpm raise until after I get my new truck, LOL!)
Well, thanks for the excuse to update the situation navyguy!

BTW, I was excited to see a job offering on CraigsList for Chattanooga (Venture Express out of LaVergne, TN) - looking for 4 drivers, dedicated account, 5 days a week, Dalton, GA to York, AL (I-59 at the Mississippi line - 600 mile roundtrip). I applied and was offered the job today but the details made me decline. Two shifts open, 1400 and 1600 start time. Pay : $160/day (Mon thru Fri occassional Sat required). Then I did the quick math. A 10 hour day for $160 is about $14/hr. (two hrs at OT rate of $21/hr) Or, at 600 miles, its about 27cpm. Dalton is 40 miles from my home, meaning 2 gallons of gas down, 2 gallons back for a total of $80/week gas and 8 hours driving per week for commuting (not figuring in increase in insurance and maintenance costs for now driving my 3000 mile per year car 20000 miles per year). That cost alone would take away 3cpm of that humongously generous 27cpm. No thanks.

Got an odd phone message from someone at K&B today, may call them tomorrow to see if they are notifying me of an opening in their dedicated Chattanooga fleet for Pilgrims Pride ($180 per day, home most nights,regional delivery, some Saturdays required). That would probably consist of an early morning start, multiple drops, but no commute - the PP plant is downtown Chatt about 5 miles from my home. stay tuned!

 

I called them on Monday and left a message but never got a return call from them, I'm not too far from lakeland and thought maybe would be a good deal but if they don't return calls I guess they aren't hiring like bbmyl said!! oh well, next time???

 

Thanks for the update bb. It kinda seems like things may finally be headed in the right direction there at AAX. To be honest with you, the only thing that attracts me to them is that they do coast to coast runs and that is what I am looking for. I'm getting closer to retirement and have talked to one of the instructors at Chattanooga State about their Commercial Driving program and am really excited about starting....Well take care man and be safe out there.

 

http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS/Data/carrier.aspx?enc=jnpt+jNnDFIqNAHaLqEFqzAp8ZKEHwTWXsItL6v4D1M=

I wouldn't get near them, Good Luck !!!

 

They had several hits for "driver not in possesion of med cert" I mean to say that you can't blame the company for a dumb driver that leaves without credentials now can you?? HOS not current?? 69 hits, absolutely the company there... and speeding, yes sir, the company should cut the trucks back so the DRIVER can't speed... yeah I guess that's all on the company, would never go near anyone that gives a driver free reign to be #####... reckless driving, seatbelts, logs, hmmm.... we should shut them down until drivers learn how to behave!!!
And no I don't work there or recruit for them so we don't need to start with the cheerleader stuff... nuff said....

 

10-4,

But folks need to remember, a companies scores may dictate how even a minor

violation, on your part, is handled by the company.

That driver from Williston floriduh, Larry, may be a prime example. However, his violations were more than Minor !!!!

Just some things to keep near the front burner !!!

 

I agree how things are handled is important but when a drivers screws up that's all we see, not how they dealt with him after the fact... Either way it's been 2 days and they have not returned my call for info about them so I doubt I'll be heading there!!! Shame that all of these companies seem to be falling into the same mold though....