Trout Trucking Had Me Put On Medical Hold Over Assumptions

I know someone else posted about this company a few years ago. I figured that I would go ahead and take my bloody bottom by posting a recent experience. This was my first local job after leaving the oilfield and returning to corrections a couple of years ago.

I just finished a short but very eventful stint with this company as of Friday. Not as an O/O but as a company driver. Allow me to shed some recent light on here and please remember that this is my experience and mine alone.

• Fact. You are on call 24/7. This is to include holidays as I was told in orientation.
• Fact. The hours can and will be long depending on what you're hauling. I was in crude aka atmospheric gas oil and the longest shift I had was 21 hours due to plant production. Dispatch made sure to tell me to take my bottom home and gave me three days off for the trouble.
• Fact. You will have to keep a clean truck or you will be reported. I had a bucket with a trash bag in it. I left a couple of cans in said bucket and another driver who drove the truck on my off time (they slip-seat while you're out) took pictures and reported it to the higher ups. Needless to say no matter what was in the bag, I took it out.
• Fact. Everything you do is watched. More on that later.
• Fact. They have inward facing cameras, though they claim they can't see inside your truck.
• Fact. You'd better take any of your equipment off of the truck with you. I've had a few hammers, air chucks and even my H2S monitor stolen recently.
• Fact. Do the job asked of you and will be paid accordingly.
• Fact. Your co-workers are faster to tell on you than you can tie your boots.

Now for why I departed despite loving what I was doing. Friday, August, 21, I was to return to work after a long plant shutdown. I was told to come in at 11 am to which I did only to see that they were doing a PM on my truck. With it being 101 degrees here in South Texas, I told them that I would return when they'd finished. An hour later, they ask me to come back, to which I do only for them to want to wash the truck. I made a call to dispatch and asked them what was going on and why they were wasting my time. The head dispatcher came out of the office and tore the maintanence guys and new one and I was off. Saturday, I suffered a dizzying bout of constipation and couldn't make it in. On Sunday, I made it back to work and had a better day, even completing loads early enough to go home and have dinner with my wife. Monday afternoon is where it all fell apart for me.

I was given an early start of 05:00 in the morning. This was my favorite time as I was guaranteed to get loaded early and be be done early. Work had picked up for us and I was excited to be there. On my way to drop my load off, I was fighting with the sun in my eyes through most of the trip. Of course, a "concerned" citizen or a few called in a truck swerving. The officer who talked to me was courteous and made sure everything was on the up and up before warning me to be careful. I, of course, called our safety department per protocol and explained the situation. As I was unloading, he wanted to dispute my story, but I stood by it. Then I got another call that the plant had gone down due to lack of production. I think, "Good. Another early day and we can make it up tomorrow." So I drove the 30 miles to our yard and prepared to go home for the day. While I was sitting in the truck to unwind, due to the fact that I never go straight from a commercial vehicle to my POV, head of dispatch happened to be rolling around the yard and stopped at my truck to check on me. I told him that I was fine and that I was just looking at pictures of my deceased mother due to the fact that my birthday was the next day. He gave me a thumbs up and drove away and I thought nothing of it. But it didn't end there.

As I was placing my equipment in my car, I received a call that safety wanted to talk to me. Once again, I reiterated that I was fine and despite some bad news, I was doing ok. That wasn't enough. After being kept on our yard of another hour, they made me an appointment to go see a DOT doctor for my "issues". I was honest with the doctor about my family health history and this piece of work decided that he would put me on medical hold indefinitely, pending further testing, despite my tests coming back in the clear that day. He swore that I was under a lot of stress despite me doing fine and being in a jovial mood the entire day. Next, I went to see my PCP who also ran tests on me and demanded that I see psychiatrist, despite being in a clear head space and just motivated to get back to work. I didn't realize being a highly motivated individual meant that I was under a bunch of stress. To shorten this part of the story, I'm here to say that NOT A SINGLE PLACE would sign off on me so that I could return to work which resulted in me having to resign my position as a driver for this company.

