Hawk has Reached Rock Bottom..

[Hawkjr]

Fellas i'm through.. i tried and tried to remain strong but i'm through.. I no longer can do this anymore, i've tried to hold out only to know better things are around the corner but i can't.. what have push me to this limit..

Well as some or most might know i'm a dedicated driver for Schneider for Wal Mart Freight.. Apparently we have these New Hampshire/Maine System Runs, which consit of deadheading 163 miles to Suffolk VA, Picking up an Loaded Orange Box, Go 600 + miles north to Raymond New Hampshire, Drop and Hook, Leave Into Maine go pick up a load of water in either Hollis Center ME or Poland Springs ME and deliver to various Points then a load back to VA.. Sounds all great right.. 1700 miles or more in four or less days...

Every thing was going pretty well i guess i can say, got to go thru NYC (even tho it was night) Various point's in CT, so on and on.. Then comes the last leg of the load, I pick up a load of Water in Breinigsville PA at the Nestle Plant, pick up every thing looks decent, but when i closed the doors i notice there was two more pallets than the last load of water i picked up in Maine, the load from Maine was close enough over weight but just barely and these were basically the same two loads (from the looks of it seem like the same 16 oz bottles).. so the nearest scale is 25 miles away, i got scale the load to find out that its 10,500 on the Steers, 32,930 on the Drive's and you ready for this one.. 36,380 on the Trailer!! The gross was 79900 now once i find this out and i come to the conclusion that even if i do slide the trailer axles foward it will be 600-800 pounds over weight on each axle except for the steers.. now if your asking why don't i move the fifth wheel, well this truck doesn't have a sliding fifth wheel..

Now i'm 25 miles away and when i got to the truck stop (some Dump in Coopersburg PA) my 14 hr clock was over and couldnt go no where, so i called my so called office, and told them of the issue.. Since this was a system load and not a wal mart load they couldn't do nothing much about it, so my home office called the dispatcher of this load and told him of the issue, i told the person i spoke to at my home office to call me back regardless to inform me of what was going on.. i go to my truck go to sleep and wake up in 4 hours and no miss calls?? WTF? so i call my home office back and talk to the guy i talk to, he claims "TJ" said he was going to take care of it and never called him back.. So he says hes going to call him again, he says he calls and didn't get no answer, so again i'm like WTF?? so i say bump it once my 10 is over with i'll go back up there, so i go inside blah blah blah, i tell them what this deal is all and that and show him the Scale Ticket, some woman in a smart ass way says, "he's not even over loaded" so some guy in a safety vest comes to the window and tell's me there's nothing they can do until 7 AM in the morning because being over weight is not are problem and since I'm not over gross weight it's still not there problem... so i pull out the gate mad and frustrated and like a complete dumb ass which might cost me my job didn't swing out wide enough and bent the wheel on the rim of the Trailer Tire on a curb..

I'm done fellas i'm done, even if i don't get fired because of the bent rim, i'm done.... i know i've told others to hang in there and days will be brighter but i've come to find out that's a bunch of bull****!!

also i'm willing to open criticism, i'm not going to get pissed and start cussing you guys out like Kev.. long as your not going out your way to insult me.. But What could i have possibly done?? (except for the bent rim part)

[Orangetxguy]

Fellas i'm through.. i tried and tried to remain strong but i'm through.. I no longer can do this anymore, i've tried to hold out only to know better things are around the corner but i can't.. what have push me to this limit..

Well as some or most might know i'm a dedicated driver for Schneider for Wal Mart Freight.. Apparently we have these New Hampshire/Maine System Runs, which consit of deadheading 163 miles to Suffolk VA, Picking up an Loaded Orange Box, Go 600 + miles north to Raymond New Hampshire, Drop and Hook, Leave Into Maine go pick up a load of water in either Hollis Center ME or Poland Springs ME and deliver to various Points then a load back to VA.. Sounds all great right.. 1700 miles or more in four or less days...

