Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Dispatch #12--Columbus, IN-Indy--44 miles w/Trainer, $23.36

From Hammond to Columbus was a couple hundred miles down I-65. It was a partial live load, if I remember correctly. We dropped our empty and our outbound trailer was up to the dock still loading. We hooked up and waited. Bins, which BTW are less stable than pallets... Another 'just-in-time' load. Had to be there by 2 p.m. We would be there by 2 p.m., all right, and it was gonna be a push but I didn't know it yet. The customer would be waiting.

We fueled. We passed through Indy. As we got closer, I started to realize it was going to be tight. I started to count out loud the time left and the miles left. The Trainer had a clock on the dash that was 7 or so minutes fast but he hadn't told me yet. Felt like a gift from above when he told me we had that extra time. "You ever late on a Service Watch load?" I asked. "Never," he replied. Oh, great, I thought. A Service Watch load is late if one minute late, or so I've been told.

As we got closer, I decided to turn the tables. "I've gotta pee," I said. "We're gonna hafta stop! Sorry, but we're just gonna hafta stop." I expected him to light up. Tell me to put it in a cup. He didn't. "There's a rest area up ahead," he said as calm as the proverbial cucumber. "Pull over there." Well, that took the air out of my sail. No fun at all. Faced with the prospect of a late Service Watch load, he didn't flinch. I told him I didn't have to pee. Just trying to get a rise out of him. He didn't flinch at that, either.

The Receiver was definitely waiting for this load. No joke. After making delivery on time we turned right around and headed back to Indy. Two weeks with this guy would have cut my learning curve down by half. Maybe more. Well, well worth the investment of my time. (Or yours.) "You'll be fine," he said once we got to Indy. "You had some bad habits, that's all. You'll be fine." So I got my sleeping bag out of his truck, logged back in to my QC and set my PTA ('Projected Time Available') for eight o'clock on Thursday, the following day.

The Trainer pulled out for Chicago. He had to be there in just enough time to get there. No doubt he did.



Written July 8, 2013 at Bloomington, IN. All rights reserved by author.

 

Dispatch #13--Indy-Wash Courthouse OH--166 miles, $51.46

As soon as I put my 8 (Macro 8, 'Ready for Duty') in at 8 a.m. the next morning, the QC lit up with a Pre-Plan to Washington Courthouse. I knew there were plenty of dropped loads on the yard and that Gordon could have sent me on my way with any of those. Instead, Gordon wanted my 2 free loading hours and dispatched me to pick up a load in Indy. So instead of a loaded trailer I found an empty on the yard.

It would be trivial for the Indy terminal to have drivers flag dropped empties with a blue Gordon seal strung loose (not sealed) at the billbox. Gordon does not do this and the Safety Guy told me that it had been suggested numerous times in the past and rejected each time. The result is that all day long driver after driver walks and drives from trailer to trailer, opening the billbox of each trailer. If there's no bill, he best still walk around back to see if it's sealed. The only explanation for the resistance to this simple, time-saving procedure (or one similar) of flagging empties is that Gordon doesn't have to pay for that time. Guarantee you, if Gordon had to pay for that hook up time, a new procedure would be in place just as fast.

In short, Gordon doesn't care.

Gordon is a two-tiered system. Newbies are told they will run 2100-2200 miles per week. Not mentioned is that it's a 7-day, 14-hour per day week. There was much discussion at Orientation about wanting to get away from short loads, especially from C.R. England and Super Service, the brothers-in-law. Nothing was said by Gordon that short loads is exactly what they would get. They expected otherwise. Some drivers never get off short loads. Others get 3600 miles per week out the gate. One really sharp fellow who had two years with PAM, asked me not to tell anyone.

He had started a week or two before me, had run 3600 miles every week since he started. The Fleet Manager had sent him with another driver to Pontoon Beach and the truck there was a pit. He told her that Gordon could keep the job. She sent him back to Indy for a brand-new Cascadia. As a matter of fact, that's how we started talking. I commented about the show room condition of his truck. "It should be," he said, "It's brand new!"

