Stay Away!

I have been with this company for 7 years now, my entire driving career, all accident free. I can only think of one reason to stay with this company, I love their trucks. But moreso the transmissions. I have officially been converted to driving only automatic trucks.

Anyrate, I will go into what I can about the company..

First, their training group isnt entirely bad. They currently have a program where the trainer does no driving at all except to show the student how to do this or that. They are not supposed to drive for long periods unless they are running out of hours to get the load there. Other than that, the trainer is to sit in the jump seat. But their chump change pay rate for the students suck. I dont like the fact that I can not choose my student either. If a trainer feels racial tension towards a certain race or creed or sex, then how good of a training is that student really going to get. They tried to get me to train 3 mexican speaking, with little to no english, students in a row, and I flat out refused. This got me banned from the training program. There company school got closed down by the state of OHIO last year because the werent following some simple state laws. Kinda surprising for a ATA PRIMARY supporting company!

Speaking of the ATA, the Companys co-founder/co-ceo, Pat Quinn, is the lead chairman for the ATA, American Trucking Assoc., or what I affectionatly call, against truckers assoc. So in other words, its only about the money, and they probly could care less about the driver as long as there is some monkey in the seat behind the wheel.

This company has gotten entirely to big for its own good. They have recently aquired Total Transport (MS), Arnold Transport, Abilene Transport, Carpet Max, Paragon Leasing, Rosedale, large percentages of many other companys, and are working on a large scale buy out of a HUGE company. So you can see why the drivers mean nothing to the company..

They do offer these nice company picnics, where the bring in truck stop reps, and start handing out free stuff. But this is only a internal recruiting measure. All they are trying to do is recruit there solos into teaming up with someone, and using high pressure sales tactics to do this. I dont know about y'all, but I live in a low pressure world, living a low pressure life, and these people had me about to hurt someone...

They dont really take care of their equipment. They have this company moto right now called "Pride in your ride". But when you go to the equipment coordinators office, get your keys, and go out to your truck, its more than likely going to either have been recently wrecked, and only halfway put back together, or not at all. My hood on my 04 Volvo 780 is half PINK from a accident it had right befor I got it. They cant even pay for quality repair work. If you do decide to come and work for them, bring a digital camera, and take pictures of all the damage on the truck with a date stamp in the picture, get them printed out, and signed off on by someone at the company. They have this nasty habbit of accusing the new driver of old damage when they turn in the truck. My first truck with this company had no heat, its in the middle of January, and I am freezing my rear off. I had to gripe and complain forever and a day to try to get it fixed. They wanted me to take it to all the diferent shops, that were all indoors and heated. So the heat worked for them. After the seventh shop, I sent a msg to the breakdown dept telling them I still have no heat, there reply, and I quote here "quit your bi&%^ng and drive the truck. There is nothing wrong with it". I didnt take kindly to this, and made a bee line for a weigh station. A nice 12000 dollar ticket later, I was no longer running the north, and running the Texas corridors, with breakdown asking me every day if I needed money for a hotel. They havent screwed with me since on a break down issue.

A 65 MPH governer is the company standard now unless you have 4 years with the company, and even then its only bumped up to 67. Oh no, think I am going to get a 2 mph nosebleed!! I dont understand the governors on trucks. Its a PROVEN fact that split speed limits are in fact DANGEROUS!, and when you mandate a company, and working on a national, split speed limit, its no wonder these "slow" companys have the highest rates of accidents. Run unders from drivng to slow, and ditch walkers from falling asleep at the wheel cause you cant even do the speed limit in 74% of the country.

The options that come with the trucks are lacking at best. They have replaced the fender mirrors with a camera system, that breaks every other week. But for some reason that 30 mirror costs them more than the 865 dollar (actual number) camera system that breaks routinely and costs the same amount to fix every time it does. The trucks dont even have a trollie valve, and yet they require to hook up to a trailer like your truck does have one when going thru training and being upgraded, which makes no sense to me. They recently started getting trucks that had power passenger side windows, and I think if they had a choice, it wouldnt even have that cause they cost money or some such junk. I love the collision avoidance system... Oh wait they are taking those out cause some drivers were complaining. Well no duh they were complaining. Truckers inherently dont like technology. They are still getting used to the IDEA of a automatic transmissions!! No fridges, no cd players (we are in the 21st century right?), no inverters, no battery packs, no APU's. But if you, the driver, want something installed like that, it better be the kind they like or they wont install it. But I do like the 5th wheel slide, and release buttons. That makes like a tad bit easier, and less greasier.

At the terminals you can count on not being treated with any respect, and any dropped trailer you pick up is going to have new damage it needs fixed cause the yard jockeys are pretty much morons. There drivers cant even show any respect. Try waving at one while driving down the road, if you get one to wave back, you have found the 1 in 122 drivers that actually wave back. If you get one to talk to you on the radio, you have found the 1 in aprox 1000 that will talk back. Can you see how fed up I am with these guys? I actually counted that?

In closing, I am leaving this company. Going somewhere else, any where else, but this hell hole.

Edit: Wow that was alot of complaing and typing LOL..
Edit2: added short story above.

 

The update for me is they decided to terminate my employment. 7 Years safe driving, no tickets, 100% on time.. Im really trying to understand the logic but there is a long story behind it that involves a Volvo Dealer in Georgia, I am going to copy and paste the story and let you decide..

They are saying that I voilated there non-agression policy. Which by the looks of things, it was there breakdown dept that dropped the ball. I acted safely, and what i beleive to be rationally in a threatening situation.

Anyways, I am moving on to bigger and better things. Posibly Owner/Operator, maybe company again, but I am trying to end my career in trucking. This industry, thru politics has gotten unsafe, and undesireable.

 

I am guessing you didnt read the whole story, in either case, it doesnt matter. First and foremost, I also am a ASE certified mechanic, and know all about owners of vehicles coming out and doing things to, or in, the vehicle they shouldnt have. Secondly, I wasnt standing in front of the bays. I was walking around the parking lot, being bored out of my mind, smoking my cigarette. I as a ex-mechanic, also hate it when people are standing over my shoulder watching everything I do. So I stay away from the bay, unless I need something. And even then, befor I enter the bay, I ask a tech if its alright. Safety is a HUGE deal to me. And I normally wont do anything that might endanger anyone, be it a tech, driver, or whatever. I didnt know I had to ask anyone, to go out on a PUBLIC access parking lot, to have a smoke. So hell no, I didnt ask anyone. The Tech was almost arrested for threatening me, and illegal detainment (kidnapping basicly). Now that I have justified my actions to you, I will leave this post saying this, I DONT HAVE TO JUSTIFY MY ACTIONS TO ANYONE, let alone you. My home state, by a matter of law, agrees with my actions, my lawyer also agrees, as defined by law. Now its just a matter of whether or not to bring charges against this company for wrongful termination.