Arnold Transport-PITIFUL

Arnold is a BFI company. If Arnold is cash in one hand, and crap is in the other. We know which hand is fuller.

 

so you think this is a recruiter huh?

 

Yup. It's just too textbook reply to be true.

 

My name is James Lifsey, I am a driver sir. You can find me on FaceBook. I admit, the only company I ever worked for that was better was ConWay Southern Express. It was my second driving job. I screwed up in my 90 day probationary period and lost that job But as it goes, I've had to resort to over the road driving positions since. I've been with Werner, ConWay, JB Hunt, NFI, CR England and now Arnold. Their are reasons I left the other companies. Hell, I spent 9 months as a Driver Trainer/ IC with England, Made over a $100K and never saw a freaking Check!!! My check this week with Arnold was 906.49(The Highest yet) but either way, yes.... I am looking at one other option. I've found another company that my brother in law drives for. LOCAL, HOME NIGHTLY and OFF WEEKENDS... plus he brings home more than I do every week... Why would I leave this company that I speak so highly of you ask??? I am a father with 4 children at home ages 11,7,5 and 2... I'm missing a lot of memories I can never get back. I need to be home. I assure you I am no recruiter for Arnold. I only wanted to share my experience with them thus far so that not everyone saw only the bad. If you really wanna trash a company... CR England is the greatest target. Oh, and thanks for the reply, it lets me know that someone is actually paying attention..

 

And yes, I admit as I reread my first comment.... it did sound kind of canned and like a load of BS. Sorry, it was my first go at this message board thing. I am a driver though. Do I have my concerns? Yes. Do a few things bother me? Yes. I don't like the 2 days max home thing. I mean yeah I'm not out long (Considering I was spending 3 months out with my last company) but I would still rather be able to take a week here and there. Do I want a nicer truck? YES I drive a 08 Columbia with over 530K miles ( Old Link America truck #91071) But it does run well. Only had one breakdown so far. She'll run 66 on the pedal and 71 with the passing boost (Short bursts only) Plus I am using the old e log system (People Net) and I like it a lot better than the Driver Tech system in the other trucks. I have learned to adapt and be happy with what I have. Once again I state that this has been the "BEST" Company that I have driven for but I'll clarify that a little more... The best OVER THE ROAD company. I dont see myself going to another OTR company. God forbid anything happens to me like I've read on some of these posts but I'm not saying it's not possible. Will I leave them for a local job?? HELL YES!! IN A HEARTBEAT.... but for another OTR company? No. Oh, and I also hope they never throw me in one of those awful Peterbuilts. How does anyone spend any time at all on the road in something so tiny?? No storage, no room. It's just not for me. Some people may like them but in all honesty, I specifically asked for a Freightliner and I got one. (Even if she is a dinosaur) Anyways, Drive safe and good luck

 

Please share more, James. Are you regional or super regional? What changes have you seen since the merger?

 

It's called Super Regional... which I've been told means I basically run the Eastern half of the US "East of I-35 or East of the Mississippi" but I did run a load out to Tulsa, OK the other day then to Denver, CO (Thought I'd never see Denver again) What happened was I got too close to the terminal over in Grand Prairie and they started throwing me loads. I live in GA. My home terminal is considered Jacksonville, FL. I prefer if I dont go back out West. I am actually sitting at the Austell yard right this second because they are supposed to replace my headlight assemblies and recondition my windshield (Remove the Haze) for me in the morning. I requested these fixes because my truck is a nightmare to drive at night. After it is fixed I'll bobtail home till Tuesday morning. As far as changes.. I'm not sure. I dont know how things were per say. I know they developed a "New Position" called the Retention Manager which is Mark Haskew (Probably misspelled that) and he is the guy that if you have problems he has full authority to fix anything that needs done, IE. Payroll, low miles, hometime. I kinda tried to make friends with him when I started so I could use that new title of his to my advantage. I requested a Freightliner through him. I have had to call on him one other time because some after our butthead stuck a load on me and acted like I had no choice to run it and they took away my hometime load so I got home a day later and missed my Doctor Appointment. I talked to Mark and he assured me this will not happen again. So far so good. As far as miles... I aint hurtin for those. I keep the wheels turning but I make sure I get a reputation when I started as a mileage fiend. My biggest complaint is when I get stuck on a run that picks up late in the evening and I fall into an overnight routine, back to back night runs. I used to be nocturnal but now I'm a daywalker and prefer to run days. This is another reason I am having my lights replaced so that I can run at night if necessary. The company is still kind of split. I answer to Arnold as far as dispatch and safety but when it comes to Fuel, Permits, Payroll etc... that is USX. It does happen that when you call dispatch you get put on hold for a long time but this usually happens most at night. The reason being, according to my dispatcher, is that their are very few after hours people that handle all the fleets so they are totally swamped. During daytime hours it's usually pretty easy to get through on the phone. An my experience so far with the people that I have to call at USX is very good. Heck, I even asked this one lady in the fuel dept if they had meetings and classes on how to be so darn nice on the phone. I've not had one bad experience with them. They are creepy nice in fact. Now my dispatcher cusses like a sailor but that doesn't bother me. I'm no saint myself. So a rundown of what I've covered... Daytime=OK, After hours=SUCKS, USX= Creepy nice, Retention manager= Use him for what he was hired for, Equipment= varies (Luck of the draw), Miles= Good for me, Hometime= Could be longer (Industry standard) Running area= not in stone. I hope this info helps.

 

Good to hear miles are there. I'm out of GP, but have been off since Feb due to surgery and should be back this week. I've often wished I was disp by JAX, but no joy. I'm hoping things have gotten better with the planners. I've had to fight to get out of the TX/OK/LA area to get runs better than 250-300mi hops. I don't have any issue with the 2-day hometime. Drivers who want to stay out for 4-6 wks need a true OTR gig instead of regional to get the tall miles that make it worthwhile.
I hope you don't get stuck in the shop for days. GP drivers learn real quick to avoid that shop like a scale-house,lol...

 

My runs average 450 which I don't mind because I run one every day. The miles add up (Plus Bump The Dock Pay). Yes, I got stuck out in TX, OK, like you just mentioned, for most of last week. It does suck out that way. I did get a 917 mile DH from Denver to Neelys Landing and then a 620 mile load to Houston from there which paid a total of 1537 miles on a P&G load. That was nice but then the crappy runs started and I was back and forth on short runs in TX. I'm glad to be back East where I know I get my miles. Oh an by the way, some butt monkey forgot to order my replacement lenses so I'm headed home. Oh well, I'll bring it back some other time. I guess it can't all be sunshine and rainbows. But on another note, I do notice that all the old LinkAmerica drivers that are here now hate the changes from what they knew. I guess I was just so #### used to getting mistreated by my previous companies that I am able to cope with the few stumbles here very well. I don't ask for much. I understand the business. I know you have bad days, slow freight, breakdowns, a bad week, etc. I am easy to please, Get me paid, Get me home. That's all I ask. So far I've gotten just that. My pay has been great, my hometime has been as expected (minus that one hiccup), and I feel like I actually know the people I work for. I guess the biggest thing for me was that I got to meet my dispatcher, fleet owner and all the others that I answer to before I ever even got into my truck. It made them more accountable to me in my book. I never met any of my other dispatchers/planners/etc with my other companies. I just felt like a number with them. Here I feel like I have a name and a face. I hope things get better for you and I wish you a healthy recovery. Oh and I notice you are from the OKC area so stay safe and watch the weather. Hopefully you and your family/friends have avoided it thus far.