Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Hmmmmm????? :smt017

 

Sorry for the late response.

I walked off on Gordon.

Was pre-planned a load LA to Seattle. One of the few times I had a Preplan more than a day in advance. Load was supposed to be waiting in the Rancho yard. Couldn't find trailer.

Asked Weekend dispatch to confirm if trailer was in yard.

It was given to another driver. No notification to me. Told to sit tight in Rancho and they would find me a load some time the next day.

Called Wife -- she also said F-that and it was cheaper for her to drive to LA and back than take the bus so I packed and she drove down Picked me up

Q-comm that I was done and the truck was in the yard, the keys and Com data card @ the guard shack because I couldn't find anyone in the shop.

In the morning I had a Voice mail from the DM for a pre-plan (Phone was off), then a second saying she found the last Q-comm I sent. One from Travis confirming he had seen the MSG.

Then a phone call a couple of weeks later from a survey place as an "exit interview".

Mostly painless after I made the decision to pull the plug.

 

Quitting is always harder on you than it is the company.

They have people lined up to get in your truck so there is really no incentive for them to consider putting forth any effort for driver retention.

I always thought if they made as much effort to keep the drivers they have instead of hire new ones it would cost less.

But.. what do I know..

I do think it is funny that several of the companies I left never made one effort to keep me but I get dozens of letters from them wanting me to come back plus big sign on bonuses... go figure..

 

One of my complaints was lack of equipment.

Several Times I had to have friends or wife drive out to Lathrop to pick me up for home time. There were no Empty refers to leave @ a drop and hook customer around the corner from my place.

Finally just left my pickup out there in Lathrop and came back to an empty fuel tank.

 

Yep somebody Siphoned my gas from the pickup @ Lathrop.

Since employee parking is neither fenced nor secured it did not surprise me a bit.

The Gas thing was just annoying.

Short list of issues that caused my departure 10 months ago:

Not enough miles **
Low pennies/mile and Low Extras pay. (extra drops and such)
too much time on loads (70 rarely got thin)
Lack of pre-plans. Kept asking via phone and QC.
Most of the time when I emptied I did not have a clue where next PU was so could not even make an educated guess which direction to roll.
Lack of Equipment (refer trailers)
Weekend/00:00 to 08:00 dispatch had no clue about refer group
Felt unsafe governed @ 60mph. Was constantly worried about getting hit from behind.
Hate Cascadias -- (They wouldn't let me keep the Columbia I had).

** Running 3 weeks @ a shot I would average 400 miles a day. Should have been closer to 500 even with a governed truck.

 

Ergonomics.

The seats has too much lumbar support even when fully deflated. (My back likes potato chip chairs)
I can not find a comfortable grip on the wheel because spokes are too wide because of Cruise/eng. brake buttons.
Most every switch on the dash is just out of reach while driving
Anything put on the Dashboard falls out of reach.
Doors in the sleeper rattle.
Could never get stuff comfortable in the sleeper.


And these are consistent among the 6 Cascadias I have driven.

I was fine with the Detroit. Slight preference toward the ISX. Actually prefered the Cummins in the couple of old Columbia loaners I drove (322x series).