Abandonment Question.
 

Hi, my dad is currently a truck driver. He put in a 2 weeks notice and his last day was supposed to be on Sunday 08/05. Right now he is stuck at another state at a mechanics shop since Friday 08/03 because of mechanical problems. He was told by the dispatcher that he needs to wait until the truck gets fixed and needs to drive it to the terminal which is like 7 hours away from home. Now I've read all about this abandonment policy that these companies have but I feel like they are not being fair in this particular situation. He is wasting time and hotel fees waiting for the truck to get fixed when he is no longer employed by them and they are not willing to work anything out with him. We have planned on a family vacation and he needs to be home by Friday and the company doesn't care and they told him that he needs to stay until the truck gets fixed or they will mark his record with abandonment. Isn't there anything he can do or is this abandonment policy don't have any loop holes especially when the truck is being fixed and the company knows it. My dad has no problem taking it back to the terminal but the days are going by so fast that we are afraid he won't make it back home in time for our vacation. and the other situation is that he asked the dispatcher if there is any way he can rent a car to come back home because all they give him is a bus ticket and he has too much luggage and a refrigerator with him he can't carry around, the dispatcher said that they won't reimburse him the difference of the bust ticket to get a rental car and that he would have to manage to get back home by bus. is that right?

And off the topic the student my father was training had 2 felonies and was ticketed for prostitution. He was caught by the police soliciting prostitution and the dispatcher forced my father to accompany him to court to dispute the charges. Like what company will tolerate such thing shouldn't he had been fired off the bat? My father didn't have any business accompanying this man to court for something he should have been terminated for with no question. I feel like they are being unfair with my father, someone who has been a great employee to them. I would appreciate any help. Thank you.

First off, is daddy getting paid mileage to bring the truck back to the terminal?

And when did this mechanical trouble start?

Re: Abandonment Question.
 

He's been stewing there over the weekend on his own dime babysitting the company's rig AFTER he quit!?!?!? Good grief, Charlie Brown! Sorry but that one's on HIM!

Forget about DAC. For one, you have the legal right to dispute any entry in your DAC file. Secondly, a few phone calls to the right people will get that straightened out in a jiffy with no messy clean-up.

What's this? A large motor carrier not giving a hoot about one of their drivers? Heavens to mercatroids!!! Say it ain't so!!!

I'll let my good friends Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry help me out with this one. Cause' I'd be....

GONE like a freight-train, gone like yesterday
Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang
Gone like a '59 Cadillac
Like all the good things that ain't never coming back
Gone (GONE) gone (GONE) gone (GONE) gone
GONE!!!!!!!!!

The dispatcher told him he would get paid for the mileage to take the truck back to the terminal but he is being told different things by different dispatchers that he doesn't know what to believe any more, the mechanical issue started Friday afternoon.

I would rather not mention the company's name here, it's not worth mentioning, their workers give it a bad rep anyway.

Re: Abandonment Question.
 

Well, I'm not sure who to talk to about this and when my father asks to speak to a manager the dispatcher won't transfer his call, we are pretty much in the dark in this situation.

Re: Abandonment Question.
 

With a record like his, I doubt that a truck abandonment will really hurt his chances of getting rehired.

The problem you run into is the company may hold onto his last check. I would check with the mechanic about how long it's going to take to fix. If he is givin some BS about time, or that his company put a hold on it, I'd leave it there. Of course, by now, the truck should be fixed, and him on his way.

If he put in his 2 week notice and something mechanical happened to the truck before he could get it back to the terminal thats on the company. Thats also why most company's will let you go when you put in your 2 week notice so things like this doesn't happen.

I sure would like to know though which company makes a trainer accompany a trainee to a court date for (soliciting sex, spoken in my Chris Hansen voice)

Sounds like a raw deal all around. However, my advice would be for your father to stick it out and do what they say. Yes, they are wrong for doing that to him. Yes, if they put an abandoment on his DAC he can dispute it and try to have it removed. However, it might take some time and be a royal pain in the rear. Even though its wrong for the company to ask him to do all of that....not doing it could cause your father lots of problems. I think he should just suck it up and wait for the truck to get done. If he doesnt he might be unemployed for quite a while trying to straighten all of this out.

