Well, its been over 2 years or so since my last post on here, its 2:33am So I thought I would stop by and say HELLO!


OK maybe a bit to much coffee for a semi-retired trucker ( no pun intended, but funny eh?)

So whats been going on the reader asks?


Well lets see,

I have been a lease operator for the past 2-3 years with a company out of Greensboro, NC leased to several Expidited companys in the southeast. Everything was rolling along smoothly untill 1-13-2009 ( Back to this in a min). ****, I was doing GREAT! Planning for a wedding ( My woman is the best woman ever! she loves the truck and living on the road!) Got a great deal on a Acre of land with a 2bed 1bath house. We were living the american dream! even had me a co-driver ( chyenne, my rat terrier who loves the truck). Well like I said everything was rolling smoothly untill 1-13-2009


I'll start a new paragraph here for everyone,

Months before January the company I worked for started having cash flow issues. They started at first cutting our fuel cards back from unlimited fuel to $500.00/24hours then it got to where they went from a weekly pay to a bi-weekly pay. Then they started "haveing issues with direct deposits" Then they started Rationing our fuel, We had to Call the truck owner with the Total dispatched miles and he would give us fuel based at 5.5mpg. Well that wasnt too bad until one day i picked up this load in MI going to NC ( for home time of course) with the load and 200gal of fuel i was maxed out at 79,800lbs. the truck i had must have had a turbo going or something b/c that dam truck wouldnt adv but 4.9mpg at 65mpg (55 in oh) Well i drove through the day, Now from the pick up to where i parked the truck when i got home was excactly 965 which at 4.9mpg would have been roughly 196gallons. Well I was short on hours and figured i better not go all the way to the house in one trip ( which I will admit I have done lol) For the main reason of not lieing on my log book , and 2, the fuel stops near my home where 40miles on either side of the exit to my house. So that night I pull into a truck stop about 2hrs outside of the house( on friday night) figureing ill jump up in the morning get a splash of fuel and Run on in before daylight Sat morning, I didnt have to be at my stop till Tuseday it the stop was like 3hrs from my house. After I get Parked, I see that the Fuel guage is bounceing between 1/4 and E. So I figured Ill call in and get like $100 to $150 of fuel credit so that I wouldnt have to worry with A. idle that night, and not have enough to make it home B. not idle and still not make it in. or make it in and not be about to make the next 40 to the fuel stop. So i call up my fleet manager, about 7pm friday night. Tell him the deal and he proceeds to tell me "You either make it on what you got or stay at a truck stop till Monday because we just rastioned the last of the fuel money about 10mins ago for the weekend" Boy I was pissed! So after giving him a piece of my mind and hanging up on him I called the truck owner (his boss) and explained what was going on. He tells me to stick the tanks b/c freightliners are bad for the guage to be wroung. ( which i have had a few like that) So i stuck the tanks and figured with being "safe" I would have enough to make it home But i wasnt sure if i would have enough to make next fuel stop. He says to me "Get home, and we will figure something out on monday ( he didnt really enjoy me calling him at home in the middle of "family time" ) So i took a 2hr cat nap and hauled ass home. When i got there i stuck the tanks and there was less then 15gals each side ( i have heard that freightliners will shut down at 10, dunno) So monday comes around, ( still my home time) he calls me up and goes " is there somewhere u can get fuel near the truck?" I told him yea, and he goes "Can u put in like $50, till u can get to next fuel stop, ill put the money on ur check" Well hell payday wasnt till friday. He could of at least gave me a comcheck!!


So long story Short I knew the END was near ( like this post its getting near the end now LOL)

Well up to 1-13-2009 I was on a run from Mi to NC ( my normal run when Im trying to get home) When I get a call from another one of our drivers "Hey man have u heard about the truck owner parking 1/2 of his trucks?" Im like I know they are haveing issues so it could be true. Well I found out it was true! after i droped my load, I called in to see if they wanted me to DH home or see if I could pick a load to sit on for the weekend and the fleet manager goes to me "umm well, ur only 2hrs from here, we are going to lay you off, We need you to bring the truck to greensboro NOW and clean it out" So im like ok i seen it coming so i asked "IF i pay for the fuel can i take the truck home (I live 3hrs from the office) and clean it out and bring it back" He goes "NO! if ur not here in 2hrs im reporting the truck stolen and you will be arrested!" So we took the truck to the yard ( THANKFULLY we rented space at a yard where enterprise rent-a-car was across the street! so i rented a cargo van ( the last money I had on me) to pack our **** it and go home.


