Arky has left the building!

[arky]

Well...Maverick's building anyway!

I have to admit that I left sooner than I really wanted, although I did have intentions of leaving even earler in the year. I purchased a straight truck (expediter) a few months back, but I was just never convinced that the market for those trucks was where it needed to be. I bought the truck cheap and had decided to sell it and buy a t/t combo at some point.

I wanted to stay with Maverick until the first of the year '08 which would have given me about 14 months t/t exp. to fall back on, but there were other factors to be considered also. In the end, I felt that it was best for me to leave now. I have found a good place (I think) to lease the straight truck on with and that market is at it's best from now to the end of the year. I need to take advantage of that busy season with my truck if I want to get a good start as o/o.

I'll have to say that if I had it all to do over again, I would go right back to Maverick for my first driving job. I read these forums as often as possible and alot of the aggravation I see that others are having to put up with...well, it's just not there at Maverick. Don't get me wrong, they have their faults and I've been plenty aggravated with them a time or 3, but if you can just chill out and look at it all over a longer period of time, their not bad at all.

I did have some problems earlier in the year with getting home on the weekends. I had to get pretty serious with my fleet manager a couple of times, but he finally started trying a little harder to get me home. It's also notable that my fleet manager and another fleet manager shared work (filled in for each other on days off, vac., etc., etc). I talked to several drivers and neither of them seemed to be very good at getting drivers home. Neither of them are employed at Maverick now! I have no clue as to how they left other than both of them found other work the same week? I had already made my plans to leave, so I didn't get to work with this new fleet manager but maybe a month, but getting home was never even a concern. I think alot of the complaints I would have had were probably taken care of when my fleet manager left.

Overall, Maverick is a VERY honest company. I never had to worry about my check being what should have been and when I did have questions, they were addressed immediately. Maverick very much intends to put you to work, meaning that they are going to load that truck and your going to be responsible for picking the freight and delivering it to their schedules. But, at the same time, they know and will tell you that they know, who makes that company what it is...the drivers.

So, Arky is not a flatbedder anymore. At least not for now! Good luck to all you new guys. I think that if you go with Maverick and watch what some of the other new guys go through with other companies, you'll see that you made the right decision.

Good luck everyone!

Arky

[arky]

I also wanted to make another point, but I want it to be seperate from my first post on this thread.

ANY time that you go to a new carrier, whether it's your first job or your 20th, find somebody...anybody that drives for that company and get them a referral bonus!! I helped a lot of guys on this board by answering questions and just generally trying to help. Most of those same guys were willing to get me that referral bonus. The thing is...don't try to keep someone from getting a referral! All that happens in that case is, the company keeps the money. If you go to work for a company and don't get somebody a referral bonus, you just kept money out of a driver's pocket.

Anyway, it's easy enough generally to decide who to give the referral to ( the guy that helps you the most!). Just keep that in mind and you can return the favor to him for helping you out.

Arky

[greg3564]

Good luck Arky. So are you going the expeditor route or did you do something else?

[Fredog]

Well...Maverick's building anyway!

I have to admit that I left sooner than I really wanted, although I did have intentions of leaving even earler in the year. I purchased a straight truck (expediter) a few months back, but I was just never convinced that the market for those trucks was where it needed to be. I bought the truck cheap and had decided to sell it and buy a t/t combo at some point.

I wanted to stay with Maverick until the first of the year '08 which would have given me about 14 months t/t exp. to fall back on, but there were other factors to be considered also. In the end, I felt that it was best for me to leave now. I have found a good place (I think) to lease the straight truck on with and that market is at it's best from now to the end of the year. I need to take advantage of that busy season with my truck if I want to get a good start as o/o.

I'll have to say that if I had it all to do over again, I would go right back to Maverick for my first driving job. I read these forums as often as possible and alot of the aggravation I see that others are having to put up with...well, it's just not there at Maverick. Don't get me wrong, they have their faults and I've been plenty aggravated with them a time or 3, but if you can just chill out and look at it all over a longer period of time, their not bad at all.

I did have some problems earlier in the year with getting home on the weekends. I had to get pretty serious with my fleet manager a couple of times, but he finally started trying a little harder to get me home. It's also notable that my fleet manager and another fleet manager shared work (filled in for each other on days off, vac., etc., etc). I talked to several drivers and neither of them seemed to be very good at getting drivers home. Neither of them are employed at Maverick now! I have no clue as to how they left other than both of them found other work the same week? I had already made my plans to leave, so I didn't get to work with this new fleet manager but maybe a month, but getting home was never even a concern. I think alot of the complaints I would have had were probably taken care of when my fleet manager left.

Overall, Maverick is a VERY honest company. I never had to worry about my check being what should have been and when I did have questions, they were addressed immediately. Maverick very much intends to put you to work, meaning that they are going to load that truck and your going to be responsible for picking the freight and delivering it to their schedules. But, at the same time, they know and will tell you that they know, who makes that company what it is...the drivers.

So, Arky is not a flatbedder anymore. At least not for now! Good luck to all you new guys. I think that if you go with Maverick and watch what some of the other new guys go through with other companies, you'll see that you made the right decision.

Good luck everyone!

Arky

[arky]

Thanks guys.

Yes, I'll be using the expediter truck. I'll be signing it onto a carrier that does things a little different than the rest of them though. From what I've been told by some of his other owner/operators, their doing pretty good. Time will tell. It is a HUGE leap of faith. I wasn't too bad dissatisfied with Maverick, but I've always wanted to be O/O, so this is where I "need" to be. One thing I've learned in life though, just because you "need" to be something doesn't mean you "can" be that. I'm about to find out though LOL.

[nickbtubas]

do you got a sleeper on the truck?? or is it a local/regional gig??


WHERE ARE THE PICS??

[arky]

It's a FL Columbia with the standard 70" sleeper. It's not the XT like the maverick trucks though...just a midroof I'll have to work on getting one of those old Maverick trucks one day if I'm successful :wink:

[Popeye]

Best of Luck in your new adventures Arky.

[jloutbac]

good luck! really looking forward to run acrros you out there with all of your insight and maybe pass some knowledge to me as I'm going with Maverick.