Every thing was going pretty well i guess i can say, go to go thru NYC (even tho it was night) Various point's in CT, so on and on.. Then comes the last leg of the load, I pick up a load of Water in Breinigsville PA at the Nestle Plant, pick up ever thing looks decent, but when i closed the doors i notice there was two more pallets than the last load of water i picked up in Maine, the load from Maine was close enough over weight but just barely and these were basically the same two loads (from the looks of it seem like the same 16 oz bottles).. so the nearest scale is 25 miles away, i got scale the load to find out that its 10,500 on the Steers, 32,930 on the Drive's and you ready for this one.. 36,380 on the Trailer!! The gross was 79900 now once i find this out and i come to the conclusion that even if i do slide the trailer axles foward it will be 600-800 pounds over weight on each axle except for the steers.. now if your asking why don't i move the fifth wheel, well this truck doesn't have a sliding fifth wheel..

Now i'm 25 miles away and when i got to the truck stop (some Dump in Coopersburg PA) my 14 hr clock was over and couldnt go no where, so i called my so called office, and told them of the issue.. Since this was a system load and not a wal mart load they couldn't do nothing much about it, so my home office called the dispatcher of this load and told him of the issue, i told the person i spoke to at my home office to call me back regardless to inform me of what was going on.. i go to my truck go to sleep and wake up in 4 hours and no miss calls?? WTF? so i call my home office back and talk to the guy i talk to, he claims "TJ" said he was going to take care of it and never called him back.. So he says hes going to call him again, he says he calls and didn't get no answer, so again i'm like WTF?? so i say bump it once my 10 is over with i'll go back up there, so i go inside blah blah blah, i tell them what this deal is all and that and show him the Scale Ticket, some woman in a smart ass way says, "he's not even over loaded" so some guy in a safety vest comes to the window and tell's me there's nothing they can do until 7 AM in the morning because being over weight is not are problem and since I'm not over gross weight it's still not there problem... so i pull out the gate mad and frustrated and like a complete dumb ass which might cost me my job didn't swing out wide enough and bent the wheel on the rim of the Trailer Tire on a curb..

I'm done fellas i'm done, even if i don't get fired because of the bent rim, i'm done.... i know i've told others to hang in there and days will be brighter but i've come to find out that's a bunch of bull****!!

also i'm willing to open criticism, i'm not going to get pissed and start cussing you guys out like Kev.. long as your not going out your way to insult me.. But What could i have possibly done?? (except for the bent rim part)

Why did you get upset and lose your cool? You had in hand, a certified scale ticket indicating that your trailer axles were in fact over-weight. That is all that matters. You should have never left the truck stop. You should have sat there until Schneider came up with a plan to handle the over-weight.

Letting the little dweebs push you around only complicates matters. You should have sat there until Schneider came up with a plan.

Next time...Don't let the dweebs get under your skin. It is not worth it.

[matcat]

A bent rim is hardly a major issue. Quite honestly, for a few hundred pounds I would of just delivered in, more then likely you would of just got prepassed anyway, and even if they did suck you in it would be rare of them to even do anything for a few hundred pounds over on axles.

[SickRick]

As Matt said - a bent rim is probably not a major issue - a bad attitude behind the wheel and at a customer is - especially if they call in to report the driver that "rushed out of the yard angry, and took out a curb".

Being a newb - I can't really offer a legitimate SOLUTION - but I thank you for your post, as I learn a lot (vicariously) by reading and learning what those who have gone before me, go through on a daily basis. While there's no substitute for MILES - I've learned a lot about common issues and solutions on these boards.

Driving While Angry is a dangerous situation at any rate.

I'm interested in hearing how this one shakes out. A bent rim isn't the end of the world - but a reported "road rage" incident could very well be.

Best of luck...

Rick

[jonp]

Sounds to me like you weren't very enthusiastic about this load anyways and that just compounded the problem. We all get like that and its easy to get into a cycle where it will eat at you and eat at you because your sitting in the truck alone and thinking is what we do.