Typical response from a recruiter of a bottom-barrel carrier. The more drivers that put up with this nonsense of waiting for a company truck to get fixed without pay the lesser the chance of this practice going away. Like others have said,I also am suspicious of this thread being for real :lol: ,but just in case it is than the best thing for your Dad to do is to just ride a bus back home and look for another company while at home. The company did at least offer to bus him back home,didn't they?He should have left the truck there a long time ago. It would have been much cheaper to wait the repairs out at home than in a ratty hotel. He may have even found a much better job while at home also. Posting the name of the bottomfeeder carrier would help too,Chad. :lol:

P.S. ,A word of advice to newbies:DO NOT CARRY TOO MANY PERSONAL BELONGINGS while out on the road,just the bare neccessities will do if you do not stay out longer than 2-3 weeks at a time,or unless your name is Tony and you live 85 % of the time in a greabel truck. :lol:

Ya unfortunately this post is for real, My dad has been in the trucking industry for over 4 yrs, and 1 yr with this company (no names) I shall give out the name when my father is completely done with them, who knows if their employees read these forums and my dad might suffer some reprocutions for giving out the name so I'll leave that out for now. But anyway good news today the truck was finally fixed and my dad is waiting for a cargo to take back to PA and leave it at the terminal. As far as waiting for a cargo I have no damn clue and don't care because I'm glad the truck is fixed and my dad will be done completely with this company this week. I appreciate all the prompt responses in this matter and I'm sure I would have some questions later on, I don't see my father leaving this industry any time soon.

Forgive me if your "bottom of the barrel" comment doesnt offend me when we are doing so well over here.
As far as the "typical response" from a recruiter. If he wants he can take your advice and just leave and get an abandoment on his DAC, spend the next year unemployed trying to get that removed and having no one hire him. Perhaps when unemployed, he can then spend more time on message boards complaining about how he was screwed. At least until he cant pay his internet bill because he has no paycheck.
Like i said....what that company is doing is wrong. However the lesser of too evils would be doing what they say, then moving on. Doing the right thing, standing up to this horrible practice and going against the trucking company isnt always the best thing to do. Being unemployed, not being able to find a job, getting behind on his bills could lead to the guy ending up homeless. Griping about what a horrible company did to you DOESNT feed your family.
I guess sitting around a homeless shelter explaining to the other homeless people how the trucking company screwed you, but you sure showed them by not returning their truck, has its merits, but I would rather be able to feed my family.
AGAIN...this is what he should do. Tell him to document or record what they are telling you that you have to do. Include the threats of putting it on his DAC and then do exactly what they say to do. Then after all is said and done and he has another job...take action. Otherwise in a few weeks you will be out here with a post headlined "help...my dad cant find a job because of false information on his DAC"

Sounds like your speaking from experience? Typical advice from the bottom of the barrel driver who jumps company's every 3 months. Not every company is out to screw you.

Seems you misread what was written. It seems like you are another goofy recruiter,but I could be wrong. :lol: I drive for myself and have only driven for 3 companies in the last 7 years. MOST carriers,mainly the major ones,are making a good amount of money off their drivers while stealing days of their time. The advice was not to anyone who job-hops but to eliminate the extra hassle of moving extra belongings around. The only things I carry on the road with me are a laptop,cooler,cleaning,bathroom,and shaving supplies,clothes,and bedding. For business use I have a binder,notebook,and a few set of pens. That is all you should need.

Are J.B. hunt drivers so strapped for money that a short period of unemployment would make them homeless and unable to provide for their families? :shock: It wouldn't take a long time to repair a Dac report. Several companies threaten abandonment on a Dac but never actually report it. It is just a way to blackball drivers from leaving. Reading the employee or lease agreements when hiring or leasing on helps with issues such as these when they occur.

Moral of the story; Stay away from coolie carriers.

What is a DAC? Never worked anywhere that uses that POS service. All DAC is there for is so the bottom feeder training companies have something to threaten drivers with and to blackball the ones who buck the system.

Indeed.

Can you imagine a factory worker quitting his job and the boss saying "sorry, Joe. You can't leave cause your drill press is broken. So you'll have to hang around the factory floor unpaid and sleep on the couch in the breakroom till we get it fixed. And don't get any ideas about skipping out of here. No sireebob. Cause if you do, we'll charge you with "Drill Press Abandoment" and rat you out to every company in town so you won't be able to feed your family."

The threats...the extortion...the unpaid waiting around. Well, there you have it folks. Reason #1,154,233 why you should avoid OTR coolie-carrier trucking like the plague it is.

I didn't misread what was written. Your advice is for newbies to travel lightly (DO NOT CARRY TO MANY PERSONAL THINGS) implying that carriers are going to screw new drivers and they need to have a quick and easy exit plan when you get screwed so your your not standing along side the road with all of your belongings.

Just a question though....... Did Sheepdancer, the recruiter for the bottom-barrel carrier lie to you when he recruited you? and how long did you drive for JB Hunt? You must have obviously driven for JB Hunt to know they are bottom-barrel carrier, right?

Let me guess.You must be a J.B. Hunt driver. :lol: I have never driven nor have ever had a desire to drive for J.B. hunt or any other large company for that matter. If J.B. hunt is such a good place to drive for than why are they always flooding the truckstop booklets with ads and even having recruiters checking pulses for potential candidates at various truckstops? :lol: You don't have to turn a wheel on a large carrier's truck to see that they are bottom barrel.

