Maverick in the Rear View

The Recap

2007-09-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

This is a recap of exactly one year with Maverick Specialized – August 14, 2006 to August 13, 2007. While there were good points, on the whole I will say that my experience with Maverick Specialized was definitely enlightening.

Let me start by saying that since this was my first experience as an over-the-road driver, my expectations may have been set too high. Although I held my CDL for 6 years, it was used in heavy construction. I am accustomed to working hard and putting in long hours. I am even accustomed to things not always going according to plan. But I have never in any job had as much go wrong as it did with Maverick Specialized. I was willing to give Maverick time to make the adjustment of the Specialized purchase, but I think a year was plenty of time.

With no change in the foreseeable future, I reviewed the year with Maverick. I realize that posting something of this nature goes against the overwhelming majority of positive Maverick posts, so I will give you my story, and let you be the judge. Here is the overall summary of that year:

There were 52 weeks in that year, and I worked 35 of them. There was 1 week I took off when my wife had surgery, and I was off 16 weeks due to an on-the-job injury. So, the following averages, are based on 35 working weeks.

Loads Delivered: 73 (Average 2.09/week)
Average miles per week: 1,950

Less than 1,500: 8
1,500-2,000: 10
2,000-2,500: 10
2,500-3,000: 3
3,000-3,095: 4
Loaded: 1,412 (72.4%)
Empty: 538 (27.6%)

Average GROSS Income (including accessorial pay): $791/week

Less than $500: 6
$500-600: 1
$600-700: 5
$700-800: 6
$800-900: 5
$900-1,000: 4
$1,000-1,100: 1
$1,100-1,200: 4
$1,200-1,300: 2
$1,300-1,320: 1

Hours Logged: 52.8/wk avg (13.0 – 85.0)

Driving: 40.8/ wk avg (10.0 – 63.0)
On-Duty: 12.0/ wk avg (1.75 – 23.75)
Avg $/hr: $14.99

Hours (Waiting) Not Logged: 6.3/ wk avg (0.0 – 28.0)

Wait at Customer: 2.1/ wk avg (0.0 – 19.5)
Wait in Laurinburg: 2.3/ wk avg (0.0 – 10.0)
Wait for Assignment: 1.8/ wk avg (0.0 – 14.75)

Hence, Actual Averages:

Actual Hours: 59.0/ wk avg (13.0 – 97.5)
Actual $/hr: $13.96

Total 34-hour Resets: 30

At Home: 24 (80%)
On-Road: 6 (20%)

HOS Logged before Reset:

Less than 40: 3
41 – 50: 4
51 – 60: 4
61 – 70: 16
Exceed 70: 3 (all at DEMAND of DM)

I don’t expect everything to ALWAYS run smoothly, but I do think it would be nice to get through just one week without one problem or another. As promised at the beginning, I will detail my 52 weeks with Maverick and let you be the judge. But first this summary:

I was hired by and trained with Schneider. I started training July 1st. After completion of training and 2 weeks with a trainer, I was assigned my own truck on August 1st. August 14th the sale of the Specialized division to Maverick was complete. I chose to go with Maverick because of their stated 97% weekends home. But, after the 1st of the year, the Specialized Division changed the home time policy to every-other weekend home.

In general the Good Points were:

I was able to see a lot of the USA I wouldn’t have otherwise seen
I really enjoyed the challenge of the skill it takes to haul large glass.
When my wife had surgery, there was no question about time off
The new trucks are well equipped and I found the VORAD and ITERIS systems a real plus.

Scheduling home time wavered somewhere between Good and Bad. Since I live just east of Knoxville where I-40 & I-75 pass through, as well as being 17 miles from I-81, I did not expect that routing me through home would be as difficult as it proved to be. Most weeks I would be nearing my 70 within 5 days, and was sent to Laurinburg to wait a load assignment to route me “through home” for the weekend. It was not unusual to arrive in Laurinburg on Thursday night after a 500 mile deadhead, and still have no load assignment.

When I would finally receive a load assignment sometime Friday, there could be anywhere from a 4 to 10 hour window before the load would be ready. Experience finally taught me that the load would generally be ready somewhere near the end of the window. The problem this posed was being able to take a 34-hour reset and still make the delivery on time, as ETA was generally based on the beginning of the window. Any request to push back the delivery time to coincide with the end of the window and assure on-time delivery was treated as a load refusal. The next assignment would be one with a delivery time so far out that I enjoyed an average of 2-1/2 days at home each weekend. The downside, of course, was less miles.

Here are the Bad Points I observed during my year with Maverick:

Payroll Errors: When errors were made in pay, it took several pay periods to straighten out. There were some I finally gave up on, because they just weren’t worth the effort any longer. By the end of the year this totaled $133.54 in unpaid miles and accessorial pay. Here is a perfect example of some of the hard-fought payroll errors: In one week I was routed from Church Hill, TN to St. Augustin, PQ. I picked up a return load at the same location and delivered back to Church Hill. The miles quoted for each assignment were 1,080. When paystub arrived, the trip to St. Augustin was paid at 1,080, but the return trip to Church Hill was only paid at 1,075. They were the only deliveries on that check, and it was obvious they were the same route going different directions. It was a difference of $2.05 – hardly worth fighting, but I did – only to point out the absurdities of some of their errors.
Expense Reimbursement: It was not unusual for Expense Reimbursements to be lost. The smaller amounts didn’t seem to be a problem, but if the receipts totaled more than $50, they mysteriously disappeared. But any advance taken to cover those expenses was deducted immediately. It could take months to straighten out lost Expense requests. One particular request for over $70 took 5 months to finally get reimbursed. My expense submissions averaged $23 per week, and it typically took 3 weeks for them to be reimbursed. When you think about it, there are some interesting economics about this turnaround time: If expenses are not reimbursed for 3 weeks, that means Maverick has use of that money for 3 weeks. That may not sound like much, until applied to 1500 drivers. What you get is $34,500 per week. If the 3 week average payback is consistent, Maverick has a constant float of $103,500 – most likely earning interest on money that rightfully belongs to their Drivers.
Realistic Pay: While Specialized Drivers are paid $0.01 more per mile than the Flatbed division, let’s look at the realities of that extra cent. At the drivemaverick website, the Flatbed Division boasts $52K the first year, while the Specialized page makes no such claim. I can find internet ads that state a Specialized Driver can expect to earn $45K the first year. The difference, or course, is in the number of miles each week. At various trucking forums, I have seen Maverick Flatbed drivers indicate anywhere from 2400 – 2800 miles per week, with 2500 miles being about the average. If the short weeks over the holidays are taken from the equation, I averaged 2,200 miles per week. So, Not only do the Flatbed Drivers earn more – they do so with less trouble:

