Can anyone tell me the good or bad about SRT

[Tony T]

I have a date to head to Texarkana and that is the 25th to start with SOUTHERN REFRIGERATED TRANSPORT. I did do a google & ripoff report search and found NOTHING BUT BAD REPORTS about them but then again you will always find that with almost any company. I talked to a few drivers and they seemed happy to be working for them but there is always that feeling in the back of my mind about them. SO if anyone out there can tell me about SRT could you post it here? I am looking for people that work there or did work there, not someone that had a friend of a friend that knew uncle joes friends father that worked there. SO if anyone can chime in that would be great.
Thanks
Tony

[Sealord]

REFRIGERATED BOL

[Tony T]

Hey SEALORD I am new to this what did you mean by your last message to me?
Thanks
Tony

[Holeshot]

Tony, this previous post by Chasing Daylight may shed some light onto temperature controlled hauling.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:57 pm My background is reefer. It's the kind of job you either love or hate.

On the bad side there are a lot of grocery warehouses, lumpers to deal with, 2AM delivery appts, lots of multi pick or multi drop loads. You also have to pay attention during loading. Van drivers get to crawl in the bunk and take a nap. A lot of reefer drivers do the same but shouldn't. Even if you aren't fingerprinting, you should be checking skid temps. If you haul refrigerated more than frozen and get into the produce racket then you have perishables to deal with, lots of time sensitive loads, and the occasional load that is bound to be headaches (strawberries are a good example, oddly enough so is asparagus.)

On the good side, the freight is generally there regardless of the economy, as people always have to eat. Plus, if you get in a slow freight area or bad time of year you can always pull dry goods. Produce tends to be cyclical, but it is also predictable, so even though you are irregular route you often know where you are going to be routed to, at least when your nose is pointed West.

[Bumper]

The pointed West part is true for me. I got home to SoCal alot more hauling a reefer than I ever did with a dry box.

[acip]

i drove for SRT for just shy of a year. they ran me hard after i went into the office and coralled about 5 or 6 people and went into one of the offices and we had a pow wow bout me runin up and down the eastern seaboard. after that, i averaged 4200 miles a weeke for about 8 weeks then it only dropped back to around 3600 miles a week. the reason i quit was because i got tired of bein gone for 4 to 7 weeks at a time, but they can run you hard of your willing to stay out!!

[Mike Hunt]

after that, i averaged 4200 miles a week for about 8 weeks

Using how many logbooks? LOL you guys are all the same!!

[Orangetxguy]

Using how many logbooks? LOL you guys are all the same!!

And your different?

[jonp]

Let's see: 11hrs X 65mph (if your all interstate and can do it) = 715miles/day X 6 days = 4290. Can you log it? Sure. Will a DOT Officer let you get away with it? I wouldnt want to be the one to pass that logbook over the counter.

[acip]

i only ran 1 logbook! i usually run a pretty tight log and dont normally leave too much room for errors. all you gota do is average everything and you can usually squeeze an hour or so out of your log!!!

[Mike Hunt]

And your different?

I'm paid hourly, not by mileage. No need to cheat and break the law. I'm also paid overtime after 8/40 so there's no incentive for my employer to work me round the clock like these OTR guys.

Why the hell does a man have to break federal law and open himself to huge legal liabilities to average 4,200 mpw?!?!? Why would anyone WANT to live like that working all those godawful hours (many unpaid) and having no free time? Talk about NO LIFE!

Unbelieveable! :roll2:

[Orangetxguy]

I'm paid hourly, not by mileage. No need to cheat and break the law. I'm also paid overtime after 8/40 so there's no incentive for my employer to work me round the clock like these OTR guys.

Why the hell does a man have to break federal law and open himself to huge legal liabilities to average 4,200 mpw?!?!? Why would anyone WANT to live like that working all those godawful hours (many unpaid) and having no free time? Talk about NO LIFE!

Unbelieveable! :roll2:

Now...Cold & Frosty Mike Hunt Lebron Whozit......There are plenty of HOURLY drivers out there, whom break local, state, and federal regulations in other ways.

No...they don't lie on their logs to make more money.They make more money in other ways.
In the Teamsters union for instance. They(Teamster Drivers) drive 7 miles per hour slower than company mandate asks them to. Way? Because that OT pay's better than no OT pay's..and the only way they are going to make OT is to drive slower and say they were held up by heavy traffic.

