I'm more proud of TF every day!

 

At my company we are also payed on the honor system. You fax your signed POD's in by Monday morning and they are on that weeks check. Then you just put you bills, logs, and any reciepts in a envelope and drop them in any U.S. mail box and you are done. That sure makes it nice.

 

Became a Heartless Driver today.

Got assigned an old truck- 450,000 miles on it-- told not to get to "attached" to it-- they be trading it in soon. As long as it's mechanically sound- Dot complient- safe-- I'm ok with it. Almost laughed when he said don't get too comfortable in it---- that would be difficult to do giving that it's strickly a "work truck" with zero bells, balls, or whistles.

Hoping this REGIONAL running -- will be just a "job" not a lifestyle.

got first dispatch today from Olive Branch, Ms- Oklahoma City, OK- on first run. The are letting me go 90+ miles out of route to pick up stuff-- in fact I'm home fixing to go to bed-- made it home at 11pm.
This first run is scheduled to deliver 0200 Sunday morning-- while I was visiting with my new fleet manager- Bobo- he was showing me some stuff on the computer-- and re-explaining the importance of those PTA's. And set mine for 0800 Monday. I've been around the block a couple times and quickly pointed out that there was an awful lot of time between 2am Sunday & 0800 Monday-- so I advised him to change it on the spot to 12noon Sunday( giving me a soft 10 hour cushion after my delivery appointment) But by now it was nearing 4pm-- and I wasn't out of the woods yet---- went out to the truck wondering about what was going to happen to me Sunday-- set-- or what( remember-- night/weekend dispatch doesn't dispatch at Heartland???)

But then minutes later--- beep! preplan for Sunday! preloaded trailer near
Tulsa- going to Tomah, WI for 0600-2359 Tuesday.

All together around 1400 miles from Friday late afternoon- Tuesday Morning+ by the house to pick up stuff. Sweet!
No more -- Setting on the weekends--hopefully.

Made friends with this new truck on the drive home this evening--- don't know for sure what brand of 10-speed this is-- EATON, MARITOR, etc--
but those gears are real close together.. But by the time I hit the hills, I was getting close to learning the proper engine "pitch" to shift at, and now working on getting back in the swing of floating the gears. Now, finding getting used to where all the damn switches and guages are located at a glance will take a little while. This old truck has a few electrical problems, and plenty of slop in the stearing(free play)---
I hate this clutch--be glad to be free of using it(except for starts-from stops)it's so worn down-- my casual dress shoes almost completely slipped off couple times already.

Night.

 

Headborg - Couple questions. Please explain the roadtest. I have been pulling flats and tankers for the last year or so. I might be a little "sloppy" with a 53' box.

What Regional gig are you on?

How much does is Medical insurance?

You indicated one prospective Columbus Regional driver was eased out of class because he wouldn't do NJ or NYC. According to the Columbus Regional Map he wouldn't have needed to run those areas. From what I can tell I390 in NY and the Delaware River in PA are the Eastern fringe of the Columbus Region.

Any light you can shed will be appreciated. I am kicking around Heartland - Columbus Region, Barr-Nunn - Ohio Region, and a potential return to tankers with Transport Service. Have also kicked around buying a rig and leasing with LANDSTAR.

Congratulations on your new job and dumping the Lifestyle :wink:

 

1) road test: since Heartland conducts Orientation at several locations-- It would be foolish to think my observations would necessary cover other locations & testers.
Quite frankly- Had I been examining myself-- I would have failed myself. The route we took was pretty easy- compared to if say - they were running some kind of CFI-USexpress circus where they bus in 90 butts- then run you through b.s. obstacle course( and don't tell you until the next day- who passed/failed) road test. Their not interested in "wasting" money- so they can thump their chest and say 100 men will test today- but only 3 will get the "honor" to work for us. My shifting in this completely unfamiliar truck/engine was terrible- plus I was already extremely nervous/ "psyched" out that he was going to fail me- reguardless of actual preformance.

The key is SAFETY- and don't be stupid( wide streets ) no need to scrub tires on a curb that's that far away. Don't pull out in front of on coming traffic, don't roll up to the 1st stop sign- in neutral- if you're not "in a gear"-- you're not in control. there's a left turn just prior to the right turn onto the street leading back to the terminal. Be sure when you make that left at the light-- you turn into the LEFT LANE- then when straight-- make your signal- move over to the right lane 300 yards down- is the right turn where drivers scrub the curb( in the home stretch).

q) what regional gig am I on:
A) memphis regional

q) how much is medical:
a) can't remember the exact figures from the paper.

single coverage
or family coverage

you can't take dental by itself, don't believe there's a vision policy add-on.

No "open" enrollment.-- you either sign up at Hire-on-- or forget it-- please correct me if I'm wrong.

The dental is maximum --1000 dollar benefit( for the calender year).
According to my dentist-- ithis is the typical of most & why he was so "happy" to see Crete's Policy had a cap of 1500.

the regional deal:-

the freight has to go to where it goes-- Service is ALL we sell! If we don't take care of our customers-- our customers find someone else who will.

My region is Memphis- I've seen the map. Sunday, I'm preplanned to run to Tomah, WI with a load out of MY region. Tomah, Wi is NOT in my region- anyone who's been driving very long can tell you- it's only 3 days run from east-west coast, 2 days max north-south. I'll run out of my region anywhere because I know I should be able to get "home" before next weekend. Now, I will start to question this "regional' position Tuesday- if when I get empty in Tomah, Wi-- and the next load isn't back through/to MY region! Understand?

You just can't tell a carrier before you hire on-- you're not going to ......be of no use to them..not be a TEAM PLAYER.. there's no I in TEAM.

