Celadons new scale Rules

The big companies do lots of drop and hooks, and most trailers are sealed when you pick them up. How do you eyeball it then?

Right, you don't.

My company sends messages over the qualcomm all the time saying "SCALE ALL LOADS REGARDLESS OF WEIGHT" - and they reimburse every single one, like all companies should.

Personally, I don't scale under 30,000, unless something doesn't feel right.

 

......i won't bet on that driver

 

Here's my take. Celadon is really pulling a fast one with this. They put the "Rite-Way" system on the trailers, and any driver worth his salt isn't going to take that as gospel. So you're paying scale tickets out of pocket. Because $10 is a hell of a lot cheaper than $500. This is some real BS that celadon is pulling. For real for real. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster I don't have to ever work for an outfit like that.

 

You'll be happy to know that I learned this trick by my trainer and it works, never failed me yet. I'm so confident with it that I sometimes don't scale unless I've got 42K or more, considering how much fuel I've got in the tanks.

If the doors are sealed I've heard that it's basically impossible to to be over on the drives or tandems unless you're hauling 38K or more. This has been the rule of thumb for me.

 

Actually, they stopped paying for scales. I've worked there for a few years. They used to load money onto your Comdata card to pay for the scale. They will reimburst you if the scale ticket and receipt is scanned in.

 

Dispatchers do not make driving decisions like (run with it) when the load is overweight, that is solely the drivers responsibility, I personally would drive the trailer back and demand it reloaded until it was correct, if the load were late then it's on the shipper and the planner and out of my hands. And yes i would fork out the scale costs, and would submit the receipt with my paperwork, if not reimbursed then two weeks notice, I work to earn money not to loose it. Drivers need to take a stand and stop being push overs, enough is enough.

 

A lot of this boils down to one thing.....DEREGULATION......when trucking was regulated most of the companies were profitable and everyone down to the driver was paid fairly well.
These companies are in business to make a profit.....if they can't make it from freight rates the will make it from the drivers.

During the period of regulation a lot of the trucking companies were unionized....but this was more for working conditions than pay issues. Trucks with no sleepers ( you had a backboard to fit across the seats) no a/c...no power steering....and barely any heat....no air ride ( seat or suspension)

All of the major shippers get together and convince government that there is not enough competition for their freight. Government deregulates trucking. Any idiot with a few bucks can now call themselves a trucking company. Why did all of the big companies fail......when you have terminals in every major city it hard to compete against some moron with 5 trucks and an office in his basement ( no overhead) for the same freight rate.

So lets compare....under regulation....drivers were well paid, working conditions were more challenging, no driver shortage....log books were great ( everyone had 2 or 3)
Under deregulation......driver pay has not changed really since regulation ( but cost of living sure has)
Trucks are nicer ( more powerful more comfortable) And a false driver shortage...and now e-logs.
But Dow and Procter & Gamble have everyone fighting to take their freight...cheap.

 

What does having a seal on the door have to do with the way they loaded it? They could have put it all up in the nose and still have sealed the door.

 

But Dow and Procter & Gamble have everyone fighting to take their freight...cheap.

That's true with Dow anyway ( in chemicals ) and that's because they have volume. You would not see annual gross numbers in the 220k per unit without folks like Dow, Exxon etc. but the knife cuts both ways in this example. Margins are very tight with these shippers .

 

Please be careful mentioning the "union" word. It offends most drivers and mods on this forum. Smart people know that a union driver makes a lot more money and has better benefits than their right to work counterparts. The union discussion caused such a firestorm that the posts were relegated to the political section of this forum. You have to type in "thickskin" to read it. What a shame! I guess the union drivers must have ran circles around the others. Maybe they don't have the thick skin needed to argue the point?