I know plenty of hourly drivers who drove 10 miles over the posted speed limit regularly, tail gated in traffic at speed, cut traffic off at speed...and lot's of other nice little tricks...so they could finish their dispatches in less than 8 hours.......because they got paid for 10 hours...2 hours of OT, whether they worked it or not.

I also kow plenty of hourly drivers who tossed off work, and drove slower, and drug their feet, so that they go off the truck in 12 hours...usually doing 7 hours worth of work in the 12 hours.

And those are guys whom haul gasoline for a living.

So yeah...ride these guy's who push the truck to make the buck....but don't forget to include those who drag their feet for the same reason, in your little rants. One is not better than the other.

And just so you understand..I only worked 6 months of this year(danm truck repairs anyway), and still made enough money to pay my truck off 4 months early, pay all my bills, invest a little, splurge on X-mas...and I still have enough cash reserve to not work for another couple months...IF I had to. I'm betting my after tax net is close to what you did this year...when it's all said and done.

I'm hauling a permit load.....in a tank..... to NJ starting Sunday.

[Mike Hunt]

No...they don't lie on their logs to make more money.They make more money in other ways.
In the Teamsters union for instance. They(Teamster Drivers) drive 7 miles per hour slower than company mandate asks them to. Way? Because that OT pay's better than no OT pay's..and the only way they are going to make OT is to drive slower and say they were held up by heavy traffic.

Well first of all that wouldn't work in linehaul because those drivers are paid by the mile. So if they drove 7 mph slower it wouldn't matter. If the wheels stop due to weather or breakdown or traffic then they do go on the clock. But they have to prove a valid reason. The guys you see in the truckstop taking a nap are not making any money sitting there.

Now if you're talking about city drivers, maybe. But we are judged by Bills Per Hour and Stops Per Hour. We must do a certain number of stops per hour or we can be written up and possibly fired. We are not paid for lunch breaks either, the company automatically takes out 1/2 hour of time after 6 hours.

I know plenty of hourly drivers who drove 10 miles over the posted speed limit regularly, tail gated in traffic at speed, cut traffic off at speed...and lot's of other nice little tricks...so they could finish their dispatches in less than 8 hours.......because they got paid for 10 hours...2 hours of OT, whether they worked it or not.

That would not technically be hourly pay. That would be more like % or something. When you're paid hourly, you're paid for ALL hours worked.

I also kow plenty of hourly drivers who tossed off work, and drove slower, and drug their feet, so that they go off the truck in 12 hours...usually doing 7 hours worth of work in the 12 hours.

And those are guys whom haul gasoline for a living.

Well the company knows what they're making on these runs. If one guy is doing the run in 8 hours and another guy in 10 then they need to find out why the other guy is going 2 hours slower.

It's like that on my mail run. We're paid $25.00/hr for all hours worked. I do my run in 12 hours and another guy did it in 14. So the company found out the guy was stealing time and fired him.

That's how you do it. You punish the slackers. You don't rip off everyone and steal from them like the OTR carriers do...paying them 10 hours for 14 hours of work....driving 1000 miles and paid for 900...and then saying that's the only fair way to do it. That's BS! And if you can't raise your rates to pay everyone for their time like all other busineses in this country that pay their people by the hour then maybe you shouldn't be in business.

I'm betting my after tax net is close to what you did this year...when it's all said and done.

I would hope you're making more $$$ than me. You're an independent businessman. If you're doing close to what a company driver is making then that's pretty sad.

[Orangetxguy]

[QUOTE]

Well first of all that wouldn't work in linehaul because those drivers are paid by the mile. So if they drove 7 mph slower it wouldn't matter. If the wheels stop due to weather or breakdown or traffic then they do go on the clock. But they have to prove a valid reason. The guys you see in the truckstop taking a nap are not making any money sitting there.

Now if you're talking about city drivers, maybe. But we are judged by Bills Per Hour and Stops Per Hour. We must do a certain number of stops per hour or we can be written up and possibly fired. We are not paid for lunch breaks either, the company automatically takes out 1/2 hour of time after 6 hours.



That would not technically be hourly pay. That would be more like % or something. When you're paid hourly, you're paid for ALL hours worked.



Well the company knows what they're making on these runs. If one guy is doing the run in 8 hours and another guy in 10 then they need to find out why the other guy is going 2 hours slower.

It's like that on my mail run. We're paid $25.00/hr for all hours worked. I do my run in 12 hours and another guy did it in 14. So the company found out the guy was stealing time and fired him.

