Beware of Total Transportation Richland, MS

So you want to be a Truck Driver, If you have a Brain go do something else, Its not all fun and glory, long hours 14 hours a day, drive 11 hours a day, no place to park in Truck stops or rest areas, work early mornings, afternoons or evenings, they dont care if you sleep or not, 70 hours a week for the little pay you get, give you loads that are 45,000 lbs put you in the mountains of West Virginia or a connecting State and expect you to be on time, driven off the road by other truckers as everyone is in a hurry they dont care about your safty its about how fast you can get there so they can give you another load, so if you want to be a Truck Driver I would research and Think again.

 

Where'd you end up going?

 

I've been with Total for about 3 months now. I'm on my 4th truck. After pitching a fit that I was not going to drive another 2015 truck because I keep breaking down in them. They sent me on a rescue mission for this 2016 I'm driving. They have brand new 2019 trucks just sitting on all the yards and do not want to give them out to anyone. I was mad when I got back to the yard with the truck I picked up to find a 2018 with no one seated in it. Like really? Watch your miles. I have had some loads that say they pay certain mileage but you put it into your GPS and its 50 more miles than they are paying and you get the o we dont pay actual miles we pay practical miles. Like really? How does that work I drove 600 miles to get the load from one location the other but your only paying me 550 miles what other route can I take that's less. I've been treated pretty well for the most part. I guess still being new they dont want to give me a new truck. Watch out for night and weekend dispatch they hardly answer the phone and I've gotten into it with them several times over a empty trailer. Sending me all over the place trying to find one or making me sit and wait 4 or 5 hours for one to be ready. Beware of some the shippers pitching a Hissey fit over giving up an empty or heaven forbid you grab a different empty than what the shipper tells you. It's a good starter company. They do somewhat care about the drivers. Its trucking nothing glamorous about it.

 

I retired from a union shop - $1,000 to $1,200 per week (and often more) take home was normal during the early days. After enduring years of our corporate parent switching our business over to newly created companies with undercutting union contracts (double breasting), $500 per week take home was a good check - often brought home less.

 

It's not so much a 'Teamsters' issue as it is a 'de-regulation' issue. When any and everybody's aunt, uncle, grand pappy, pet boa constrictor could start a trucking company from dirt is when everything took a dump. Many reputable companies out there but the majority are mediocre or just plain busted. No so before de-regulation as they had to meet government standards that were much higher (on paper) at the time.

 

I look back through this thread and have never addressed you unless you've changed IDs (looks like you did). Looking over the thread, the OP went from 'no apparent experience' and a 'rough patch with Total' to being 'on top of the world' a few months later at Purdy - smacks of shilling in my book.

My final employer was wall to wall shills - completely bizarre. We had guys come in with 'truck driving school experience only' and NO experience at all in oversize-heavy equipment transportation. Within three months they were trainers, knew more than anyone else, actually told us we were stupid and over paid ($50K per year?), unions were unnecessary and evil, and best of all, the shills seemed to already know each other whenever they first showed up. 'Labor Relations' contractors I believe they're called now.

I could write a book on the subject but this isn't the time.

 

Been at total for a year this month, work out of the Loudon Terminal and can't really complain too much. Avg 2800 or so miles per week (have been some bad ones) my dispatcher is easy to work with and I always get home when I put in for time off. I'm in a 15 cascadia and have not had any shop time other than normal maintenance. Not sure what they start at now but they are advertising 40-50cpm if you have at least 6 months experience.
Still a starter company but my experience hasn't been as bad as some others.