Flatbed: 2500 miles per week x $0.40 = $1,000/week = $52,000/year
Specialized: 2200 miles per week x $0.41 = $902/week = $46,904/year
Scheduling: Scheduling was a constant problem. During the time I was with Maverick, I had 4 different Driver Managers: Dave, Shirley, John and Tina. Dave controls the 90-day board for all new drivers. He has no respect for the 70-hour rule, and will push drivers to exceed the 11 and 14-hour rules constantly. I was on his board for 2 weeks before the Maverick purchase and was constantly pushed to exceed the HOS limits. I had high hopes that when the Maverick sale was complete, new procedures would put an end to his methods. But 3 weeks after the sale, I requested a move to a differnt board. Shirley was terrific. She worked hard to keep me moving, get me home timely, and gave me realistic schedules. I was on John's board for one week, then he was let go. Tina did not understand the HOS rules (in detail later). She told me that delivery schedules were based on HHG miles at 50 mph, allowing 2 hours for load/unload. What that doesn’t take into account is that HHG miles are typically 10% less than actual miles; the size of the glass trailers requires drivers to use STAA routes; load/unload is typically longer than 2 hours; breaking down glass trailer for backhaul can take a minimum of 1 hour; and construction or rush-hour slow-downs are almost a given. In talking with customers, I learned that very seldom is the delivery time critical to them. All they really wanted was a time frame for delivery. It was actually the Maverick people that were inflating the delivery times. I think the scheduling problem can best be explained by quoting a post from one trucking forum. When the question was asked how many miles Maverick drivers were getting one driver responded: “For this past week I did a shade over 2600 miles. Last week, it was about 2200. It all depends on how hard you want to run and be legal.” Staying legal is the key word.
Canada: I only made 7 trips into Canada, but had problems with all but 1 of those trips. In googling Maverick, I ran across an ad in a Geneva NY paper that offered $40 border-crossing pay. I e-mailed a copy of the ad to my DM, and inquired why that was not true for drivers out of Laurinburg, and the answer was that the Geneva position was a dedicated account – So ? ? ? Then I found out that the ACE drivers were getting an additional 4 cents a mile – these were Drivers from the Flatbed division being trained to haul glass. The ACE (Always Committed to Excellence) program was originally started to help pick up the extra capacity in the Specialized division, with the drivers being returned to the Flatbed Division when the extra need was over.

I later learned that the acronym ACE was also to emulate the Automated Commercial Environment for the U.S. /Canadian e-Manifest program, and these drivers are trained in that program. Specialized drivers are evidently supposed to deal with the same border-crossing problems as the ACE drivers, and do it for less money with a smile on our face. My final trip into Canada was after the e-manifest program was put into effect – at least according to Maverick. But when I got to the border, I was laughed at. Also told by a Colonel of the Border Patrol that if I showed up with my 'paperwork' like this again, I would be sent back. I was promised additional pay for the delay at the border that I never received. After that I refused any more loads into Canada. Let someone who is getting paid for the BS haul the load.
Laurinburg Wait Time: Under Scheduling I briefly mentioned the wait time in Laurinburg. What is interesting, however, is that a load picked up in Laurinburg during the week requires almost no waiting, but waiting for loads on Friday typically put me home sometime around midnight Friday or early Saturday morning. I picked up a total of 29 loads from Laurinburg: 15 during a weekday and 14 on Friday. Of the 15 I picked up on a weekday, I only had to wait for 5 loads, the longest being 6 hours (16 if the time in sleeper is counted). For that load Shirley paid me layover pay because of the delay. Of the 14 loads picked up on Friday, I had to wait on 11 of the loads – the shortest time being 3-1/2 hours and the longest being 10 hours. With the exception of 1 load, for all I arrived in Laurinburg Thursday night, so the time I spent waiting in Laurinburg for a load was actually 13-1/2 to 20 hours. Only 3 loads were picked up in Laurinburg on Friday that required no waiting; and 2 of those 3 loads were not to route me through home, but to route me elsewhere (one to California, the other to Ontario). Obviously, routing a Driver through home for the weekend is on the bottom of the list of priorities.
Condition of Trailers: The trailers inherited from Schneider were in horrible condition. Trying to break-down a converter for a backhaul very seldom took less than 2 hours because of the problems. I red-tagged each converter I returned to the Laurinburg yard, and I have to believe other Drivers were doing the same. So, why were the repairs not being made by Laurinburg? After I observed a trailer being loaded that I had just returned with a red-tag, I came to believe it was because they were so desperate for trailers the yard was ignoring the red-tags. The last trailer I pulled for Maverick had metal wires (from the tags) stacked top to bottom on the glad hand:

The feature story from Heavy Duty Trucking, “2007 Truck Market – Buy, Lease or Wait”, dated March, 2007 discusses the pre-buy of 2007 trucks with 2006 technology, before the expensive emission standards for 2007 went into effect. In discussing the larger companies that have shifted their 2007 trade/replacement program year from 2007 to 2006, they state: “Maverick Transportation has several hundred 2007 model-year trucks with pre-2007 technology”. While I don’t disagree this was a wise business decision, I believe an investment in new trailers would also have been appropriate, as most of the trailers were barely road-worthy. I was eventually injured by one of the faulty trailers. After I returned to work, I started taking photos of every trailer I hauled, and e-mailing to the Safety Manager. I did this for 2-1/2 months, but did not see any improvement. It was concern for my own safety that was one of the deciding factors to resign Maverick.
Workers Compensation: The injury I sustained from the faulty trailer resulted in a herniated disk that required surgery and physical therapy. I was off work for 4 months, and the entire experience left a sour taste in my mouth about not just the Specialized Division, but Maverick as a whole. My wife remarked that the only thing worse than working for Maverick was not working for them. If you are injured on the job, be prepared to be treated like a second class citizen.

