Stevens Transport aviary

Got my load out of Nebraska going to Laredo. Got pulled in for my very first level 1 in Kansas. Proud owner of a CVSA sticker. Yay!

 

yeh love that sticker the few times ive been pulled in they see the sticker and wave me on by

 

Delirious Nomad... Armored Saint fan by any chance?

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ding ding ding ding, we have a winner!!!!!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well, not so much a fan, but loved the album cover and the name, and since I was a military kid growing up and always a bit on the nutty side, just kinda adopted the name, ya' know?

 

It's a good album... I have a few of theirs.

 

I thought things were running smoother!

 

once the diesel gets in your blood it never leaves.
I went to local work, hauling crude oil from the fields to the pipelines... work for Gazelle Transport. It has been feast or famine, along with growing pains... Right now we need twice as many trucks and drivers, to haul all the oil, and it keeps growing. Trucks are running 24/7, so maintenance has taken a back seat, and the trucks are taking a beating on the dirt lease roads.

And the current terminal manager just does not understand a person wanting a life outside of work.

 

One of the hardest concepts for people to understand, and I think the younger the person, the harder to understand, is how the prime directive for a business is to make money.
If it doesn't make money, no one has a job.
In the purest sense of the concept, a company does not care if you are happy, fat, dumb or cute. They care if you can make them money.
If they can provide creature comforts while making money, then often times they will.
but profits HAVE to come first!
In this business environment, competition is fierce and profits are hard to come by or maintain.
So the pressure is (and always has been) on the workers. They suffer the brunt of the pressure.
Whether a terminal manager, or any other manager, understands what the drivers or office people want is immaterial. His/her job is to produce profits.
There are two congruent factors that dictate how we are treated:
1. Is the company making profit?
2. Are there more people wanting our job than positions available?

So long as this economy is the way it is, and it is likely to become worse at the very least. So long as there is a line of people wanting our jobs, and as long as the company is making money...there is no incentive to change.

If suddenly there was a TRUE shortage of driver, companies would simply raise the rate of pay. While this won't do away with all the bs of the job, some would find it acceptable if paid another couple cents.
Companies that primarily make money from hauling freight, pay what they have to in order to attract the drivers they deem best for their business model.
It's complicated, but it all boils down to the same two things, listed above.
And if they are making money, there is no reason to change.

 

that is so true Emulsified but i just want to say im experienced and leave sat for training i have to start over but im freaking nervous is this normal

 

Yes the company needs to make a profit....which this company is not, as they spend HUGE amounts of money to expand into WY and Colorado. but in WYoming the unemployment level is below 3%... anyone who wants to work has a job. The company is struggling to attract drivers, even with a $10,000 sign on bonus. The terminal manager thinks that money is the only way to motivate a person. He did come from Oregon. He does not understand that some of us don't want to work 16 hour days, 7 days a week like he does.

Gazelle was able to expand into Colorado and Wyoming due to their safety rating with shell oil. And the president of the company believes in safety, and giving people time off to regenerate. Our new terminal manager does not have those values, from his actions. And due to his fatigue, mistakes are becoming common place.

I know this is the Stevens Aviary, but many of my friends are here, and I thank you all for letting me vent, and getting your views on the subject.