ATS Lease Program?

you studd muffin you

 

Interesting thread. A few questions,fuel taxes - does ATS file/pay,W/charge back?,or you do them on your own. Can you turn down "tarp" loads? $1000. per week (7 days) after expenses....is that after the 20% + - "put back" for quarterly income tax? Will ATS allow any mods to your lease truck,like APU,chicken lights,a little extra chrome,etc? Thanks,and best of luck with the new company!

Opps,questions directed to Terry Lamar,or anyone who knows the answers.

 

My husband signed onto ATS five years ago as a company driver, things were ok, and he made a little money, nothing to get rich on. The next year he signed on as a lease driver, that was different, you will starve that first year on lease, but stick it out and you will make money with a good dispatcher. The next year he signed on for the "rent to own" plan. He has always had trucks less than 3 years old. He bought a Pete 379, 1 year old, good shape. That first year as owner ops he did $210,00 and the second year he did $240,000. Yes guys that is Thousands! Did I mention he was on the new Wind Unit? That's what they are calling the windmill fleet now. This year not so good, only made $25,000 so far and only $2000 of that has been sent home, due to cost of fuel, truck notes, maitenance, and insurances and such. The company has always been good to us, except in the beginning of the lease when one safety guy made some sexually harrassing remarks to me in front of a room full of drivers, when I was at the company with my husband while he was signing on the lease program. Yes, that guy is still there! The company is pretty honest and pays ok. They have laid off over 300 drivers in less than a year now, and the freight has become cheap and hard to get. Even the windmills are just starting up again. There is some layover pay that of this date we haven't been paid on from back in November and some from the year before that. I have heard of several lawsuits pending and some are over that. I don't know what happened, cause it use to be a good place to be, until about a year ago. I would just say they are good to work with, but be very cautious! My husband was there 5 years with no complaints against him, and has a clear driving record, but was fired this week for running a red light. This was by camera and is considered a civil matter in the state of texas, but ATS saw it as a safety issue and made an example out of him. Never mind it was raining and his load was 185 feet long, and his escort led him through it! So, most of the people there are good to work with, just be careful! Good news is with his experience and clean record he can go anywhere, good blade drivers with no incidents against them are hard to find.

 

They will pay them and refund any overpayments.

Yes, you can turn down any load for any reason. It will not be in your best interest to do so. If you don't deliver a load, you don't make money.

I am putting back 25%, later when I go up in classes and potentially make more money, I will put back the appropriate amount.

No. It is still their truck. You can buy and have them install a inverter. It will remain with the truck when you turn it in.

Thank you. I need to update my progress. I am trying to figure out a better way of doing that rather than do it on a load by load basis. Maybe once per week per settlement or/and perhaps each quarter.

The last few weeks have been up and down. I sat for a while when a load was cancelled and another weekend was spent with my truck in the shop for warranty repair before the warranty expired. The last week plus I am getting all the miles I can run. Sometimes too many miles.

I have to report for jury duty on Monday. It will hurtiIf I have to stay all two weeks. I am hoping to get dismissed on Monday. I am up in Michigan, loading tomorrow. I have to get back to Texas by Monday, easily done, but I can't deliver this load on Monday. A decision on what to do with it hasn't been made yet.

My impressions of the company are still good. I see a lot of potential. With very few exceptions I do not sit for extended periods of times.

 

I think the big problem with ATS was that when the boy took over he had fantasies of turning the company into another J.B. or Swift. He grew to fast and the company itself along with the customer base was never able to catch up, I think if it was not for the flatbed side ATS would have gone belly up or been bought out. Plus the company still misses Harold. They were hurting for awhile when Fingerhut went out of business but Harold was a good man and kept his company strong. The sex harass, I think is just the enviroment there.. When Harold passed and Rollie took over it seemed all the secretaries got real young and real pretty overnight. I never understood why Harolds daughter never took over, she was the one who went to Harvard Bussiness school and heard she had quite a head on her shoulders. The reason why your husband was let go over running the red light is when it is an oversize permit load, traffic violations are a big no-no, I know in most states the penalty is alot bigger and it hurts the company safety rateing and when it comes to permit loads, customers and insurance rates rely heavily on that safety rateing. Ats windmill haulers were shut down a few years ago over a cargo mishap/equipment failure and they went under the microscope for a long time in order to be able to get permits again. I am sure they do not want to go through that all over

 

Sounds like a typical scumbag trucking company... you get paid ok when things are good - because THEY get paid as well so it's in their best long term interests to do so. But when things get dicey, like with the economy, freight rates, freight volume, fuel prices, etc., whatever kind of 'good guy' you think you are and however valuable you may think you are to the comapny all goes up in smoke. There's no loyalty to the drivers and vice versa. Most drivers of these 'big box companies' have become nothing more than indentured slaves working incredible hours for little pay and even less respect. As soon as one miniscule incident occurs, that gives the compnay the excuse they need to trim more excess fat. ATS has proven to be just as bad as Swift, US Express, Prime, Covenant, and the rest of the torrid bunch of slave drivers. I'm sorry to say that it sounds like all your husband got out of that gig was some experience... bad as well as good. Isn't unchecked run-amok capitalism grand?