My injury occurred on January 24th, when I was instructed to pick up 2 trailers in DeWitt, IA and take to Laurinburg. When I arrived, both trailers were in the A-frame position and had to be broken down, as well as the trailer I had with me. I was very fortunate to have another Driver help me. Both trailers at DeWitt had problems, and we worked for 4 hours on the 3 trailers, but finally had to stop, when one of the trailers had a bad hydraulic rod that was bent and wouldn't come down.

The Driver that helped me had a pigtail transformer lead that my truck didn't have. I was told there was a truck available at the yard with the lead I needed, so I called for a mechanic to meet me there the next morning to repair the hydraulic, but he never showed. In addition, the truck I was told I could use to bring down the transformer wouldn't start, and since my truck was not set up for pigtail transformer leads, I had to switch trailers and bring back a converter instead. It was also in the A-frame position, and it was the pneumatic rods that support the wings on that trailer that failed, causing my back injury. This is something I couldn’t have known until I was under the wing, but the person who put it into the A-frame position would have known, but ignored it.

The details of the Worker Comp problems can take up several pages, so they will be covered in Weeks 27 to 43 of the detail section.

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Your comments will be very appreciated. Please post below:

The Rear View

2007-09-15T09:11:00.000-04:00

In looking back at my last months with Maverick and the antagonistic relationship that had developed with my Driver Manager, I realize that some of the fault lies with me. During my workers’ comp leave I had become very disillusioned with Maverick, and less tolerant of the shortcomings in others.

I have no doubt that my personel file will label me a difficult employee, with an even more difficult wife. She has a very demanding job herself, but had to make time to help me sort through the maze created by the workers’ comp claim; she had to stay on top of unreturned phone calls, and clean up after the mistakes others made. Had she not taken charge, I would have suffered from the negligence and mistakes of all parties involved.

When I returned to duty, I was less cooperative. I had been treated poorly by Maverick during my workers’ comp leave; and I was tired of putting in 12-15 hour days, simply because so much of the day was spent waiting, either for a work assignment, for a load out of Laurinburg, or at a customer because the scheduling wasn’t handled properly by the CSR’s and Driver Manager.

By the time I returned from leave, the new policy of 48 hours at home every-other weekend had been established. I really don’t understand the purpose behind the change. It would be different if we were only running 8 to 9 hours a day, and the 8th day could roll off. But with an average of 12 hour days, it was necessary to take a reset on the road. Then, get 48 hours at home the next weekend. When you think about it that is actually more time off, but less at home:

If a 34-hour reset is properly scheduled and honored every weekend, there is 68 hours off in a 2 week period.
But, if a reset must be taken on the road, then there is another 48 hours at home the following weekend, the time off is a total of 82 hours – 14 hours more.

I requested that I only stay out every third weekend, and after I was not paid for border crossing delay, I refused any more loads to Canada.

I became more vocal in my complaints, because I believed it better to express them than just simply quit like I knew so many drivers had done. I naively believed that Maverick couldn’t correct the problems if they weren’t aware of them. So, I took my complaints to Dave C. and Craig B. At their request, I even sent a report with all of the problems detailed. I sent emails with photos of hazardous trailers to Brett G. No one responded, and nothing changed.

I finally realized they preferred to stay in the dark about the safety and liability concerns related to the trailers; and really didn’t want input from drivers. They would rather the driver just quit, than know the reasons why. So, that is what I finally did. I’m sure they were all relieved to see my resignation, which explains why no one asked why I was leaving in my exit interview.

There were some people at Maverick, who took their job and responsibilities seriously. If everyone at Maverick had their attitude, I would still be working there today.

Shirley was wonderful. She worked hard to keep my wait time at a minimum, my miles high, and understood the importance of time at home. I would have done anything for her, and forgiven her any mistakes – but then she made so few of them.

Lindsey in payroll was the one who finally got my Expenses caught up and paid. She returned calls, and followed through on what she promised. The payroll and benefits department needs more people like her.

Tami is who we dealt with about health insurance during my worker comp leave. She always returned calls, responded to emails, and followed through on everything. If everyone I dealt with during my leave were like her, I would not have returned to duty with such a bad taste in my mouth.

I’m sure there are other people at Maverick who are just as competent and responsive as Shirley, Lindsey and Tami. I just never had the pleasure of dealing with them.

So, Shirley, Lindsey and Tami – THANK YOU.

I’ll conclude with my thoughts on these two articles:

From Metal Center News On-Line – June, 2007 – “A Brief Calm in the Metals Hauling Storm”:

Steve Williams, president of Maverick USA, Little Rock, Ark., one of the largest steel transport companies in the U.S., says the market started to turn in August 2006 and nose-dived in the fourth quarter. “There’s been a steady erosion of profits since then,” he adds.

The cause of the freight recession in the transportation sector overall—and the metals industry in specific—is the source of considerable debate. Many analysts point to significant truck purchases at the end of 2006, as fleet owners tried to replace equipment before the expensive new engine emissions standards of 2007 went into effect. Starks says companies may have overbought by as many as 110,000 units in 2006.

But Williams doesn’t believe the overindulgence in truck purchases in 2006 is having much of an impact on the supply-demand balance.

“I keep hearing analysts talking about this fundamental supply-demand change that they attribute to the pre-buy for ’07 engines. That just blows my mind,” Williams says. “It has nothing to do with the number of trucks on the road, because it takes a driver to drive a truck. I can show you where there are 200 trucks right now. If I had drivers for them, they’d be on the road.”

That is 13% of Maverick’s trucks sitting without Drivers. Considering the growing number of empty trucks I saw in the Laurinburg yard, I would venture a guess that most of those empty trucks are in the Specialized Division.

