One Problem After Another. 33 Weeks as a Dedicated Regional Truck Driver at Schneider.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- One of the more challenging weeks as a truck driver. Frustrations when things don't go the way you think they should. I like Schneider but I hope things get better soon. I made another song using Udio AI and included it at the end of this video. Thank you for following me on my trucking journey.
Cheers!
Dave
If you are interested in listening to my trucking music playlist on TH-cam click on this link:
• Trucking Music
I agree with you, corporate is too focused on 'hitting' the numbers. There was one content creator that made a very good point; he stated that ALL dispatchers and back office people that interact with drivers should be required to go out with a driver for at least 2 weeks to 1 month. That would open their minds to what drivers go through and what they have to deal with.
I know that Schneider is a good company and the reason why I am about to re-enter the trucking industry through them. I start orientation next week; I know it will be a big big sacrifice - especially coming from the IT industry for over 20 year. But here we go.
Hang in there brother.
Good analysis. Keep up the positive attitude and right mindset which I believe you possess.
I left Schneider 3 years ago because of problems like this. In my case it was happening weekly. Sounds like nothing has changed. In my case they kept telling me they are “working on it,” but things only continued being bad. My advice to you if this continues is to wait until you have a year under your belt. If things haven’t gotten better by then, you should probably start looking elsewhere. Definitely wait though until after November though. The economy is in the tank right now and a lot of companies aren’t hiring, and if they are it will usually be companies nobody wants to work for. After November we’ll have a better idea of what direction the economy is likely to go.
I left Schneider for the same reasons. I was always having flats and I had two flats on the same day and quite a few occasions. What really got me was when I would finally make it to the company yard, they would pull that new tire off and replace it with a worn tire that matced the other worn tires. What did they do with that new tire they removed? Who knows but they did this every single time. Why this was there practice I can’t tell you. If the tread depths need to match, why not replace the worn tires around it? I worked there 8 months and had more flats in that 8 month period than I’ve had at my current job job and I’m going into my 14th yr here. Not only that but I’m sure I had more flats in that 8 month period than I’ve had total in nearly 21 yrs driving big trucks. Crazy!!
These companies should pay a chunk of cash on top of miles for botched loads -- not scheduled, load not actually there, another driver picked it up, etc. It's criminal that they just throw a handful of change for the miles to the pick-up and give you a token "Oopsie! Sorry!", especially at Schneider where, in my experience, they usually wouldn't have anything else until the next day so the day was wasted.
I gave them sixteen months on OTR and I, to this day, struggle to understand why anybody likes them. I get that experiences vary, but by every crucial metric, they were awful. The only thing I can give them any credit for is training me for my CDL and getting me starting experience. After that, all downhill:
Go out three months? Still only get five days off. Yup, I did it once and usually went out for two. My current company offers an extra day off for every extra six days you stay out. I'm on a six month run and so I'll get a month off when it's over.
Can count on my hands how many loads went over 1k miles and on one hand how many went over 1,500. Current company throws me something going 2k miles once a week and the rest are almost always over 600.
Their updated fuel solution system was broken for about six months before I left making it impossible to get the fuel compliance bonus. And of course, I got blamed for the low compliance.
Overnight dispatch never actually solved anything and left the problem for first shift in the morning leaving me sitting around often and day shift only ever wanted to throw the company book at me instead of listening to me and doing a little out-of-the-box strategizing to get things done. Current company actually works _with_ me on the silly scenarios I find myself in when shippers are being difficult, loads are tight on hours, or systems aren't working.
They were almost entirely a day-run company so if you're a night owl like me, good luck.
The bonus they said I'd get for staying for six months was actually a slight raise of about a five cents rather than what every other company in every other industry I've ever worked for called a raise. They start you below the pay grade, pick it up to the full rate at six months, and call it a bonus. Absurd. I don't mind the practice itself especially with how many people don't stick around (gee, wonder why), but don't lie and call it a bonus. That just ruins your credibility.
No Personal Conveyance or grace policies for hours running out thanks to shippers/consignees taking too long on loading/unloading. 14 or 70 runs out? You're on your own and it's your fault no matter what!
Bumper sensor (On-Guard system) was throwing false positives multiple times a day for months (slamming my brakes without anything being there) and dispatcher wouldn't let me take it into any of the shops because the mechanics wouldn't be able to get to it until the next morning. Even if was _already out of hours for the day anyway,_ my dispatcher would tell me to get back to work and try another place. Finally, he calls me back to my home terminal in Wilmer for a check ride with a safety and regulatory member who had me drive about fifteen minutes around Southside Dallas.
The system didn't go off once during the whopping fifteen minute drive so Mr.Regulatory blamed me and said it was my driving. End of first year review guy pulled up the false positives straight from the truck diagnostics and saw it wasn't me. It took him less than a minute, but he was the only one who bothered to do it. I spent the month after the bogus check ride being treated like a bad driver because the office personnel were too lazy to launch an honest investigation. Yippee. Nothing like going to the company to have a safety issue addressed just to get blamed entirely. Really motivated me to communicate more often with my "support network"...
You're expected to drive eight hours a day and if you stop a little earlier to set yourself up to be able to find the safe and legal parking that they demand instead of running around the East Coast at 11PM after your 14 is out looking for a place to park, they call you up to complain and tell you that it's not an excuse. But let them catch you on a shoulder or running over your 14 and see what they tell you -- "You should have trip planned better." Unbelievable. Plan to run at better hours for parking by stopping a little early the day before, and they complain. Run eight hours the day before to meet that metric and can't find parking the next day -- they complain. You're set up to fail right out of the gate.
Anyway, I could go on, but again, I really don't understand the appeal and I'm way happier at my second employer. Hopefully other people are doing better, but I _highly_ recommend you get that first year on your resume and looking around.
Schneider has one of the absolute worst retention rates in the industry right now and it's for a reason. Lol.
Don't let your mega-carrier experiences convince you that all the incompetence, disorganization, extreme micromanagement and rigamarole is normal. Many small companies (under 100 trucks) have former truck drivers working as dispatchers and load planners who know what's going on and treat drivers like human beings. Go smaller.
I stopped caring so much about their numbers when I realized that WE have very little control over these numbers. THEY are the ones that give is the assignments. Whose fault is it that they make me do LOCAL relays that lower most of my statistics down, etc.. Whose fault is it that I cannot drive 7+ hours because they only gave me 200 miles for the day, etc... ??? This is why I'm just there for the experience!
I was making $1100 a week home on friday out on monday at schneider back in 2017, if your making less than that and/or working more you need to get out. know what you are worth.
If youre getting a lot of flats/blowouts I'd question your pre/post trips. Do you have an air gauge? Are you just kicking the tires?
Yes I have a tire gauge and check the tires, and I have called in and replaced several bad tires before they blew but still get more than my fair share of flats.
Martinez Daniel White Anthony Wilson David
you are out of touch with reality, if you are not owner operator you dont have the Wright to judge the market, we are in extreme bad situation and you telling me some weeks are good, nothing is good
Incompetence
more like "They don't give a sh*t because it isn't affecting their pay"