When I first began looking for a company to start trucking in I read this forum and was under the impression that most people are just disgruntled over some reason or another and didnt pay much attention to all the complaints because I wanted to find out for myself - first hand what the problems were that people were describing.

Before considering Covenant Transport as your first job or at any time in your trucking career let me shed some light on them from a person who has been there.

TRUTH REVEALED: When you get to orientation some of the things you may be surprised to find is that they will reveal all the extra charges that you as a driver are responsible for.

TIRES: If you have a blow out or any damage to a tire it is the responsibily of the driver to return this tire otherwise they will charge you $100.

ACCIDENTS: If you are in an accident and it is deemed your fault you will be charged $500. This money is not necessarily used to repair the vehicle. It is just an arbitrary charge - a possible income for Covenant Transport?

I had a fender bender. The truck was never repaired. No estimate was ever made. The company pocketed $500 on my misfortune.

BREAKING THE LAW: Now if this was an isolated incident I may not mention it at all. Unforfortunately the trainers of Covenant are there for one reason and that is to make money off of YOU - the trainee. They do not teach backing and if they do it is to a limited degree - just enough to get the trainee to pass the final Covenant backing test. The trainers will take over from day one and will run you illegally. Yep that's right. You'll be driving 5 and 5. You'll log along with the trainer haphazardly to hide any inconsistancies. Happened to me, my brother, my class mates, his class mates. Federal offenses violated day after day after day. Is anyone ever caught? Of course they are. This information came from a DOT officer when they stopped me for a random check of my log books. I was fortunate enough to have been done with my training by then and was logging correctly.

BUYING COMPANY EQUIPMENT: There are some states in the west that require all trucks to carry chains on the truck at all times. If the chain law goes into effect and you dont have them, whammo!! A big fat ticket to the driver. Covenant does not carry these on their trucks and when you are dispatched to an area that requires them you will be sent a request over the qualcom to buy them yourself. This is whopping $300 or more. Company drivers buy the company equipment.

SOLO DRIVERS: Good luck if you intend to run solo. Once you are out of your 30 day training team you will be hard pressed to get off the truck. They want teams. They can pay teams much less and do everthying in their power to keep teams together.

PAY: Running with your trainer will net you a whopping 13 cpm!! After that you'll get 19 unless you can break out of the team and go solo. My paychecks ranged anywhere from $200 - $300 per week. HUH? Youre asking!! Oh yeah. Dont fool yourself into thinking you'll do much better. If anyone's intested, I'll post all exact amounts I made for month after month right here for the world to see.

DRIVER SUPPORT: None. Dont bother asking for answers. Dispatch is limited and severly handicapped when it comes to knowing much about the company, its seemingly random policies and they basically know nothing more than routing a truck from point A to point B.

This is merely the begining of revealing the truth about this company. I tried to hold back on personal feelings and just give some of the facts, but I'll make sure to enlighten everyone on what they will be up against if they decide to put themselves through this road of financial ruin.

No offense, but i read your other post, and it kind of seems like you're the "disgruntled" ex employee. Most of the factors on your other post that led you to the conclusion of how horrible covenant is, is not uncommon ground with other carriers. Brining your tires back to the shop after they blow, or whatever is not uncommon, and what is the big deal? And the accidents, and having to pay some money, you should count your blessings that you were still employed after an accident, especially if it was your fault, 500 bucks in the long run ain't no big deal, you still have a job, i was at LCT and they had the same company policy. And your gripes about log books, honestly "whaaaa whaaaa", it happens everywhere, if it was such a big deal call safety or whomever to get the problem fixed, i hate to sound like a jerk, most of the time i don't post a foul comment on here, but look truckdriving isn't for everyone, maybe it's not for you, just sounds to me like you're looking for someone to place the blame on for your misguided attempts at OTR driving. Again, no offense, but your so called complaints are common place in OTR driving, just the nature of the game.

Regarding the tires, I don't know of any carriers out there that don't require the blown tire or casing back at the shop. The reason?

Proof that it was blown. :?

Right, wrong, or indifferent, that's why they want to see it back. They want to know that the tire is on the side of the road as an alligator instead of on another truck.

millersod215: sounds to me that you are the type of person who just rolls over and let them give it to ya any way they like. I know your type. The kind who does not have the guts to stand up and your only defense is - "but that's the way everyone does it". Come on man! Get a backbone!! You know why "everyone does it"? Cuz of attitudes like yours!! Get a spine or stay off my post.

If everyone is upset about the info about tires, then I apologize. It was news for the newbies because noone tells you this at the offset. As far as everything else. I'm not disgruntled. I'm just sick of everyones "everyone does it so we should take it" attitude. Let everyone know how it really is.

Plus if it was just a flat tire a service person coming out there may have to put a new tire on it but the old tire could be repaired or even sold. The service guy may just "assume" he can have the dead tire even though it is still worth something.

Sunset, i honestly don't believe you've been around truckdriving long enough to know my "type". How long have you been driving? Me, well it's been 4 years, and i know by no means does that make me a senior trucker, but i'm the type of guy who listens up, and learns everything i can about this career i've made for myself. I'm 23, and have been at this since i graduated high school, i knew this was going to be my career, and in no way have i came in to this job without the "backbone" you so strongly feel i'm lacking. I've busted my ass, and worked hard everyday to get where i am, i've done both OTR and local and have found my niche with my local company. Just as the other poster said, there's nothing uncommon about the tire procedures, the accident procedures are not uncommon either, and you say you can post your "months" of low income, where was your "backbone" when you made the decission to continue working for 200 dollars a week. Anyway, i know you have your opinions, as do i, i just think your complaints on Covenant are nothing out of the ordinary with your run of the mill "newbie" companies, good luck finding a company that does not institute the same policies.

There are 2 reasons companies want the tires back when they are replaced on the road.

1. Is to ensure that the tire really needed replacing and to try to determine the reason for the failure.

2. They may get credit for the tire from the manufacturer depending on the age of the tire.

As far as the charging you, financially for accidents, that is totally BS. I know some companies like to do this, and in many cases it is an illegal practice, but since many people do not know what labor codes really say, and since these laws vary a little state to state they figure they can get by with it.

It can be a big PITA trying to get unlawfully deducted money back when you live in one state and the company is based in another.

The reason alot of companies require the blowouts returned, is because the tire manufactorer gives companies a bulk rate on tires. The tire makers use lot numbers on tires to keep track of them, and get feedback from companies, much like they do in NASCAR. Alot of the tires either get retreads or shipped off to get recycled or made into asphalt.
If you have complaints about a company, you should look at what you did or did not do to help the whole situation. Did you ask questions? Did you offer an alternative if the answer was not to your liking? Were you part of the problem rather than part of the solution? These things need to be looked into before making it known you are a disgruntled ex employee.