Warning: Gingerich trucking in sarasota beware!
 

I am so pissed I have to vent!

Don Gingerich trucking in Sarasota Florida as a BAD company to work for, check this out.

So I get hired there and leave First Fleet for this job. I am to start on Sunday and they would call me for a time to leave. I know I am picking up in Zepherhills Fl for a run to Lee FLorida. So they never call me on Sunday, so I call Don Gingerich and he says I wall call you back when I find out where the keys are for your truck. Well I have to leav at 6:30 pm and that call never comes so at 5:45 I call him and he says meet me at the truck. So I meet this guy at truck with zero time to set up the truck and off I go.

Long story short version, I do the run and get assigned a load from Lee Fl to Ft. Pierce FL. This run places me at 17 hours on duty and 14 hours driving. No problem, I took one for the team and did it. So I shut down at Walmart Ft. Pierce when a half hour later I get a call, next load at 6 pm back in Lee Fl. I explained to dispatch that I am now on duty for 17 houra and I need a break, his responce was, ok, hear is your load number! This jerk made like he never heard me. So I sleep for 2 and 1/2 hours and off we go back to Lee Fl., I make it, pick up and I am told to deliver at Sams Club in Brooksville by 12 am. I do it and get unloaded by 12:30 am.

Tired and worn out I drive to a truck stop in Wildwood to get fuel because I am on feums because they only let you fuel 110 and 60 gallons at a time. I get there and put in 60 gallons and find a parking spot and go to sleep. My appointment time is 9 am the that same morning. Now I am on duty for 32 hours strait at this time and I am up for 46 hours with no sleep, so I sleep and wake up at noon !

Oops! I called in and got fired on the spot for missing my 9 am appointment! This after taking one for the team, driving 32 hours on duty with no rest, violating every known DOT law on the books, driving a trailer with lights out and a tractor with light issues and this is how they thank me? Don Gingerich the owner of the company was cursing me out and screaming at me for sleeping ! How dare you take off for 12 hours and sleep he said! I was like what? I am entitled to 10 hours and thats what I took. He said there was plenty of drivers waiting to take my job!

So after getting fired I ask him do you want me to return the truck to Sarasota for you? He said pick up the load in Lee and then come back, so I agreed to do it because I am a professional driver. I pick up the load and then they tell me to deliver it to brooksville! So I said ok, after delivery they had the balls to call in another load back in Ocala, and that if I did not do the load, I was going to be charged the fuel to get back to Sarasota! I was flabergasted at this point and I did tell Don what an ******* I thought he was for doing that to me. So I did the load, good sport that I am, even after geting yelled at for sleeping, oh and another butt faced dispatcher was yelling at me because I called in after they told me it was a drop and hook at Lee and they said they did not have an empty for me. He kept saying or yelling at me that I did not get it! Get what I said, I understand what a drop and hook is, I am repeating what they told me thats all, maybe you can call them? What a bunch of jerks!

So now after leaving my other job to go and work for Gingerich Trucking, getting fired in 48 hours, a new record for me, I am gainfully un-employed yet again! WTF has happened to the trucking industry? Well, I have decided to turn in Mr. Gingerich to the DOT and the FMSCA for violating 2010 csa rules and what ever else I can. What they don't realize is that all the paper work I have is time stamped so I can prove wrong doing on there part and hopefully get them fined.

SO anyone even remotely rthinking about working for Gingerich Trucking beware and dont tell me I TOLD YOU SO! Stay far far away from this company.:pissedoff::pissedoff::pissedoff::pissedof f:

when you turn in the supporting documents proving you drove illegally, YOU will be fined also, up to $10,000.00 think before you act

That right there is the double edged sword. The State of Florida can fine you if they so feel. But they can also take the stand that you did what you were ordered to do and as such had little choice.

50 / 50...........6 of 1 / half a dozen the other.

I would not have put up with ANY of that crap. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT drive illegally in the future, unless its an emergency. You realize even if an accident isn't your fault and you're driving illegal YOU could be in prison?

On a positive note though, you are a true professional and you did the right things, even though that coolie company treated you like dirt. Personally, I would have been a lot less than professional and the truck would have been on the interstate somewhere. :D

All that counts is that you got fired for missing an appointment that was not legal for you to keep since it was within your sleeper berth period. Do not worry about getting fined yourself. If you do, it will be a slap on the wrist, but the knowledge that Gingrich will get hammered and hopefully in consequence save someones life will be worth it. Good luck brother.

Call interstate trucker and talk to a lawyer about lost wages

Freebird, I did call the DOT and to my surprise, they did not seam to care very much about my complaint. They took the company information and said they would try to stop them out on the road and look for violations, but they would do nothing about what happened to me. Called Interstate Trucker too and they said nothing they can do.

But I did call the FMCSA and they did take a full report, including 18 pages of documentation against Gingerich Trucking. They will follow up and start an investigation in to Gingerich. Thank god I got someone to finally listen! I will not let Don Gingerich get away with severe driver abuse! No way! The DOT did tell me that since I am doing the whistle blowing and cooperating with authorities, they would not fine me for driving over the required hours of service violations. So for anyone else who has been abused by there trucking companies do not feel afraid to reach out to the proper authorities! We need to get rid of trucking companies like this, this is why we have to deal with 2010 CSA, its all from companies that operate like this!

I will follow up with any news as it comes in.

Drive safe out there everyone!

Instigator~!

[QUOTE=Instigator;502447]


I know I am picking up in Zepherhills Fl for a run to Lee FLorida.

Long story short version, I do the run and get assigned a load from Lee Fl to Ft. Pierce FL. This run places me at 17 hours on duty and 14 hours driving.


I dont mean to question you but I am slightly confused as to how you say these two runs have you at 14 hours drive time.. Giving you a rough quess of a total of 800 miles and I think that is most likely generous, the run should only take 12.5 hours of drive time at 65MPH, 15 hours if you went 55MPH, 90 % of your drive should have been highway speed, your run was from Sarasota to Zepherhills and on to Lee, Fl and then back down 75 to the turnpike or even 75 to hiway 60 or hiway70 and across the state to Ft Pierce, I am just questioning this because that would be one of the first things this guy will use to defend his company from an investigation if he can prove you wrong on drive times etc it wont be hard for him to attempt to describe you as a disgruntled employee... Just saying no offense meant...

Hope all works out well for you..

Timberwolf

I, too, am glad to hear that DOT isn't going to stick it in your rear end for HOS violations. Keep us posted on how things go on that front. Hopefully they'll learn their lessons from this.

The time was for OnDuty Time, I started at 6 pm Sunday evening, ran to Zepherhills, picked up you have load time of about an hour, drove to lee, again load and re-load live unload and re-load, drive time to Ft. Pierce, I had to take back roads due to no easy pass or sun pass, I think I took 27 to 60 to 441, stop lights, small towns and 50 mph speed limits, unload at Ft. Pierce, 2 and half hours bunk time, still on duty, then back to Lee Fl then on to Brooksville, live unload ing, truck stop, fuel tractor, etc, all this added up to the 32 hours of "On Duty time" with no time off for 10 hours break.

Plus, I was up Sunday at 10 am, so I was actually up for about 40 hours at that point. When I fell asleep, I crashed for 10 hours.

So when you add back the loading time and drop and hook time your on duty status time gets lengthened. The actual drive time will be different then your total on duty status time, remember you have to add them all together!