And from Heavy Duty Trucking – May, 2007 – “Exec Views on Drivers”: “The driver shortage was one of the most pressing topics addressed by fleet executives at Newport Communications' annual economic summit, held in conjunction with the Mid-America Trucking Show”.

Steve Williams is quoted as saying:

“I think it's probably a challenge that's been underestimated by the public at large. A lot of the policy decisions that we make within the industry and as citizens should take the microeconomic look at what's going on in regard to demographics – everything from Social Security to how we fight wars to how we're going to put drivers in trucks, find technicians and find nurses. I think we've underestimated the changes that are really going on. I would urge everyone to do their homework. Informed people will make better decisions.

We've been short of drivers for a lot of reasons, and one of the biggest reasons is, it's been a really crummy job. There's only a handful of people that really enjoy doing it, and thank goodness they are still out there. But we're going to have to change the business model that we all thought was a great idea – and certainly was the most efficient model for moving freight in this country in the late 1970s into 1980. You know, the truckload model from point A to point B. Is that sustainable? I don't think so.

Trucking was 15 percent of Gross Domestic Product in the late 1970s and 1980 – it has fallen to 10 percent now. America has benefited from the creativity and productivity of the trucking industry. That creativity and productivity has pretty much been at the expense of the truck driver. We have not done them any service by allowing it to happen. I think that as we see the compensation levels return to what they need to be, we will see that percentage of GDP go back up. We've gone too far, and it's because of economic deregulation, quite frankly. Adjusting for inflation, the drivers that haul steel today in this country – I'll just speak for my own specific circumstance – are working for less money today than they did in 1979. Why in the hell should we be surprised that it's hard to get them to continue to do it?

I don't think we're necessarily in store for a revolution, but I can tell you it would be naive to expect that to keep doing more of the same will give us a different outcome. So I think America is going to have an awakening, and I hope to be one that helps deliver the message, because I think it's going to look a lot different in five to 10 years, or we're going to be in a world of hurt.

The temptation from commercial interests is to go below our standards so that we can put people in trucks because they need them. I don't care. I think it's time for us to say that we're not going to – we're going to stand firm about not lowering our standards. We should be encouraged to raise our standards. I think the test will be whether the industry is actually mature enough to understand that, and not let ego stand in the way. Ego has gotten us a lot of trouble, I think. We all love having more trucks. “

I would tell Mr. Williams that from all accounts, Maverick has held an excellent reputation among drivers, but that is changing with the lack of attention to the problems in the Specialized Division. As he stated above, “Informed people will make better decisions”. I do not believe that he has kept himself completely informed about the problems in that division. If he had, the problem DM’s would be gone, changes would have happened, and there would not be 200 empty trucks.

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Thank you for reading about my experiences. Your comments will be very appreciated. Please post below:

Week 53 - The End

2007-08-18T09:59:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 8/18/07

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 633
* Loaded: 557
* Empty: 76

Gross Pay: $279.53
* Mileage Pay: $259.53
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 21
* Driving: 16
* On-Duty: 5

$/Hour $12.36

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 4.5
* @ Customer: 4.5
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 25.5

Actual $/Hour: $10.18

Deadhead: Brook Park, OH Friday, August 10, 2007
Shipper: Leetonia, OH Friday, August 10, 2007
Consignee: Sylva, NC Monday, August 13, 2007
Commodity: RR Ties

The prior week, I had two loads that that I arrived on time, only to find the customer wasn’t expecting me. I had waited almost 4 hours for a work assignment. Nothing was changing. So, over weekend I sent a macro that Friday, August 17th would be my last day with Maverick, and to plan a load that would return me to Laurinburg by that day. I planned that day because OG would be in Columbia, SC on business, so would be able to pick me up in Laurinburg when she returned home on Friday.

I was instructed to DH to LRBG when unloaded in Sylva. On way to LRBG, I received work assignment for a Canada load. I sent back macro that I had requested to be taken off all Canada loads, and it would not get me back to LRBG by Friday, as requested. The load was removed, and I heard nothing more that day.

The next morning when I asked about status of load, I was told to come into office, where Tina and a man I had never met were waiting to give me my walking papers. They never asked why I was leaving, only offered to pay for the remainder of the week, and a rental car to Knoxville. I told them that I would only need the car to Columbia, SC – a 150 mile difference – and they gave me a ComCheck to cover the cost of the rental car. On my way out, I asked the man’s name, and was surprised to find out it was Derric. I had worked for the company for a year, and didn’t know who the man was.

I returned the car in Columbia the next day, and because it crossed state lines, and same day rental I was charged by the mile – a total of $140. When I attempted to cash the ComCheck, I was told there was a $90 limit. When I received my final paycheck, it did not include any extra for the remainder of the week. But, then, that didn’t surprise me.

Week 52 – The Last Straw

2007-08-11T09:38:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 8/11/07

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 3026
* Loaded: 2313
* Empty: 713

Gross Pay: $1,260.66
* Mileage Pay: $1,240.66
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 72.25
* Driving: 56.5
* On-Duty: 15.75

$/Hour $17.45

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 3.75
* @ Customer: 0
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment: 3.75

All Hours: 76

Actual $/Hour: $16.59
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Load #1

Deadhead: Oviedo, FL Thursday, August 02, 2007
Shipper: Ft. Pierce, FL Thursday, August 02, 2007
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Sunday, August 05, 2007
Commodity: glass

Shipper wasn’t expecting me until the next day, even though work assignment was for same day.

Had just enough time to get home for Reset – 15 minutes to spare by time I parked truck.

Arrive Home: Friday, August 3, 2007, 7:00 PM
Leave Home: Sunday, August 5, 2007, 11:30 AM
Hours Home: 41.50
Days Home: 1.73

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Load #2

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Monday, August 06, 2009
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Monday, August 06, 2007
Consignee: Fredrick, MD Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Commodity: glass

After dropping load in Fredrick, waited 3-1/2 hours for work assignment. Sent 2 macros. Finally requested detention pay. Request was not acknowledged, but I was instructed to Deadhead to Laurinburg. Received work assignment 6 hours later, en route to LRBG.