Let me guess.You must be a J.B. Hunt driver. :lol: I have never driven nor have ever had a desire to drive for J.B. hunt or any other large company for that matter. If J.B. hunt is such a good place to drive for than why are they always flooding the truckstop booklets with ads and even having recruiters checking pulses for potential candidates at various truckstops? :lol: You don't have to turn a wheel on a large carrier's truck to see that they are bottom barrel.

Let me guess.You must be a J.B. Hunt driver. :lol: I have never driven nor have ever had a desire to drive for J.B. hunt or any other large company for that matter. If J.B. hunt is such a good place to drive for than why are they always flooding the truckstop booklets with ads and even having recruiters checking pulses for potential candidates at various truckstops? :lol: You don't have to turn a wheel on a large carrier's truck to see that they are bottom barrel.

OOPS :lol: .Triple post for those that need to look closer for better reading comprehension. :lol:

You talk nonsense. I just got job with this EH Jb huntz and I make better money now than at Prime,EH,about 350.00 every week. I make good money with truck here in america. :D Their truck go fast too,Eh,163mph.Get out of way,Ok?

Getting ready to leave the company I work for as well, if my interview with a local company goes well. I'd stick it out. As long as he is in posession of the truck he still works for them therefore he is still getting paid. We all know getting into this line of work that when you request off it's a hassle sometimes to find a load to get you near the house on the exact day you want off. He signed up for it when he became a driver. This is not the typical job where you put in a notice go into the office on that day and say your goodbyes.

Very simple answer to that question....because it works.
How well does it work? We are one of the most profitable trucking companies out there and growing quite a bit every year. So I would say the way we recruit works very well. In fact the way we recruit works so well, that we have been asked by other companies to help fill their trucks. We now recruit for companies outside of JB.
Do you know what really cracks me up out here. These drivers out here like DD60 who try to convince us that they know a better way to run a successful trucking company. DD60, what you are attempting to do is like a last place JR High football team coach trying to tell the Superbowl Champions how to play football. To put it simply, DD...If you know a better way to run successful trucking company, prove it! Hell, JB Hunt himself started with a 7th grade education, a lot of debt and a few trucks. Surely a smart business guy like you could spend the next 20 years building up your fleet. Hell, you have all the answers, you could knock JB off the top with your "better way of doing things"

It may work as far as getting drivers in the door,but just what percentage of those drivers actually stay? :lol: Can you say "revolving door"? :lol:

The turnover rate is high all though the industry. Hell, the company Im trying to recruit for right now is probably one of the best jobs Ive ever seen in the industry, 70k per year and local. They have a extreemly high turnover, which is why they hired us to recruit for them. Now before you say "they wouldnt have a high turnover rate if they were that great". That couldnt be further from the truth. Their high turnover rate comes from their insanely high qualifications for being a driver there. Even 1 ticket and you are canned. They only want the best drivers working there and they wont settle for anything less.
Ive mentioned this before on this board, but bears mentioning again. Even over here at JB over half of the turnover comes from drivers being fired. Take away drivers terminated, drivers quiting for various personal reasons....and just leave drivers who quit because they werent happy, you are looking at about 20%. 20% really isnt that bad.

So let's see here. JB Hunt has around 12,000 total power units. Apply an industry-standard 120% turnover rate and that means 14,400 drivers churn through the company per year. If over half the turnover comes from drivers being canned, that means JB Hunt FIRES around 7,750 drivers PER YEAR?!?!?!

This is truly amazing.

So let me get this correct.

50% of your turnover rate are fired.
20% of your turnover rate quit because they didn't like it there.
So that leaves 30% quiting for various reasons. This is the percentage of your turnover rate.

So what is your turnover rate per year?

And what amases me is that your happy with the percentage that didn't like the company.....what about those that just gave you all the finger and left, without giving a exit interview?

Venezia transport on there website said they have there turnover down to 45% from over 85% 3 years ago. Is that good?????

A 120% turnover rate is fantastic if your are a recruiter, trainer or own a trucking school. They all will never be without a job :D :D

I don't work for JB Hunt although I have worked work for them in the past. I was only there for 3 1/2 months because I was layed off from another trucking job, I didn't quit them and they hired me knowing I was not going to stay.

I give Cluggy crap for his disgruntled comments about JB Hunt BUT....... I do have a respect for him because he actually worked for JB Hunt. The greatest thing about working for JB Hunt was listening to guys like you, following me into a truckstop telling everyone on the CB to watch out because a JB Hunt is looking for a parking spot. I would hit my spot the first try and then watch bigmouth take 5 pull ups to get into a spot and then you never heard another word out of them.

So UPS, Fedex, Conway and YRC (Yellow,Roadway and USF) are bottom of the barrel company's? They are all bigger than JB Hunt. Hate to tell you but most of the guys working for the big company's are the top earners in the trucking industry. Your thinking makes no sense.