Heartland Express is doing good

The reason it took so long was they not only took it off the trailer 1 to 2 pallets at a time and then they had to sort the pallets. They put me in the door right away and total time was over 6 hrs. When I posted the original post on this I was pretty pissed and not just for this reason this was kinda the icing on the cake for the day. What really needs to be done if they are going to take that long these loads should be drop and hooks. I'm not a driver that turns down loads by any means. The only time I have told heartland I was unable to run a load is after getting through the inspection line and I was tired. They did understand and planned me on a load for the morning.

 

Here is a prime example of good communication to the fleet manager...had a load picking up @ 0815 and del 1500....300 miles my break was over at 0930. They had me fueling at the term. After pu I called my fleet manager and informed him if I go to the term to fuel I will be late with delivery since I will have to go through the inspection line. He got it approved to go to the term and fuel with out going through the inspection line. So you guys that complain about the inspection line and losing loads learn how to communicate and not complain.

 

That just shows they care more about the load then saftey

 

If your break was over at 9:30, delivery @ 1500 w/ 300 miles to go they are assuming your average speed to be 54.5 MPH (300/5.5). Whatever happened to the 50MPH rule? Doable but tight.

The point is you shouldn't have to call and sit on hold for fifteen minutes to do this. This is all they do - the math is not complicated. They should be able to anticipate this.

 

Yes its common to get night loads out of Columbus for their FedEx and Sears runs. At least they are preloaded though.

If you didn't get enough sleep, you might get away with turning down the load cause too tired, whatever the excuse, awake during safety lane and repairs, etc. But after a few times they will decide that your time with Heartland is over, and will find a way to get rid of you. And when they do, they will tell you that they "have drivers willing to do what it takes".

If your at corporate you'll probably have to see someone in person before getting released, else if your at another terminal you'll probably have a conference call. They'll give you a lot of BS and try and get you to sign a statement about willing to accept every load in the future. Sign or don't sign, doesn't matter, your time is limited once you get to that point.

So maybe you can refuse 2-3x and get away with it for a valid excuse. But there is a limit, and if you develop a pattern of pushing back your available time, or refusing a load cause of being tired, then you won't last.

Probably same with any company though.

 

I've never worked for a company that expected me to sleep/wake like a robot. Sure there's the occasional 0300 delivery but I've always had a day or two's notice to compensate. I've been lucky to always be able to get some good rest for the purpose of waking up too work.

 

Holy crap, if I got 2 days notice for sleep shift, I'd be in heaven! Instead, I take my 10 hour break, wake up 8am, and dispatch says for me to take another 10 hour break and roll at 6pm. I'm like wtf I'm not tired now. I just slept real good, now going to be up all day, and requested to drive all night for total of 24 hours awake by time I finish that shift?

 

Oh man! Your not Heartland material it sounds like. I went through that non sense a few times at Knight however SHIP NOW! wasn't their business model and those scenerios didnt happen often. We could refuse those loads and get something else without being punished as their was no shortage of drivers willing to run like that.

 

Very doable as long as you don't get delayed to long like in the inspection line ect. Don't know where you get the fifteen minutes from that call took maybe all of five minutes.

 

If you did your "pretrip inspection" at the time you picked up the trailer, and there was nothing wrong..?
Then why would you need to go through the inspection lane just to get fuel..?
That's a smart "heads up" calling your fleet manager, and getting that done.
What does that have to with safety over a load their driver..?
Your "captain of the ship" you need the safety lane to tell you "your equipment is safe to travel...?" LOL