On my way to resign, I called the safety manager and tore him a new ### from Genesis to Revelations. I let him know how he'd ruined my driving career with their company and crippled my finances due to assuming that I was in a bad way. I also let him know that the company had way worse drivers than myself working and driving their trucks. Then I asked him about other than the Ollie (skateboard term) that I had on a scale, trying to get in a hurry and was subsequently written up for, what else did they really have on me as a driver? HE tried to justify his decision by claiming that I'd "raised some flags". How is someone sitting in a truck, looking a old photos of family members as they unwind a red flag? I responded by saying that all they did was take a statement and run with it, thereby making unfounded assumptions on someone. I then let him know that I'd burned a bridge at my corrections job by accepting their job offer as well. Then the big bomb. I'd been tested a second time and that, that morning, I was again found to have negative results for everything. Yet no one was willing to sign off on me due to this unnecessary crap that they put me through. He claimed that he'd want to talk when I got to the yard. This didn't happen and I was given departure paperwork and told to list the reason as "personal". Then was told that if/when I got everything straightened out, I could come and reapply. I don't think I will after something like this. I've already sent out numerous applications and if going over the road again is where it leads me, I'll take it.

I'll close by saying this. They are a pretty good company to get your experience in hauling crude and will make it an easy path to learn. The only thing that I'll give prospective new drivers for this company is a warning about who you talk to and what you say. You don't want a result like mine.

Questions, comments and thoughtful insults welcome.

 

I don't disagree. It was also my first doctor visit since coming from the highway with the last one being about 12 years ago. I was told that I HAD to see my PCP in order to get back to work.

It was my birthday the next day and I was stopping to remember my mother. I explained that to everyone. I've been scheduled for a radiologist though I don't know why. I haven't really been sick since January when I was still in corrections. That was a really bad round of strep throat and Oh My God did I suffer. I wasn't having a breakdown, I wasn't wanting to die. LOL! I was tested for everything twice and came back negative. I don't do drugs and when I have a beer, it's a non-alcoholic one on extremely rare occasions.

I pay tribute to my mother each year as our birthdays are 13 days apart. Believe me when I say this. If my mother's death was still bothering me, the best time to worry, would've been last year when I was around live rounds. I don't get why they asked about my family medical history just to do that. I'd also heard that this company was known to play favorites as well. I'm already looking into a new job. Work was up and down and some weeks, you were lucky to get five loads.

 

I'd never really talked to anyone on the job unless I had to my friend. Sitting in the truck to unwind is something I've always done even when I was OTR. Any time I was at the terminal, I was laughing and b/sing with the shop crew about some of the random stuff they were doing or even making the dispatchers laugh about something menial like a story from the road. I was always smiling and laughing about something. Even the other drivers would say the same because we'd talk all about what we did/saw that day. I was rarely angry unless you get that situation from the Friday I mentioned. I think anyone would be angry about wasting $40 to go back and forth. However, we'd buried that and I continued to work. I even busted my ### for nine days straight prior when their top picks decided to go want off and they "needed someone because they were short".

Paying tribute to my mom (it's been two years now and thanks for the condolences), is something I've always done since last year. Even when I was dealing with inmates after the first year, not one of my supervisors came to me and said, "You're raising red flags. Time to see a doctor and be put on medical hold." I was even around live ammunition on what would've been her 63rd birthday and did the same thing before going to a firing range. Also, being a former suicidal person, I know all of the signs too well. I've also stopped a few as a corrections officer. I wasn't displaying any of the signs such as:

• Self-harming
• Unable to complete my job
• Using drugs

Hell, the only change in sleep pattern was when they'd change my schedule mid-week. Sitting in silence and relaxing before driving home is all I was doing. That was it. I've also never failed a psychological evaluation in my life.

As far as the doctor, I'd never been to that clinic before. I've lived down here 10 years and never heard of that place. The company set this up and I was honest about my family health history. The 2nd doctor was actually my wife's doctor because a lot of them where I am don't deal in DOT medical things. I know, because I called numerous ones about this. Again, I was honest about all of it yet, he didn't hear a thing I was saying. He wanted to put me on anti-depressants. The problem is, I'm not suffering from depression. Everyone misses a family member in their lives. I'm now waiting to go see a radiologist even though tests for other diseases and things have come back negative. I'm also job hunting. I have about six applications out, but waiting for Monday is a killer. For some odd reason, I've already been through the "five stages of grief" over this. It isn't the first time a company has pulled something shady (see my post about the oilfiled).

 

Is that the one I'm thinking happened in 2015?

 

I'd just gotten my walking papers from Stevens when that happened. I don't know the facts, but one theory was that he was being screwed on miles. And correction. it was May of 2016. Apparently, he'd been fired.