When I signed up to take the schooling I had a small business, I had to show them 10 years of private back tax forms, letters writting from various government entities which I had done business with and they still did not beleive that I was the owner of the business. The county of Riverside in which I reside does not require that I have a "City Business License" to operate a business from my home, C.R. England wanted me to have such a license.
This would mean that I would have to pay extra money to pay for the license, attain an office in a city where I would have to pay for the space, water, electric, gas and sewage, just to work for them.
Thats BS! After all this I did not get to graduate with my class, they were all gone a week before I got out of there. MY Co-Driver got his upgrade in SLC - Salt Lake City and decided to quit leaving me out in the cold, by myself with no team driver.
I finally got out on the road, I was supposed to get $426.00 per week to drive with a trainer, but that figure was cut in half. At the end of my training period which was 7 weeks instead of 4 weeks I got into SLC for my upgrade, I informed them that I needed to get home to pay for my truck and tie up loose financial ends before going out on the road, yeah right. They sent me out with a CAT 1st seat who lived in SLC and so I lost my personal truck to the REPO MAN.
After I got done with this guy I got my own truck and headed home, Bob-Tailing due to no loads to California. The company sent me out on various loads and the first 6 months I made $60,850.00, at tax time I only made $6,000.00 take home-Thats Sh*!
I was stupid and was talked into taking another truck and worked harder than the first time. I was in a dedicated run but was promised that I would have my birthday off, instead I was sent to Indianapolis for Christmas with them knowing that I would be late from the unloading the night before which took almost 8 hours - I had told my DM that the company where the unloading was done that they did not do instant unloads, but she said they would expidite, they took 8 hours to get to me which now made me late to the next loading which was made the next day in the afternoon. I advised her of this but she had left for the Holiday.
Upon my arrival to customer, I found out that they closed early for Christmas and I had to spend the whole weekend, holiday and birthday at a sh*-hole of a truckstop waiting for the customer to reopen. After I unloaded my DM did not have another load for me right away so I had to sit again. They would not pay "Detention Pay" because they said it was my fault.
I have left this company since then and do have to say there is a few guys there as DM's who are great, but the rest of them are just down right sh*-heads. Don't get into this company, the recruiters will tell you how wonderful it is just so you will sign up for the school and they will get paid. It's a "Puppy Mill", they will give you all the correct answers to pass your CDL Test, send you out with Trainers who I would not let "Drive a Nail".
This is a dangerous thing to do. Not allowing time for proper sleep as per DOT 10 hrs sleep. Make sure your logs are legal but drive till you can't drive anymore. Your DM is telling you that you have a "Critical Load" and it must deliver at all cost on time with NO EXCUSES! This is done so that the DM's get a Bonus and you get nothing! Why should they get the bonus, Hell You did the work not them. The planners never give leeway for traffic, weather or anything like a breakdown.
When you call into the "After Hours Phone Line" you are put on hold for hours even in an emergency, then no one is notified and they scream at you the next day cause you broke down. I was sick and went to the hospital in SLC, my DM asked me the day after when was I planning to get on the road and that just sitting in the yard was not making me any money. I told him I was still having problems with my vision and his response was, "You need to get on the road and quit making a fuss about being sick"- Kiss my white a*. When your sick, your sick and having vision problems would mkae you a risk to be on the road to other drivers, but he did not care.
No one actually cares unless you are making them money there. It's a shame as Gene England it a very nice man! Its the rest of the company who sucks.
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