My Experience with Lone Star Transportation

I'm in Las Cruces NM with a load out of Conyers Ga going to Downey Ca that doesn't deliver til Monday morning then I get to reload in Long Beach going to Oklahoma then to Gainsville Tx. I'm tuning in my truck, I got a job offer running local, driving a winch truck with a step deck moving tanks on drilling rigs. I really have no complaints with Lonestar, Bob has been a great DM he has kept me loaded and running and would get me home when I needed. Sure there were some days that didn't work out like I wanted like taking all day to load but hey thats part of the job, all in all its been pretty good I just can't pass up this offer it will be a lot more money and get home

 

Wow didnt stick around long enough for the sign on bonus! Hope it works out for you the way you think it will.

 

Congrats on the new job man. I too hope it works out as well... Was there surprise when you told them you were leaving?

 

I ended up with Kristen. She's pretty good and easy to get along with. I'll be on Bob's board this next week, though. She's gone on vacation. Sitting here at the Sonterro Flying J on 35 taking a 34. Have one of the oilfield tank trailers from Marlow, OK to deliver in Vicotria Mon. AM. I hope everything works out with your time off, man. That's crap. Hopefully I don't run into that issue...I'm getting married soon and having a kid toward the end of the year...that won't fly.

 

when you guys find a company tht will get you where you want when you want, post it here so the rest will know.

it frankly isnt going to happen all the time. about the only way to guarantee that , is to own your truck and trailer, and have enough money put back to go home whenever you need to.

most guys seem to think a load where they want to go on a specific day can be had whenever they desire it isnt like that. heck i pick my own loads and i cant even make that work all the time.

i have missed birthdays, funerals, thanksgiving and even christmas , christmas of 2010 i made it home at 11:40 pm christmas night, i had taken a load to calif from sav, ga 6 days before christmas, it was a load out, empty and reload in the same dock back to sav. when i took it i knew it would be close , a pisser for christmas but the family was much better off with the 7 grand cleared than me being there christmas morning.

but really , you should put in reserve a fund for getting home in an emergency. and if you are going to remain in trucking get used to it, or prepare to quit quite often

 

Ya know, in most cases I agree with you. I gave 4 to 5 weeks notice and was told it shouldn't be a problem. Less than 2 weeks out I was told not to hold my breath... had I been told that 4 to 5 weeks out I could have made alternate plans. Thats my only point.

 

my point really was, i missed all that owning my own truck, its more difficult than that driving someone else's

 

When they have 4 months notice that you need to be home (as opposed to some random location elsewhere)...and they are willing to bounce you 1315 miles from Little America, WY to Duluth, MN for a load of mulch to Dallas...but cannot manage to get you the 625 miles home from Dallas or the 840 miles home from Houston and instead attempt to sit you over the weekend in Laredo when you've already been out 2-3 weeks, just because you took some extra time off during your last hometime to attend a funeral....

...not happening. I had plans, I was keeping those plans. Jobs are (or at least WERE back then) easy enough to come by.

And I do have a good job now. I'm home most every night, off most weekends (unless I choose to work), and if I want a day (or more) off, I just tell them not to schedule me for anything on those days. Most of the time, I don't even give them a reason...just that I'm taking the time off. It doesn't happen very often...and I never get any grief over it either. They know it wouldn't change the fact that I'm taking the day(s) off, so they don't waste their time trying to convince me to work. Besides, in my contract it specifically states that "CONTRACTOR may refuse any specific shipment offered by CARRIER." I refuse any shipments offered on any days I have informed them I am taking off.

Other drivers...same company, same dispatcher....say its like pulling teeth trying to get a day off. They ASK PERMISSION to take the time off. I don't...never have, either....even before the contract had that line included in it.

One of the biggest reasons I had for going local was that I absolutely HATE sitting while on the road. I'm out there to work...and if I'm going to sit anywhere for any length of time, I prefer it to be at the house where I can actually get things accomplished. 34 hour restart on the road? Not happening. Either I paced myself so that I never ran out of hours, or I knew I was going to make it home to reset. The only time I'll do a 34 on the road is if it is scheduled...as in I had somewhere I wanted to be, and would have taken the time off work to be there anyway if they hadn't found a load to get me there.

I work so that I can live...I don't live to work. Of course that is much easier to do when you are home every day.

 

As much as I like LST I think you may have chose the wrong company if you're about to have all that going on. Hope you live in Texas at the very least!

 

AZS, I actually knew that going in. My big thing is the "day of" (birth,wedding) stuff right now. I like LoneStar. Being here is actually a long term move for me, we're actually getting ready to move to TX in the near future. Girl's mom is upper level management for AirTran, so now SW Airlines, and has to move to dallas after the merger is complete, and she didnt want to be away from her family....you know how that goes.

I don't have any complaints, and I'm definitely not looking to go anywhere else in the forseeable future as things stand now. It's just kind of hard to miss your own wedding and still get married.