I always said I would be honest

I agree with that 100%. You should have seen the crappy little loads I was running around Dallas and East TX last week.

There are empty spreads (split axles) up in PA? I need to get up there to snatch one and get rid of this crap steel junk trailer I have now.

 

aww, cmon now. you cant get rid of that steel trailer! i know how you feel about those piece of crap steels. ever notice how a arrow truck whose number starts with a 3 hardly ever seems to have one? i find it so funny that vp jim cade said we would never get rid of all of them because some of our customers require them. i have yet to pull into a place to get loaded and they go "####, you're here with a spread? that sucks!".

 

Never noticed that, but if Jim Cade said that, he's a few marbles short of a full bin. What customers require an old outdated overweight steel trailer that doesnt even have the crown left in it and has easy to lose "portable winches"? If they continue on that path, they are destined to fail in the long run because they refuse to accept reality.

 

2nd run from hometime in Charlotte, 2nd time I came right out to Dallas. Broke the passenger side window in Shreveport (dont ask, my fault, long stupid story), delivered my load in Garland (Dallas area), then went right to the yard to get the window fixed. Got shut down in Shreveport (which explains why I had to stop there) because I was over hours without a 10hr break.

No biggie, managed to deliver the load to happy customers anyway, even though I had to figure out the directions from the highway on my own. Got the window replaced, then sat on my kiester most of Friday, helping the shop guy out whenever I could, tossing the occasional hint to my dispatcher.... watching TWO drivers quit. Yeah, thats right. TWO. I had been chatting with both drivers while we were waiting around for a load. One walked out of the building and said he was taking his truck to Tulsa to turn it in. Didnt say why. The other driver finally got a load, but it was a pickup down in San Antonio for a delivery 75 miles away. He got on the phone with his DM and said "I quit, I'm bringing the truck to the Houston yard". He's been driving truck for 18 years. He was with Arrow for three weeks.

And that was that.

I managed to get a decent load. Bobtailed out to Monahans TX to pickup a construction trailer. This was my first time EVER pulling a van or van-like trailer. 737 miles total. At 26% I made about $320. Comes out to about .44/mi. Not bad. Hooked up, pulled away. Didnt even break a sweat! I could get used to that!! Delivered today (same day) in Granbury, TX.

Up until Friday, I had never had a problem getting a load with Arrow. They usually had me stacked with a load before I had dropped the current one. Even though they were crap loads that didnt pay squat, they were still keeping my wheels rolling...... until Fridays. Well, last Friday (yesterday) was the first time I had to wait for a load. After demanding that my DM find my #### detention pay THAT WAS SIGNED FOR BY THE SHIPPER WHO PAID IT TO ARROW, I sat.... and sat..... and chatted, and joked, and screwed around til that short load came in. I'm going to nag my DM for that detention pay three times per day until I get it. He's going to do his job (being not only my Driver Manager, but also my Driver Advocate) or he'll get my boot up his..... or I'll turn this truck in.

I'm seriously considering going dryvan. I've been following a particular Crete thread on this forum and like what I see. I hate sitting and am willing to run. The driver who writes the Crete thread has the same work ethic. He's making a BUNCH of money, and probably not ripping the skin off of his hands like me, bleeding all over his steering wheel after securing a load and leaving skin wedged in those rediculously old "portable winches" from the 70's. A couple weeks ago, I worked 67 hours and made about $480. I lost about two pints of blood (just part of flatbedding, get used to it), and two gallons of sweat.

Even though trucking is not going to be my be-all, end-all of career choices (even though I dont think I want to go back to being a VP of Anything Corporate again), I'd at least like to earn some money for my effort and be able to feed my wife and 5 year old son. I see van drivers pass me by with smiles on their faces, nice polo shirts, and clean trucks. Hmmmmmmmm........

:smt033

 

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how to get this truck to a terminal, and my kiester back home.

Average earnings for all of the regional drivers I spoke with is about $350 per week. I've been lucky so far and have made a little more, but this week I only did about $350 gross.

The usual excuses....

I've figured out what they do. There are loads that are longer runs that linehaul gets. I usually pull these out of North Carolina when I leave home and take them to Dallas or Houston. These pay decently. The idea though, is to get me to Dallas, so I can run their little regional gigs. These pay NOTHING.

I do NOT recommend this company. I spoke with a driver who was picking up at the same place as me yesterday. He lied to get in there. Said he had 13 months of experience. He was right out of school. Been with the company for a month now. They didnt even bother to check. Wonder why that Safestat is at 97?

If you are considering running for Arrow, you may make some decent money in Linehaul, out three weeks minimum. I've heard quotes of anywhere from $600-$900 gross per week (if you consider that decent money, you need to check what others are paying). If thats enough money for you, go for it. Dont expect any safety bonus though. It's gone. They got rid of it. The equipment is beat up and old, especially the old steel trailers. Those things are DANGEROUS!! I think my turbocharger is going. I'm going to call road repair for advice on it. I have to be in St Petersburg on Monday with a load, but if the engine wont make it, I'm not going to bother leaving Charlotte. I'll just see if I can have the load repowered.


Overall, I would say that this is NOT a company for a newbie OR an experienced driver. Experienced drivers will get starved out and will be disappointed at the old dangerous equipment. New drivers will learn the WRONG way to secure loads, will not get any support, and will be starved out.

 

I'm the same. Too bad u were'nt there in teh oil field boom. New 400 Cummins and great pay. You guys still have the same trailers. We hauled that spaghetti pipe from Tul to Delaware and ran our butts off to Houston. If you wanted to cme home you just said so. Safety would meet u in the yd. and look over your load, not to write you up, but to give you tips on bieng SAFE. Thats actually their job.

 

Yeah. Their job now is to ignore the FACT that those old beatup steel trailers roll..... a LOT. I believe the latest figure at Arrow is 85% of the rollovers are the steel tandem trailers.

Truck is fixed. Picking it up at the dealer tomorrow, and first thing I do when starting her up is to Qualcomm a resignation and request to bring a load to Dallas/Houston/or Tulsa and for them to have a bus ticket waiting for me.

This company is a joke.

 

Why the $#(( did you leave TMC?

 

Cause I'm an idiot?


Oh well, either way I think it's time I came off of the road. I think not being home is affecting my 5 year old. Besides, I'm used to making MUCH more money. Although I dont like corporate he11, I think I owe a better living to my family. Just not going to make that much money driving. Besides, I think if I drive again, it'll be a van, probably closer to home.

Back to the Insurance/Financial Biz.

 

You can always farm We heard you could go broke farming so we're buying a second one to go broke twice as fast and be twice as happy.