Terminal Rats

I may not be here after my year. I can promise you that unless something drastic happens that I WILL finish my contract. This is a starter company. I will use them for what I need. Which is to get my licence and get my experience to make me employable eslewhere. There is also a chance that I will like it here and continue after my year. Either way, I stated that I will finish my year, and make my decision from there. A year goes by fast, you keep your head down, dont make too many waves and do like u are supposed to do so that when and if you look elsewhere, you can say that you fulfilled your contractual obligation like you said you would, you keep your licence clean and then all of a sudden, WOW opportunities open up that I didnt have at this point in my life. I can stand on my head in a closet for a year. I am able to look far enough ahead in my life to know that this is my stepping stone to job that I will want, like and even maybe LOVE.

 

The year for me in general went by fast. The first six months flew by... the rest not so much but that was because of truck failures and stuff like that.

 

Well I'm at 9 months. I will say a year goes faster with a good attitude than a bad one. I try to take the good with the bad and see positive in every situation. I guess when I weigh it all out, there has been more good than bad. I've had two unreliable trucks. At least the current one is more reliable than my first. This one has only been towed 3 times in 8 months where the first one was towed twice in one month lol! I've had generally all good FMs. All four that I've had have been good people who were easy to get along with and understanding. I've only missed home time thrice in 9 months. First time was due to breakdown so not the FM's fault. 2nd time was to repower a 1200 mile load going to Florida. Most recently I was the only hazmat guy in Chicago area available to take a load to Phoenix. All three times I was routed home as soon as possible and compensated. I've never been left stranded in the Northeast and I've never been left sitting for days with no miles.

The main two downsides I have with this company are spotty maintenance quality and at least what I perceive as an unwillingness to do the kind of things that make them more competitive with other carriers. Other than that, my pay has been fair for a rookie. Especially when compared to other large carriers such as Werner. I don't have enough complaints to want to quit, in fact I'm working on paperwork now with recruiting to do the "Fleece Purchase" lol!

 

Thank s for your input, everything breaks down but I believe that all issues keep coming back to truck maintenance. Wonder if corporate level really know the level of this problem and if so what actions are being taken. Better operating trucks keeps driver happier and moving which keeps the customers happy. That makes corporate Happy.

 

Right now I am in the Harrisburg TA. While eating I was looking through "The Trucker" newspaper. In it they were reporting the major carrier finance reports. USA Truck was the only carrier of those reported that expressed a bad report. In the report Clif Beckham did not release any numbers, just said it was disappointing. I wonder when the board of that company will see the light and fire that guy!

 

I have found a website that is run by a long time veteran of USA truck. I dont know the exact addy but if you search google for "Riding with Pride USA Truck" his website will show up. I think his name is Ralph. Supposedly any and all things posted on there make their way up the appropriate chain to who they need to go to and responses from the certain dept heads are posted back to questions. I am sure most of the employees know about this already but for those that dont you might want to check it out.

 

Not sure he is that well connected, but here is his website.

 

Well, after venting my frustration about my truck issues and not being able to get loads done with my truck...I accepted a job with another company. Not saying who, but, there have been NOTHING BUT POSITIVE things said about this company, and the drivers I've met are all happy and have a good attitude. Something that I've always had until recently, with this piece of garbage truck! lol So, I'm turning in my truck in 2 weeks and then off to orientation with the new company. Good thing is, I'll be going local after 6 months OTR....and I'll be starting out 5 cents more than what I'm making...plus I'll be home sometime every week! Well, head first, here I go! I REALLY DO LIKE trucking and am really good at it....just have had enough hearing other drivers complain and it's all I hear and makes me wanna complain, but my truck has SERIOUS issues and can't seem to get into a different truck or anything, more or less, when any mechanic come out to my truck for jump start, ANYTHING...they all say this thing has major problems....but yet when I get to a terminal I look like the *******, I for one, am NOT LAZY by any means, and like I said, I love to work my butt off, it's just not happening for me here So, I'll pay for school, that's fine...it CAN be a tax write off for me. This truck hates me, and I hate it KENWORTHS SUCK! haha But the good thing is I live really close to new company's terminal so YEAY!!!!!!

 

Back to the OP. I often plan stops at terminals to coincide with my 10 hour break. Why not? I mean (unless it's Denton or Forest Park) unlimited parking any hour of the clock, free showers, free laundry, Chinese delivery, etc. I don't hang out longer than I need to though and I usually park as far back as possible and NEVER check in unless I need repairs. I've found terminals to be a great place to lose sleep (when the mechanic starts knocking on your door at 0600 saying your trailer is due for services, W Memphis is notorious for that) or lose your load (because your equipment goes in for services or they have another driver that they want to swap).

 

With the exception of the then Spartanburg terminal I very rarely went into a terminal just on a lark. Spartanburg was my home terminal and it's where I kept my personal vehicle. Otherwise I was in a truck stop or driving. However starting in April of 2011 I started driving a series of tractors the USA Truck shops could not keep on the road for more then a week to 10 days without something going wrong with the dang thing. The Van Buren, Vandalia, Indianapolis, West Memphis and Spartanburg terminals all had problems with both the regen systems and the APUs. It became frustrating getting out of the shop hoping to get some miles in, then have tractor go into reduced power mode. I'm sure at some point I might have lashed out at USA Truck in front of a student but that time from April till August was a very tough trying time for me. I still think Jim Shafer and cheap options about fixing trucks is mostly the blame. When you start losing miles and loads it's very difficult to keep a civil tongue. I am sure there are those of you that know how this feels. The ones of you that don't count yourself lucky. But as I said in the Spartanburg Terminal thread, I resent the hell out of being called a terminal rat. However I have the problem solved and see no further need to beat an already dead horse anymore.