Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

Well I got tired of being forced to run illegal, my paychecks always being short and me having to argue to get it right, for rollin crappy equiptment that always breaks down and is a magnet for D.O.T., SO..... needless to say, I no longer work at unorganized, unethical, Spartan Logistics!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to Pepsi (inside connection) for a couple years to let my driving record clear out.... then off to a LTL carrier, or a respectable and reputable company none the less!

Its been fun, a crazy ride to say the least!!! Thanks for everything and I'll keep you updated as my journey and faith progress me...... :arrow:

BOL Unkut. Sounds like you made a wise choice for you and your family.

Reb

THANKS! It was really hard to walk away from that amount of cash but whats hard usually seems to be whats right.

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

Out of curiosity as a former Pepsi driver, which position are you going to be taking?

Bulk delivery, bay delivery, etc?

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

Nice! Yeah I drove for Coca-Cola for 6 years, but at Pepsi I'm gonna go into Merchandising/Jockey. This will get me off the road for a couple years to allow my record to clear up. Position starts off as seasonal... :roll: Which is what they "have" to do per Teamsters at $11hr. Then after 90 days it jumps to $16.50..... and then $18.00 after a year!!! So it should more then hold me over..... :wink:

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

You stay completely off the road for two years and you will be back to square one as far as your cdl is concerned. You can forget about an ltl position.

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

WRONG!!! I'l still be "driving" as far as the books are concerned.... as a jockey, but Pepsi on reports driving, or non-driving positions... :) YES.... this has been throughly investigated and confirmed by many before my decision was made.

You want to be sure that Pepsi counts as verifiable experience. Wasn't there a guy on another thread who worked for Pepsi and tried to get another gig only to find that when prospective employers called Pepsi they wouldn't verify experience?

Yeah, you can't call Pepsi, or Coke and verify experience. Its against their policies. They can say you worked there and how long, but thats it. You need to contact a place called The Work Number. They provide the details..... its basically a third part HR... :roll: To avoid any legalities and what not. I worked for Coke and verified my driving with them and never had any prespective employer blink an eye.

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

Sorry buddy but you are the one who is wrong here. Unless the vehicle you are driving is class A most companies will not consider it to be experience.

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

How can you tell me I'm wrong when I've PERSONALLY gone through all of this less then 8 months ago!!! And at Pepsi, if you would have read above, they ONLY have DRIVING and NON-DRIVING positions!!! And to jockey for them requires a Class A CDL w/ HAZMAT!!!!!

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

When you say jockeying what exactly do you mean? I interpreted it as being a yard jockey which to my knowledge is not recognized as being driving experience by anybody.

Re: Made A Tough Decision Last Week
 

Thats exactly what I mean. However at this distribution center, they have several facilities, production plant, ect.... so your not in a little yard with 20 trailers, haha! You go facility to facility and arrange bulk/sideload trailers. And MANY other odd jobs that require a CDL A because your on the street.

Karnajj, I 've seen several instances where a yard jockey has gone ad gotten a job with an OTR company. I know of one personally who got hired on at Wal-Mart after being a yard jockey for his entire adult life to that point. They did not count the years as 1 to 1 but he had enough to qualify on the experience part. They asked if he could learn a logbook, gave him a quick course and sent him on his way. He ran with Wal-Mart until he retired.

Now had I taken a warehouse job to do assembly work for 2 years, YES, it would be hard for me to get a truckin job without maybe a refresher course.... or company road test at the least! But I WILL be subject to FMCSR's and it WILL be reported as a driving position!!! I will be moving all vehicles and trailers from area to area.... facility to facility.... yard to yard.... common jockey stuff. They said I may also be training other employee's on their CDL. You know.... get em prepped for the test with manuverability and knowledge... :wink:

That's all news to me. There was a guy at orientation with me that had been driving a flatbed day cab for 8 years locally who still had to do the 8 weeks training program. I myself had to do a refresher course after driving locally for 3 years because they said I had no recent experience.

With all that big money you said you were making why are you leaving.
http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/...r=asc&start=15

Read the initial post..... :wink: Theres a TON of other reasons.... not limited to them forcing my hand to run illegal on a consistent basis. I'd crash the server here if I'd go into much detail.... or even name a few scenarios!

Local experience does not count towards OTR. I have nine years of local experience and if I would ever(not likely) decied to try OTR, they would make me go with a trainer. Local experience does however count towards other local jobs(LTL).

WEIRD??? How come Roehl, Advantage Tanks Lines, JTC Logistics, FedEx Linehaul, and MANY others approved me and counted EVERY year of my experience??? I was in the 5+ years at each and EVERY one!!! Problem is I couldn't and wouldn't EVER go OTR due to I have 3 small children, I like my free-time, and oh..... actually makin money to speak of, haha! Must just be me..... or the fact others are going off of "hear-say"??? Experience with this holds more weight with me..... nothing personal against you or any of the others.... :wink:

On another note..... WHY would ANYONE choose a OTR job VS. local??? Your home every night, make more money, and actually have a life!!! I know there are those select people that love adventure, time alone, and are fianancially (sp?) set. Otherwise.... its a NO BRAINER.... or is there somethin I'm missing here? Personally I've NEVER went OTR, been in a tractor-trailer over 6 years, and never made less then $700 a week.... and I missed a day that week... :lol: Oh, and PLEASE... don't challenge me..... because my reputation on this forum will prove I'll dig up each and every damn check stub back to 2002 when I got my CDL and post em... 8)

I just know from what I have experienced before. My nine years of LOCAL does not count according to SOME OTR companies. And no, I don't think taht I will ever go OTR. I like being home :D

damn 700 a week. go ahead numbnuts, go get every paystub...i need a good laugh.

Jed- What do you do now and how much do you make?

Since my divorce, I've had no home, just a house with lots of bad memories. Need to get out there and try to forget. Also, over years of IT work, I've made friends across the country who I can now get paid to go visit.

Not sure why so many people feel the need to slag OTR. Someone around here said "they make different flavors of Kool-aid for a reason".

If you aren't makin ATLEAST $700 wk....... consider a new line of work....... :roll:

i drive a truck and i do not need to post my wages to make myself feel better about myself...i am VERY happy. but you guys go ahead and have your pissin' match over wages, it makes me laugh.

Thats whats important anyways..... :D