Glad I moved over to Poly Trucking

I've been following your posts since the days when you and Evertrucker were trading off entertaining the masses. I have to tell you that even with the issues you're currently dealing with you still haven't quite matched the irate skull splitting frustration that it seemed that the folks at the Crete Cruelty Carriers put you through. The question you have to ask yourself (IMHO) is whether or not you want to continue driving OTR or not. If not, start looking local and spend some more time back at the ranch. If you want to stay out, and believe me I know you've put in your time, then perhaps a hard look at the straight owner op plan might be best. It seems like you already know several brokers just from working with Poly. Just a thought, otherwise smile knowing that at least you don't have to deal with the mothership anymore.

As for me, at 43 I'm starting over again in life with Swift. Yes, I know what I'm in for ... but I have to start someplace. Soon I'll be moving west and looking for something regional, western or private to finish my working career and hopefully retiring before I'm 70 ... we'll see.

 

You guys stay upset with the shop ,
and I can't blame you.
But I've had brand new trucks leave me stranded
plenty of times, I can deal with that reality.
It sucks , but you can't really get angry
at a giant metal thing with wheels.

For me my rage is having to use paper logs,
they are stealing my time to put it mildly.
" show " 15 min here , " show " 30 there,
Their system cost me valuable time.
I bank time on E logs for heavens sake!
Ive been stuck cutting it too close on a few of
these loads, where if I had been on my old E logs
i would have had the hours available.


So if you look over at another Poly truck going down
the road and see the driver beating on the wheel like
an ape ... That's >me< , simply unable to process
management ignoring
a better and more efficient
way of doing things.

Hopefully the Gub ' will slam this industry soon with the E Log mandate.

 

I like how you phrased that part about entertaining the masses...I never really thought about it being seen that way.

As far as going back to being an O/O, I've put that desire behind me. I was one for years...and ended that dream leased to the very company JD is leased to now, but long ago, without the aid of modern technology like smartphones. In fact, they had just transitioned from a pager system to cell phones. Being the hands-on kind of person that I tend to be(as in...if you want it done right you have to do it yourself) I grew tired of being the driver, sales/freight coordinator, planner, dispatcher, routing manager, bookkeeper (with my wife doing the sorting, record keeping, filing and calculating)...then when I was home, being the mechanic and detailer for the equipment. And this was being leased to a company and operating under their authority. I could only imagine how much more would be involved if I had my own authority and had to also do the regulatory work like drug testing and logbook storage in case of an audit...plus all the IFTA stuff not to mention billing, and accounts receivables or letting a factoring service do it for slice of the pie. Naaa, I no longer have the desire of ownership...

 

E-logs would cost me between 4-6K a year. For gawds sake I hope they don't make that #### mandatory any time soon.

 

as far as e-logs...I agree. I hated them until I used them for a while...then I saw how much of an advantage they were...now I can't wait until they get them here. The problem, there are a number of old school drivers here that would sooner retire than ever use them...heck, some of our drivers still use flip phones...I often refer to them as Amish truck drivers... (the Amish accepted modern technology up to a certain era...then refused to allow any more modern technology to aid in their daily lives)

As far as the equipment and shop issues...I can accept mechanical failures...I mean, if you use it, it'll wear out. But it's the faulty attempts at repairing simple stuff that gets my blood boiling. Lord knows there is more electronic and computer controlled systems on todays trucks than on the space programs of the Gemini and Appolo programs...but it's the failures in replacement of regular parts that grinds my gears (so to speak). And I am speaking from experience...I earned my CDL by working in a company shop that fixed everything from weed eaters to front end loaders...if it had an engine or wheels, we fixed it. And when I owned my own...I fixed it myself. And when I sold it, I had over 800k on the odometer...and it broke down less in the last 5 years I had it than any of the trucks I have driven here in less than 1 year (most with less than 300k)...

 

When I was training to use e-log at Crete, my e-log always had between 2 and 3 more hours at the end of the 8 days compared to my paper. I thought they'd cost me time, but it saves a lot of time since it logs to the minute for everything. I am as old school as they get when it comes to logbooks...long ago, when you could really push hard, I had duplicate, triplicate, or quadruple logbooks stashed everywhere...I always had hours to run...but those days are long gone, and I grew to appreciate how much of an advantage e-logs were.

 

The only thing I don't like about e-logs is that there is no forgiveness in the event you end up close to going over your 14 for a particular reason. I was never a full blown log book cheater (liar or whatever)... I never ran two books and such, but it was nice to have a little "flexibility" in the event of running out of hours 50-75 miles from home. A little condensing here and there and I was at the house instead of a truck stop an hour or so from the house.

 

I recall going back on paper was a hesitation point for me coming on board here ,
the concern was they were running hot , but it turned out ok .
They don't play games like a lot of places used to do when it came to logs.
I just resent the good ole boys essentially requiring me to cheat myself out of
my own time.

Yes I hear ya,I worked with a major auto company for 21 years.
I know how machines work , repairing them had paid my bills for most of my life
before coming to trucking.I started working on them when they used
Carburetors

As far as Mike and the shop goes , they are doing the best they can with what they've got.
It doesn't feel good venting on them or shaming them.
It's very lopsided stance and unfair.They are innocent.
If Poly considered it was a problem I'm sure they would react.
We will just have to sit back and see how it all plays out
as far as change comes or goes.
I think their loaner program is the best response they have at this time in
order to keep us rolling.


Funny thing is , I was in contact with Land star before coming here ,
my experience with
brand new trucks being essentially good for boat anchors caused me to change my mind.
Theres little chance of succeeding as an O/O with the current offerings of truck manufacturers.

Bottom line is .... I'd personally like Poly to work out

Happy Holidays

 

I'll end this shop debate on my end with one final thought. When I 1st started here, I too cut the shop some slack because no matter the number of technological additions to these trucks, it's still not an easy job to work on these things. It wasn't until things started coming loose that were recently repaired that caused me to change my opinion...diagnostic or misdiagnostic mistakes happen with these complex pieces of technology...I can accept that, but leaving replaced parts loose is just plain careless. I know the delays in getting things fixed isn't always the shop's fault given the procedures they have to follow in order to even get parts to fix things...hopefully that will be resolved when the parts storage area is stocked...if they could resolve the majority of the carelessness, then the shop wouldn't receive so much grief from us. When you get shut down or break down miles from anywhere because of something falling off, coming loose or just plain quits working because of a shop guy being careless, maybe you'll be a bit less accepting of things here.

I too am hoping things change and Poly works out for me...it won't take much for my attitude to change...I like the way our side of things work(meaning the operations side)...if the maintenance issues could be resolved like Alan said they are trying to do...it would be a happy campground again

 

I got back to GP today, grabbed my next load and hit the road. Heading for Frederick, MD. It was like a ghost town there. I don't think I've ever seen nobody parked by the drivers lounge before. We outbound called me yesterday, he said we were short drivers this weekend, I guess he wasn't joking. Haha.