What would I have done? Wouldnt have taken that load, I mean the system run, in the first place. I've hauled lots of water out of Poland Springs and other places. I think that in the back of your mind you werent too keen to be going up there in the first place and when something went wrong you said to yourself " Damn it, I just knew it was going to be messed up". You handled the first part right. Scaled then called and shut down. You should pulled the tandems up as far as you could, re-weighed and then sat tight. When you went back to the shipper thats ok too. I wouldnt have taken no for an answer. I would have asked to speak to their boss and then not left that shipper till someone came out. Called my company back also and told them that the shipper refused to adjust the weight, the trailer was overweight and did they authorize me to run it like that and, by the way, send that message over the qualcomm so they could pay any overweight ticket. I would have gotten the names of the people at the shipper that refused to move the load. All of this is in a detailed message on the quall.

Shipper moves it? Cool. Company ok's it, again cool.

I've wracked my brain and I don't think I've ever had a shipper refuse to move a load that was over on an axle. You sure you didnt walk into the water place with an attitude because of what happened with the company? And left not in a good frame of mind and cut the corner because you were angry? Sounds like it. The company might let you go because of the rim and might not. I've heard of stranger things. Take a deep breath. Stuff like this happens in this profession. Maybe you need a vacation for a few weeks to get your head right.

[GMAN]

It would have been better to have your dispatcher handle it rather than you getting all upset with the shipper. One way that I have handled this before is to tell the shipper that they need to either take it off to make it legal or they need to sign the bills that they are responsible for any tickets. That usually motivates them to make the load legal. If not, then I would tell them to just take the entire load off my truck. If you take a load that is not legal then you are responsible for any tickets. You are allowed 34,000 pounds on a closed tandem axle. Some states won't bother you if you are a few hundred pounds over on your axles as long as your gross is legal. Most will ticket you for that much over. Fines seem to be about 1/2 cent to 5 cents per pound that you over the legal limit. And they could nail you in each state. In addition they could require you to get the load legal before leaving the scale. That could also cost money. The best thing to do is have your dispatcher or someone else from your company handle it. That takes you out of the mix. The shipper could unload the freight and reload it or just take a pallet or two off to make it legal. Most likely a single pallet could do it. As a side note, you always need to move the axles toward the weight. If your trailer is heavy then you need to move the tandems back. I think that I would have tried to move the tandems back before leaving the truck stop to see if I could get it legal. It still may not have been possible to get it legal but it is usually a good idea to try. Each hole that you move the tandem will usually move 200-400 pounds.

[69XKE]

I also drive for SNI (system, not dedicated). Once I got the scale ticket and saw the results, I let whoever know what I'm doing (break, returning to shipper, etc.).

Here, I would have taken my break, called my people (who would have eventually told me to return to the shipper), handed the scale ticket to the person in charge, and hold my ground. I've had clerks tell me "it's legal...not over gross" before I point out to them the overweight tandems (had it happen on a load of Texas Pete with another company years ago). Once that trailer returns to their property, I make it their problem. I'm not returning to the road to make it mine.

The problem (as I see it) is that you probably should have waited at the T/S until you heard back from someone at SNI who had spoken to the shipper. This would have saved you the frustration you endured upon your return to the shipper. GMAN articulated this very well.

And if you think leaving SNI will alleviate future frustrations, please re-think that.

You lost your cool and made a mistake. Hope you learned a lesson from it. Good luck, and please do let us know how it turns out.

[Hawkjr]

Thanks for you guys opinions so far.. let me answer some of your questions

Why did you get upset and lose your cool? You had in hand, a certified scale ticket indicating that your trailer axles were in fact over-weight. That is all that matters. You should have never left the truck stop. You should have sat there until Schneider came up with a plan to handle the over-weight.

I lost my cool because i just started driving again and started my day, to come up here and found out that i would have to wait six hours before anyone could do anything about it i was very upset, i didn't go off or snap on the people inside or anything but i was clearly upset and mad, i was planning to leave and just go with since they weren't going to do nothing but thats when the "Curb" incident happen and i basically couldn't go anywhere...

