Great plains transport not so great

actually when it was run by the owner Bob it recovered from that split to where they were keeping equipment in decent shape and started to build a decent freight base. It just never got to Holland Enterprises’ level though. When the kid Mike took it over completely in the last 2-4 years and kicked out the people who made it great to work for and introduced all kinds of Mickey Mouse micromanaging garbage that’s when it got really bad.

I got along great with Bob. He listened to drivers’ concerns, got rid of the people that didn’t do their job, he was kind of a father figure to the company.

Mike was the opposite. Toxic, egotistical, acted like he was Mr. Cool and just seemed to take pleasure in making the people under him miserable. Being in the same room with him was like standing next to a live grenade because of his temper. If someone dared correct him he would literally scream & curse at them, sometimes firing them on the spot. Last year when I was turning my keys in there was maybe 1 or 2 people in the building and it was mostly dark like it was abandoned…. Creepy.

 

Was Mike the one who introduced their driver facing cameras?

And let me guess, Mike has never stepped foot in a truck before and doesn't have his CDL, is that correct?

Your description of the office when you turned your keys in sounds awful. With all the trucking companies in the Fargo/Grand Forks area, I'm surprised the office staff stuck around if they were having to walk on eggshells around the owner.

 

During the pandemic and after, some of the staff started working from home. By the time I left almost all of them were home based except for a couple of people. Basically Mike got a big head and got worse, especially when he started pushing all the self help book garbage on everyone still involved.

the cameras were brought in around early 2017. They never bothered me much with them. At that time Bob was still in charge and keeping Mike in check.




Lol I doubt if Mike drove. I knew he used to work in the shop when they were sharing space at Holland’s old offices but from what I’ve heard no one could stand him even back then. He’s basically a spoiled kid who thinks he’s a Fortune 500 wall streeter.

 

I almost bet Bob (no idea if he’s still with us or not), would smack Mike hard for ruining his company like this. Couple folks here in Mapleton are happy to see it going down.

 

I remember a video that Mike posted a couple years ago boasting that his dad couldn’t kick his ### anymore and how they were getting in fights over his decisions. Personally im wondering if Bob got fed up decided to was his time to let Mike hang himself and cut off any more help keeping the place afloat. It’s a shame because Bob put his heart & soul into that company just for his kid to flush it down the drain.

also just saw this on google maps on the gpt reviews…

“I was there almost 2 years and this last Wed they layed me off and countless other's. They lied to all of us for the last few months. And then started telling us not to fule are trucks near the yard to bring them in close to empty. Saying there getting rid of several of them and putting us in different trucks. The truth was they are laying everyone off when they get there and we are all responsible for paying are own way home. They had got rid of over 60 in the 3 days that week alone. Last I heard a few weeks ago there was 250 trucks on the road. When they blind sided me with this there was 67 left that just hadn't made it to the yard yet. It's just unbelievable how little they cared about us.”

Very interesting. We’ve been getting quite a few of gpt’s ex drivers here at holland and from what I’ve seen Chris & Brad have been doing quite a good job of keeping it going considering all the chaos going on in the industry.

 

I’ve been watching for them as they come in, I let a few of my trucking friends in Fargo know what’s going on and they’re gonna step in and up if Holland can’t help them.

I also let Mayer and Hoffman in Jamestown know what’s going on, and they’re gonna keep their eyes open to it. Hoffman might be able to use some of them to help grow the reefer fleet they have going now.

Brad and Chris usually had a good grasp on what’s been going on over there, so it’s good they are stepping up to help where they can.

 

Everyone find work ok that got let go?

 

I haven’t heard one way or the other. I’m guessing most caught on with Holland. I’m now one applied with us at CCFS and might come aboard. Aside from those, I have no idea. I’ll ask my contact there on Monday.

 

If gpt is still in business by the end of summer I’ll be very surprised. Lol

 

I am hearing more layoffs of drivers are underway and office people are being let go and or resigning.