Yeah . . . not to belabor the point but as a tanker (the M1A1 type that shoots big bullets at bad guys, not the kind that hauls milk) when your tank breaks and you have to jump on someone else's to retain command, you see huge differences.

It's all the same gear and it's all stowed by SOP but it's just different. Different types of people = different levels of equipment care.

On the plus side, however, I read someplace that MAVERICK doesn't do that often and that if the gear sucks you can turn it down.

The logistics of matching two drivers efficiently have to be as hard as the logistics of getting someone home . . . so I suspect the gear-swapping issue is not a huge problem.

I certainly would not recommend that someone avoid MAVERICK because of it.

Good for you, I generally took my loads from shipper to consignee and didn't have to mess with it, but in the event that something comes up and it benefits both you and another driver to swap loads, I didn't whine about my equipment. Also, I was a regional driver - I was at our terminal quite often anyway, I never made an "additional stop" for equipment.

Like with anything else, your particular mileage may vary. :roll:

Yeah, swapping trailers is a real PITA if you keep alot of your gear in or on the trailer. Not to mention getting stuck with another driver's junk. At Passmore alot of the freight is drop-and-hook so I have to swap trailers usually once or twice a week. That means if I have a nice set of lumber tarps on the trailer I have to give them up and get whatever the loaders tarped the load with. There are also occasions where drivers have to swap loads in order to get home and that can be a real pain. Usually it happens on Friday afternoon and every minute spent swapping gear is another minute not at the house.

well, about swapping out trailers at Maverick, its not hard considering Maverick has an SOP like the Army Frogman. All of the equipment is the SAME. If we dont like the shape of the other trailers equipment, trade it out. And if the trailer you are getting is already has a load on it and is secured and tarped, if you dont like it, you get to redo it. It really isnt that big of an issue though. You can go over 6 month with the same trailer.

Surrrre, just trade it out. "Hello? Mr. Fleet manager? Can you route me through a terminal TODAY and PAY me for the wasted trip and my time just so I can swap out some dirty tarps and straps? Oh you mean I CAN'T just dead head to a terminal to do this and get paid for it? Oh I see, I gotta WAIT until a load happens to bring me THROUGH a terminal first? Got it. I'll just use this crappy stuff until then. Too bad my nice NEW stuff went with Billy Bob. Then again, it was better than 're-doing it' for free. you see it was a real complex load that took me 2 1/2 hours to secure so I couldn't see spending FIVE hours for nothing"

Just an example of why swapping trailers SUCKS!

And you say this RARELY happens??? Maverick advertises 700+ mile runs in their line haul division. And when I asked them how they get their drivers home weekends going that far out, their response was, "Oh we'll set you up to swap out loads with other drivers."

No Thanks.

I'll agree with that, but then, even on my little Columbia, I had just about enough storage in/on the truck to keep my gear secure, clean, and dry... and off the trailer with the exception of what was holding my load to said trailer. Unless the company you're pulling for has a gear box on the trailer itself, there's really no *need* to keep that stuff on/in the trailer when it's not being used.

It does amuse me how this thread went to one about the pros and cons of Maverick to one about the atrocities of having to swap a trailer when you're a flatbed driver :roll:

I've had my own dealings with the company. Good company if you talk to the drivers, hard to swallow the attitudes of the recruiting department though. No biggie, they are not the only players on the block. Like has been said over and over on these boards, even the "best" company is not right for every driver, you need to go to who fits you as a driver based on your priorities.

I didn't have to deal too much with the recruiters at Maverick or their attitudes since they took so long to get back with me and neglected to maintain any communication during the application process. I decided to head elsewhere and put Maverick on the back burner.

Once again serves to remind me how different our individual experiences with companies are. When my husband was applying for jobs it was another famous flatbed company that we got this experience from. No communication, total "better than you" attitude from the recruiters. The recruiter we were speaking too at Maverick was wonderful, even though she couldn't get him hired yet. We knew why, and were told to try back in 6 months once he has some experience. She kept in contact with us until she had everything she needed, and knew the answer.

Yeah, that kind of crap can happen anywhere and every company has a snotty recruiter or two. I just needed to get to work. I didn't have time to wait on Maverick. Passmore hired me the same day I applied and so far I'm happy. If I want to reapply at Maverick (or TMC, or Melton, or Thomason, or whatever) I'll do it while I'm still employed so it might not matter so much if they keep me hanging. Regardless, it seems Maverick is particularly bad about keeping applicants waiting indefinitely for any kind of response. But, of course, everyone has their own experience.

I can understand about the needing to work. Thats how he ended up where he is now, because we couldn't afford to wait on anybody else. And Maverick would have been a 2-3 month wait because of where we live even if his application would have been accepted.