Sean

 

You know driver is see these opinions all of the time on here. In some regards you are correct. When times are good you feel the fruits of your labor with a good company a lot more than the poor ones. When business tanks so do the benefits. Every-time I see someone saying "as bad as Swift......." I can't help but think "what companies exactly do you think are going to pull out of this recession?" How many truly great companies have you seen fold up the the past three years specifically? How many more have been bought out by larger ones? Does anyone on here honestly believe that companies can continue to push huge overheads annually like in previous years by way of bonus' and driver pay? Do you think that they can buy Large Cars that have the aerodynamics of a brick wall with surging fuel costs? Freight is drying up and getting even cheaper and drivers want to complain that companies are trimming the fat. What would you do if it was your company? That's an easy one. Anyone else notice how many O/O's have hung it up in the last couple of years? Do you think that it is because they just decided they wanted to try something else. I say they couldn't afford to run the truck anymore. I've heard those words uttered so many times it almost seems like a bad dream. Tons of drivers are loosing their lively hoods, and not because they are bad specimens in the trucking industry. Anyone that has ever owned a truck knows that it is a small business and they are basically a litmus test of the industry as a whole. The little guy is going to die out first. So we come back around to our favorite carriers. Are there truly poor carriers out there? Absolutely! I do not think that it is right to say carriers that are in survival mode trying to weather the recession are "trying to be like Swift" and I dare to say it will stay this way forever. I have stated it before in other threads on here. We need to look at our carriers as they were before the turn and hedge that against they way they are today. Do we honestly think they just slid off a cliff and doused all of their senior drivers to bring on cheaper inexperienced drivers? Well maybe that is the trend but remember that things always come around full circle and if companies are honestly trading in senior drivers to cheaper newbies then your going to want to be somewhere else anyway because I guarantee a seasoned driver is cheaper in the long run and it will come back to bite them.

As professionals we need to rise above the pettiness and truly show ourselves for who we are. In case you haven't noticed there is a ton of new drivers due to the fact that people from other professions are loosing their jobs and searching out new careers. The seasoned drivers are the ones they are going to look up to and I don't about everyone else but I want the best and safest drivers out there on the road. New or old. My family still travels this nations highways just as yours do. We don't want more stories like the driver down in Florida that hit that bus full of kids back in 06. We need to do the job the best that we can and that includes making these companies as profitable as possible. If we don't Swift will buy them all out and then where are you going to drive?

Just my two cents.

 

I called ATS Thursday,they said their not hiring any company drivers,only lease or O/O,and only for spec/heavy haul. Vans and flats are full for now. What they offered me was to lease a truck,go with heavy haul,and in the South East,have to stay out at least three weeks. Oh yea,that lease deal is on a one year contract,other words,if you lease their truck,then don't make enough money after say 90 days,you're stuck. If they had a "walk a way" type lease,I would be much more interested. But for now,no way I'll take that "lease" chance...not in this recession. Thanks for all the info guys,looks like I'am stil looking.

 

You can walk away from your lease at anytime. If you do it under six months, you will pay two weeks truck payments, after that there is no penalty. Of course you won't get your completion bonus. Breaking the lease will not go on your credit report.

Specialized is the flatbed division. When I first called ATS, I was told they were not hiring company drivers, but might start hiring in May. I guess that has been pushed back.

I am doing fine on the Lease/Operator Program. I am getting, with very few exceptions, all the miles I want to run.

 

I haul blades also, but not for ATS.

Many escorts are little more than goofballs who couldn't drive oversized loads themselves.

The driver of the truck is responsible for all that happens with the truck. Blaming escorts for drivers mistakes is all too common, and an unacceptable excuse. You're not supposed to follow a lead escort through every foolish move he or she makes.

I'm sorry your husband got fired, and I think running one red light is a thin excuse to do so, even with a blade on, but blaming the escort? No. Sorry. That wouldn't fly with me either.

Also, thanks for everyone who put decent info about ATS' Lease program into the thread. I've been considering going to them, and pacing around the house for weeks now.

As I said, I have a good amount of experience hauling blades for Clipper, LM, and Suzlon.

One question though, what class do you guys think they will hire me as? I don't expect to go in as the top dog, but I'm not really interested in starting out at the bottom either, and with my experience, don't think I should have to. Sorry to sound stuck up, but I've watched many ATS guys screw up on wind stuff, and kind of think I'm better than most of them.

I think I'll call them Monday.