Who Gordon is and what Gordon's policies are depends on who you talk to at Gordon. Really. One driver may get all or mostly all short loads. Another, like this fellow, runs all out from Day One. But he had two years with PAM, told Gordon that he'd take any load, any where, any weather, had no problem with chaining up and wasn't afraid of hills or mountains. This extends to management, too. More on this later.

The run to Washington Courthouse was uneventful and lined up nicely with my next load up to Coldwater, MI. Apparently Gordon thought my two-days with the Trainer was the equivalent of a stinker load--it wasn't; it was a job-preserver--but Dispatch set me up with a good two-load combination. A combined 434 miles and a pleasant run.


Written July 9, 2013 in Spencer, IN at the laundromat next door to Babb's SuperValue. All rights reserved by author.

 

Dispatch #14--WashCourtHse-Columbus, OH-Coldwater, MI--268 miles, $83.08

Now right about here I expect tow614 to pop up and take exception to my previous message about what I regard as Gordon's abuse of my time; theft of my work and labor IMO. No one has followed this thread more closely. I don't know how he drives and manages to light up at the bottom of the page before I complete editing the page. For a while I thought he was a Gordon troll. He's not, at least I think he's not. So I thought I'd write two pages here before uploading the first and elaborate.

Only slaves and prisoners are required to work for free. Not free men or free women. Gordon's opinion of drivers is found in the ways in which Gordon reaches into your pocket and takes out what monetarily should be there. My goal was a net of $750 per week and Gordon never came close; and I'm talking about a 5-day week, not seven.

Yes, if Gordon had met that $750/week net I'd feel less ripped off of my time. Had Gordon chose, Gordon could have run me any combination of loads to make me better money. I'm not alone here. tow614 does better than I did because he benefits, IMO, from a two-tiered system that grinds newbies down with start-and-stop 0-300 mile loads that require 2 free hours loading, free scaling of the load and 2 free hours unloading. It takes no longer to write down the details of a 2000-mile load than for a 200-mile load.

Your work week looks a lot better with a 2000-mile load. tow614 says, "You have to look at trucking in a similar way you would piece work. You only get paid for the pieces you produce but there is a lot of tasks that you must perform to enable you to produce that you do not directly get paid for but are factored into your production pay."

That's silly. Sorry. You wouldn't take a job for piece work that required you work two-hours free before and two-hours free after and an hour free during. Once you get down into those short 0-300 stinker loads, that 'free-to-Gordon' labor is simply oppressive. Keep in mind this is a force-dispatch company. Gordon picks and chooses the financial winners and losers. In fact, I think Gordon has so many stinker loads that it has to grind down a portion of its new hires in order to keep the tow614s running 3000 miles/week.

Michigan was a delight. I grew up in Northern Minnesota so I thoroughly enjoyed the familiar landscape. In my mind I thanked the Mythical Planner and my DM. Not to mention that I still had a job. However, I still did not know how poor the pay was at Gordon. Had I known, I still would have stayed on. I expected it wouldn't be great.

My goal at this time was six months with Gordon, make a decision whether to lease a truck and if not, move on to better pay. That's what I eventually did. Dispatch #14 wraps up my first 3 weeks at Gordon. Net $869.46 (including $1000 bonus) week 1; net $472.51 week 2; net $294.29 week 3: I worked 3 long weeks for the pay I expect for 2 and them's 2 5-day weeks @ $750 net each that I figure as my MINIMUM.


Also written July 9, 2013 in Spencer, IN at the laundromat next to Babb's SuperValue. All rights reserved by author.

 

Further Response to tow614

tow614's next argument is going to be that the 3000-mile drivers are more valuable to Gordon. Not true. In fact, the reverse is true. Gordon pays training at Orientation, good bonuses, hotel expenses and food as well as special management to bring newbies in to the Gordon house. Newbies are more essential, in fact, than the tow614s. Newbies absorb those stinker loads at a higher rate than the tow614s.

tow614 is a beneficiary of an ugly, two-tiered system, IMO. Gordon's regard for its experienced drivers, IMO, is not all that much either. Newbies are essential and more expendable, yes; and they are carefully misled (IMO) about what to expect.