Well since then... 6month had past and i got a job in a factory in my hometown. 1week working there a machine malfuctioned and hit me in the back. well u know there this is heading so I wont go there. Needless to say when My DOT phyical ran out, The same DOC i went to for my back is the same doc who does dot phyicals and he looks at me and goes " Are you serious? Theres no way i can approve you knowing how ur back is messed up" ( 3 lower disks are almost blown out).10-2009

Needless to say We lost everything we owned house/land car everything. We ended up moveing to Boca Raton, FL in October
Boy was this a differnt world for a country boy from Western NC!.



fast fowared to 4-17-2010


My Back is DOING 100% better ( NO pain right now) SO im PRAYING i can get MY dot card in 2 weeks.

Now here comes the Part Where I need the great advise of truckers on CAD ( if you made it this far before going to another thread!)


My old boss wants me to come back and drive for him, He has gotten rid of the fleet manager that was screwing him out of everything.
Hes promised me that things are totally different now and things are going very well from him.

My question for CAD members is, IF i do get approved for the road. DO I DARE TRUST ANYTHING he says? or should I look at other options?
I mean its a garennted job, day after i get my dot card I can be in a truck. But do I risk trusting him not to jerk the rug out from under me again?

Any and all replys are welcome!


Thanks for reading my late night Rant!!!!!!!

Welcome back and sorry to hear about your troubles. The manager couldn't have screwed you over without the owner knowing it, so HELL NO. Even tho you didn't ask Why isn't there money coming in from workers comp from your back injury? You do realize that driving will most likely agravate the problem and then it will be harder to file a claim.
Just my .02

SO.........why would you be silly enough to go back to the same rat bastards that caused you to lose what little you had...presumably working under the same conditions????


IF your plan is to be a "Lease Operator"....why go back to an operation that has already beat you with several wet ropes, then hosed you? There are plenty of rat bastards out here willing to lease you their truck and work you like a slave. Some are actually better than what you already experienced.


:hellno: :hellno: :hellno:















my early morning pre-coffee rant

I agree with you guys! On the back issue thing I did get workers comp for awhile but it since has ran out. Yea I know driving will probilly make it worse but I got to provide for my family u know?

don't go back. The dispatcher is just doing what the boss told him. The Boss is the problem IMHO.

"burn me once shame on you, burn me again, shame on me."...or something like that. The more things change the more they stay the same. Run. Very fast...and don't look back.

Try applying to towing companies. I worked as tow truck driver before getting my Class AZ/CDL and I remember guys with CDLs got good money driving those heavy duty tow trucks. It's not a walk in the park but you'll be home every night. They value people with CDL experience and will teach you everything you need to know. Just a thought ...

Have to agree with the rest on this one. If this dispatcher truly did hose this owner that badly then quite frankly he's daft. More likley it was the owner's doing all along.

My old boss wants me to come back and drive for him, He has gotten rid of the fleet manager that was screwing him out of everything.
Hes promised me that things are totally different now and things are going very well from him.

My question for CAD members is, IF i do get approved for the road. DO I DARE TRUST ANYTHING he says? or should I look at other options?
I mean its a garennted job, day after i get my dot card I can be in a truck. But do I risk trusting him not to jerk the rug out from under me again?

Any and all replys are welcome!


Thanks for reading my late night Rant!!!!!!!
__________________

I wish you were here, so I could SLAP you around a little... j/k but come on. considering it or thinking about it is bad enough. just don't do it. I may sound a lil rude in response, but I would not want you to give anyone another chance to screw you over again. best wishes.