[catalinaflyer]

Well it's amazing to sit back and re-read all of my posts beginning back at my orientation with Lonestar. It's utterly amazing how fast the honeymoon can be over and reality sets in. Now I know why I never had a girlfriend for more than a couple of weeks back in High School and College. What an eye-opener.

Anyhow as many of you know I got laid off from the motorcycle show circuit in October and after talking to 4 or 5 different companies I went to Lonestar, not my first choice, Wylie was my 1st but Lonestar came through with an offer quicker than Wylie. When I got to Lonestar everything was great even after destroying an almost new 379 extended hood on my first day of work. Soon though the rose colored glasses started to fade and I was faced with the reality of working for another run of the mill carrier. I was a little upset at the very beginning because I was told I would be at one level by the recruiter only to be told by safety that I had to start at the bottom. Not a big deal but a burr in my arse all the same. To make a long story short the proverbial crap hit the fan on Christmas Eve. and a few days later I gave them back the brand new 389 Pete and went home.

Throughout all of this E.W. Wylie had kept calling me and in the last two weeks leading up to Christmas it had got to the point they were calling every day. On Christmas Eve they happened to call just as I got hung up on by Lonestar and I again asked them if they were going to pull a Lonestar on me and tell me one thing to get me there then change everything once I got there. I already had it in writing from one of the VP's but I just wanted assurance one more time. Less than an hour later I got a call from the VP and he again told me that I would be going straight into the larger Heavy/Specialized equipment so I took the bait and headed for Fargo.

I officially started with Wylie on Jan 5th and was assigned a 4 axle Freightliner Columbia on the 7th. Things have been really slow and to date I have only ran 2820 paid miles at an average of .471 per mile (thanks chris1 for getting me addicted to excel and keeping track of every friggen penny :moon: ). In addition I have had 96 hours of detention @ $12.00 per hour and a couple of other little things. All in all not bad but I'm not getting rich either. I did have a snafu with my first paycheck, I guess I slept, daydreamed or was just plain absent when they went over turning in detention time. I talked to my DM and he got everything straightened out and even offered to give me an advance for the missing pay. I declined the advance and now know how to handle turning it in. I even got a message on my QualCom yesterday from payroll confirming my detention that I was owed up to that point so hopefully that will be settled when my direct deposit goes in on Thursday morning.

I got back to Fargo last Saturday and was there all week. I was starting my official Schnable training and if the field rep for the wind towers has his way they will be moving me to a Pete and Schnable the first of the week. I wound up getting a call Thursday morning while over at the tower yard loading a base section to see if I could run a tractor out to Glasgow, MT. They had a couple other HH drivers in the yard but this thing was too heavy for a 35ton and I was the only 55ton in town. I got one of the pilot cars to run me back to my truck and I headed out to load. I got empty in Glasgow yesterday afternoon so dispatch told me to beat feet to Beach, ND to the J and wait out the weekend here. Not sure what Monday morning will bring, I had two calls today from the tower field rep and he wants me back in the yard asap Monday morning to move into bases. I guess I will see what he gets negotiated with dispatch but he told me to be ready to roll at 7:30.

Now here's my dilemma. My old employer where I was on the motorcycle show circuit sent an official letter offering me my old job back starting March 2nd. I'm torn because I really miss the whole show circuit. I'm basically given the schedule and then it's up to me to do what I want. It's a salary position and they offered me the same as I was making when I left as well as re-instating my vacation and showing no gap in my employment so I will earn vacation and seniority on my original anniversary date. Which means that I will earn another 3 weeks of vacation plus the week of unused I had when I left less than two months after going back to work. They wil also restart my insurance, 401k and other benefits the day I start back to work. The one other sticking point I had when I left was we only earned 1 day off with pay for every two weekends worked but they have changed that to 1 for 1 so if I'm gone for three weeks and work three weekends at shows I get 6 paid days off where before I would have only gotten 1. The annual rate of pay isn't extremely high but the up side, I have absolutely no expenses while on the road except for my smokes. They issue a credit card and pay for everything while away from home, meals, motels, paper towels for the windows etc. I could go for an entire month with them and only spend $50 of my own money. They expect the drivers to stay in motels every night and not the fleabag inn, they don't want us staying anywhere below a Hampton Inn. I had $250 a night rooms at Hiltons and they never blinked an eye but the one week when I stayed at a Motel 6 I got called into the owners office and told that the people who buy his motorcycles don't stay at Motel 6's and as such he doesn't want his employees or trucks there either. They also allow us to fly home during the week between shows if we have the time and since that doesn't count as time off I get paid the same as if I'm sitting in a motel. Then the icing on the cake, we get to ride around on $100k + custom motorcycles all week that we don't have to pay for. The best I get here is occasionally getting to drive a new tractor on or off the trailer, not quite the same.