During Viet Nam, fresh recruits were routinely put on point where their life expectancy was short. I recall a conversation with a buddy who went through brutal, intense combat and recon who exclaimed, "They weren't worth as much!" I shot back, "Their mothers didn't think so!" It still rankles me. Families sent their boys expecting the service would protect them as much as possible in war time, not use them as fodder.

Some newbies end up so broke that, ironically, they can't quit for a while. So they continue to drive so the tow614s can rack up 3000-mile weeks.

tow614 will argue that this is an OTR industry practice. Which is no doubt true. Doesn't make it right and it's exacerbated by requiring free labor on 0-300 mile loads. In my opinion its unethical and actionable, as I've said before.

I am reminded of the opening scene and the opening song of Les Miserables:

"Look down, Look down. You'll always be a slave."


(I am relieved that chowick1966 has returned to his thread, "Pastures new @ Gordon." I had feared that Gordon leaned on him. There is another good thread by joseph1135 under Favorite Trucking Companies, "My new adventure with Gordon Trucking.")


Also written July 9, 2013 in Spencer, IN at the laundromat next to Babb's SuperValu. All rights reserved by author.

 

tow614's Last Refuge

tow614's last refuge is that he thinks his 4 years at Gordon says more than my mere 5 months. Not true! tow614 hasn't done a blog of his Gordon experience, for one. And it's just that fact that I was a new guy to Gordon in a unique position to document my Gordon experience from Day 1 that makes my documented experience valuable.

Had I four years or five years with Gordon like tow614, I would be hard pressed to criticize a two-tier system that I directly benefit from. No, let Gordon bring the rookies on, let the rookies absorb as many stinker loads as possible. That's one more stinker load that I don't have to do. And I have to do enough of them as it is!

No, the very idea that big, wealthy Gordon Trucking has no choice but to rip off drivers, especially new drivers, who pull the 0-300-mile stinker loads is bogus IMO. It is even more egregious to the extent that Gordon is circumspect about what to expect IMO. Gordon was more upfront about the 16-year-reduced life expectancy than about pay IMO.




Also written in Spencer, IN at the laundromat next to Babb's. It's hot out and I need to run home and get my dogs out of the heat. All rights reserved by author.

 

From Effingham Petro

So, ironically, as we close out my first three rather eventful weeks at GTI (Gordon Trucking) I am Springfield bound and taking a sleeper break at about 1:00 a.m. at the Effingham Petro, the same truck stop I stayed at my first night with a truck (3579) at Gordon. Back then, although I made my delivery 'on time', I was late for my stacked PU, which meant staying over at the Petro, not getting any detention and only to have the shipper hold me up until 3:00 p.m. the next day. (See various messages, pages 3 & 4.)

tow614 states, "As for all those shorties.. well trust me .. we all run our share of them..we just run them faster a[s you] would have in time...sorry ... gotta go now.. all done here.." and he's 100 per cent correct. The Trainer, for example, would not only have made that first delivery and PU (pick up) on time, he would have had up to 7 hours of paid detention if the shipper failed to find the freight for the next load; if the shipper did find it in timely fashion, the Trainer would have made Seymour that night. No doubt!

Experience does count. tow614 is right. I'll continue this when I take my 10 and list my next three weeks the same way I did the first three. Dispatch, miles and pay.

Interesting being here at the Effingham Petro, though. This run Indy-Springfield, MO-Indy pays me more than I made many 7-day, 98-hour weeks at Gordon... and not just because I was a rookie. If you load and unload each day, and can only run so many miles like on a peewee Gordon stinker load, your pay is going to be peewee, too.

"Did you hear that God contacted Gordon?" "No,-what-for?" "Apparently she needed a loan for something or other and figured that as big and rich as Gordon is, Gordon could afford it." "So,-what-happened." "Well, they had some trouble verifying God's credit; so they decided to treat her like they would a driver who wants to lease a truck. She has to run Gordon's stinker loads for six months first, and then they'll decide..."



Written at Effingham, IL (Petro) July 10, 2013. All rights reservd by author.