JB Hunt : The Final Straw?

[jonp]

My time with this company has been.....tumultuous to say the least. I've been lied to, not gotten home on time for my days off and when I've "run" the weekend I've sat in a truckstop or a terminal without going anywhere or getting paid to do it. This last week may have been the final straw.

I left out on Thursday having been shut down because of weather in NC. I ran down towards GA for a Friday morning delivery. I get a message asking me if i can be there Thursday night because the customer really needs the freight.
"Of course I can make it I reply. Can be there by 1900 but that will put me over my 11 hours. Want me to do it?"
"Get there as early as you can". Thought so.
Got up at 0300 and made it to the customer by 0530.
"We dont open till 0800"
"They told me to get here early because you really needed this stuff"
"We got a warehouse full of it, don't know why anyone told you that and no-one told me you were coming in. Since your here back up and I'll unload you early."
Unloaded and sat in a truckstop. and sat. and sat. about 1600, 1/2 hour before I ran over my 14hrs I was sent a load that picked up and delivered in Jackson, MS on Monday. 500 miles. Got it and ran to Jackson Saturday and sat Sunday. So, my weekend out had me spend 3 days to go 500 miles. Yea...
Monday I delivered and got a load up to Springdale, AR. Fought the ice-storm Mon and Tues. In almost 20 years of driving I've never seen anything like that. Went to Tulsa Tues and got a load back to SC for Thurs. I"m supposed to be home on Sat so thats pretty close. No problem, right? Think again.
Delivered just across the line from Augusta, GA and was sent to Beech Island to get some stuff to bring to GA for Friday. 150 miles but it used up my log and was better than sitting. I was sent a pre-plan to pick up a Coke load in Atlanta for Rocky Mt on Fri for a Monday delivery. That would put me home on Sat and Sun. Great! Only on Friday morn at the cust waiting to unload it was yanked from me because another driver had to get home. UH..OK...I was sent another load that picked up 9 miles from me and delivered 10 miles from my house on Mon. Even Better! Nope..That was quickly yanked. High dollar load I couldnt take home. I was then given a Budweiser load picking up Sat 0100 delv Columbia, SC 0800.
"How is that getting me home?"
"We will deadhead you if we have to from Columbia"
"250 miles? Are you sure, thats a long ways"
"Dont worry, we will do it"
OK, so I sat all of Friday, got up 0100 and got the load and drove over to Columbia. Sitting in line to deliver..beep beep beep. Sent a pickup in Sumter, SC going to Charlotte, NC.
"Ok, thats not home. What the F***.?
We need you to get this and drop it in the yard, you can go home empty from there.
"I can't make it there and home on Sat, I wont be home till sun sometime and I was told I would be deadheaded home if needed to be there on Saturday which is when I'm supposed to be home"
"Well, we can't do that, go get that load"
"*$##^%&&" OK, I'll be home Sun for days off Mon and Tues.
Get to Sumter, SC...beep beep beep..sent a load that was in the yard in Concord, NC that delivered Monday 50 miles from my house.
"Hey guys, I'm not working 7 days a week. what gives?"
"You have to do this, we can't send you home empty"
I'm supposed to be home Sat not Monday.
Sorry, you have to do this
"Jesus!"
Ok, Get to the yard Sunday 0430 and send a message "here I am whats the trailer I'm picking up?"
0445....0500.."Whats the load?...0515...0530..."Ok, you've got 15 minutes to send me the load or I'm going home empty. Make it quick...beep beep beep.
got the load and was then sent a message that I had to sit on it till monday and deliver. That means stay in a truckstop on sunday and then deliver it Monday. The load ran 100 miles and delivered 40miles from home.
"You want me drive 100 miles and sit all day in a truckstop Sunday 40 miles from home?"
"We advise you to do this"
"You advise me? how nice" I'm sitting in my living room Sunday night drinking a beer writing this having just taken this load home. I'll bring it over in the morning.
I've been lied to, kept out on the road past my days off, sat in terminals and truckstops without miles instead of being home, have loads from Dec I havnt been paid for and threatened with my job all for 34 cents a mile..
What do you think?
I'm looking for another job. I was told I was crazy to get a job with JB and did it anyways so this is self-inflicted. I figured I needed a job this winter and could at least hang on till the spring but I'm averaging less than $400 take home and I'm in the truck 6 days a week when I can even get home. I sure can't recommend this company to anyone and would discourage everyone I talk to from working here.
How they keep any drivers is a mystery to me and what type of drivers would drive for this crappy company is beyond me. They surely don't want experienced, quality drivers here.

[Jumbo]

Cluggy, Is that you?

[belpre122]

Sucks Jon. Hate to hear it bro. Wish you were around Indy or Detroit, I could give you some leads on how to rid yourself from the coolie carrier nightmare that you are living.

