Just another rant (venting, complaining, whatever you wanna call it)
 

Well, I think I remember why I left W.S. Thomas in the first place. I just finished my 2nd week back with them, and wow...

The first week was pretty easy - Left on Monday @ 8am and did just under 2,000 miles by the time I got home on Friday @ 6pm. Short miles, but I was getting the truck set up, getting reacquainted with the company and all that good stuff.

This week? Well, I guess they decided I remembered it all and the truck was good to go because they ran my ASS off. The week started horribly, with the truck itself, the loads and my own equipment in the truck. Equipment-wise, my phone has a charging dock - you just slip it in and it automatically connects to the charger. Well, for some reason it decided to short out - it was literally shooting sparks out of the charger tip and into my phone from 1/2" away. It burnt the crap out of my fingers, but luckily didn't damage the phone (which, btw, was 2 days old). Also, my FM modulator (in-dash, in-line) for the XM decided it didn't want to work either (the fuse holder broke somehow).

The truck, well, when I turned it in on Friday with a list of repairs needing done, had absolutely nothing done to it. No replacement windshield despite the multiple cracks and chips in it (yes, they have one in stock), no replacement cabin air filters despite them being blocked SOLID and the A/C freezing itself up. No repair to the turbo exhaust manifold gasket (I guess they're waiting until the engine is a different color black from the leak). No adjustments made to the 5th wheel despite the thing letting the trailer move front-to-back at least 3-4" (that's soooo fun getting litearlly slammed with a 45,000lb load).

The loads/scheduling - OMFG...
First load: go to Grafton, WV for a 7am pickup, load up and take it to Ashland, OH for delivery. Reload at the same location and bring it back to Grafton. Well, that WAS the plan. When I got there, the load wouldn't be ready for another 12hrs. Instead, go to Beverly, WV, pick up a load for Dickson, TN that delivers @ 2am. Once unloaded, pick up at the same location (no, you can't park there overnight) @ 8am. That was a 2 stop load for North Carolina. I got to Dickson around 9pm, slept a couple hours, went in for the unload (1.5hrs), out of the gate and down the street to a wide spot in the street, slept a couple hours, then back for the reload. That was a fun logging day... By the time I was reloaded, less than 24hrs since I climbed in the truck for the week, I was already at 730 miles or so). The load going to NC wasn't tooooo bad, except for me being exhausted from no sleep and the A/C freezing up (had to keep stopping to let the A/C thaw out).

The week pretty much continued like that until I finally made it home last night @ midnight. According to my logs, though, I was there @ 6pm. Nothing like scheduling one load to deliver @ 10am and the next one to load @ 4pm...

When I climbed out of the truck last night, I had 2,850 miles (give or take a few). That's since Monday morning and with the lightest load being in the range of 42,500lbs.

Yay - last week will continue on into next week I guess...

[h=6]Just got my dispatch info for my next load that delivers on Monday morning just north of Ridgeway, PA (north of I-80/DuBois). I asked for directions - they don't have any. I asked for a street address - they don't have one. I asked for the place's phone number - not on file.

So, I guess I'll go to the town it delivers to and then go door-to-door until I find it?
[/h]

I swear Mal, you need to start your own trucking company.

No I'm not talking about becoming an O/O. Think big man. Get some funding and start a big-azz company where you can make the rules and sit in a nice office and have a pretty secretary and have it all make sense to you. I'm not knocking, you just seem to have a knack for getting in situations where el-nutso-crazy people are calling the shots. It's time for you to call the shots. Get listed on the Fortune 500. Be a transport mogul. Vacation in Tierra Del Fuego. Wtf, buy a yacht and invite deadbeats like me to sail with you. I don't know where I'm going with this except to say it's time for you to step out of your comfort zone.

I'm seriously considering getting completely away from anything transportation related. Hell, I don't even want to work in a factory in the shipping/receiving departments.

What a way to start off my week:

I got into this truck 2 weeks ago. In those 2 weeks, it's been wrote up to have the A/C recharged (it freezes up while driving) and to replace the windshield (multiple cracks). For the 2nd week in a row, they didn't touch it. I left the yard and within 30 miles, the A/C is froze solid and my windshield is now completely shattered after I hit a huge bump in a construction zone.

Great...

WHY would they spend money when they have steering wheel holders that will drive their junk! Quit driving their crap and they will either fix it or park it or fire your ass! Either way you win!

is it possible you're going to RC Metals Inc.? if so, i think a driver of your experience, skill, and dare i say? age should be able to find it fairly easily. ;):D

948 N, R on rc metals rd

I hate to say this... and I don't mean anything negative by it... but, it's getting harder and harder to tell which posts are Mal's and which are Instigator's.

It's really a shame that qualified drivers have to go thru so much crap just to do the job they love.

Manufacturing and trades people used to go thru this chit.... and then they unionized.

I know it's not a popular idea, but maybe it's time for some REGULATION in the trucking industry. I don't mean MORE regs on drivers.... I mean regulations on trucking companies!

FIX the equipment, or pay the driver until it is fixed... and pay a fine.

FIX the shipping assignments/dispatching... or pay a fine and wages.

Put the EOBR's on the shippers and receivers and make THEM meet scheduled appointments. ... or pay a fine.

Pay overtime for detention on either end.

Keep the trucks rolling... or PAY for their incompetence.

Wow - a post from Hobo that I wholeheartedly agree with!!! LOL

Edit: One thing that I always thought with companies that run EOBR's is that right there is a gateway to getting HONEST pay from the companies. They can see EXACTLY how many miles the truck was moved, how much time it sat at a specific location, etc.

Of course, that'll never happen.