Heartland

[headborg]

How long did you work for Heartland and where are you working now?

heartland is full of crap. if any one decides to go with them. remeber where you unload at is where you will set until they send you then next load. the pay is rather crapy. they say hometime. how ever that is what they say. the truth is when it come time for you to go home they will cancel it on you. and you must send your hours of service in 3 times with every qual comm check in. and every time you stop for anything at all. they beep you wanting to know why you are stopping. the first company i have ever work for where you had to ask to stop and take a crap.. and here's how the pay works at heartland. you will work 8-9 days for $667. dollars... and they make you work every hour in your log book. so if you have an hour and a half left for the week to work,drive. they will make you work that time before going home.. and on the day you meet your disbatcher. you need to ask how old they are. and how much experience they have. and if you make a mistake with a load. then you are on your own to save your self. because your teenage disbatcher will hang you out to dry... if i were you. I would run the other way when heartland calls.

Well...still waiting for an answer to your question at the top?

I know I was.... ok-- with only going on 4 weeks now at Heartland-- please
indulge me while I go thru this gentleman's comments reguarding Heartland-- I will attempt to answer honestly.

1)

heartland is full of crap.

Answer: Correct! And he might have added-- as a Heartland Driver you are expected to routinely, gently and lovingly remove the cob from Managements Rear end--- place it to your nose-- inhale fully-- smile and tell them IT DOES NOT STINK!

2)

if any one decides to go with them. remeber where you unload at is where you will set until they send you then next load

Answer; so far this hasn't been an issue-- I've had at least 1 to 2 preplans already on me before I get empty-- so far, I've had a bigger problem getting free from the qualcom and answering the "please reply to preplan#1 , #2, #3 so I can actually do the driving to make the pickup on time.
They are "old school" or should I say-- I sometimes think the "old man" is an ex- JBHunt driver-- and set his company up like them-- of 15 years ago. I remember 15 years ago, JBHUNT policy was no more than 10 miles driving from where you got empty--to relocate for "personal reasons".

Guess I'll see-- personally, I'll probably just move the darn truck to a T/S - and deal with their wrath later.....certainly wouldn't think of ASKING what
I can or can't do. Then again, I'm a resonable person-- I wouldn't re-locate their equipment to another state! or go 60 miles or anything stupid like that.

3)

the pay is rather crapy

Answer: Maybe just YOUR pay check. So far, mine has been everything they said it would be..and the accounting department has been accurate.
again we'll see...time will tell.

4)

they say hometime. how ever that is what they say. the truth is when it come time for you to go home they will cancel it on you

Answer: Hmmm, I'm seeing signs that might lead me to believe-- he could be right about this.... then again, time will tell-- so far they are 2/3 ok with me-- but we're closing on #4 and it's not looking all too well for them-- then they will be down to 50% achievement of 50% of why I came to work here.

5)

and you must send your hours of service in 3 times with every qual comm check in

Answer: so far, just every morning....once. Maybe Matcro33 was doing something wrong... or lying about his hours? I will say, even though the loaded calls / empty calls are somewhat of a pain-- with having to answer all the questions like; "how many hours left to run", how many hours remaining on your 70 when empty, when did your 14hours start, etc....next PTA---- all this is nice to see--- if the planners actually look at this info-- it tells me-- they are actually planning/thinking about what YOU can do legally--- i.e. running a well oiled machine. Yes-- they will Max you out of hours---- so Keep a secret "reserve"-- i.e. FAT FINGER a few numbers--- there's nothing worse than letting some pimple faced desk jocky-- run you right into trouble at your 14th or 70th hour-- and leave you in trouble 5 miles from a shipper/consignee/ truckstop-- caught when "Murphy's Law" strikes and you run out of hours setting in a patrol car!

6)

and every time you stop for anything at all. they beep you wanting to know why you are stopping

Answer: Were you hauling an expensive "monitored" load? or were you already on their crap list? been late a few times already? showing a repeated pattern of frequently stopping which adds up to being late.

So far this hasn't happened to me-- YET- When it does-- I'll be calling my
26 year old Fleet Manager and letting him know ......ok....I'll be nice... I just won't be "micro-managed".

7-end of rant:

$667.00?

maybe it's your payrate- and too many personal stops so those 300 mile trips didn't add up.

they make you work every hour in your log book?

why, yes they do... that's the fleet manager's job-- to work you!
Damn them--- you hired on here for the frequent flyer miles? and tourism?
if you used all your hours-- why didn't you have a bigger paycheck? did you loan out your hours to another driver?

yes, I did have to ask my fleet manager how old he was---

if you make a mistake on a load-- you've always been expected to figure it out on your own... it's called truck driving. If you can't figure it out on your own-- call your former driver trainer-- his number probably hasn't changed in the last 3 weeks---- oh, excuse me-- Heartland requires at least 1 year OTR .........solo? my mistake.