New Pay Package

My experience was not like that at all. I ran a lot of hours with my 62 mph truck, mostly regional ... until I told my FM that I was hired to cover 'em all. And that one phone call boosted my miles significantly, inclement weather in Wyoming notwithstanding. My only beef with them was the inoperative APU I carried around and their inability to get me somewhere to fix it. I had good experiences with the Heartland shops in Ohio and the Mother Ship, and even had a good - but strange - experience somewhere out West involving a Heartland truck hooking up to a GTI trailer while a GTI truck was looking for one...me.

 

I see Joseph and HOAT walking, side-by-side, arm-in-arm into the sunset.

Violins.

Okay, if that's the BEST you can do, Joseph. I'm not surprised.

Oh, yeah, and Denali trailing behind, hoping to come back, too...

 

Uh, I think you and I (surprisingly, and because this happened, I truly believe there is hope for the Middle East) are on the same page as opposed to HOAT and I.....

 

Not me. I hope you continue to post! While I disagree with much of what you've said and the fervor with which you say it, I do appreciate your in-the-front-office view of these companies during an important, complex transition. It might be important for me in, say...six months or so...

 

Take a 10 and get some sleep. Clearly, you're very, very tired.

 

Denali, there are names for guys like you that would get me busted again...

...not meaning to insult ANYONE, of course.

 

Please don't! Banned or Retired under your name was ugly!

 

When it's time, my options will be severely limited, so I hope GTI is still my friend...!

 

The old Gordon went to bat for me when I screwed up. 'Course, they'd just paid me, overpaid me, in fact, that bonus and wanted their money's worth. Got it back in, well, you know...

PEEWEE LOADS and PEEWEE PAYCHECKS!!

I expect there'll still be some of those left when you get unbanned/unretired.

 

I'm really not trying to sell anybody anything or get anyone to sign up. As I mentioned before it is just important to me to bring another perspective and offer information that can clear up some misnomers, as I do have direct access to certain info. Every once in awhile I get fired up, I am passionate about our company. It is still strange to me being compared to the so-called megas, because that isn't where we came from, and that isn't where we are today. I still remember our CEO getting in trucks and delivering loads across the country because he wanted to talk to our drivers out on the road and see what they were thinking from their perspective and what they were experiencing. His son, our current CEO, started with the company washing trucks in the wash bay for a quarter per truck when he was 10 years old. These are really good people who have lived trucking their entire lives and really know what they are doing. When I started with Heartland, we were just a small company. The only reason we are a little larger now is because we have been successful with growing our customer base, successful with growing our driver team because more drivers want to come here and stay here than drivers who don't, and successful navigating through all the challenging times that trucking has thrown at us over the years. Nothing has been given to us. Our longest term driver has been with the company for 36 years. Like I said, not everyone wants to be a part of the excellence that is demanded here and it 'ain't for everyone'. But it gets me going sometimes when people want to tear down the company and say it isn't a good company, or challenge the integrity of our people.