Worst part..........2 days from now.....this post will go to the bottom. Another poor soul will make the same mistake and folks like CFM will be banned for attempting to espouse the truth.

[jonp]

Thanks, Hoss. I figured that they had to get to be a big company somehow. How you going to do it without drivers? Guess I was wrong. I would hate for someone to make the same mistake I did. I'm going to go and dig out my mileage figures and pay for every week since I started so people won't think I'm blowing smoke.

Coolie Carrier? Used to take that term with a grain of salt but I'm a believer now.

[Creek Jackson]

jonp, you have been driving for 20 years and you are driving for jbhunt @ 34cpm?

Sorry, but I fail to understand that scenerio. Say it isn't so.

[jonp]

I moved to Raleigh, NC in October and believe it or not this was the only job that I could find. I applied to 25 or 30 companies. Unless I wanted to be out 2-3 weeks this was the best that I could do.

[TimberWolf]

No offense to all of you OTR guys, but I just can't see how this type of work experience is good?????
That would drive me nuts sitting all that time and not getting paid for it. haveing your hopes build up only to be told this is what you need to do now "sorry but we will get you home the next day" The very thought of having to sit on a load 40 miles from my home, Jonp I would have done the same thing you did.....
You guys who deal with this stuff everyday have my appreciation as I could not do it. I love being able to climb into my own bed every night / morning.
So here's to you MR Over THe Road Driver..... Have another Bud and say to yourself "sometimes you just have to say WTF" !!!!!!!

Good Luck Jonp hope all works out for you...

Timberwolf

[Creek Jackson]

I moved to Raleigh, NC in October and believe it or not this was the only job that I could find. I applied to 25 or 30 companies. Unless I wanted to be out 2-3 weeks this was the best that I could do.

Hey, I understand completely. Hope you get things sorted out.

[jimjim]

Sounds like you got what every "new driver" at JB gets. Twenty yrs. or twenty minutes, it don't matter with the kids behind the screen. I've had my run ins with a few of them. Go here, do this, and I'll see what I can get. Meanwhile, you sit and sit. I always get a kick out of them when you type in, I'm supposed to be home Saturday! And they send back a message that says, Yes we know, help me out here and I'll do my best to get you there, sometime Saturday. LOL!!
Anyway, good luck to ya. I myself like it at JB....and traffic in Austin, TX.....and ice cream headaches....and the PA. turnpike.....and running across OHIO empty....and get'n fuel at PILOT!!

[jd112488]

well belpre, cfm exposed no truth, just his hatred for otr companies and anyone that choose to drive for them. all the while for the lst 2 years telling us how wonderful his job is and well he gets paid, but he never once gavea name of the company...he also had to work 2 jobs, which i am sure he cooked the books to do, something you guys seem to hate about otr companies. what happened here is not that jb hunt sucks and lied to this guy, we all know that alot of these companies suck..some can make it work some cannot. what happened is that he failed to do the proper research when he took the job, this is a mistake that have made several times in my time. did the company lie? yeah, probably. should this driver have known that alot of recruiters lie? yeah, probably. you need to get over your love for cfm and your hatred for the otr companies and people that work for them. and so everyone knows that do not already, i do not drive otr. you, belpre, preach about how wonderful local work is. well, do me a favor. come to wher i live and put in your app. for a local job. see if you can get one, then see if you can afford to keep it. this is why some people HAVE to drive otr, because the local jobs do not pay ****. so before you go bashing otr companies and all that drive for them maybe take a few minutes and think about the fact that you and your boyfriend CFM may not have all of the information. and the next time i open my user cp and see to run from coolie carrier trucking, or CFM is a god, i am going to drive to indy and find some guy delevering fuel and have a talk with him, and see what kind of person he really is...cause he can't possibly be the ******* that he has become on this forum.

[jonp]

ok, who is cfm? In case your wondering, I did do my research and I most certainly expect the recruiters to lie. How stupid do you think that I am? Don't answer that....I knew that this wouldnt be that great so I took the SE Regional Job instead of an OTR job with them figuring that I wouldnt be that far from home and I would at least be home on weekends even if the money wasnt that great. I just never expected it to be this bad.
Got lied to today, again. Was told yesterday that I would take the current load home, take it to be delivered this am and then come home for my time off. Guess what? Delivered and got a message to pick up a load today at 1800 and deliver 250 miles away tomarrow am. They expected me to sit in a truckstop all day 40 miles from home and then run 250 miles. I drove home empty and took all of the non-essential items out. Told them I would get it in the morning and we are going to have a talk with my boss and his boss about this. If they couldnt straighten this stuff out they would have the truck back this Friday.