That's how you do it. You punish the slackers. You don't rip off everyone and steal from them like the OTR carriers do...paying them 10 hours for 14 hours of work....driving 1000 miles and paid for 900...and then saying that's the only fair way to do it. That's BS! And if you can't raise your rates to pay everyone for their time like all other busineses in this country that pay their people by the hour then maybe you shouldn't be in business.



I would hope you're making more $$$ than me. You're an independent businessman. If you're doing close to what a company driver is making then that's pretty sad. [/quote]

The situation I described...was hourly pay. In 1990 the hurly wage, for a 40 hour gaurantee, was $19.35. In 2003 when I took lay-off..the hourly wage was $26.90. The gaurantee was 40 hours whether you worked them or not, as long as you clocked in and hauled the dispatched loads. If you hauled 5 loads and went home in 8 hours, nothing was said. If you tossed off 2 loads and worked 12 hours with an explaination of traffic and cars blocking...nothing was said.

Now...I said my "Net" was as much as you made.

I'm betting my after tax net is close to what you did this year...when it's all said and done

. And,

just so you understand..I only worked 6 months of this year(danm truck repairs anyway),and still made enough money to pay my truck off 4 months early, pay all my bills, invest a little, splurge on X-mas...and I still have enough cash reserve to not work for another couple months...IF I had to

.

My netting as much as you grossed...and only actually working 6 months of the year..is not to bad wouldn't you say? The only thing I owe right now...is the birthday gift I bought my niece today.
Except for two repairs done in Saint Louis, which took a total of 3 days for the two repairs, all other repair time was spent here at the house. In the 6 months of work, I had about 25 days of lay-over, for which I got motel.

Maybe I should include those lay-over days in my time off?? Make it 5 months worked and 7 months off?

Naaaaaaaaaa. Because of tax issues I won't.

Each driving job is what it is. You would give "Newbies" the impression that you started "Local" right out of the box. Clearly, because of the attitude you hold for OTR companies, you did not.

LOL...you keep failing to mention to "Newbies" that when there are excessive local drivers, the bottom of the board sits and makes nothing, day after day, in YOUR shop.

[Mike Hunt]

The situation I described...was hourly pay. In 1990 the hurly wage, for a 40 hour gaurantee, was $19.35. In 2003 when I took lay-off..the hourly wage was $26.90. The gaurantee was 40 hours whether you worked them or not, as long as you clocked in and hauled the dispatched loads. If you hauled 5 loads and went home in 8 hours, nothing was said. If you tossed off 2 loads and worked 12 hours with an explaination of traffic and cars blocking...nothing was said.

OK I think I see what you're gettting at. Yes we're guaranteed 40 hours if we're called in. Now alot of people interpret this as union greed and getting paid for doing nothing. But the reason for this is that it prevents the company from calling you in and then you show up and they say go home there's no work or you only 2 hours. Or having you sit around without clocking in to see if there's work.

It also forces the company to be more productive because if they're going to call you in, then they have to have at least 40 hours of work for you to do.

We don't give our time away like OTR. No 2 hours free here, 4 hours free there, waiting around for free and logging it as off-duty.

If you hauled 5 loads and went home in 8 hours, nothing was said. If you tossed off 2 loads and worked 12 hours with an explaination of traffic and cars blocking...nothing was said.

Why was nothing said? This would be a failure of management. Our managers know how much time it takes to get stops off and get the run done. If guys are slacking off, they can tell by seeing how many stops per hour they are doing or how many trailers they're breaking on the dock.

My netting as much as you grossed...and only actually working 6 months of the year..is not to bad wouldn't you say? The only thing I owe right now...is the birthday gift I bought my niece today.

I don't know because I don't know how much you made and you don't know how much I made. And you have a truck to maintain and pay for and repair when it breaks and I don't. And I have a pension and a 401k with company matching and you don't. And I get 4 weeks of paid vacation per year and you don't. And I only pay 1/2 of social security tax. And I get paid holidays. And I pay $0.00 for out-of-pocket health care.

But I really don't know.

LOL...you keep failing to mention to "Newbies" that when there are excessive local drivers, the bottom of the board sits and makes nothing, day after day, in YOUR shop.

Well since we are paid by the hour and paid for our time, there are no "exessive" local drivers unlike OTR who have drivers sitting around the country unpaid waiting for loads.

True, bottom boards at many LTL companies have been laid off or less hours due to the economy. But it is no better in truckload where alot of companies are going under and laying drivers off as well. All over the country people are getting laid off and not working so don't make it like just union LTL shops are the ones doing it.

