Heartland needs to be in the BAD company list

I just told them I wanted to run West so they switched by dispatched lactation from Kingsport TN to Coralville Iowa, Problem solved. The only thing to stunk about that was being stuck in a 63 mph truck!

 

Hi , I just quit after only 10 days at heartland. 300 miles a day is about all I could average. They have good trucks and plenty of freight but, its all short freight. Way to much unpaid time is spent at the dock. They pay hhg miles , and they dont allow you on the toll roads , without any pay for the difference in mileage or time. For example, a load I had from Soffolk Va. to Akron Oh. paid hhg miles 496. However I couldnt take the pa pike. So it was I68 to US40 to I79 ,US30 , Oh14 , I76. 2.5 extra hrs and total miles 557. Pay stays at 496. If you run the northeast this probably will happen often. I didint want stick around to find out ,10 days was a good enough test for me. On the positive side their trucks seem to be well kept and in good running order. Joe Wood

 

I'll take 63 MPH when the pay is $0.48 per mile, but its the 300 miles per day that does suck at times, being forced to take your 10 hr break at the customers and wait 10-15 hours for the preload to be ready so they can cover their high value loads.

 

Heartland is ... different. But like any company out there, its what you make of it. If you are concerned with the bottom line and happy with around 1k a week you'll do fine. If your obsession is with running that 3500 miles a week, well there are plenty of 32CPM companies that would gladly bend you over that barrel and run you like that. I myself like the idea of making more for doing less, so I don't sweat the sitting. I also prefer running nights. Well, that's sort of a sweet spot for them, if you know what you are doing and can get tight loads there on time. but basically if you're a slacker you're not going to do great here. Most importantly though you have to be on the ball with your hours. If you see youre going to be sitting start a split. If youre at a shipper or con for an hour and a half stay that extra few minute to get that 2 hour part of a split in. If you maximize your hours youll do pretty well. I had to turn down a load today myself because I didn't have the hour on my 70 to do it, Ive already run about 3100 in the last 6 days.

 

Anyone that knows Heartland won't debate the pay ($1k/week minimum is true), and its more than most companies offer, but there are sacrifices to get that. Screwed up sleep schedules (constantly flip flopping day/night shifts), missing home time which sucks when you have doctors appointment.

Then there are the times they want a 17 hr drive to be covered in 20 hrs from pick up time (hello 10 hr break?). But that double log book (which they will obviously deny) is hopefully resolved with electronic logging now. Before if you stood your ground to run legally on one log book, they'd let you go telling you that they "have drivers willing to do what it takes" and then tell future employers about "communication and performance failure" when it was clearly communicated that you will only perform legally to the max hrs. Again, this might not be issue anymore with electronic logging, but is this really the type of bs, work ethics, morals, etc that you want to put up with for $1k a week? I know for some people the answer is yes, esp in this economy and family to feed.

 

If you cant do something you have to say so. No one said it was easy, some can handle it some cant. You are right though there are some sacrifices to be made, Ive been with plenty of worse companies though. As far as the logging issues, I haven't been asked to run illegal. Wouldn't make a difference to me though, Ive been known to be the type of person that could "make things work" haven't had to though since there is a track record of it with the electronic logs now. That doesn't worry me though since I can still do 32-3500 miles legally with electronic logs anyway.

 

im looking at goin with heartland seems to b a ok company to drive for I live up in maine didn't know if anyone could me some advice on this company and how they really run thanks.

 

Hope you don't plan on having any home time if you live up there.

 

If they are paying hhg miles, you are not really getting the pay per mile they are advertising. They are paying what I call imaginary miles. Avoiding tolls means even more free miles. Too bad companies don't get charged with false advertising. I was with Crete for many years and got paid practical miles for the last several years. I own a tractor. Got off the road for several months due to parents health issues. I am looking to get back to work and its hard to find any company worth working for. Plan to lease on my truck somewhere, but hhg miles are a deal breaker for me. Bad enough to drive some miles for free, worse when get to pay fuel for those unpaid miles. May go back to Crete. The more I look around, the better Crete looks. Crete also pays detention after 2 hrs. . I think about $ 9/hr for company trk...my average load was 800 miles loaded. Crete has ez pass and we usually run the toll road if that the practical route.I've known a few former Heartland drivers. They also talked about long wait times at terminals and not enough miles. I usually ran about 2700 miles a week with Crete. Crete has drawbacks but I don't think they are near as bad as Heartland based on comments here. Good luck y'all.

 

Think again if you are planning driving for heartland,i talk to the recreuiter last week and here is the cons,slow trucks,no ezpass or prepass,cant idle from 38 to 71,short runs,no detention pay unless the cust pay,no orientation pay,they advertise like .40 cents per mile with all the bonuses and hazmat,but you only get like 1500 to 1700 miles per week,no way this is another bottom feeder company,so just talking with the recruiter i made my decision to not going with them.