[jonp]

Called my new boss up. He told me that "that was the way it was" with trucking. What was my problem? I had at least 20 hours at home? No kidding. In the truck for 17 straight days and that was his response. Since he is totally useless i decided to give it one more shot and called his boss. Left a message and will call him again tomarrow. Seriously, I figured out what is going on here. Instead of paying the over the road rate of 42 cents a mile to get this stuff done or pay the local guys $12.50 an hour to do it they are using the Regional guys at .32 per mile and saving the money. Pretty skeezy but typical.

[unclehotte]

Hey JONP??? If it makes you feel better....its not just JB Hunt. Your story for your weekend off sounds 95% like my own I had with Shaffer. After this week I turned the truck in, too. And they also liked to ''USE'' me as a local delivery driver for a few cents per mile. When i accused my dispatcher of doing so to the terminal manager he agreed. BUT THATS MY OWN FAULT THAT I LIVE SO CLOSE TO THE TERMINAL, I got told!!

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

Called my new boss up. He told me that "that was the way it was" with trucking. What was my problem? I had at least 20 hours at home? No kidding. In the truck for 17 straight days and that was his response. Since he is totally useless i decided to give it one more shot and called his boss. Left a message and will call him again tomarrow. Seriously, I figured out what is going on here. Instead of paying the over the road rate of 42 cents a mile to get this stuff done or pay the local guys $12.50 an hour to do it they are using the Regional guys at .32 per mile and saving the money. Pretty skeezy but typical.

Gee wow I'm quiting my yard jockey job to drive local for JB HUNT at $12.50 hr ...Are you serious is $12.50 hr all JB pays for local driving I made more driving a forklift ,and much more as a hostler ...

[INKTOXICATED]

DAMN, that job sounds freaking awful. your a better man then me for putting up with that day after day. i couldnt do it. good read tho makes me like my job even more. Good luck youll find something else, something that will work for you. good luck

[dollarshort]

My time with this company has been.....tumultuous to say the least. I've been lied to, not gotten home on time for my days off and when I've "run" the weekend I've sat in a truckstop or a terminal without going anywhere or getting paid to do it. This last week may have been the final straw.

I left out on Thursday having been shut down because of weather in NC. I ran down towards GA for a Friday morning delivery. I get a message asking me if i can be there Thursday night because the customer really needs the freight.
"Of course I can make it I reply. Can be there by 1900 but that will put me over my 11 hours. Want me to do it?"
"Get there as early as you can". Thought so.
Got up at 0300 and made it to the customer by 0530.
"We dont open till 0800"
"They told me to get here early because you really needed this stuff"
"We got a warehouse full of it, don't know why anyone told you that and no-one told me you were coming in. Since your here back up and I'll unload you early."
Unloaded and sat in a truckstop. and sat. and sat. about 1600, 1/2 hour before I ran over my 14hrs I was sent a load that picked up and delivered in Jackson, MS on Monday. 500 miles. Got it and ran to Jackson Saturday and sat Sunday. So, my weekend out had me spend 3 days to go 500 miles. Yea...
Monday I delivered and got a load up to Springdale, AR. Fought the ice-storm Mon and Tues. In almost 20 years of driving I've never seen anything like that. Went to Tulsa Tues and got a load back to SC for Thurs. I"m supposed to be home on Sat so thats pretty close. No problem, right? Think again.
Delivered just across the line from Augusta, GA and was sent to Beech Island to get some stuff to bring to GA for Friday. 150 miles but it used up my log and was better than sitting. I was sent a pre-plan to pick up a Coke load in Atlanta for Rocky Mt on Fri for a Monday delivery. That would put me home on Sat and Sun. Great! Only on Friday morn at the cust waiting to unload it was yanked from me because another driver had to get home. UH..OK...I was sent another load that picked up 9 miles from me and delivered 10 miles from my house on Mon. Even Better! Nope..That was quickly yanked. High dollar load I couldnt take home. I was then given a Budweiser load picking up Sat 0100 delv Columbia, SC 0800.
"How is that getting me home?"
"We will deadhead you if we have to from Columbia"
"250 miles? Are you sure, thats a long ways"
"Dont worry, we will do it"
OK, so I sat all of Friday, got up 0100 and got the load and drove over to Columbia. Sitting in line to deliver..beep beep beep. Sent a pickup in Sumter, SC going to Charlotte, NC.
"Ok, thats not home. What the F***.?
We need you to get this and drop it in the yard, you can go home empty from there.
"I can't make it there and home on Sat, I wont be home till sun sometime and I was told I would be deadheaded home if needed to be there on Saturday which is when I'm supposed to be home"
"Well, we can't do that, go get that load"
"*$##^%&&" OK, I'll be home Sun for days off Mon and Tues.
Get to Sumter, SC...beep beep beep..sent a load that was in the yard in Concord, NC that delivered Monday 50 miles from my house.
"Hey guys, I'm not working 7 days a week. what gives?"
"You have to do this, we can't send you home empty"
I'm supposed to be home Sat not Monday.
Sorry, you have to do this
"Jesus!"
Ok, Get to the yard Sunday 0430 and send a message "here I am whats the trailer I'm picking up?"
0445....0500.."Whats the load?...0515...0530..."Ok, you've got 15 minutes to send me the load or I'm going home empty. Make it quick...beep beep beep.
got the load and was then sent a message that I had to sit on it till monday and deliver. That means stay in a truckstop on sunday and then deliver it Monday. The load ran 100 miles and delivered 40miles from home.
"You want me drive 100 miles and sit all day in a truckstop Sunday 40 miles from home?"
"We advise you to do this"
"You advise me? how nice" I'm sitting in my living room Sunday night drinking a beer writing this having just taken this load home. I'll bring it over in the morning.
I've been lied to, kept out on the road past my days off, sat in terminals and truckstops without miles instead of being home, have loads from Dec I havnt been paid for and threatened with my job all for 34 cents a mile..
What do you think?
I'm looking for another job. I was told I was crazy to get a job with JB and did it anyways so this is self-inflicted. I figured I needed a job this winter and could at least hang on till the spring but I'm averaging less than $400 take home and I'm in the truck 6 days a week when I can even get home. I sure can't recommend this company to anyone and would discourage everyone I talk to from working here.
How they keep any drivers is a mystery to me and what type of drivers would drive for this crappy company is beyond me. They surely don't want experienced, quality drivers here.

