Heartland Express. Do not work here!

Companies don't pay for any of that unfortunately,lol,the ones with really low pay that is.

 

There are plenty of wide eyed newbes trying to get into truck driving. Companies like this one have recruiters who paint a nice picture to reel people in.

 

Pretty sad companies have to resort to lieing and/or not telling the exact truth to get drivers isn't it?Don't know why because those drivers will end up quitting before too long anyway.

 

I have had this experience with another mega-carrier back 1995. To this 4000+ truck companies you are just meat in the seat. I am sorry to hear about this and hope things are better, I feel for you really I do and God Bless

 

Heartland Express. Oh boy...

I started here (with Heartland) just two months ago. I have already told them I am resigning, and will be returning their truck to them by the end of this week.

My issues with Heartland are more than just a few. Many of them are shared by other people who have posted here about them:

• 85% Drop-and-Hook -- Lie (I have seen less than 25%, and there is a live load/unload at one end or the other at 90% of them)
• Day/Night Run Switchouts -- It is routine for Heartland to tell you to go back in the sleeper berth after you have just gotten up in the morning, to run an all-nighter for them (they have several customers, like Sears and Whirlpool who have tight overnight schedules - drop-and-hook pickups with live unloads) If you refuse one of these loads, you get harassed and cajoled until you either agree or they leave you sit).
• Daily Load Switchouts -- It is almost impossible to plan trips here. You get a load, or even a series of loads, it is routine for them to take all of those loads off of you and put a new set of them on you - these switchouts all taking place all within an hour period of you getting the original set of loads. I was even once forced to take a loaded trailer that I had picked up, to a nearby relay point, to go get this other load they needed covered, within an hour of picking up the original load.
• Forced to Drive Over HOS -- I have been forced to drive illegally 3 times in the two months I have been here. I was planned so tightly on freight, that I was forced to illegally drive to a truck stop after pickup or delivery, sometimes more than two hours after they were complete - leaving me to need to call safety to get permission to move the truck. Often times, though, I would be required to park on various customer property for two or three days straight (instead of drive illegally to a truck stop), not able to get showers during those periods. I would often get interrogated by safety about why I needed to move the truck outside of HOS regulations.

All of this may actually sound somewhat routine to most people, and a lot of people might even ask what my problem is. Fair enough, maybe some people believe that this is just the way it goes in trucking.

Heartland, however, takes it to an extreme. I have been in trucking for 15 years. Not once have I been in a situation so extraordinary. Heartland Express is extremely disorganized in the way they plan freight. As a result, drivers get far too little rest, and are unable to try to plan any kind of life around the freight they're being asked to run. If I had to characterize how Heartland ran it's business in regards to drivers, I would be forced to say that it was like trying to work for a bunch of unruly school children.

The amount of stress a driver is forced to deal with in order to work for Heartland is at completely unacceptable levels. I can deal with a lot. But when I get so frustrated and upset to where I literally throw up in the floorboard of my truck, it is beyond time to start job-hunting. And I literally did do that in my truck - which happened when they switched out loads on me three times, all within the first hour of me sending dispatch my readiness to run. I watch dispatches get loaded, then taken right back off again, others appearing in their place - three times within the first hour, they finally settling upon one I did not have the hours to run on time.

Heartland Express needs to get a grasp on the importance of developing skills of organization. They are a completely disorganized company - choosing instead of being organized, to ask their drivers to pull the slack of their disorganized way of dispatching and planning. Which creates, in my view, a level of completely unnecessary stress for the driver.

 

I don't understand, they asked you to run illegally but then raised concerns when you did? As far as having to park at a shipper/receiver for two or three days, there is is no excuse for that. You could have used the personal conveyance option and deadheaded to a truck stop for a shower. If they had a problem with it I would have told them to F themselves and asked them where to turn the truck in. That's ridiculous.

 

No one forced you to break the law... You chose to do so...you could've told then to go pound sand and park...you know what the laws are...accept responsibility instead of deflecting.

 

I quit driving for Heartland in February. I can confirm everything that you said and
a lot that you left out. I wish you good luck on your next job. There are plenty of
companies to choose from just do some research before you sign up with another
bottom feeder outfit. This industry is full of them these days.

 

Their personal conveyance option (off duty driving in e-logs) is good only for ideal situations. If you have a trailer connected, either empty or loaded, you can't use the option. Moreover, you must stay connected to a trailer unless you can drop it at a secure location. I have literally been three days without a shower, because planners kept me on freight so tight, I didn't have time to stop to take one in route, or it was a time of night where it was almost impossible to find parking at a truck stop. Or I was forced to remain on customer property because they allowed parking. I can recall a total of two instances where I was able to use the personal conveyance option in order to go to a truck stop to take care of my personal needs.

It's embarrassing, too, to have to stand at a fast food counter smelling like something dragged up out of a sewer, but you got to, because it's the only option or you go hungry.

I just bet you're a real gem on the CB radio, aren't you?

Either way, I have tried to tell them that. When I did, I got to sit for a whole day without a load. I can't afford to do that. I got done arguing with them, and having to put myself, not to mention the motoring public, at risk in order to make money. I announced my resignation last week, and will be turning in the truck this week.

I am a 15-year veteran with a perfect safety record. I am well aware of the law, and of my own limitations and responsibilities. Which is why I am leaving Heartland Express. Continuing to work for them would be gross negligence - placing myself and the motoring public at risk by giving into their chaotic way of doing business. Which I will not do for any company.

 

Nearly nothing multiplied by high cpm is still nearly nothing. I was at GTI/Heartland on 0.40c/mile averaging 2,000 a week. I am now at Holland Enterprises out of Fargo,ND on 0.35 (with ACHIEVABLE bonuses) averaging closer to 3,000. Do the math....I would rather be earning closer to $1,000 a week doing 3,000 than $800 doing 2k