Quote:
Originally Posted by ROCKYROAD
I am still undecided about JB. I am set for Averitt, but need to call them Monday to clarify pay. Averitt told be $0.37 over the phone, but everything I see online is $0.33 to start and $0.37 after a year.
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RockyRoad,
I started off with Averitt Express right out of school. My training there was a nice guy and everything, but he didn't let me back up much, and I basically had to figure that out after I went solo. It's a bit different when your by yourself then at school...real world stuff, you know?
Anyway, when I went solo I May of last year, ran me between 900-1850 miles per week! After taxes and insurance for the family, I ended up bringing home 3-350 home to my wife and 3 kids...believe me that doesn't last long as I'm sure you're aware. I had to leave them, of course. And not only that, they have a "point system" that figures out your safty bonuses. Right out of orientation, you start off with 8, if you're a newby and haven't been trained very well...they don't last long, especially if your an honest guy like I am. I took responsibility for what ever mistake I did, and it bit me in the but at the end (I suppose?)
After you loose 1 safety point, your DM is supposed to let you know in order to route you up to Cookville, TN to take a class so you can gain those points back. However, my nit-wit of a DM didn't get back to me till it was too late for me, and I didn't even know I'd exhausted all my points. I contacted him about it 2-3 times a week if not more, I kept waiting for the Quallcom to direct me to Cookville, but it never happened. My truck broke down (it happened many times by the way) I happened to be in Nashville, TN when it happened and they have a big terminal there, so I took it in so I wouldn't have any problems on the way home back to Texas. That's when I was finally able to get a hold of a "higher-up" and he helped me discover I was actually out of points. After finally getting a hold of my DM
(David Gurley) about it, I appologized and said I was supposed to clean out my truck once I got back to Tyler, TX terminal (mind you I was still in Nashville at the time).
Needless to say, the trip home was depressing especially when I had to face my wife about the news. That meant no more insurance effective immediately and they kept my last check was nothing because of the taxes, insurance and cover the remaining balance on the uniforms we have to pay for. (and yes I still have them...what am I going to do with Averitt shirts?)
I don't mean to "dis" them or anything, I just had a bad experience with them and I tried my best to keep them happy. I take full responsibility for what ever I did wrong. On the other hand, I do wish my trainer would have told me stuff like we were able to call the customer if we were going to make it early... and ask them for directions and simple things like that. I was told we weren't to contact the customer at all while I was in training.
(I guess it was just a newby mistake?)
Anyway, the point is, I would look for another company if I were you. Especially if you plan on bringing your truck home, they require you to leave it at their yard except with "special permission" and you can't bring it home more than once a month to clean it out if it gets that bad. Also, you are responsible for $300 worth of uniforms. Now that I know better, I don't think I'd go with an LTL/OTR/Regional company that had a problem with you bringing home your truck home.
I've talked with other drivers with the same problem, older ones don't seem to get many miles, and have also chatted with a few that didn't exactly follow the DOT logbook rules... and it seemed to me, their DMs could care less, as long as they didn't get caught.
Sorry for spoiling any hopes you had about this company, but at least I got home every weekend for 36hours.
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