And the thing about waiting for a plan, that was basically the person i talk to plan was take it back up here and let them move or take pallets off. i was told it was either that or run with it..

Sounds to me like you weren't very enthusiastic about this load anyways and that just compounded the problem

That wasn't the case, albeit i only come on to this position to pull "WAL MART Frieght" but in a way i was up for the challenge to run up 95 and the Turnpike, actually i can say i was having some type of fun until this happen.. but i am upset on how i got it.. you will quickly found out jonp (in the message you sent me i think you have) how Green Bay handle us on Wal Mart Loads, I think you even found out, but its a whole another store in its self I'll PM you and tell you how i ended up with this...

You sure you didnt walk into the water place with an attitude because of what happened with the company?

Nope, i said "Hello", "How you doing Yada Yada", and before i can even finish saying that she rudely interrupted with "Where's your scale ticket"

And if you think leaving SNI will alleviate future frustrations, please re-think that.

I know your giving advice but that's funny!! TRUST ME, it will help!! Now if i leave Schneider I'm Clearly not going to no other McMega, so yeah i think it will Alleviate Future Frustrations..

And you guys say a few hundred pounds over, is 500 to 700 pounds acceptable?? Last week i was pulling a meat load back from Gwaltney in Portsmouth and i was 700 Over on my Trailer Axles and told me i had to move them or else..

[mike3fan]

i got scale the load to find out that its 10,500 on the Steers, 32,930 on the Drive's and you ready for this one.. 36,380 on the Trailer!! The gross was 79900 now once i find this out and i come to the conclusion that even if i do slide the trailer axles foward it will be 600-800 pounds over weight on each axle except for the steers.. now if your asking why don't i move the fifth wheel, well this truck doesn't have a sliding fifth wheel..

Why would you slide the tandems forward to move weight off the trailer and onto the drives? You would need to move the tandems to the back. Also as a rule of thumb most states won't blink an eye at anything under 1k over on tandem axle weights as long as your under gross.

I have been 38k on my drives and under gross so I have some experience with this.

I would have gotten it as close as I could have and sent the weights via QC and then let them send instructions via QC so that you were covered, I wouldn't have started my day without those instructions.

[69XKE]

I understand your frustrations, Hawk...but ask yourself a few questions before you try to jump ship in this economy:

1. McMega (as you call them) or Mom 'n Pop...do you REALLLLLLY believe that frustrations will be fewer? If so, fine. I've done both. I've also worked in several different industries and professions. The frustrations are there. Sometimes they're just different. You simply have to choose which ones you are willing to contend with.

2. I don't read every thread, let alone every entry on every thread, so I don't know your experience level. Are you sure part of the problem is not the man in the mirror? I ask that as someone who, earlier in his career (and his life) had to face that very question, and still does from time to time.

But from my soul, I wish you good luck and success.

[Hawkjr]

It was all ready in the 14th hole Mike... I might of said wrong but what i meant was, if i was to put weight on my drives i would still be 600 to 800 pounds over on both axles except on the steers.. now let me ask this, how am i suppose to know i can get away with this or not?? only scale house i know how to dodge is the one in Virginia on I81 in Winchester, am i suppose to run with it and if i get caught i get caught?? I just don't want to fork out a few hundred bucks for this..

and XXE69, naw, the man in the mirror isn't the problem, i'm sure of that.. I've put up with so much here and i cont. to maintain that better days are around the corner, but man i just can't do this no more.. if your happy thats great.. I know every job is not perfect, hell the best job i ever had (and if i didn't want to drive truck so bad i still be working there) even had its very bad days, but i still loved it, i'm willing to put up with things because i know nothing is perfect but i'm tired of going thru these miscommunications that ends up costing me time and money.. To much of it, for as much as i'm giving up, i'm tired of this mess..

[tinytim]

Fellas i'm through.. i tried and tried to remain strong but i'm through.. I no longer can do this anymore, i've tried to hold out only to know better things are around the corner but i can't.. what have push me to this limit..

