My experience at holland enterprises

May take another short crappy one to get into a better area. Ask Steve or Bri and they should take care of you.

 

From slc, lots of things can happen. Good, bad, and mediocre.

 

I believe it’s 1 day for every week you are out, minimum 3-4 weeks out, I don’t think there’s any maximum limit. My company used to run under their dispatch and they had good high mileage runs. From my experience the dispatchers there in general were good to work with and didn’t bother me unless something serious came up or had a new load for me. I don’t know how much or if they had changed since my company’s split from m them a couple of years ago.

 

No way in hell I'm going to work somewhere where I stay out 3-4-5 weeks and only get 1 day off for each week. That's the biggest crock of crap there is in this industry.

 

That's why they don't want you and you don't want them. They're not for everybody, and your POV will not be welcome at every carrier. It's good they there are options for everybody, no matter what they're seeking from the job.

 

15 years ago that was the norm.
Everybody operated that way.
You want to hear the real kicker, a lot of them
Have a max 4,5 or 6 days off no matter how long
You stayed out.

On the road 2 months you get 5 days off only.
Whether they have enough freight to keep
You busy the whole time your out there
Doesn't matter. They just want someone always
In the truck.

Holland is a true no life job.
I used to work for places like this a long
Time ago. Then I got smart.

I became unattached to the truck.
Instead of fighting for a couple extra days off
After being gone for a month, I would always
Go home from my home terminal.
Where my car was parked.

I would never go home loaded. That's an old
Dirtbag dispatcher trick that keeps you
Permanently attached to the truck all the time
Even when you where home.

I would get empty,drive to the terminal,
Take everything out of my truck, hop in
My car and drive home.
Sometimes I had over a 300 mile cummute.

Call my dispatcher,
Me: I'm going home,I'll be ready to go in a week.
Dispatcher: your not allowed to take a week off,
Your only allowed 4 days off for being gone a month.

Me:I'll be ready to go in a week, call me then thanks.
Dispatch: your not allowed,we're gonna give
Your truck to someone else.

Me: go for it, I already took all my stuff out
And cleaned it up. You can have it.
If you need me and have one of your 50 empty
Trucks that are always sitting out back ready
To go,give me a call in a week.

Dispatch: you can't do that,I'm telling the
Supervisor. I'm gone write you up.
Me: whatever, do what you got to do.
I'll be ready to roll in a week.
If I don't hear from you in 2 weeks I'll
Assume you fired me and I'll go get
Another job. Bye. Have a nice day I'm
Going home.

A week later the phone rings.
Dispatch: you ready to roll.
Me : yup, I need a truck first though.
Dispatch: your trucks still sitting on the yard.
Me: okay let's go trucking then.

You got to be smarter than then.
The truck is thier leverage. I took that away
By slip seating myself.

 

That’s been pretty much the standard for long haul OTR since I started driving(1 day off per week out, unless it was Schneider, then it was good luck getting home at all) unless it’s certain company’s that did regional and the drivers could get through the house more often and for longer periods each week. Some like me can go for somewhat long periods because there just isn’t as much to go home to, for whatever reason. Plus doing the OTR work I do now, I’m not limited to being stuck at a certain part of the country.

My self, years ago when I was at a now-defunct “super regional” carrier I had a full weekend off every other week, and whatever time off I got at home in between those weekends didn’t count towards against earned home time. I ran a regular more predictable lane, and the miles were steady. At that point in my life (early 2000’s) if someone were to suggest I switch to 48 state OTR work and stay out for a month at a time I would’ve told them to pound sand. What I had was what I considered a “dream job”. At least until the owner of the place handed it of and things went downhill... but that’s another story.

Since then a lot of people I hung out with have moved away, mostly because of being fed up with my state’s (NYS) constantly heavy taxes and as a result their jobs left the area too. (of course I’m planning on moving out of NY myself.. maybe Pheonix or Vegas areas?) When I started my current job under holland’s dispatch I was pretty much planning on running the minimum time out... until I ran west. On my way north through Nevada during the spring weather and seeing the old abandoned mining towns and equipment, as well as some Of the scenery around the mountains I had decided to stay out another 3 weeks... I didn’t even want to return back east yet. Since then it’s nothing for me to stay out 5-6 weeks... even though 6 weeks will stay as my limit. I did 8 weeks between end of October and mid December and I was pretty much burned out after that. funny thing after 6 days at home I was ready to get back out.

This kind of OTR isn’t for everyone. You really have to love being out for long periods and being a bit old school this is what I had wanted to do when I started. despite my current aggravations with my current dispatch department still working the bugs out of its system and equipment problems(lets just say I’m left unimpressed by volvo’s quality, or lack thereof) my only regret is I didn’t find this company (or Holland) a few years sooner than I did.

 

To top it off Holland has in cab recording devices..so you live in the truck for a month or more and your being recorded..nope. Stop allowing this nonsense.

 

I could actually work for holland.
They got the long loads.
I'm a old school otr driver. I want coast to coast
Trucking. 2 loads a week, 3 max.

Average length of haul over a 1000 miles.
I'll run those loads all day long.
Every 3 or 4 days I have to deal with a customer.

Best thing you can do with a job like holland
If your single is to move into the truck.
Don't waste your money on rent and utilities for
5 days a month living there.

I wasted 10 years and a lot of money
doing it the wrong way.
Instead of paying a 1000 bucks a month between
Rent and utilities for something I would never own,
I bought a 5000 dollar rv.

Put it in a nice safe rv park for 350 a month.
That's electric,cable and wifi included.
They even had a place to park my truck.
Can't beat that. I'd pay 3 months rent out of
One paycheck.

Then I hit the road for months on end piling up cash.
Couple years later I finally bought my own house and land. Paid cash for it.

I'm still out here trying to get more.
It's just sitting there waiting for me when I
Give up the road.

Long loads are at the top of my list when
Job hunting. That's ahead of money. Holland is on my short list if I had to make a change just for that
Reason.