 

[quote="headborg"]Yeah I know all about the team player deal. The team thing is usually a one way street, but that's life. Regional borders are pretty fuzzy.

Don't really understand why one would go into orientation blabbering about where they will and won't run. My thoughts are that if a guy/gal is dumb enough to walk in off the street and starting spouting off demands, then they are too dumb to drive my $100K tractor and deal with my customers.

I am good to go with Heartland from a paperwork/mvr/dac perspective. I think I will hold off until fall to see how the economy shakes out. In the meantime I will follow your thread and keep on chatting with Heartland drivers.

TF if you are reading this thread why not post the details and driver's cost of Heartland's Medical Plans. Don't give us the line that it depends on what a driver selects - becuz you can list the costs from each line item on the smorgasbord.

Again headborg congratulations on your move. You certainly seemed to be fed up with CCC and probably for good reason. From what I have read (you and evertrucker) 3-weeks out at a time is the norm at CCC and that is definitely a LIFESTYLE and not a JOB>

 

Heartland Week#1 2008

Jun 20, 2008

Assigned truck- it has 450,000 + miles on it-

is this good or bad?

they say it means, I'll be turning it in very soon for a *new* truck.

ok, let's think about that-- Crete/Shaffer issues most trucks by seniority-

the the longer your tenure at Crete/Shaffer- you'd get a new and hand down your older model.-- So when I started there-- I had to spend a year- and "finish off" 2 beater trucks before I got a Brand new one.
However, a kid who just got off a truck with a trainer- was moved right into a band new one during orientation. So, there seems to be some exceptions there.

I don't really care about how old a truck is--- it's just a tool. As long as it doesn't lay down on me- leaving me down with no pay. I just wish people would stop moving me into trucks- with broken driver's seats!

First truck with Shaffer-- some lard ass broke that seat-- and now here at Heartland--- yes, the seat is broken. Of course, it's hard to catch these "little" things during that flash inspection before you roll off the yard.

1st load-- 477 miles to OKC-- was ok'd to run 90+ miles out-of-route to pick up my stuff.

I was told I had a 2am Sunday Morning delivery- Sam's Club. Arrived 11pm-- checked in, was told the load was scheduled for the 18th- it was a no show, no call-- never rescheduled-- the po # had been canceled- couldn't be pulled up in system- so they couldn't pull the freight off- or scan or tag it... Would be Monday morning before they could reschedule it-- and by their 24 policy-- Tuesday moring before they could actually receive it.

This is just my first load with these guys.
They said during orientation-- don't even bother with night/weekend dispatch because they don't have authority to dispatch! or re-direct you.

so, I document all that Bryan - the over-night supervisor tells me-- and ask of instructions.
I get back-- get some sleep and call us in AM and we'll see what we can do.

Went back in at 11am (after my 10hr break) and the day manager (whom had been called by Heartland??) said BRING IT BACK AT 9PM TONIGHT he's not running a truck stop.
So, here I is-- waiting for 8:45 pm to roll around-
I had a preplan to pick up in Tulsa today-- asked if I was still committed to it-- as best eta will now be mid-night( If I get unloaded tonight)

 

Do you get detention or layover pay for this cluster chuck?

 

Hey Headborg, thought I'd finally drop you a line, I've been following your thread from day 1. Please keep us all posted on how things go, my wife and I have thought alot about Heartland and their SW regional, but the way the economy is right now we figure we better just stay where we are for the time being.
That's a rough start with Heartland......seems you have a black cloud following you :sad: It's no biggie to have the load messed up, or to even have it re scheduled, as long as you get paid for sitting. You did your job and got there on time......do you get detention atleast?
Either way, hang in there, and keep posting, alot of us are interested.

 

No Heartland does not pay "layover" or "detention"-- they stated they have
a program titled---"Heartland Cares"--- guess Monday I'll call my Fleet Manager and have him explain the program and see if Heartland in fact- Cares.
Orientation they did state-- that night and weekend dispatch is just a "fire-watch" phone answering crew-- with no power to dispatch- redirect- plan/unplan. So just leave them alone.
This is basically what I've discovered..is fact...then again it would be stupid to have assumed that any company would tell me to take the load back to say...Ft. Smith and drop it.
Ok, it's 12:22 am Monday and the doors are open and I'm against the Sam's dock.

Another driver I graduated with( we all exchanged phone #) is having a bang up weekend-- he left out of Orientation late Friday-- dropped in Romeoville, Il-- picked up in Ottawa-- and is somewhere between Iowa City and Wichita, Ks-- headed for Wichita for Monday(sometime). He's running system-- so he'll have 1,250 for the weekend.

Positives about the beat up truck:

after 7 years n a Century/Columba-- I now have LIGHT I always had complaints about the amount of light in those Freightliners---I think a person could do damage to their eyes--living in one. But this truck--has Light( super dome)! And it has-- 12v power outlets coming out the yeng-yang.
I finally found I have a Jake Brake-- had to clean all the 6INCHES OF FILTH OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL to read what the switch was--- didn't want to flip something going down the road by mistake.
Tried to hook up my CB a little while ago-- but the coax is broken just beyond the PL259 jack( where you connect your radio)-- oh yeah-- If coming to work here-- bring external speaker for radio.

Also, bring Towels---- with only Terminal fueling-- and no towels provided in many of the smaller "terminals"--- you'll soon find you're out of Pilot reward points( so there goes free Showers)

Oh, and these International 9400's maneuver and turn better than the Columba/Century

And I'm not missing the opti- idle at all. The AC blows very cold in here-- I had to get up twice last night--and shut the whole truck down-- to keep from freezing--- hope they're happy about the fuel savings.