Well as some or most might know i'm a dedicated driver for Schneider for Wal Mart Freight.. Apparently we have these New Hampshire/Maine System Runs, which consit of deadheading 163 miles to Suffolk VA, Picking up an Loaded Orange Box, Go 600 + miles north to Raymond New Hampshire, Drop and Hook, Leave Into Maine go pick up a load of water in either Hollis Center ME or Poland Springs ME and deliver to various Points then a load back to VA.. Sounds all great right.. 1700 miles or more in four or less days...

Sounds like a decent run. It's pretty crappy what happened with the over weight but unless you run into issues like that all the time why would you quit? Unless you have something better lined up shrug it off and move on. Crap happens, learn from it and make sure they don't do it to you next time.

[matcat]

If you want to get away from the Mega carriers, that is great, a small outfit is much better in many ways, just make sure you find one before you put that notice in! But you will find that driving for a small company is much much different!

Now in a lot of ways this depends on the size of the smaller company, if it is 50+ power unit fleet, more then likely they will probably have some basic procedures in place like a mega carrier, and it won't be much different, with the exception that the company will probably actually get to know you!

Now if you go with a really small fleet like I drive for, say less then 10 trucks, you will run much like an owner op. You will have to be careful with everything you do, sure you won't have the safety man or a dispatcher up your ass 24/7, but if you breakdown you don't have a nice toll free number to call to get roadside out there right away, and it is highly probable that the company simply cannot afford it anyway, or will be slow to respond. You won't have a safety man keeping an eagle eye on you, so you need to make sure you are doing everything right. More then often your dispatch would simply be someone looking at load boards, and giving you the brokers number to get the details, no nice little QC message with load details, so you will need to handle brokers directly, which isn't hard but adds an extra step. Keeping an eye on fuel will be much more important to you too.

Just my observations from working for an O/O leased onto a 5 truck fleet.

I love it, I would never go back to a mega carrier, but it is harder work, you will have more paperwork, and more responsibility, and if you DO screw something up, you don't have a nice company terminal within a days driving distance to get it taken care of, and if you truck breaks down to where you cannot use it without major repairs, there is no yard full of unused trucks to change into.

Just my opinions

[SickRick]

It was all ready in the 14th hole Mike... I might of said wrong but what i meant was, if i was to put weight on my drives i would still be 600 to 800 pounds over on both axles except on the steers.. now let me ask this, how am i suppose to know i can get away with this or not?? only scale house i know how to dodge is the one in Virginia on I81 in Winchester, am i suppose to run with it and if i get caught i get caught?? I just don't want to fork out a few hundred bucks for this..

and XXE69, naw, the man in the mirror isn't the problem, i'm sure of that.. I've put up with so much here and i cont. to maintain that better days are around the corner, but man i just can't do this no more.. if your happy thats great.. I know every job is not perfect, hell the best job i ever had (and if i didn't want to drive truck so bad i still be working there) even had its very bad days, but i still loved it, i'm willing to put up with things because i know nothing is perfect but i'm tired of going thru these miscommunications that ends up costing me time and money.. To much of it, for as much as i'm giving up, i'm tired of this mess..

Deep breath buddy - in through the nose - out through the mouth...

I understand your frustration. I'm still doing my (soon to be) old career (computer consulting/support) and if this lady (who is married to the guy that's kept FOOD on my table this year) calls me ONE MORE TIME today, without being able to ACCURATELY DESCRIBE the issues she's calling me about - I'm gonna tell her where to STICK these computers and go on WELFARE while I'm in trucking school.

In through the nose - out through the mouth - need to take my own advice. I guess, if these types of things frustrate you beyond your ability to cope, and realizing that these kind of events are going to happen once in awhile (but hopefully NOT EVERY LOAD) - then it may be time to GET OUT. Otherwise - chalk it up to a bad -f'in day - get over it - and move on...

Rick

[Orangetxguy]

You jusdt got some sound advice from more than a few capable people Hawk! Take some time to settle down. You will be ok.