These photos were emailed to Brett on 8/12

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Load #3

Deadhead: Fredrick, MD Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Consignee: Brook Park, OH Friday, August 10, 2007
Commodity: glass

Arrived LRBG Wednesday night. Load was ready to leave LRBG first thing Thursday morning.

Trailer didn’t have securement box or bottom attachment U bracket on headboard. Rear marker light was pushed inward so I had to repair.

I have now sent Brett 9 emails with photos attached. I had response to the first email only. To say that he had forwarded to the appropriate person. I didn't bother to send these.

This final photo depicts the amount of items that need to be secured to the headboard at times. Also note that the both the securement box and lower-right attachment U-bracket(for strap) are missing.

When I arrived in Brook Park, the customer wasn’t expecting me. I had to wait 3 hours for them to make space for the load. Sent to Leetonia, OH to pickup load that would take me through home for reset.

Arrived home Saturday with 69 hours logged.

Week 51 - The Lesson Learned

2007-08-04T09:33:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 8/4/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1854
* Loaded: 1184
* Empty: 670

Gross Pay: $804.14
* Mileage Pay: $760.14
* Accessorial: $44.00

Hours Logged: 49.25
* Driving: 37.25
* On-Duty: 12

$/Hour $16.33

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 14.75
* @ Customer: 0
* In Laurinburg: 14.75
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 64

Actual $/Hour: $12.56
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Load #1

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 26, 2007
Shipper: Elkhorn, WI Friday, July 27, 2007
Consignee: Calhoun, GA Monday, July 30, 2007
Commodity: Tractor Parts

Took Reset at Home with 66 hours logged.

Arrive Home: Saturday, July 28, 2007, 12:15 PM
Leave Home: Monday, July 30, 2007, 6:30 AM
Hours Home: 42.25
Days Home: 1.76

Load went smoothly.

Red Tagged trailer for handle, electrics, latch jam and eminent wing failure (See prior week for photos).
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Load #2

Deadhead: Calhoun, GA Monday, July 30, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Consignee: Oviedo, FL Thursday, August 02, 2007
Commodity: glass

Delivered to Calhoun, and received instructions to Deadhead to Laurinburg. Sent macro to shop at 6:43 am that windshield needed replaced and driver’s side electric window not working. At same time sent a macro to Tina, asking if PM was due. Tina wasn’t in and I received generic macro in return from Stan: “go to T/A but don’t affect schedule". Since I was on a Deadhead to Laurinburg, and truck would be in shop anyway, thought I would save company money by getting PM done in Laurinburg.

When I arrived in Laurinburg at 8:15 AM, I was told that the shop never received my macro about the repairs, and the earliest they could get me in was 3:30. At 6:30 pm I was told they had also found a transmission leak and it would be at least 8:00 PM before they were complete. By now I had a load assignment, but would be out of hours at 8:00, so got room at hotel where I could get good night’s sleep and start early in the morning.

Truck was ready the next morning, and so was load. But three of the straps had been secured to the rub rail despite stickers on rail saying “do not or else…”:

The winches for proper securement were also missing and I had to go chase them down; and resecure load properly.

Headboard had one missing bolt, and 2 with stress cracks that caused it to list back.

All of the above photos were emailed to Brett on 8/5.

During load check, I noticed an oil seal leak on trailer and bad tire wear that I took to a TA for repair. Mechanic showed me grease in bearing that was “pukey” brown and probably contaminated.

Leaking Oil Seal:

Tire Wear:

I lost 3 hours during this repair. Add that to the time in Laurinburg for repairs, and I had lost almost 14 hours. I requested break-down pay, and was generously given $24 for the time at the TA. I also requested tarp pay for having to resecure the load. That was also denied.

A side note to the $24 for break-down pay: When I received my paycheck, I had only been paid $20. I asked Tina to correct and pay the additional $4 on my next paycheck. The next check, rather than $4, I received $24. So, I can say there is one mistake in my favor.

Lesson learned: Don’t try to save the company money by taking truck to Laurinburg shop. Take to TA, and get breakdown pay.

Week 50: The Way it Should Be

2007-07-28T09:12:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 7/28/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2864
* Loaded: 2485
* Empty: 379

Gross Pay: $1,189.24
* Mileage Pay: $1,174.24
* Accessorial: $15.00

Hours Logged: 70.5
* Driving: 56.25
* On-Duty: 14.25

$/Hour $16.87

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 2.75
* @ Customer: 2.75
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 73.25

Actual $/Hour: $16.24

This was a great week: mostly driving, very little wait time, and lots of miles. After two weeks back-to-back like this, I almost started to believe things were improving.
______________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 19, 2007
Shipper: Cold Spring, MN Thursday, July 19, 2007
MultiLoad: Dallas, TX Monday, July 23, 2007
Consignee: Marble Falls, TX Monday, July 23, 2007
Commodity: Granite

Hauling Granite was a new adventure, and one I really enjoyed.

The Street level directions for Cold Spring, MN were difficult to follow. OG was able to help guide me in over phone.

Instructions for multi-load were confusing, as it appeared I should deliver to Marble Falls first, when in fact, Dallas should come first. Street level directions to plant in Marble Falls were incorrect, sending me 7 miles out of way. Sent correct directions to Tina, but they came back still confused and would have sent a Driver 2 miles out of way. Corrected a second time, and came back better. Otherwise, load was uneventful and went smoothly.

Since I couldn’t make delivery to Dallas until Monday, I took Reset in Denton, TX with only 40.25 hours logged.
______________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Marble Falls, TX Monday, July 23, 2007
Shipper: Laredo, TX Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 26, 2007
Commodity: glass

In Laredo talked with 2 people. Told them it was my first time there. Asked if there was anything else I needed to do. Was told nothing more. Later the same day I received this macro from Tina:" Good day Lyman, in the future if you drop a trailer in the Laredo yard. You need to make sure you drop in the glass mode. And complete an inventory check. You will need to advise if inventory is missing. The guards should have a sheet for you to fill out to provide this information."

I have seen other macros that have instructions like this written right into the work assignment. Since this is a regular customer, why not make these instructions part of each and every work assignment at this plant?

