Covenant Transport... Run And Run Fast In The Opposite Direction
They are ripoffs and will do you so wrong... You will never want to drive again

I worked for this company when I was 21yrs old. I went to truck driving school and got my CDL. Well being so young I had a lot of company's that would not hire me.

When I got there at the "White House" they put us up in a run down motel. I want to say that there were about 300 in the orientation. Out of that number I say that half got thru. During orientation we were told as a bunch of students that if our tire was to catch fire we should drive until it went out. I know that this is on most state tests, but not on all.

After this we were sent out with our trainers. I being a woman requested a woman, fat chance. I got a male trainer. I was ok with this until he got drunk and told me that I had to have sex with him. I said no and he put me out of the truck in Portland Or. I called the company and they said that they would get me a bus ticket to a terminal and get me a 'Female trainer.' I sat at the terminal for 2 weeks and nothing. Finally my brother came and got me as he lived about and hour away. Mind you he was never punished in any way for this.

I went to my brothers and called every day. I got the same old thing every time that they did not have a trainer. Than I called one day to be told that I had 'Quit my job' and when I got off the truck in Portland Or. Well I talked to the human resources department and got my job back. Three days later I got a trainer. I was like 'Great now I can make some money.' The second trainer was wonderful. I learned a lot and passed my test no problem.

I worked for about another year and things were great. I was making great money. I was getting the home time I wanted, could not have asked for more. Than I was on home time and ended up in the hospital. That's when all S* hit the fan. I needed kidney surgery; nothing major I had a stone that was stuck that had to be removed. Well when the Doctor billed the insurance I didn't have any. So I called to find out what the deal was as I was on short term disability. I had 'Quit' for the second time, so they said. Well I was a slow learner and thought that it really was a technical error. So yet again I got my job back. They never did pay the medical and it was another three months before I got my medical back.

I than was told to pick up a truck from a driver that had quit. This was going to be my truck now. Ok whatever. I go get the truck, and all the permits were expired. I wrote in and was told that they would have my permits at the terminal in Indy. Well I got my load went to pick it up and it was Hazmat paint load. Again I told them that all my permits were not up to date including my Hazmat permit and my IFTA tag. I was told to run it anyways. So being a good employee I did as I was told. Was driving thru Ohio not anywhere near a terminal and was stopped at the weight station. I was given several tickets for no permits. They were cool about it and told me that I could just send them in and have the company pay for them that they were not my tickets. Well than I crossed the state line and was stopped again. They were not so cool I got $1500 in fines for not having the proper permits and was told that I could not move the truck until it was paid in full. I called the company and was told that I could just pay it out of pocket. I refused and told them that the truck would be sitting there when they were ready to pay it let me know. I would come back for the truck.

Well by this time I was working for the company for about a year and a half. So I wanted to train; mind you their policy was you could become a trainer after 6 months of driving. Every thing was going well until I got a student that could not drive. He would not pay attention to the road and was always swerving and almost hitting things. We were being given team loads. I could not sleep with him driving and would be awake lying there wondering what he was going to hit, and if it was going to kill me.

I asked for him to be taken off of my truck several times and was always told no. We were put under a 'High security' load coming to Michigan so I could go on home time. Well on the way was a bad snow and ice storm. There was no way that you could drive. We were shut down by D.O.T. And told not to move the truck. I sent in a message stating what had happened. The next day I was told to drive my truck to the Indianapolis terminal and to go see dispatch. I was fired for shutting the truck down even thou it was by the order of the D.O.T.

Now I will tell you about the wonderful break down department.in the Freightliner FLD's there is a pin that holds the fuel pedal on. Well I put my foot on the pedal and the pin broke. I called Break down and was on hold for 45 min, with no response. This was not uncommon. After 5 pm you could not get anyone in that whole place to answer the phone, but if you went to the terminal you could see them all out in the front smoking for hours at a time. I was asked 'Well can't you drive it like that?' I said 'No I was very good but I would find it kind of hard to hold the fuel pedal, shift the gears, and steer the truck at the same time.' I was than told 'Well you have some duct tape just tape it to the floor.' I said 'I am about a mile from the weight station and would let them take a look at it' I was told I would be fired.

The second time that I had to call them for something major; I had a headlight go out. Well on my way to the truck stop to get it fixed I hit a dear, not a big one but enough to knock out the whole right side of my truck. It was now 1 am and I had no headlights. I got well can't you drive it to the truck stop that that is 30 miles down the road. Again I said no and we went back and forth until they got someone to fix it.

The final run in with break down was in the middle of winter. This was about 7 weeks before they fired me. I was again on my way home when the starter went out in my truck. It was 2 days before Christmas in Michigan. Well they have optimized idle (truck starts and stops depending on the temp inside the truck), well with no starter when the truck turned off it would not start again. I waited 14 hours before anyone responded to me. I called and was put on hold. I wrote in many times and was just ignored. When they finally responded I was at home and had left their truck about 145 miles away with the load that was 'Time Sensitive.'

One last thing that they did; when I was fired they froze all my money. I was left in Indianapolis with no place to go, no money, and no way to get home. I had to have my father drive to come get me. It also took almost three months to give me my money that they owed me. Than when I did get it I was shorted almost $2000. I am not a disgruntled employee; I am just someone that was done dirty by a bad company.

Company: Covenant Transport... Run And Run Fast In The Opposite Direction
Country: USA
State: Tennessee
City: Chattanooga
Site: www.covenanttransport.com

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