[mike3fan]

OK I think I see what you're gettting at. Yes we're guaranteed 40 hours if we're called in. Now alot of people interpret this as union greed and getting paid for doing nothing. But the reason for this is that it prevents the company from calling you in and then you show up and they say go home there's no work or you only 2 hours. Or having you sit around without clocking in to see if there's work.

It also forces the company to be more productive because if they're going to call you in, then they have to have at least 40 hours of work for you to do.

We don't give our time away like OTR. No 2 hours free here, 4 hours free there, waiting around for free and logging it as off-duty.



Why was nothing said? This would be a failure of management. Our managers know how much time it takes to get stops off and get the run done. If guys are slacking off, they can tell by seeing how many stops per hour they are doing or how many trailers they're breaking on the dock.



I don't know because I don't know how much you made and you don't know how much I made. And you have a truck to maintain and pay for and repair when it breaks and I don't. And I have a pension and a 401k with company matching and you don't. And I get 4 weeks of paid vacation per year and you don't. And I only pay 1/2 of social security tax. And I get paid holidays. And I pay $0.00 for out-of-pocket health care.

But I really don't know.



Well since we are paid by the hour and paid for our time, there are no "exessive" local drivers unlike OTR who have drivers sitting around the country unpaid waiting for loads.

True, bottom boards at many LTL companies have been laid off or less hours due to the economy. But it is no better in truckload where alot of companies are going under and laying drivers off as well. All over the country people are getting laid off and not working so don't make it like just union LTL shops are the ones doing it.

Well I have about had it with this trucking thing. What happened is that Wednesday I picked up a load of chemical powder in bags. This stuff was heavy but the company had a scale on-site so I weighed up and it looked OK. I asked if the scale was calibrated and they said "oh yeah our trucks use this all the time." But as I got out onto the road it just didn't feel right so I stopped at the Flying J and re-weighed and of course I'm over on the gross. Call my dispatcher Glenn and after waiting 30 minutes on the phone he asks me how much fuel I have in the tanks and then he tells me to bring the load back to the shipper and have them strip a couple pallets off the back. Well on my way back there's a scale that was closed just a couple hours before well guess what it's open now!!! I tell you if it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have none at all. Roll over the scale and sure enough the red light comes on and DOT man tells me to swing around back and bring in my paperwork. Go inside and he's an older guy like me and he says "where'd you pick that load up from driver?" I tell him and he shakes his head and says bunch of Mexicans those guys always load trailers wrong. He says he's not gonna fine me just bring the load back and get it fixed. I said thank you sir and head back to the shipper but shipping/receiving closes at 1500. And they're closed for Thanksgiving too and they're closed Friday and don't open until Monday morning.

Call up Glenn again and tell him what happened and he says OK hold on and watch your qualcomm and after waiting 1 hour I get a message that says take the load to a dropyard about 82 miles away. I check my atlas and there's no scales going that way so I take it over there and drop the trailer. Call up Glenn again and he says wait just awhile and after and hour or so I get a message: pickup an MT and take it over to a paper plant there’s a load there that’ll get you home.

Go to the paper plant and I give the lady my load number and she says drop your trailer in door 42 and pick up your loaded trailer in 33. OK great but as I go to pullout I thump the tandem tires and notice one of em is flat. Also notice the one next to it has a bald spot and showing cords. Looks like the driver before me or the yard jockey dragged the tandems. Call up Glenn but he went home and a lady answers the phone and she tells me to take the trailer over to the T/A and get the tires fixed. I say “ma’am I’m not pulling these paper rolls on a flat and one bald tire you’re gonna have to get someone to come out here.” Well she gets mad and puts me on hold. By this time my 14 hour clock is about up so I just send a message saying I’m shutting it down here and taking my 10-hour break I’ll call you folks in the AM.

Well I’m getting a mite long winded so long story short I didn’t get home til late Thursday evening. I missed Thanksgiving dinner and the family coming over all because of this stupid trucking job that don’t pay squat seein as how I worked the whole day of Wednsday for basically nothing. I tell you all the aggravation, BS, low pay I’m finished with this trucking thing. What a joke this is.

So, this is all BS?

Or are we to believe that you started a new job in the last 3 weeks and already have 4 weeks of vacation?

[Orangetxguy]

So, this is all BS?

Or are we to believe that you started a new job in the last 3 weeks and already have 4 weeks of vacation?

It's just Cold & Frosty doing the Mugging that he usually does on drivers that choose to drive OTR.