Future Melton driver

You will need a push pole as well. Pretty much all of their shippers don't allow getting the trailer. The one they sell seems to work okay. Iowa 80 and Joplin 44 sell an aluminum one too but you can get that one for less on Amazon. I see a lot of drivers with step ladders strapped to their headache racks but I have never personally felt the need to buy one.

 

It's Melton's responsibility to get you what you need. This industry tries it's best to get all the free labor out of you it can. Don't help facilitate that. Next you know, you'll be repairing flat tires and replacing hub seals, lights, hoses, fittings etc etc.

Some will argue that helps you get down the road faster but in reality you'll be losing the time whether you do the work or not. Only the carrier benefits while you give away priceless labor and they profit.

These carriers are filthy rich while guys like you are paying for their million dollar bonuses. Like the other guy mentioning having to pay for a cargo claim. That's absolutely absurd. Only a fool would agree to that kind of treatment.

You're not a mechanic anymore. You'll see as time goes on how much everything is blamed on the driver. You are the scapegoat for anything that goes wrong. If you leave that door open for them they will certainly kick you around.

 

Exactly. I warn them of a later delivery just in case but if they still can't find a place for me I'll do whatever is most convenient for my hours.

 

They don't, though, and it would be cheaper to get rid of you if you object

So should I write them a check for the hundreds of dollars in points every year I get on the fuel that they pay for, or is it not that cut and dry?

 

I don't think they can make you pay for a cargo claim. You'll just be fired and have that put down as the reason. If it happens because you did not want to do what most of the rest of their fleet has already done and gotten some of their own gear, they will not understand, and neither will the next outfit you want to work for.