My real concern is this is a custom chopper company and they guy who owns it is the owner of a Fortune 50 company and the motorcycle biz is just a hobby for him. It's a $150 million a year hobby but hobby all the same. I'm concerned that if I give up my current position to go back and in a few months he decides that he's lost enough money on his hobby and closes the doors then I'm out searching in a market that is getting tighter by the day.

Freight is slow where I'm at but if OBama sticks to his guns and pumps a few hundred billion in renewable energy and infrastructure there's going to be plenty of work in the Heavy/Specialized business. I'm not nearly as confident in how soon the economy will turn around for expensive toys like custom motorcycles. I was talking to their largest dealer down in Florida this morning and they are in chapter 11 right now, not a good sign. I have been given till February 16th to make a decision and let me say that tonight my stomach is tore up. The show circuit isn't all glamour as most days are 16 hours long and there's a ton of manual labor involved but you completely forget about it because everyone comes by the display and tells you that you have the greatest job in the world. I would remind myself of that every time I was out there at 2:00 in the morning setting up for a show that starts at 10:00 then out there all night tearing it back down. I can remember driving by the factory 10 years ago and seeing one of the show trucks sitting there and telling myself "that would be the greatest job in the world" then three years ago getting a phone call and offered the job. I didn't need a long distance connection for them to hear me accept it, hell I never even asked what it paid till after I had been working there for a week. At that point they could have told me that I was getting $250 a week with no benefits and I would have been happy. Now after having done the job for over two years I'm a little more reserved about jumping back in with both feet. I can't even come close to making my mortgage payment on un-employment and that's what scares me the most, what happens if....................

Thanks for letting me run on, there's not much to do in Beach, ND on a Saturday night except for walking to the bar and since I haven't had a drink in 20+ years that doesn't sound to appealing. My wife picked the registered letter up from the post office this morning and read it to me earlier so I just needed to re-read what had led up to this point in my life and try and rationalize my situation in writing.

[Rev.Vassago]

The only thing I can say, and I'm sure you already know this, is that if you leave, you're going to be burning a bridge. If you stay, you're likely going to be burning a bridge as well.

You're in a position right now that I'm sure most of us would like to be in.

[catalinaflyer]

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

The only thing I can say, and I'm sure you already know this, is that if you leave, you're going to be burning a bridge. If you stay, you're likely going to be burning a bridge as well.

You're in a position right now that I'm sure most of us would like to be in.

Tell me about it, I'm a wreck right now. I knew of the offer from my former employer as they had been in contact with me since the day I arrived in Fargo. I gave them a pretty strong set of demands when they first called and they have come to more than than the middle. But once I got the "Official" letter today it became more of a reality rather than a bunch of phone calls. 2 or 3 years ago it would have been a a no brainer, there were jobs everywhere but I seen Wylie turn down a Lonestar driver with 2 years experience this week just because he had 1 ticket for 15 over 18 months ago. That's getting picky and I don't want to find myself trying to explain why I worked at two different specialized carriers in a 4 month period. The next guy is going to be thinking, well he's laid off from company A again and as soon as they call he'll be gone. Even with all that I still also have the opportunity to open a brokerage office out of my house for my former employer under his authority. That is what my wife wants but that's the scariest of all the opportunities right now. If I didn't just spend $6,000 replacing my central heat on my house yesterday and didn't have payments on the wifes new Jeep I would be leaning towards the brokerage but I just blew most of my savings and now have nothing to fall back on till I get money coming in.

I think I'm going to take a double dose of antacid and try and go to sleep.

