USIT Talk

I just left Roanoke Thursday. Guess we just missed each other...I want drive without ac either, and I sat in Roanoke from Fri-Thur for AC and an air leak that they couldn't fix.

 

I am so glad for you.......good luck

 

At least you make a solid $120/day while broke down.

 

Yeah that sucks considering you have vacation plans...Hope they are willing to help

 

delivered down here to Laredo this morning not looking good for getting out of here today.Over 20 trucks down here and some have been here since Saturday

 

I've had the worst two days yet with USA. My APU went out Tuesday morning to start with. I was told by breakdown to get it fixed at the new Denton terminal after picking up my next load in Dallas which was as usual, a "confirmed hard time" appt drop & hook at 2200. I ended up waiting until midnight on a trailer they said was not done being lOaded. At midnight I was told the yard dog was too busy and was asked by the customer to go get the empty from the lot and take it to the dock where it supposedly was since 2200. Lies. The now liveload didn't finish until 0200. I got to Denton terminal at 0300 to discover that it was a joke. A storefront and 4 bays in an industrial park with a small drop yard. I had been told by night dispatch that it had a driver facility. Lie. My FM had cut a comcheck for me to go to the Days Inn across the street but it was already 3 and the shoP opened at 7 so I stayed put. I sweated it out for 4 hours with windows open fighting off mosquitoes and trying to sleep until 7 when the shop foreman woke me up and said I couldn't park at the terminal and would have to go down the street to find a truck stop but he would call me when he got done with the local trucks. Told him APU was out and I was under a lOad, didn't matter. The only thing that saved me was one mechanic decided to work on mine first. Well while he was working on it, about 8 the safety director comes in. Apparently he likes to audit the logs of the OTR drivers that come in. Watched him do it to two females then it was my turn. Got raked across the coals for 45 minutes of "intervention counseling" and then told that I was disorganized, had no people skills, and poor time management. After the beating I went and got my truck out of the shop and was going to leave. When I coupled to the trailer the fifth wheel bar and jaws were giving issues. I made several corrections and then made sure it was locked, performed my tug test and then went to leave. The trailer rolled about 20 feet until I started to make a turn and it somehow uncoupled. I caught it on the frame so it didn't drop. Well, in the process of raising it, the jack handle cross bar broke so I had to ask the mechanics for help. Well the main guy turns out to be a snitch and went and got Mr. Safety. So he has me explain in front of all 6 mechanics and four gawking drivers what had happened. Afterwards he tells me basically that he doesn't believe a word I said and that I was rushing out of either laziness or just pure negligence. Well that was it for me and I barely kept my bearing. I told him we were down talking if he was going to call me a liar in frOnt of everybody and it started to get heated. The only thing that saved the situation was one mechanic said that while uncommon, it was possible for a fifth wheel to spontaneously uncouple if the jaws were out of adjustment. He said that was impossible and the mechanic proved him wrong by checking and finding that indeed mine was well out of adjustment. Then Mr. Safety changed his tune to how fortunate it was that the trailer dropped in the yard and not on the road where it could have damaged the load and equipment and required a tow. I told him I was far more worried about the risk to human life. He strolled back to his office and I got to wait the5 hours for trailer repairs.

Sorry for the long rant. I've needed to vent today and I've been behind on everything because of maintenance issues. I resolve never to go to Denton terminal again.

 

I would of cussed him out. No need to act like that. But I personally don't deal with ignorance very well. He seems like an ex DOT officer that couldn't cut it, and USA give him a job. As far as you not getting a hotel, there ain't no way I'd stay in that truck with no APU. As for the rest of it, and how the shop is ran in it's entireity I would just avoid it if at all possible. So did they get the APU fixed right?

 

Yes they did thank God. That was the one good thing that came out of this debacle. I've said it before that the one consistent problem I've had here has been maintenance issues. This is the end of my 2nd month solo and I'm on my 2nd truck. I've never been late for pickup or delivery except for maintenance issues. Thankfully I have a good FM and he tries to keep me rolling. I'm not one of your 3 L drivers either lol! I would however advise drivers to avoid Denton terminal If possible. The nerve of that guy reached epic levels. He told me that no matter how long you had to wait at a shipper or receiver that if you planned your day accordingly, you would never have to run illegal. I asked him how he supposed you should accomplish a job that required you to drive half the day then delays at customer kept you waiting to load/unload for a length of time that put you past your 14. Thus legally you shouldn't be moving but have to find a safe haven then take a 10. His answer was that it all fell back on time management. Well I said the concept of time management implies something I can personally control. Being that I can't control how long a customer makes me wait, it is their time managemen that is lacking. He said that you should always have fresh hours before going to a customer so that is never an issue. I see why drivers sit at terminals complaining that they are having 900 mile weeks. I'd be in the same boat if I was telling my FM that I needed to break all the time like that.