This was the trailer left in Laredo:

Landing Gear Handle

Rusted back end of trailer and tail light

Repair to deck – note already cracking

Note: August 13th, received a phone call from Tim (Safety - Knoxville) wanting to know if I had left this trailer in the glass-haul position. I told him I had not, since I wasn’t aware of the requirement until after I had left. He told me this trailer had been sent to a carrier in Mexico that has use of their glass trailers, and they were unable to get it into the glass position because the actuators failed.

This was the trailer picked up in Laredo:

A-Wing Ladder step has been cut out. Typically this happens when a mechanic removes it to repair actuator.

Loose bolts on actuator brace. Will eventually cause failure and bending of actuator arm.

Landing Gear Handle

Cracks and poor repair at wing upright bracing

Other cracks

The following were sent to Brett on 7/29

This final photo sent to Brett is part of the system that failed causing my back injury in January.

Week 49 – The Almost Perfect Week

2007-07-21T08:53:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 7/21/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2398
* Loaded: 1927
* Empty: 471

Gross Pay: $983.18
* Mileage Pay: $983.18
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 62.75
* Driving: 52.75
* On-Duty: 10

$/Hour $15.67

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0
* @ Customer: 0
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 62.75

Actual $/Hour: $15.67

This was the best week I have had with Maverick. There were no long waits. I even got into and out of Laurinburg with no waiting. But as stated in the Recap, the long waits only seem to be Fridays, for a load through home. I have had higher miles, but these were good, and it was great to spend most of my time driving.
_________________________
Load #1

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 12, 2007
Relay: Ottawa, IL Friday, July 13, 2007
Consignee: Greensboro, NC Monday, July 16, 2007
Commodity: decking

Trailer had 1 marker light out when picked up. Since allowed one, took as was. Another light went out while en route. Tried 2 locations to get it fixed, one was too busy. The other needed me to call Fleetnet. Cell phone had no signal. Went ahead and took into LRBG, where I reported both taillights and broken cross braces on A-frames.

A-frame with broken cross-brace

Tail light repair

The following were sent to Brett on 7/15.

Took reset at home, with 61.25 hours logged

Arrive Home: Saturday, July 14, 2007, 10:30 AM
Leave Home: Monday, July 16, 2007, 5:30 AM
Hours Home: 43.00
Days Home: 1.79

_________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: Greensboro, NC Monday, July 16, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 16, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 19, 2007
Commodity: glass

Headboard on trailer rusted so bad it folded inward. Rust on rear of trailer bad as well.

Sent the following photos to Brett on 7/29.

Notice hole in tarp.

Week 48 – The Question of HOS

2007-07-14T08:35:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 7/14/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2017
* Loaded: 2017
* Empty: 0

Gross Pay: $826.97
* Mileage Pay: $826.97
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 52.25
* Driving: 41.5
* On-Duty: 10.75

$/Hour $15.83

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 7.5
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment: 7.5

All Hours: 59.75

Actual $/Hour: $13.84

__________________________
Load #1

Shipper: Ottawa, IL Friday, July 06, 2007
Consignee: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 09, 2007
Commodity: glass

Waited in Ottawa 3 hours for a work assignment. When finally received (15:24) they couldn't find paperwork, and was told to come back at 7pm, and check with jockey. Waited until 6pm, when I saw jockey bring in another trailer. I asked him if he knew when the load would be ready, and was told it had been ready since 4pm. I still couldn't find paperwork, so had to go back to Shipper, where they finally found it. Lost 6 hours waiting in Ottawa.

I received this load on Friday with an open window for delivery to Laurinburg, but there was also an ETA for 7:00 AM Monday morning. The only way I could make that ETA would be to go straight to Laurinburg from Ottawa, and take Reset on Monday. But, if the ETA was changed to 2:00, I would be able to go through home, take Reset Sunday, and not waste a weekday on the Reset. When I called to talk with Tina about changing the ETA, Shirley answered her phone.

When Tina called back she accused me of burning up too many On-Duty hours, and questioned how I could have a 13 hour day, with only 6.5 hours and 361 miles driving. I explained there were 2 loads (one unload and one load), had to break down trailer with impacted bolts on the frame, had to purchase 4x4 lumber as instructed in macro, secure in a rainstorm, and deal with headboard that was missing two bolts. She was still unsure if I should be including that in on-duty time, and said she would have to talk with OSR, so to plan to bring my logs to LRBG Monday to go over.

She finally realized that I was talking about 2:00 Monday, (Shirley had passed on the message as 2:00 Tuesday). When she realized it was Monday, she approved the change of ETA to 2:00. But before she reached that realization, she told me that I could DRIVE up to 70 hours in an 8 day period. She did not believe me that ALL On-Duty hours were counted in the 70, and said she would have to check with an OSR.

By Monday, she had back peddled. No OSR was present for the meeting, and she said that she just wasn't used to seeing 13 hour days. That tells me that she didn’t really look at the daily HOS update, as I averaged 12 hours/day on a regular basis. And, if you think about it: If a Driver has the opportunity to drive the full 11 hours, there should also be an additional hour for the truck - load checks, fuel, etc. So, anyone driving the full 11 hour day should be showing at least 12 hours on-duty.

Took Reset at home with 60.25 hours logged.

Arrive Home: Saturday, July 07, 2007, 5:30 PM
Leave Home: Monday, July 09, 2007, 5:30 AM
Hours Home: 36.00
Days Home: 1.50

Trailer had wrong landing gear handle. Did not fit into support, and rubbed against frame (watch out knuckles).

