Any low down on GreatWide..

No one can force you to run illegal..I can't stand people who will try & blame everyone else but themselves for their own mistakes.

If company wants you to run like that..then leave.

If you don't...then you choose to run illegal.

 

Thats what I said.. But I also said this company is one that will push you with threats to a point if you are weak enough or need the money bad enough you will break... Right now they won't run us enough... comprehenision is your friend...

 

O/O's working the WMT acct for GW (at least the five here in TX &,OK) all get one day off per year for Christmas since WMT is closed. However the trucks are to be at the WMT locations as soon as they open the day after Christmas so really its more like 12-18 hours off. One year there were several loads going to West Texs the day before Christmas. Normally these were the loads everyone wanted but drivers wanted to be home with their families. Dispatch was desperate and the terminal manager at the time told them to promise anything and pretty much threaten anything in order to get them covered. So finally with literally only minutes to spare before WMT started contacting their corp office due to loads not being picked up we were able to find a few guys willing to pull these for us. i think there were 6-8 guys total that saved us that day. Well i come in to work after the holiday and find out that there was an ice storm the night we sent these guys. Every one of them got stuck in their trucks unable to move, on the highway, all night and most of the next day. They called and called but no support because our TM was home for christmas and couldnt be bothered. They missed christmas with their families, some were forced to take their breaks before they got back, they missed all the loads for the day after christmas and when they returned they not only were refused wait time they didnt even get a thank u. I had to fight for two or three days to get these guys any amount of wait time $ for this and even then the amount approved was so low i hated even calling to tell them about it at all. To top that off if they had attempted to drive and had a collision, even a minor rear end due to the ice they would have been fired. I know this isnt an example of running illegal (though i have strong opinions on that topic as well)
This is however the way GW choose to treat the only 6 guys willing to help out.... Not even a thank u. In fact some of the wait time arguing was due to the TM not liking a couple of the drivers and had nothing to do with this situation. Like pay this one this much but that one only this much because i dont like him.....WTF?

Also, it can be very difficult to leave GW especially if you lease a truck through their lease plan. I witnessed that lease option destroy many guys..... Financially ruined and not their fault.... It was heartbreaking. So when they cant cover loads there are times it is "suggested" to put the heat on the lease drivers because they will loose the most if they say no.

Havent logged in for a long time worldoftrans.... Sorry to hear about the new dispatch procedures. Just gets worse and worse. email me and catch me up on what ive missed. Hope your holidays were good.

 

Good to hear from you.. and yes it gets worse and worse.. I have talked to several people wanting to quit.. Cleburne has 60 company trucks now they say Terrell only has 2.. but we are all trying to get while the getting is good... We have lost 15 drivers in the last 2 weeks.. some have been with the company for 10 plus years.. now they are gone... whats that tell you.. not good..

Some people are coming to Terrell on weds.. if they don't chicken out.. they are going to get an ear full from everyone.. whats can they do to us fire us ... LoL that would be a favor at this point.

 

They are still running frequent ads on OKC Craigslist for O/O. Why not go to all company? Can they not make a profit that way? I've never done the lease deal, thinking that any company lease must be good only for the company, even JCT.
How would it play out if all the O/O bailed and went elsewhere?

 

60 company trucks..... WOW. The training for office staff regarding company trucks used to be zero.... So many dispatch mistakes were made due to lining guys up based on an OO system. A lot of the time this ended up costing the terminal more $ then they were being paid. (Ie co drivers work x amount of hours per day and legally cant go over. This is enforced because the liability falls on GW instead of the driver) anyway guys would get stuck at backhauls and have to come back empty and have another driver sent to pick it up which the terminal had to cover not WMT. I hate how horrible it has gotten down there for everyone.

I heard through the grapevine that the OM or ATM (or whatever they are calling that position this week) walked out during their shift and quit about a month ago. Is that true?

If you run into my budy 29146 (McCraw) tell him hello for me.

 

The OO structure means they dont have to pay for trucks, maintenance, insurance, or health ensurance, no paid vacations, no paid training, no workmans comp, no unemployment taxes, and not having to pay half your income taxes, less $ out of their pockets when a load is damaged (charged back to the OO) and much less liability if a driver has an accident. What do the OO get, "no forced dispatch". Looks like they are getting around that problem as well.

Im on my phone and need to get to a computer to answer that last part..... Way too much to type with just my thumbs.

 

Co drivers are always used first. They clock in when they arrive at the terminal not when they are given a load. Whether they sit in the breakroom all day or run loads they are paid the same.

 

Greatwide (Cheetah, American Trans-Freight, Dallas Mavis) is an agency based business. If you are unhappy with freight you are more than welcome to switch to a different agency or to central dispatch. Agents can do pretty much what they want, if you end of with a terrible agent then you can get screwed. There are no company drivers and no company trailers. 100% O/O Believe me, the staff is not sitting in the office worshiping Satan and sacrificing children all while trying to figure out how to screw drivers out of money. These three divisions are run out the the Langhorne, PA office (where the bulk of the staff is located for the business, safety, equipment and driver services, settlements, and central dispatch)

Greatwide Dedicated (all of the Wal-Mart, Tyson, ect...) is located in Dallas, TX and is where the board of directors/CEO is located. Greatwide dedicated is pretty much it's own entity and has little to no interaction with the other company's.

Just as a background, I have driven for them for 5 years...I have driven for quite a few agents, and central....right now I am in central dispatch but I have relationships with quite a few agents....it works for me. I make it home when I want, I don't run cali, and no one bothers me for the most part. I have to have my paperwork in by tuesday to get paid friday and there are many different ways you can send it in, money is decent, i'm not retiring anytime soon but that's just me. I just don't think they are as bad as everyone thinks they are.

-kb

 

We don't have Tyson anymore. and barely have Wal Mart. Greatwide has lost several other accounts as well like some of its sysco stuff some awg and a couple of more.. They also lost bids on Nieman Marcus and Target.

The problem we have on the dedicated side is the way we are treated. Its just not what it was 3 years ago the money is about 1/2 and we work more..

And just a little background I have been doing this for along time like 7 1/2 8 years now.