[Mr. Ford95]

Hawk, you know VA like I do, they will pop you for the smallest amount even if it's only an axle overweight. You did right in not wanting to run it due to that. I got an over axle for only being 100 lbs over on the drives while I was still 4 tons under my gross. Total ticket was $78. VA is serious about any overweight even if your still under your gross. The total fine for the actual infraction was only $2, a penny for each pound. They may have upped that fine since then, this was 2 years ago. The other $76 was $50 in court costs and $16 in state and local taxes.

As for the rest of it that snowballed on you, I'd agree with the one's who said you should have stayed put at the T/S until Big Orange got it straightened out. You knew you weren't legal on an axle weight, could no way get it legal and you had a scale ticket to prove it. You had done your job at that point, let Big Orange do the rest. They may have had a contact there that they could have called up and got it taken care of instead of some moron who doesn't know any better at the front desk.

Good luck with the future bud.

[Hawkjr]

First thing first, i appreciate all the sound advice..

But things ended up getting better as the day went on i guess but unbelievably after the pallets got re worked/re arranged the truck was still over weight, now it was over weight on both the drives and the trailer..Hell even the poor fella from Western Express his truck was Over Gross by 500 pounds!! so finally someone came to their senses at Schneider and told me go ahead and run with it and if i get popped they will pay the ticket.. Luckly i took the long way, 78 to 81, down to 522 (to dodge the va scale) and jumped on 66 and got on 17.. Very luckily the scale in PA was closed and i trucked on by..

Even tho i have lost money this week i'm just going to chill out i guess, i'm going to end up getting 3 nights at home coming up and i guess to relax...

Also let me ask someone this, do u think this truck not having a sliding 5th wheel had anything to do with this load?? i know if i had a sliding 5th wheel i could of moved the weight to my steers and everything would of been good i guess...but the so smart dispatcher guess i had a condo or truck with an sliding 5th wheel...

Also anyone been to the Loves at Exit 23 on 78?? what a cluster F(%# that is!!

[mike3fan]

Also anyone been to the Loves at Exit 23 on 78?? what a cluster F(%# that is!!

I got off the exit last week to stop in there to get a coke and they were backed out into the street, so I got right back on and continued. Probably won't try that stop again.

[Jumbo]

I dont think having a sliding 5th would have helped. it would have gotten more weight on the steers but you werent over on the drives, and you would have had to slide the trailer axles back another 8-10 holes to get the weight you were over on the trailer onto the drives.

[SickRick]

I don;t understand why shippers can't fathom this (and they likely CAN - but just don't give a rats patoot). X Pallet has y numbers of cases at z lbs per case X x Y x Z + weight of wooden pallet = weight per pallet loaded (W). Truck can handle a gross load of - T, so T/W= number of loaded pallets. Like they DON'T KNOW how many you can handle? I suspect palletized cases of bottled water are single stacked only. I mean - unless you've got a ton or so of "powdered contraband" in a false floor - it's NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.

Based on the original load numbers - IF you could have slid the 5th wheel to put another 1,500 lbs on the steers (and that's a BIG IF - depending on the dynamics of the load) that would give you another 2,570 you could have shifted onto the drives by sliding the tandems BACK. With 36,380 on the original weight - that's about 8-10 holes you would have had to slide - probably maxing your slides and giving you a rig that would likely run over EVERY OTHER CURB you came across today.

You probably could have gotten your axle gross's close to "in the ballpark" by sliding your rears all the way back - but the few hundred lbs afforded by a sliding 5th, would probably had allowed you to shift enough to get drive/trailers within spec.

Ever wight your tractor to see what it's gross is - along with an unloaded trailer? Probably worth a scale ticket out of pocket, so you can tell at at glance by looking at the BOL, whether or not you're going to need a trip back to the shipper after scaling - or not.

Thanks again, for the LEARNING EXPERIENCE. That's just ONE MORE THING I'll be cognizant of - BEFORE I even graduate school and it the road myself...

Rick