Drivers - if you are planning to drive for this company as a company driver - be forwarned. You will sign your life away to the tune of giving up your workers rights, and it is a benefit only to the company. This includes:
*Sign a statement that you agree to be paid via a computerized mileage program, popularly used by other companies and said "pretty close to the mark"?
*Sign a statement that threatens you with non employment if you refuse to join "Highway Watch", the eyes and ears against terrorism in the US and an off branch of Homeland security
*Sign a statement that you agree to Forced dispatch.
The mileage pay was determined by the computer in the payroll department, however on the load assignments, the mileage was way off from the actual driving course. The company put a disclaimer on the load assignment as " the driving mileage does not reflect on pay". About a year ago, I bought a GPS system for my truck. Granted that I really did'nt need it but was curious. For the miles given to me on the load assignment it was sometimes off by 25 miles and on some it was off by 100 miles as reflected on the GPS system driving the exact route.included in the driving path was the Fuel Solution - a path that must be driven in order for the company to find a fuel stop with the cheapest fuel. The driver was not paid for the over route miles for the company to get this benefit. I was told that the mileage program does not lie, and I told my dispatcher that my GPS does not lie, either. The GPS tracks your vehicle via satelite, and speed and determines the amount of time it gets to the delivery dock. The organized chaos in this company came about with the mileage. The dispatchers would look at their computer board screen with the as the crow flies miles and determine how many hours it would take me to get to my delivery. Than they would ramble on about how I need to manage my time. It seemed like I was managing my time and theirs and not getting paid for it. I was then rebuked because the time given by the company and actual mileage driven was way off. The company also made the drivers call the brokers to put in a bid for the load, and get information on it. No one paid me for use of my cell phone.
I personally did not like being forced to join Highway Watch, not because I would not do my duty for my country and the safety of others, but for the fact that I was being forced to do a law enforcement job, which Highway Watch is a citizen's posse band, AND did not like the fact that I was being threatend with employment if I did not join. I can watch for suspicious activity such as a moving truck being stopped under a bridge. It makes my job harder - having to honk my horn for them to move out of the way. I can call the police for this activity. It may seem like a Liberal stance, but my way is a reality check. To me, the company used scare tactics of an abuse of power.
Forced Dispatch - can't refuse. And when I used that as a defense in a safety meeting, I was told that I could not take a load if I safely could not do so. Once again, organized chaos came into play. I was given a load via the onboard computer from the load planners about 5 minutes before the planners and dispatchers went home for their entitled weekend off, and this usually happened while I was on the road, driving. I would have to find a safe place to stop the truck, go through my logbook, recapp the hours and answer them if I could safely pick up and deliver the load. I always chose to answer them via the computer because, 1. No one pays me to use my cell phone. 2. It is on legal document and transmission.By the time all of this happens, everybody has gone home. I complained about this and was told by safety that I have to manage my time, and the dispatchers were always right. I was also told that the onboard computer for the truck does not lie. It tells them when I stopped and when I started and I even think there was a sensor in the drivers seat that determines whether you were sitting in the seat when you were supposed to be in the sleeper berth according to your log book.
I am now unemployed. I was fired over too many logbook violations. The safety department was watching me on my truck computer. And, yes they have their favorites that fudge the logbooks, I heard them brag - nobody was watching them. There was also strange social things going on there. The African American drivers kept to them selves and rarely talked with the Caucasian drivers or office workers, in a conversation. There is a tattler in the drivers group. I made the mistake of going to lunch with him and he paid for my meal. At the time, I did not know who he was, and gave him my phone number to keep in touch on the road. AS A FRIEND! I was later told by the other drivers that he kept following me around like a puppy dog, making lewd comments to the other drivers about the way I dressed (normal). He kept calling me, so I stopped taking his calls. I could have filed sexual harrassment on him, as after that the Administrator of Personel, (a female) lectured me on the dress code.
I cannot collect unemployment because The state of Alabama denied me because I was fired. I live in the state of Florida and was told by the USC in Florida, that I would have to contact Alabama, because the Company was based out of Alabama and I worked in another state. I was fired two weeks prior to my Two year employment anniversery, so I could not get my two weeks paid vacation. I was threatened with my job over the logbook violations in March and made to sign a statement that said I acknowledged my errors. I did my job the best way I could, was even told via computer from the safety department that my logs from August were in good standing. Than the first week of October, I was led to the yard and told that I was discharged and shown a logbook inquiry on their computer of a load that needed to get back to the yard because another driver was waiting on it, so he could go home and it caused me to work over the 14 hour DOT on duty status.
My Hire Right Report came back as being discharged from McGriff and 4 accidents, one non preventable, one load shift incident, and two off road incidents. The company is also following ranks of others that are having to cut costs and staff because of the economy, but the bottom line is, I 'm starting to not buy that any more. And no, I am not a whiner because I did tell somebody there that there is a problem with direction and the ability to do your job safely for everybody.
Customers; you may be also interested in reading this report as the Organized Chaos in this company may be the reason why your loads are always late.
0 comments