[Rev.Vassago]

I guess the million dollar question is:

At which place do you see a stronger future? Don't think about what will happen today. What about 2 years from now? 5 years?

[Jackrabbit379]

That's it. The future. Of course, we can't see the future, but that's what we have to think about.
That former job let you go. Will they again?
Trucks are always needed. I think trucks will be running, however bad the economy is.

Like Rev said, you have to think about what the future brings. What you think will happen.
I'm not trying to lead you one way, or the other. Just me. I would talk to the former job, and see what they think about keeping me, and not laying me off anytime soon. See how bad they really want you.
I wish ya the best of luck!

[Jumbo]

So company "A" laid you off. Company "B" didn't make you an offer fast enough so you went to company "C". Company "C" made you mad so you went to company "B". Now company "A" wants you back. WOW! And this has all been since October? On another note, When you say detention are you refering to your hourly wage?

[mnc41]

On the one hand, it's good to know that people out there want you. There are some folks out there that can't get anything.This economy has really hit us personally, hard. Like everyone else said, you really have to think about where the economy is going to be 6 months from now or a year. Even Obama said it's going to get worse before it gets better. Heck, if the Post Office is talking about cutting back on delivery days, you know it's bad. Whatever you decide I hope it is the best for you and your family.. I still have my fingers crossed about Lonestar.

[belpre122]

***CAVEAT***

Discontent is contagious. Boredom is the master of the weak.

A weekend in Beach, ND, as experienced by the affected.................

[catalinaflyer]

OK Jumbo to elaborate a little more clearly (or make the water even murkier) I was working for a motorcycle manufacturer driving one of the two show trucks. As the economy went into the toilet they had laid off 250 of the 350 employees. To say I was laid off is kind of miss leading, I was brought in to the office along with the other driver (who has been there for 12 years) and we were given the stark reality of the fact that they did not need 2 full time drivers. I agreed to leave since I could more easily find other work because I had only been there 2 1/2 years and I'm also 20 years younger than the other driver. It was a very cordial departure, I still have my security badge, keys to the facilities and the truck & trailer I ran is parked at my house and I'm the only person with keys to it. They said that as the season picked back up in the spring they would probably have the Dealer Development person run it to a few of the bigger shows. He started out in the industry 20 years ago driving a show rig for another custom bike builder and still has his CDL. That was the beginning of October and I still had two shows plus Biktoberfest in Daytona scheduled. I started making calls and filling out applications. My first choice was E.W. Wylie but at that time they didn't have any openings in Heavy/Specialized. Number 2 was Lonestar. I had also inquired with TMC but they wanted me to spend 6 weeks in training even though I have 19 years driving experience and absolutely nothing on my dmv or dac. I told Wylie thanks but no thanks, there are two flatbed outfits within a mile of my house that I could go to work for if I was interested in general flatbed freight. Lonestar blew a lot of smoke up my arse, promised to put me in as a level 3 driver (big stuff) have me home for Thanksgiving and Christmas Blah Blah Blah. Well I took the bait and headed to Gainesville. To say they lied is an understatement, they brought me in as a level 0 and holidays are nonexistent with that company. The money was fantastic but money isn't everything. In the mean time Wylie had stayed in touch and because of promoting some drivers and such they came up with a couple of openings in Heavy/Specialized and more to the point, they had a couple of openings in the 4axle's and were looking for experienced heavy haulers to put in them. When the crap hit the fan on Christmas Eve, Wylie happened to call just as the jerk at Lonestar hung up on me.

In the mean time, the 12-year driver back at the motorcycle company has injured his back and wound up having surgery. He went back to the doctor on Jan 2nd and the doctor gave him the bad news, he's done being a driver. He can still walk but the injury was bad enough that one wrong bump in the road and he'll be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. The company has moved him to a desk position and now has an urgent need for a full time driver to replace him. They called me the middle of December and said they thought this was coming (actually the driver called me) and wanted to know if I wanted to come back. I said I would have to think about it but I wasn't totally against or for it. They said they were going to run an ad in the paper and start taking applications. That was on Thursday, on Sunday the ad came out and by the following Friday they had over 500 applications. They sorted through all of them, gave 10 phone interviews and after speaking to me on the 4th when I was at the airport in Fargo they called in two of the applicants for personal interviews. By the following Tuesday they had interviewed both and rejected both. That's when they stepped up their offer to me and as I wavered on it they stepped it up again and sent an official letter of offer to me via certified mail that my wife got yesterday.

