schneider is the worst.

This should not be a surprise. They are in business to make money and they will always put their own agenda ahead of yours. Get used to it.

 

yes, you are correct - the higher speed is when you are on the pedal, not in cruise. The 5% allows you those occassions to pull out and accelerate past slower trucks. My only problem was that I tend to go faster in beltway type congestion because i feel it is safer to run past the slower traffic that is nose to tail. But even with that, I dont think I ever maxed out my overspeed allowance in 2 years (it was idling that killed my bonuses).

 

I think it is the idle policy, not the overspeed that is set up to kill bonuses. You want me to live in your truck, yet you want me to be well rested, yet you do not want me to have the freedom to maintain a steady temp in my bunk?
As the other poster said, I never really had an issue with winter months - the bunk heaters were good and extreme cold we are supposed to idle anyway, so I notified my dbl the next day.
But really, from March thru October, the a/c is needed often - maybe not due to extreme heat, but if it rains and I have to close up the windows? or on a nice day when I'm parked between 2 rigs that insist on idling and blowing their 175 degree heat at my truck?
yeah, I'm rolling up the windows and setting the a/c on a comfortable temp.
Add to that lack of miles where I am sitting, often in the heat of the day, and not running, sorry, I'm NOT living in the driver's lounge in the truck stop to get free a/c, my rig is my office and that is where i will be.
Add to that delivery schedules that require nite driving and sleeping in the heat of the day and again, it is my comfort, so I can get good rest, and not crash your truck. How dare they tell me there is a limit to my idle time if they refuse to install a CPU.
Yeah, I quit over that issue.

 

You are totally correct. When you live in your truck it is not unreasonable to expect to be comfortable. SNI does not consider driver comfort a priority. It is my single biggest complaint. For a company that is concerned about driver sleep and alertness, you would think this problem would be resolved. But as much as SNI places emphasis on safety, when it comes down to spending money to help a driver sleep better and in comfort, they won't do it. It puts into question the sincerity of all other SNI safety policies when the single most important safety issue (quality sleep) is ignored.

 

The next time someone is in an accident the driver needs to include in his report "My company will not allow me to idle the truck in order to maintain a healthy sleeping environment."

After a few law suits the "Industry standard" will change.

One good $55,000,000.00 should suffice.

OR

You can just file a formal complaint with your DBL.
Record their written response. If punished or terminated file a federal complaint. Follow ALL complaint procedures to the letter. Complain all the way up to Secretary of Transportation.

This is a "Safety related issue." They are putting your ability to operate safely (Fatigued driving) in jeopardy to increase their profits.

There are heat and A/C systems available that run off batteries (Separate from trucks batteries) that can be installed for around $4000.00 per unit.

Sorry trucking companies, it is the cost of doing business.

 

well, been a while again.
#####s about miles...wow....say it is not so. that is the story of trucking. winter not bad. early spring....very bad. had to take vacation in january to get a desent pay check. feb not better with march and good either.
april looking good, may looking great. welcome to trucking, 2000 miles on average is about right if you are not running 48. i run west coast and i have had 3000 miles week. drop on sunday with a delivery on saturday. 3000. then again i have had less then 1000 miles also. that is because i came out on a tuesday.
the only thing that really sucks about this company is hometime. i almost missed my birthday, almost missed my wifes birthday, been coming home late so that both my wife and daughter are ##$$&%. they want you out there to make money. period. end story.
if it was a driver first company, all trucks would have apu and run at least 65 and get drivers home when they want to not when they can. this would be a great company....then again trying to find a company like that....good luck.
all i can say is deal with it as best as you can. come here and grip, vent and complain. at least you know that you are not alone. hahaa.

 

I think drivers experience with Schneider comes down to their DBL. I've read here and heard horror stories that make me wonder if there aren't 2 companies running pumpkin trucks. I have been with Schneider for a little over 8 months now and have loved it. Yea I have bad weeks as any driver will, but overall I'm very pleased. With a little planning in the winter you can stay warm without breaking their idle policy, and like right now, the idle is at 30% before they say anything to you. I've idled the truck all I want the past 2 weeks and am hovering at about 30%. I suppose if my DBL was a nazi I would get talked at about it, but as I said it's all in who you get because mine could probably care less.
So if you are with Schneider and it's not working out for you, ask for a new DBL. That could change everything for you, or it could fix nothing. Couldn't hurt to try. But take what I say with a grain of salt, I actually AM a trainer hehe.

-+

 

I really see no reason to coplain about the lack Of APU's in a pumkin truck unless they told you in orientation you would have one.

Does anyone not know how hot or cold it can get in a non running vehicle?

As long as they can get bodies to put in the seat why should they care?

If you ask the recruiter, does your company have a idle policy, and if so what arangments have you made to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and the phone goes silent, then just move on to the next company on the list.

 

well, i got my first service failure in over 2 years. not because of me, mind you, but my dbl gave me a load that i was not even there to accept. beat that. no mac18 or letting them know i was there. she gave me one and then the next day that i came in, she informed me that i was my bad. the back story on this is this,
i had a 2300 delivery about 1 hour away. gave it to me at the last moment of course, by the time i got back and parked trailer did paper work, 0230. so i decided not to take that as one of my days off due to i worked that day. well, i was wrong i.a.c. with my dbl. after that, what the hell, i overspeed and idle as much as i wanted to. still got it with in bonus catagory but sense i have a supposed service failure, nothing there. oh well, try to keep it with in the limits in slow states and run a little harder in the fast states. idle, when you are in 100+ heat index because you got to sleep during the day in order to run at night to make a delivery, run it. who cares.
the way i see it, is that 2 cent per mile that they are going to give you at the end of the qtr more or less then what they are going to spend on fuel when you are idleing and speeding....i would say less.. so from now on...i do what i feel. the hell with them. 5 % over speed. i am there.... 25% idle in summer time....i am there. no more keeping everything as low as possible.
and you are correct, dbl can make or break you. just like any other company.

 

hold the phone. here is an update.
ok, looks like i will still get my bonus. wow 2%, but it will help us move and pay rent. looks like the power to be will over ride the failure and give it to me. that is great.

the one thing i can postively say about schnieder is this, they will pay you what you deserve. they will not cheat you out of any pay. how many drivers can say that about there company. if you got money coming to you, you let your dbl know and there is it is next payday.
yes the idle sucks. yes the over speed sucks. yes the company is cheap. but at least they will pay you what you deserve. that is the most important thing. besides they give you more then enough time to get there, if you are willing to drive. yes do you job for more then 8 hours at day if needed.
there are so many drivers out there that will not run past there 8 hours. good thing they are company drivers, if they where o/o they would be broke in a month. these are the same guys that complain when they only get 2000 miles a week also.
if you are willing to drive, the miles are out there. just like this job intiles, drive. that is your job.
give you more update later.