CSRT Malone... 18 Months in....

Malone is a FLATBED company based out of Birmingham, Alabama and part of the alphabet soup of CSRT companies. I have ZERO EXPERIENCE, ASSOCIATION, or OPINION on or with any other CSRT company.

I came to Malone in Feb of 16. I had never been a flatbedder but not a total noob either, I'd pulled flats, tanker, dry, and reefer. Also 14 years active duty USN tends to give a healthy respect for securement requirements.

Orientation...

We had 12 guys in class, 8 with ZERO flat experience, 4 of those had been driving less than 2 years. It was cold, rainy or snowing. I remember this part well since.... WE DID DO SECUREMENT TRAINING... OUTSIDE... IN THE RAIN/SNOW... for THREE DAYS. Suicide Coils, Shotgun Coils, Eye to the Sky, Flat Plate, and Slinkys. Anyone who claims Malone doesn't do securement training is flat out LYING. We were also joined by several less experienced Malone drivers who wanted some extra training time.... If you want extra securement training its available.. period. They also provide a really nice glossy pamphlet showing how to do the common stuff.

On the road again....
Oops, need a trailer. My assigned trailer was in Sharonville Ohio at a Freightliner dealer. I don't know why, I didn't ask. Malone paid for fuel and a bit extra for my travel to pick it up. I inventoried what was on it, recorded on a checklist they provided, and determined what was needed. They sent me to TMI in KY for what I was missing and had a new lower latch installed on the storage box per my request, no questions asked. This brings up another forum claim I find highly suspect... that Malone runs trash/substandard/worn out equipment. My trailer isn't new and doesn't look it. It's not junk either. Any request I've ever made for repair or service has been acted on without question or delay. Typically I simply make a call to Maint, tell them where I am and they send me to a shop that's local. I get there, the shop already has the RO.

Now really on the road...

In Orientation you're given a map of the US with highlights. Green (North of I-10, East of I-35) is Malone's "money box", Yellow (South Texas and California, some of the upper Midwest)) is fair, Red (everywhere else) is OMG, if you go here you're coming out empty. "coughBScough" I have my own breakdown. Green is ho-hum load a coil/plate/bar/lumber, tarp, drive 300 miles, untarp, unload, shower, find the next coil/plate/bar/lumber load to carry 3-500 miles. You can make good money doing this for sure but you'll earn every penny of it the hard way. Yellow is Easy Money.. provided you're prepared to build up your contact list and work the public loadboards. Red... easiest money of all when you have a great relationship with the right agents.

We have an agent network. Its explained in part during orientation and there's a PDF on our private loadboard of all our agents and approved outside brokers. What isn't explained is so well is that each agent may have an area they specialize in but they often have freight in places you wouldn't expect.

I have a stalker. An agent in the middle of the country who will call me out of the blue with a bombshell load. I'm on my way to Minot, ND, going blind, no idea what I'm coming out with. Its a good paying run up but I need something within reason to make it a great paying run. My stalker calls. Williston, ND to York, PA. 1 piece, 11k lbs, no tarp, $4K.

Or this one... Loading in the Los Angeles area for Dallas. Made a killing running 8900lbs from PA, the Dallas load is mediocre even for Cali but its light and easy. My stalker calls while I'm still securing the Dallas load. Dallas to Hermiston, Oregon. Loads across the street from my delivery. 30k lbs, $7k. Needs a tarp but for that money... I'll double tarp it, or not...

Those two examples aren't the norm. But they happen a lot more often for those of us who take the time to develop good relationships with agents. Also those who COMMUNICATE. I'm not always on time. I've been delayed for the stupidest reasons, sometimes my fault... but I ALWAYS make sure the Agent gets the heads up. Agents talk to each other. They know who the good people are, they know who's unreliable and who BS's them.

You can guess I'm happy with Malone but I'll share some of the absolute CRAP that I've experienced as well....

STOP DISPATCH... I F^&$*#G HATE those words....

Maint, Safety, and Compliance are handled by CRST's main office in Cedar Rapids. When they need something from me they don't send me an Email. They put a "Stop Dispatch" in the computer. I find out when an Agent tells me he can't dispatch me on a load. Not a huge issue normally, I get the load info anyway, and head that way. I call my Fleet Manager.. who I rarely deal with except when I get a Stop Dispatch. He has to send an Email to whatever department put the Stop in, they email him back with what they need, he calls me to tell me what they want me to do, we work out a plan of action.

What can you be put on stop dispatch for...

Trailer PM due in a week.. REALLY?? You can't just Email me direct with this info??? You gotta create work for other people???

Log/paperwork issues...

I recently had to stop by one of our offices to fix some log and paperwork issues. Two of them are.... facepalm stupid...

1) I logged 75mph from Winnemucca, NV to Toole, UT one day. I was told it needed corrected because CRST policy is you can't log faster than 70. Who says?? "you were told in orientation" Nope... and verbal means ZIP to me, you have a company policy, put it in the drivers handbook. So which part of this log would you like me to falsify so it looks like I only averaged 70mph? Keep in mind I rolled out of Winnemucca at the first minute I could legally move and rolled through the Wendover scale in the middle of the run.. So you want me to show 65mph from Winnemucca to Wendover and 80+ to Toole? Which I also left at the first minute I could the following day? I had to call Compliance and explain how an ungoverned truck, with 565hp, can easily average 75mph, for 340ish miles, with a 65K gross weight, in two 80 mph states.

2) We have a tripsheet that we use as a coversheet when we scan in our bills and logs. It has assorted info on it, including dates of loading and unloading. I didn't put the unloading date on one.... Can't just Email me and have me send in the corrected sheet? Gotta get 2 other people involved, several emails, faxes back and forth? Sometimes I get the feeling Rod Serling works in Cedar Rapids.

Some agents can be.. "less than pleasant" too...

You're unloading In Detroit today?

Yes

Great, I'm really hurting for trucks.

What ya got?

I got XXX to YYY, BBB to ZZZ, Etc...

What's your best paying run? (cut to the chase, right?)

XXX to YYY is 6 coils and pays... $DDD

That only works out to $1.10 a mile. Thank you anyway, I'll bounce into Ohio.

Well this isn't Burger King, you can't always get it your way.

I didn't call you to place an order, you called me, and at that rate you have too many trucks.

That Agent hasn't called me since. Not that I'd deal with the individual again.