Arnold Drivers, What's your 20?

Got back to GP Monday, late afternoon. 1st truck was trashed, but did get 587 with a stick, not auto. Low miles (91xxx), but has an issue with the drivers door not sealing at the upper front corner, so extra wind noise, but no rain coming in. Good thing, since we are taking on water from the hvac system. Coming from under dash onto the floor. Clutch needs freeplay adjustment.
I did meet with the Ops VP Tuesday morning. When we discussed compensation, he took the position that with "bump-the-dock" pay, I'm at .38mi. I assured him that the reality was much different. An extra $75 for the week is small comfort when you only ran 1500 miles. He did assure me that I would NOT get 10,000mi a month at Arnold.
The week started with a $50 local, then a 200mi hop to OKC. reload Wed morning in Lawton for 1000mi to Columbus,OH for Friday. They had it scheduled for 1300 today. I dropped/hooked last night and set PTA for 0800 today. I received a pre-plan an hour ago consisting of 654mi delivering Monday.... Like every Friday, I get sent one day of miles with 3 days to get there.

 

Wife & I are at Flying Hook in Indy tonight. After rejecting the 1st load, we got one from Findlay,OH to Denton,TX for Sunday. about 1100 miles total. That makes me much happier about the prospects of a decent payday next week.
@ anj8488: I never intended to turn your thread into my Arnold blog, but other than us, not too many seem to know about the forum, or maybe they are apathetic. I'm sure the company knows. My intent has always been to document honest facts about my Grand Prairie experience. So if Jimi ever asks if I'm experienced, I'll know what to say, here at the church of the painful truth.

 

Copy that, Sir. I appreciate it...

 

I've been puzzling over the concept that the bump-the-dock pay giving drivers at .33mi an equivalency to .38mi. I brought the abacus into play and made a disturbing discovery....

I began by multiplying .33 x 2100mi/wk (the company standard for an average week). That gives us $693. I then added the $75 bump-the-dock amount for having delivered 5 loads in the week. That puts us at $768. Then, by dividing that amount by 2100mi, the result is .365 per mile. Still puzzled, I tried the same formula at different mileages, thinking that maybe you have to run more miles for it to get you to .38 per mile. Next, I tried 2300mi (2300x.33=$759 + $75= $834. Divide by 2300 and you get .362 per mile. Ok, how about 2500mi?
(2500x.33= $825 + $75= $900) Divide by 2500 and it's .36 oer mile. OK, it's trending down, not up.
So then I try lowering the mileage... 2000x.33= $660 + $75= $735. Divide by 2000 to get .3675 per mile. Last one: 1500mi x .33= $495 + $75= $570. Divide by 1500 MILES and Voila! I have discovered the Magic Mike formula to get .38 per mile that the Operations VP claims I'm already getting. I'm relived that with my limited education, I was able to crunch these numbers like Rice Krispies. <Snap! Crackle! Pop!>
I knew something was wrong with the numbers, but didn't realize I was confronting "fuzzy math", the likes of which I normally associate with Politicians.

 

The real money,

is in the lease program.



From what I hear, anyway..........

 

Funny you should mention that. A fleetwide msg went out the other day saying they had re-opened the lease program...

 

Hometime after almost 3 wks. Trying to make up for lost earnings due to breakdowns last month. The first 2 weeks were good, with above-average miles. This week started out slow, then escalated to sanfu, tarfu and then fubar by Wednesday, ran one from GP to yard in Muskogee. No empty since the trailers they have on hand are to load Owens-Brockway loads. Now, I have no empty to take to Sapulpa to load for Houston, due 1500 the next day. I advise FM.... <tick-tock>
Shortly before 1700, FM sends msg: HEY, YOU GOT AN EMPTY YET?
I replied that he was supposed to be taking care if that.... Anywaym I wait til 1800, after the yard folks are gone, and snatch a trailer, head to Sapulpa. Drop & hook in Sapiulpa, go to QT and rack-out. I'm up ay 0430 to make sure I can get to HOU by 1500.
Heading south, I noticed the mpg is getting worse, having dropped from 6.6 to 4.8 in the last two days along with the power being down a bit. Gee, what could it be? I'm thinking fuel filter, right? I call the shop in GP to ask if they can do a fuel filter in the safety lane since I am tight on time. Shop boss says yes we can....
When I roll into the safety lane, the guy manning the safety lane looks at the filter and tells me I don't need one.... No we have gone from snafu to tarfu. I go rant to FM & fleet owner. FM says he e-mailed the shop about the fuel filter. That's procedure, I'm told.... So, even after I call 90min out to advise the shop & the FM, no good deed goes unpunished.
More ranting to FM & FO. What about the load, I ask? 1500, right? He looks on the computer and says it's not a problem, they will take it anytime.................. Now we move to FUBAR as I realize that GP ops is beyond help. They are oblivious to the problems. I told the FM to get me a load home, no BS, no ###-kissing or dick-pulling, just get me home.
As I'm headed out to drop the trailer, I run into the CEO, who asks me how things are going... He didn't like the answer, but at least he rook some action instead of e-mailing someone else about the problem. We walk out to the truck where the shop boss met us. Nutshell? Truck got a fuel fiter. I showed him the soaking wet towels on the floor under the dash that we use to soak up the water that slops out of the hvac as well as the clutch issue. I explained that I would rather live with those issues than let the incometent GP shop molest it and me lose another weeks productivity. He said he appreciated my efforts and would receive a $50 bonus. He said he needs to hear about these issues. While it's true that you need to know what the problems are before you can fix them, it's not my place to jump chain-of-command every time there is a problem. I told him I had been trying to get a pay issue corrected for weeks, but just could not get any response.
The new pay packages are starting this week, it seems. I chatted with a few new-hires who are starting at .36-.40mi. The experienced driver that told me he was starting at .40 was less happy when I told him what the miles were like here. He was told 3K mi wk...

 

I'd like to document something that happened yesterday. I had emptied in Denver after 3 stops starting at 0430. Two hours after empty (approx 1030), I head to the J in Aurora to scan trips and maybe shower. Shortly after arriving, I get 2 loads on the DT. one was a local del and then a Coors to HOU. I accept both and then get a call from FM just after 1100, advising me that Coors is on the phone wanting to know when we will have a truck get the HOU load picked up and asks me my ETA. I tell him an hour and we are set. I roll to Coors. When I find the trailer , I discover the Coors spotter pinched a mudflap 'tween the tires & curb, yanking the flap off. OK, off to the TA for repair. We were told to expect 1.5hrs wait, so Wife & I go to lunch. Two hours later, we are good to go.
FM calls while we are in Denver traffic, wanting me to go drop this load somewhere and deliver the local Aurora to Denver. I question why now at 1500 and not before picking up at Coors? I sent e-mails to breakdown & FM advising that I was at the TA for mudflap replacement. I'm guessing he simply forgot the local til it was too late. Clearly, he was in a spot after asking if I could "Do him a Solid".... Sorry, Bub. After all the problems I've had getting the FM & FO to take care of issues, I'm not at all inclined to do anything more than my job. This, esp after talking to two new hires fresh from orientation and finding out they are starting out at .36 - .40mi. I asked the FM by e-mail yesterday about the new pay packages that the VP of HR told me about last week. He says he doesn't know... If you don't know the answer, wouldn't you realize you have a responsibility to find out?