The situation is that in the 2 1/2 years I was there I made a lot of friends on the show circuit. I made friends with the companies at the exhibition halls and I have a great relationship with our dealers. They do not want to have to start back at ground zero with a new driver and as such have made a pretty generous offer. Right now, unlike when I started they do not have an experienced driver that can go out with a new guy for a month or more and show them the ropes. It’s not as easy and glamorous as it sounds, there’s an almost overwhelming amount of work that goes into setting everything up and then having to change hats and be a factory rep all day. During my time there I went through all the mechanics classes at the factory, worked in the CNC shop machining parts, worked on the assembly line building the bikes, worked in gate keeping as a test rider and spent close to 100 hours in the paint department learning how they do the custom paint jobs. I did all that by choice because I wanted to be able to give honest answers when a potential or current customer had a question at a show. I was offered my choice of many positions back when this all started the first of October but I cannot (rather do not) work by a time clock. That’s my choice and for 19+ years it has worked just fine for me. Not to mention I would go from a substantial salary to an average hourly wage.

As for jumping in with company C with both feet only to get mad a leave 7 weeks later, everyone makes mistakes and anyone who says they don’t is a blatant liar. I admit I made a poor choice but all I can say is their recruiters should be car salesmen then we wouldn’t be giving billions of dollars to the auto industry.

I spent over two hours on the phone this morning with one of the VP’s at the motorcycle company and my biggest concern is the future of the whole industry, not just them in particular. A single person, who BTW owns a Fortune 50 company, owns the company and the motorcycle thing is a hobby for him. As such, there’s no board of directors and no investors. The facility they are located in is paid for, all the equipment is paid for and there is absolutely no debt. Now that may all sound rosy but at the same time the company does have a pretty large overhead and right now they are not making a dime. They’re not loosing money because the owner and upper management have scaled back on everything from inventory to employees. However in the fickle business of custom-production motorcycles you still have to make a presence at any major rally otherwise the negative publicity and rumors will shoot you down almost over night. They cannot guarantee me any sort of longevity because no one, not even Steve Forbes or Warren Buffet can predict the future. But if they stay focused and hunkered down through these bad times then when the economy does start to came back they will be there with the bike for all the guys (and gals) with pent up desires for the finer things in life. But if they start to loose to much money the owner will not hesitate to shut it down and cut his loses. Being a relatively small company they can decide to close the doors tomorrow morning and there’s nothing anyone can do legally or otherwise to stop it from happening.

Heck I have friend that I went to college with who has been a test pilot for Cessna Citation for 17 years and he got the axe on Friday. He had just re-married two weeks ago in Hawaii and they are right in the middle of building a new million-dollar home. Now he’s faced with having to haul freight for Central Air at less than 1/5th of what he was making. He was certain, as was everyone else at Citation that his job was secure. They have been through worse economic times in the past 17 years but one never knows.

I still don’t have a clue as to what I’m going to do, I have looked at everything and now I’m even less decided than I was at midnight last night. Hell Wylie may close the doors tomorrow, Lonstar may buy them out, Swift may take over all trucking in our new socialist country. Who knows, do I stick with an 80 year old company that has the backing of a large electric provider or do I go back to working at a hobby company and having a good time till the ship sinks completely.

[catalinaflyer]

Oh and by detention I mean layover pay, $12.00 per hour for 8 hours a day starting 24 hours after your empty call on the sattelite. I did find out through that little snafu that the hard heads who choose not to use the sattelite don't get the pay. It's the rules and it doesn't take 15 seconds to enter the information and send it. It's then up to the drivers to submit thier time to their dispatcher who sends it to payroll. Payroll then checks the records with the sattelite, no empty, no layover - pretty simple but some guys are just to hard headed to accept the changes. In my case I @ssumed that it was handled automatically and as I said before it was covered in orienation and I was daydreaming or just plain absent. I have no one to blame but myself.