My New Adventures At Beacon Transport

Its really the chaining, that I don't want to do.

 

Smurf, headed to Total Transportation of Mississippi after the holiday. Just realized they are giving a $2500 sign on (retention bonus) $500 each of the first two months, then 500 each quarter after that. Halfway to my nine lives! Best wishes my friend!

-George

 

Okay Smurf let me start off by saying even though I am going to quote you several times please in no way think that I am picking on you. What I am going to attempt to do is point out not only for you , but for other folks that seem to want to job hop this time of year. That right now you do not need to do that.

10/13 first day of orientation you seem excited that is good.

10/14 and I am quoting "I like what I see so far"

10/22 your Lowdown on Beacon
" dispatch does not answer the phone ever" you have any idea how many phone calls a day a DM has to put up with?
" no paid holidays" " you have to sweep out your trailers no matter what" I don't know of any reputable company that does not want their trailers swept out no matter what before and after you leave a customer.
" the trucks suck they don't have TV, GPS, ECT." 99.9% of trucking companies don't provide this crap.
Your advice to anyone inquiring about Beacon again quoting " RUN"

10/22 " I'm going to stick it out for at least 6 months"
10/28 apparently you had not too bad of a week " not a bad week"

11 / 03 complaining about miles " only 1300 miles last week this week not looking much better"

11/15 1 month and 2 days from the first day of orientation you are talking about leaving.

11/16 and I'm quoting again " other companies and drivers not reporting a slow down" WRONG!!!
this time of year for most segments of the the industry it is slow and will get even slower. you see most companies, warehouses and such usually do inventory this time of year so they keep inventory low as possible so there is not as much to count.
Unless I missed one or two or three
You have told people throughout this thread to stay away from Double J, USA Truck, Navajo , and Super Service. Now either you are a job Hopper to the highest degree and have experience at every one of these companies, or you are just going on hearsay because he said she said this about the company.
Bottom line from the end of September till approximately the second week of March especially for the dry Freight sector of the industry it is always slow. So you or anyone else changing jobs this time of the year just as I did this time of the year last year, to be more precise 1 year ago yesterday. Freight is going to be slow. Last year from Week 1 of November until the end of the second week of March I thought I was going to starve to death. I even contemplated changing again myself. But I am so glad that I didn't because after the second week of March things really picked up. As of my paycheck this week and we still have 5-6 weeks of this year left I have hit just a little over 55k.
Not to mention you need to give wherever you're at some time to build a relationship and to see how hard you will run. Smurf please understand I am not picking or dissecting you apart. I am only pointing out that in just in a very short period of time just barely one or two days over a month in the middle of the slowest time of year 4 dry Freight you are already talking about leaving. Now but no holiday pay, the no bonuses of any kind,etc. You have a legitimate complaint there. But to be changing jobs in the slowest time of year is not going to do you any good. If you decide that you still want to change do yourself a favor. and do some diligent research on the company that you are enquiring of. Hometime, benefits, retirement options, whether or not the equipment has all the play pretties in them or not. if that is important to you. Find out if they pay holiday pay, find out if they pay detention pay, layover pay.ect,ect . But when you change jobs again understand the time of year you are doing it and know it is going to be slow. And stick it out until your company knows how you will run for at least a solid year before you jump ship. Again Smurf truly I am not trying to pick on you

 

Number One Don, what you said makes sense to me. I was let go by Smurfs same company, Cargo Transporters at the end of September for breaking cab fairing and a ticket (failure to obey a sign) not 90 days apart. From what I have been reading, they have been firing guys for less than that (suspicion of speeding). It makes me think it is the company's way of "trimming the sails" for an expected very slow winter and keeping their more veteran drivers (was with them for nearly 16 months). I did what I did. The company had cause and it is at "at will" agreement and I walked away gracefully and appreciated the opportunity they gave me. I originally thought they wanted to flush out the imperfects, but now I see it differently. Anticipating a really slow season so they trim the sails to be able to take care of the long time vets there at the company. Makes sense to me. I am headed to Total with a sign on/retention bonus that should help with a few months of the slow season and see what March brings. I have a "safe haven" for the winter and at least keep my bills paid. Been living off my savings for most of the last two months. I thought nobody would hire me for the incident and ticket, but maybe that was more of a cover for the slowdown anticipated. After all, it IS/WAS AN ELECTION YEAR. Things are scary with the economy right now. I appreciate your perspective #1 Don!

 

Total is a no go for me. They wanted me to sign off on deductions out of my paycheck for incidental vehicle damage, $1.00/ mile for out of route penalty, wrong fuel stop. A bit too much micromanagement for me. I think I am finished with OTR, if not trucking for good...My wife wants me home. Even if I am making minimum wage. I am at wits end. I didn't want it to end, but nobody who is anybody, wants me. Maybe, I can become a fleet leader.

 

local ltl man, go for it,ltl..........