Securement box hinge not attached

Rusted rim

__________________________
Load #2

Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 09, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 12, 2007
Commodity: glass

Trailer rusted on side and headboard. Tarp had holes. In Ottawa, left note in electric line plug-in about both. The following photos were sent to Brett on 7/15/07

Headboard rusted through:

Rusted Headboard - Also depicts cracked weld:

Stress Cracks:

Week 47 – The Comedy (or is it Tragedy) Called Extended Ops

2007-07-07T08:23:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 7/7/07

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 1722
* Loaded: 1115
* Empty: 607

Gross Pay: $726.02
* Mileage Pay: $706.02
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 49.5

* Driving: 37.25
* On-Duty: 12.25

$/Hour $14.67

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 2.25
* @ Customer: 0.5
* In Laurinburg: 1.75
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 51.75

Actual $/Hour: $14.03
___________________________
Load #1:

Deadhead: Church Hill, TN Friday, June 29, 2007
Relay: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 02, 2007
Consignee: Selma, NC Monday, July 02, 2007
Commodity: Hay

I arrived at truck at 6:30 am on Monday to prepare for week, and found macro waiting with load assignment. The macro came in at 11:00 Sunday morning. The assignment was for a relay to be picked up in Laurinburg (7 hours away), and be delivered at 7:00 AM Monday – just 1/2 hour away. There are two problems here. If you will look back to Week 46, you will see that Extended told me the macro was undeliverable because the truck was turned off. The truck was in the very same location, as that reset, and obviously turned off. So, how is it that the macro was there this time.

Second problem, of course, is that Extended sent that macro just one hour after I had talked with them, and explained I was not with the truck, so to call me with any assignment that came in. Just what part of that didn't they understand.

When I picked up relay in LRBG found trailer (loaded) had lighting problems - left turn signal not working. Had to wait 1.5 hours for repairs

Rusted headboard. Holes where A-frame tie-downs have popped out.

Holes, rotting and poorly done repairs (tripping hazards) to deck.

Numerous Cracks

Securement box door missing

ABS system light missing

____________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: Selma, NC Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Consignee: Payne, OH Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Commodity: glass

Uneventful trip, except breaking down A-frame. I think the bolts were put in with an impact wrench. Thought I was going to have to call FleetNet, but finally managed to loosen.

____________________________
Load #3

Deadhead: Payne, OH Thursday, July 05, 2007
Shipper: Cavton, OH Thursday, July 05, 2007
Relay: Ottawa, IL Friday, July 06, 2007
Commodity: steel bars

The delivery date for this load was 7/9 - 4 days to go 400 miles. Sent macro questioning delivery date, and found that it was correct. After bringing to Tina’s attention, she arranged instead to have me relay the load to Ottawa.

Bolts attaching headboard to bed were broken or missing and caused headbord to list rearward and A-frames to work loose. Sent macro to Tina and called FleetNet to repair once I was in Ottawa.

Week 46 - The Unpaid Deadheads

2007-06-30T08:12:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 6/30/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 3095
* Loaded: 2160
* Empty: 935

Gross Pay: $1,340.95
* Mileage Pay: $1,268.95
* Accessorial: $72.00

Hours Logged: 85
* Driving: 61.25
* On-Duty: 23.75

$/Hour $15.54

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 12.5
* @ Customer: 2
* In Laurinburg: 8.75
* Waiting Assignment: 1.75

All Hours: 97.5

Actual $/Hour: $13.55

___________________________
Load #1

Deadhead: Tampa, FL Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Shipper: Church Hill, TN Sunday, June 24, 2007
Consignee: St Augustine, QC Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Commodity: glass

Again made delivery that took 2 days, with no assignment waiting when I arrived. I was told to DH to LRBG to wait for assignment. I waited in LRBG 20 hours before being told to DH home (Thursday). I advised I would not be with truck, so to call if work assignment came in. Dave called Friday to tell me I had assignment, and I could find details in macro. I checked the truck on Saturday, but there was no macro. Called Extended, who told me it was undeliverable because the truck was turned off. I had received macros when the truck was turned off before, but I asked them to resend. The macro did not come, and I had to call for details. I did not receive the macro until I was actually under load.

Assignment was for Canada, and I left the house Sunday afternoon to pickup pre-loaded trailer at Church Hill. The trailer was missing the brake actuator clevis pin and an air bag was leaking air. Extended did send mechanic, but after making those repairs, he found brake chamber needed to be replaced. He had to return Monday morning to replace that. By the time I reached Wytheville (90 miles), 2 tires needed replacing on the trailer. I was instructed to keep the tires - had to haul 2 bad tires into and out of Canada - to what purpose?

This was the trailer that was assigned to take through customs, into Quebec Canada and back again:

The following photos were sent to Brett (Safety Manager) on 7/1/07, showing several stress cracks.

Monday morning sent macro asking if PARS stickers were still required, as none came with new truck. Dave sent back macro that if there was a backhaul, they would send an 800# to use new ACE e-manifest system. See next load.

Because scheduling was not properly handled, I had 935 empty miles and 10 wasted hours in 3 days. When I received check, the mileage was 146 miles short - $59.86. The work assignments always come with loaded and empty miles. I was relying on the miles they quoted me. I called twice to get straightened out, and was finally told that after looking at the miles they believed they overpaid me, and I should just be happy with what I received. We checked RandMcNally Intelliroute, and the original miles they quoted me were correct. I never did recover the $59.86 for the short miles.

Took Reset at Home, with only 41 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Wednesday, June 20, 2007, 3:45 PM
Leave LRBG: Thursday, June 21, 2007, 12:15 PM
Hours LRBG: 20.5

Arrive Home: Thursday, June 21, 2007, 7:00 PM
Leave Home: Sunday, June 24, 2007, 5:00 PM
Hours Home: 70.00
Days Home: 2.92

___________________________
Load #2

Shipper: St Augustine, PQ Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Consignee: Church Hill, TN Friday, June 29, 2007
Commodity: glass

E-manifest system failed. They wanted stickers. When I explained about e-manifest, they laughed. I had to go to Livingston brokers and buy stickers. Lost 2.5 hours at the border crossing. Dave promised delay pay. I never received.

I picked up load from same plant I delivered to. Loaded miles quoted were the same as loaded miles for prior load: 1080. But mileage for this load was paid at 1075. It was only a difference of $2.05, but I fought for it anyway. I did win this argument over mileage pay.

Just about out of 70 by time I delivered - told to DH home. Before leaving truck, sent macro that I would not be with truck, so to call me with work assignment. Had still heard nothing by Sunday morning. Since I had learned that my request to call me when I am away from my truck is never followed, I called Extended at 10:00 am. Told them 34-reset was up, and asked if they had any loads. They had nothing - told me to get with my DM Monday morning. Reminded them that I was not with truck, so to call if anything came up. Continued with next week.

