Truck Driving Jobs

merrick4 · #**931** 09-29-2013, 01:32 AM

Hi Gman, when I tell you guys the name of the company it will make more sense. Well I don't understand why they didn't get their own lawyer but I don't care; I'll ride their coattails.

You are right Gman, lawyers are better, but the ones I spoke with I didn't like their answers. Honestly they make a living off fighting these tickets or negotiating it down so the client is happier and they look good still with the court as they still get thousands. This lawyer I got now, wants to shut down their whole operation. I really liked him a lot and again when he is done I will post the law firm for those that need a good transportation lawyer in Wisconsin.

This is one tough business though. Non stop. They just sold the Mcdonalds where I get my daily iced coffee and after everything the manager said the owner clears about 22%. Less stress (though I'm sure this is plenty) and more profit.

merrick4 · #**932** 10-01-2013, 03:01 AM

I heard from the lawyer today. I guess in in a week or so they are going to have a pre-trial conference and if they can't settle it, they are going to set a trial date for in a few months. I will have to go back I guess.

Other than that, things seem to be going well. I put in to get some more trucks today. Also I might get my broker's MC. I never wanted to broker but I hired someone from one of the big brokerages and the customer called our office the other day and they want us to take over the account.

Funny how all this is turning out. All I wanted to do was see the country. Funny how life is.

merrick4 · #**933** 10-09-2013, 07:10 AM

The lawyer sent me an email today. They made another offer to take a few more thousand off the fine and cut it in half. We declined. Now it's set for pre trial in a few months and trial sometime next year in the beginning.

I feel like this is my first vacation from trucking (due to surgery) but nonetheless I have no idea what's going on. Of course I still control the money and deposit all checks or had my wife do it. Our CSA score which is high has come down and I just beat a violation a driver got for using white out on his paper log. (it is legal). It feels good to win one small battle with these people.

Anymore info on ticket and I'll keep it posted.

LOAD IT · #**934** 10-09-2013, 11:51 AM

Hey Merrick, Way to stick by your guns on this ticket! Take it to trial. I hope youre feeling better and spray a little PB Blaster on that ole hip (LOL). Your success makes me proud and I'm always telling guys your story. Good luck with your endeavors. How is your old buddy that you started with?

merrick4 · #**935** 10-12-2013, 03:56 AM

HI Load IT, thanks for your kind words. I still keep in touch with my friend, but he's basically out of it. He was always more into the trucking side and not the money side and honestly I don't ask too much questions, but he sold a two trucks to a couple of the drivers and has one left and all are leased onto another company. The rest are gone. He has no employees now, no shop, it's all gone. Actually also his mentor who was in this for like 40 years is gone too.

I'm thinking of adding more trucks now, I know in this business something could happen over night but everything thankfully seems to be clicking along. I have great staff in the office that really care. I have basically been doing 5 hours of physical therapy now daily and it's slow going getting in and out of the car with the crutches and I have been basically removed from the business now, again I keep a tight watch on the money and bills, and things are being taken care of. I'm only 42, so I shouldn't have hips as bad as they are or were now on one side but that's life. As you can tell I'm somewhat of an extremist and I've trained hard in my life. Even now in the gym (I have to ride the bike 20 minutes twice daily) he said I could do some dips at least. So there I am with crutches and a hip brace and white compression socks up to my thigh(I look like a stupid tourist) doing dips and a few pull ups today.

Anyway we just don't have the capacity to service our customers now. I have all the driver's I want; never seem to have that problem so we'll see in a week or two.

Again thanks for your kind words and hope you are doing well.

GMAN · #**936** 10-13-2013, 10:38 PM

Getting old is tough, Merrick.

It just takes time to heal. At least things are moving along while you are getting better. I hope you get better soon.

merrick4 · #**937** 10-15-2013, 03:22 AM

Thank you very much GMAN. You are right about getting old and the worst part is I ALWAYS appreciated my health. Well the only alternative to aging is you know what so I'll stick to aging for now.

Thanks again and hope you are well.

Roadhog · #**938** 10-15-2013, 11:28 AM

You know you're old when you notice you can't live without your ointments, and cranky if you don't get your nap.
Seems like your toenails are always too long.

merrick4 · #**939** 11-08-2013, 01:20 AM

Just to update this, my lawyer offered to settle for a few thousand. Also we determined that the cop wrote the amount for the wrong amount; so that alone drops the fine to just under $11,000 now and shows an incompetent cop. The lawyer has requested documents and like I said made an offer but he has been ignored. He said this is typical of the overworked DA's.

This guy is the most communicative lawyer I've ever seen and I'm not even the one paying him.

Also on the business side, I brought in the top driver I had into the office. He managed his own business and I have always had a lot of respect for him. He is in charge of safety and driver management. It was good because everyone knew him and respected him so it's not like some shirt and tie guy coming in that knows nothing about trucking. He actually trained a lot of the people I have now anyway.

Our HOS score is still high but at least for this month it came down to the lowest it's ever been for us.

GMAN · #**940** 11-13-2013, 09:41 PM

I hope you can get the ticket kicked or at least reduced. I am still amazed at the high cost. At least you don't have the expense of paying your lawyer in addition to the fine. I am glad to see you bring in a driver to handle safety and driver management. This is one profession where hands on experience is invaluable. I think that some of the friction between dispatch and drivers come from neither understanding the scope or responsibilities of the job. Dispatchers should be able to do a much better job if they have some seat time. It still amazes me at how many carriers who hire dispatchers or driver managers who are fresh out of college with absolutely NO driving experience. I believe in getting a good education, but in this business I will take a driver with excellent communication skills over a rookie fresh out of college.