New horizons with Holland Enterprises (Fargo,ND)

I saw a 17 Holland truck on Monday. It didn't have LED headlights.

 

Thanks.

 

Headed to Holland Orientation on the 23rd of this month.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

@Doc Daniels - here's the thread on Holland Enterprises Inc.

 

I just got back from vacation. I don't have a company dash cam yet but they are not driver facing.

I did pretty well in the 1st quarter here. I'm not going anywhere. I might take a break from OTR in a couple of years. Or I might just work another 10 years getting my home paid off and then get some $40,000 a year local job 8 hours a day , weekends off.

I have had those bad runs and slow times offf and on here. But year over year I do pretty well considering all the other little requirements I look for in a company. I would leave if they installed driver facing cams , but they're not going to do that. There are not many companies that just install the outward facing cams. That tells me they are thinking about the concerns of the driver at least in this issue.

 

I went to Buenos Aires where my sister and her family live, long story. But the truck drivers there are highly respected and make good money. I have mixed thoughts on Unions in various situations, but it's interesting that the truck driver Union there is one of the most powerful Unions in the country.

My nephew plays in a little soccer league, and while I was there they played the kids of the Truck Drivers soccer club. They have all these clubs and the truck drivers have their own indoor field and a large banquet area with a kitchen. There is a picture of the Pope who met with the leader of this truck driver soccer club. The soccer clubs also are stepping stones for political office.

 

Did you read here where they recently lost the Unilever account? Things are changing quick around here and not for the better if you like "long, easy runs". More competition for the remaining longer runs, the fair weather drivers are back and taking all the northwestern freight they can get ... not much left for us new guys except the garbage.

 

The Uni lever account was not so great for Holland I don't think recently. I talked to a couple of the few independent lease drivers we have and they said they would refuse to do those loads because they paid so bad. One of the better paying accounts one said was the Odwalla juice.

But if new drivers have a hard time getting loads delivered on time, that will be bad for all of us. And I mean new to trucking, not this company. The whole industry is pushing towards a global economy to get cheaper drivers from some countries overseas who will work harder (piss while driving and poop in the truck) and ultimately driverless trucks. Or almost driverless, where the driver would just sit there and take over for city driving or emergencies. You can see how all of this technology is preparing for that.

But you did better in the 1st quarter than me. You said you had 39,000 miles. I had 36,000. Since I have been here over 2 years, they pay for my health insurance. I like the pet policy, APU, large truck for storage, lots of Western driving, no fuel routing, no micro managing. I have said time and again why I like it here. But not everyone is like me. So I can completely understand if you want to go somewhere else. I'm not trying to talk anyone into staying or going, just saying where I'm at.

 

Any account that pays the bills and has consistent freight is a good account, especially if you can't replace the lost miles. In this economy and given how many reefer carriers are chasing the same freight you keep what you have because the cost to replace it or get it back is too high.

I get sometimes an account is going to be lost no matter due to competitive measures beyond your ability to meet and this is likely the case with Unilever. But it's going to hurt. Especially the drivers who came to Holland for the long, consistent freight.

Last 2 weeks I'm stuck running "north and south" with short loads with extra day more than needed on most of them.