You say you have 20 years driving experience....And still went to JB for a job? That's your own fault.

[disgruntled]

I moved to Raleigh, NC in October and believe it or not this was the only job that I could find. I applied to 25 or 30 companies. Unless I wanted to be out 2-3 weeks this was the best that I could do.

If you live in Raleigh you could probably work for any one of a dozen flatbed companies, make about 6-7-8 cents more per mile and be home all or most weekends.

[Cluggy619]

Cluggy, Is that you?

First of all. Thanks for the memories.

Second. Thanks for remembering me... I got a warm, fuzzy feeling right now.

Jonp.

You went into this job when there is more than enough information and drivers posting (other than myself) with complaints about JB Hunt. You have 20 years experience... and never heard that dispatchers lie?

Best advise I got to give.

• Find another job. However, where you end up may be worse than where you are.

• Put up with it. It's going to be that way the entire time that you are there. The sooner you accept it, the better off you will be.

Good luck.

[Cluggy619]

There seem to be some confusion.....is it 20 years?? Or 16 years?

You know, everyone that I have talked to seem to know how many years they drove a truck. Some I admit, just laugh, and stated they didn't know, or weren't sure. But it seemed like a long time.

But in this post, you claimed 20 years.

Monday I delivered and got a load up to Springdale, AR. Fought the ice-storm Mon and Tues. In almost 20 years of driving I've never seen anything like that. Went to Tulsa Tues and got a load back to SC for Thurs. I"m supposed to be home on Sat so thats pretty close. No problem, right? Think again.

But in this post, one you posted earlier, you only had 16 years. Can be seen at the site given.

2cd Week at JB Hunt

I have looked into local jobs and Wal-Mart, Tank Jobs hauling gas etc but no-one is hiring. I've been driving for 16 years and have over 1.5 million safe, accident and ticket free miles with Tank, Doubles/Triples, Haz-Mat endorsements and a TWIC Card. I've run Vans, Doubles, Flats and double-flats and reefers. I'm still having a hard time finding anything else and am working harder and making less than I have in years. Oh Well

Now only a few day separate these post. And quite frankly, I don't care if you have been only driving for 3 months.

But the next time you post, kinda look back to these posts, and figure out how long you've been driving. If you post 24 years, well, some might doubt just how truthful you really are.

Good luck, driver. (you do drive, right?? just asking)

[jonp]

My fingers are kinda big and I dont always proof read what i write. My fault. I rounded my stuff off. I started in 1992 which makes 17 years. Sometime I say "almost 20" and sometimes 16-17 or so. Both are correct I guess and I dont mean to mislead anyone.

If someone knows of a bunch of flatbed operations here in Raleigh let me know. I hauled a flatbed for a couple of years and sure can do that.

I thought that I explained why I took this crappy job. Just moved here and after a month and a half of looking this was what I could find unless i wanted to be gone 3-4 weeks at a time. Kinda wish i had taken one of those jobs because Im gone anyways.

Supposed to be home this weekend and guess what? Sent to Cincinnati on Fri to delv, p/u 1700 to drop in Atlanta yard Sat morn then p/u to deliver Mon in Goldsboro, NC. Got home this morning for an afternoon off. Whoopie.....at least my miles are improving but i'm still not home and still making .32 per mile. I'm serously thinking of moving back home to Vermont. At least there the living is cheaper.