Joe & Tow's new trucking adventures/ex GTI thread

Glad it is working out for you!! It just never really did with me. Not so much the DM/Driver relationship but maintenance was my problem. Sitting around for more than 3 days just to get the truck in the shop....no thank ye!!! With Holland I was in the shop in the evening with my truck for a service and out that evening too.....my trailer had a few little problems but it was out by 10am the following morning. NO time (or pay) and I STILL kept my load, was lost at all.

I have no problem with guys staying with GTI/HTLND and I have said that all along. Good luck to you if you can and have made it work for YOU. I feel I am much happier here, like the equipment, like the work, like the people, the maintenance and love that I can get to bring a dog with me! I have no intentions of going anywhere else for a long long time now.

 

HOAT- "Heartland has the number 1 best CSA scores of all for-hire carriers, and GTI has the number 2 best CSA scores. I realize some people don't believe CSA scores correlate to safe carriers, but the CSA are a reflection of quality and maintenance of equipment, and many other factors relating to safety." Is that of a certain size, or are you claiming that to be of ALL for hire carriers.... My company Holland Express I would think is a for hire carrier.... and here is how their scores compare- 1.Unsafe Driving (tickets): Heartland 30% GTI 28% Holland 45.3% 2. HOS Compliance : Heartland 8.1% GTI 13.2% Holland 3.4% 3. Driver Fitness: Heartland 25.2% GTI 46.9% Holland <5 violations (no % score!!) 4. Controlled Substances: Heartland 5.5% GTI 20.4% Holland 0% 5. Vehicle Maintenance: Heartland 14% GTI 19.4% Holland 14.1%

Holland outscore both GTI and Heartland considerably in 3 categories (HOS, Driver Fitness and Controlled Substances) are close to Heartland in one (Maintenance) and outscore GTI in ALL categories other than Unsafe Driving. Again, so I ask do you mean carriers of a certain size? If not then I have no beef with that. I found GTI to be pretty good when it comes to safety. But I think I would take issue with the ALL for hire carriers!

Have a great weekend..... hoping for my Liverpool FC to take another BIG step to the English Premier League Championship this weekend!!

 

Pretty much ditto all that. I think Medford and Clack were among the smaller shops? Pontoon Beach was a joke and Lathrop no better IMO. One would have taken 3 days just to GET ME IN TO THE SHOP!!! The other took close on 10 days one time. Part of the reason I averaged just over 2k there. I am now averaging closer to 3k.

 

Looks like Holland does have good CSA scores, very nice. Yes, I suppose I would have to qualify that to carriers of a certain size, but at least the top 100.

You have a great weekend too

 

Like I said, I have no beef with that. Both HTLND and GTI have great reputations for safety, WAY above many large carriers.

 

They have the best drivers? Why did they have
Two rollover accidents on Dec 26 2013. What is
the minimum amount of driving experience now?
Is it still 1 year or did they lower the minimum.
They don't pay detention pay. Your average paid
miles are 1800-2200 a week. On average you will
drive 50 to 80 miles every day and not get paid
for it. The majority of their freight is short haul
150 to 350 miles per trip. When you go thru any
one of their terminals during business hours you
will sit in the inspection line from 1 to 4 hrs and
not be paid anything for your time. About 70%
of their freight requires driving at night. If you want more than 3 or 4 days off you will have to
turn in your truck. Expect a worn out piece of
junk to be waiting for you when you return. They
dont like to pay tolls unless its time sensitive. If its
not you take the back roads the add a lot.of miles
to your driving but you get paid what the miles are
if you could have used the toll roads. They run
orientation twice a week at half a dozen of their
terminals at the same time. Probably 50 to 60
new hire drivers every week. They do have several
different things they are supposed to pay you
for but 90% of the drivers never get it. Most dont
realize its owed to them because they dont ever
mention it in orientation. All extra pay must be
approved by a terminal manger or higher up in
the company. All this company can brag about
is its higher than average CSA score. They have
the shortest paid miles for any company that i
ever drove for. Its companies like this that have
ruined the trucking industry. If you dont believe
what i am telling you go talk to a few of their drivers sitting in a truck stop. I guarantee 8 out
of 10 of them wont have much good to say about
the way this company treats them.

 

Well Air Breeze I have no idea if this is true or not. I will take your word for it that it is all true. I work for GTI. None of what you said has happened to me. I got 2900 miles last week and was in the shop fpr a front end alignment and a few other things also. I was out within a day. If I was in longer I would have gotten breakdown pay to help even out the week. I do get detention pay and short haul pay for any favories I do them. I will be home next weekend for 4 days not counting the day I get home or the day I leave out.

In short Im not saying your wrong but if what you say does happen I will not be here.

Another thing I do know is a lot of people can ##### and complain but do not do anything about it. If they are so unhappy why stay? Any good driver can find another job very easy

 

Hey greyhound... just so you know....

airbreeze was a driver for heartland 2 years before he left and came over to SEC so what he tells you about heartland is first hand experience.

I am really.glad that many of the difficulties you were having have been addressed but remember that you had to do a lot of complaining before you finally got to transfer to the green bay terminal. Not everyone will have that option and I do believe that you are benefiting somewhat by being the last of our crew left there.

I am really happy that you are able to hang on there and hope that things stay that way.

 

I did do a lot of complaining when i drove for
heartland. Things would improve for a few
weeks and then it was business as usual. I did
talk with several Heartland drivers in the last
few months before i quit that had been there for
many years. They told me that the Gordon drivers
where getting a lot of the freight that used to be
hauled by Heartland drivers. In my almost two
years with this company I got a 3000 mile week
Maybe 2 or 3 times. They specialize in short
haul freight. On average my miles per week where
in the 2000 to 2200 range. Paid miles. I noticed in
the last 2 months I was there I saw a lot of Gordon
trucks pulling Hartland trailers. I never once saw
a Heartland pulling a Gordon trailer. I dont know
why but I would guess they are trying to keep the
Gordon drivers happy.