Took reset at home with 67.25 hours logged.

Arrive Home: Friday, June 29, 2007, 11:00 PM
Leave Home: Monday, July 02, 2007, 7:30 AM
Hours Home: 56.50
Days Home: 2.35

Week 45 - The Horse Races

2007-06-23T08:04:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 6/23/07

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 1678
* Loaded: 1197
* Empty: 481

Gross Pay: $707.98
* Mileage Pay: $687.98
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 38.25
* Driving: 31.25
* On-Duty: 7

$/Hour $18.51

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 2.5
* @ Customer: 2.5
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 40.75

Actual $/Hour: $17.37

Deadhead: Kansas City, KS Friday, June 15, 2007
Shipper: Wichita Falls,TX Saturday, June 16, 2007
Consignee: Tampa, FL Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Commodity: glass

There was no problem with picking up the load, but delivery was scheduled for Monday morning. I advised Tina I couldn't make that delivery, since my 70 was about up and I would need 34-reset. It was after 5:00, and it was obvious Tina wanted to get home. She told me to get under the load, and she would work on new delivery appointment Monday morning.

I had to purchase 25 gallons of fuel out of pocket, since Maverick only had 2 fuel stops in Kansas - none on my route. Fuel was reimbursed with next check, but $38 in tolls and scales were not reimbursed. Receipts were lost by Maverick. Took a month and 2 phone calls to get straightened out.

Took reset in Shreveport. HOS logged at reset were 65.

Casinos are a great place to spend the night. And if you have to do a reset on the road, a casino is the place to do it. There is plenty of parking, good food, and entertainment. The casino I stayed at in Shreveport also had a horse track, so I had plenty to fill the day.

Week 44 - The Kansas City Blues

2007-06-16T07:59:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 6/16/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2314
* Loaded: 1683
* Empty: 631

Gross Pay: $948.74
* Mileage Pay: $948.74
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 57
* Driving: 44.25
* On-Duty: 12.75

$/Hour $16.64

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 9.75
* @ Customer: 1.5
* In Laurinburg: 4
* Waiting Assignment: 4.25

All Hours: 66.75

Actual $/Hour: $14.21
_______________________________
Load #1

Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Friday, June 08, 2007
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Monday, June 11, 2007
Commodity: Glass

When I picked up this load, the trailer (already loaded) tire was low on air, and needed new tail marker light. Waited an hour for repair.

Through home for reset. Hours logged before reset: 64

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, June 07, 2007, 3:00 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, June 08, 2007, 9:00 AM
Hours LRBG: 18

Arrive Home: Friday, June 08, 2007, 5:15 PM
Leave Home: Monday, June 11, 2007, 8:30 AM
Hours Home: 63.25
Days Home: 2.64
_______________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Consignee: Kansas City, KS Friday, June 15, 2007
Commodity: glass

This trailer (already loaded) needed new tire, and other 3 were cupped. Waited an hour for repairs.

This is what a grab rail should look like.

This side is missing the grab rail (safety hazard).

Tarps were in no better shape:

After KC delivery, I waited over 3 hours for a load assignment. I sent 2 macros and made phone calls inquiring why I was waiting, and was told they were trying to find me a load. I had spent 3 days driving to KC, so there were 3 days to plan where I would go next. Why wait until I get there to start planning. When I finally received an assignment, it was close to 5pm EST on a Friday, and obviously everyone was anxious to start their weekend.

Continued with next week.

Week 43: The Return to Duty

2007-06-09T07:52:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 6/9/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2380
* Loaded: 2017
* Empty: 363

Gross Pay: $975.80
* Mileage Pay: $975.80
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 63.5
* Driving: 48.75
* On-Duty: 14.75

$/Hour $15.37

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0.5
* @ Customer: 0.5
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 64

Actual $/Hour: $15.25

_________________________
Load #1

Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, May 31, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Commodity: glass

Returned to LRBG on 5/30 to take Fitness for Duty test. After passing the Fitness for Duty, I was sent to doctor 5/31 for DOT physical. I had just been under a doctor’s care, 6 weeks of physical therapy, passed 2 EKG’s, passed both a strenuous Functional Capacity Evaluation and Fitness for duty test, and was now required to take a DOT physical. The only thing they didn’t ask for was a Drug Screen. After Physical, I spent remainder of day training with new automatic truck.

Since I had no truck, I had to stay in hotel. It took 2 requests for reimbursement of hotel. Finally received in July.

Minor deck warp on trailer DGL416. DGL's are the newer trailers, and are still in decent shape, but starting to show signs of stress.

Was routed home to re-stock new truck.

Arrive Home: Friday, June 01, 2007
Leave Home: Sunday, June 03, 2007
Hours Home: 44.00
Days Home: 1.83

_________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Consignee: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, June 07, 2007
Commodity: Glass

Paperwork in Ottawa was missing. Spent over an hour tracking down.

Trailer was in terrible shape - red-tagged tire. Sent these photos in email to Derric on June 24th.

This is the electrical control board and box for converting trailer from glass hauler to flatbed configuration. Very seldom do these units work right. On this one, the control panel is not bolted in place.

Weeks 26 - 42: The Worker's Comp Leave

2007-05-31T08:31:00.000-04:00

I was injured on January 24th, and saw the Maverick-chosen doctor on January 26th. After an MRI, he referred to a neurosurgeon for consultation for a herniated disk. The neurosurgeon was also chosen by Maverick, and my appointment was not scheduled until April 3rd. On February 22nd, I received a letter from Maverick Human Resources stating that I MUST apply for Medical Leave – and Medical leave could not exceed 90 days – failure to apply would result in termination of employment and worker comp benefits. That would mean my 90-day leave would run out only 3 weeks after seeing the neurosurgeon.

I requested that I be placed on a waiting list in hopes the neurosurgeon would have an appointment cancellation. Fortunately, there was a cancellation with a different surgeon in the same practice, and I was able to see him on March 6th and had surgery on March 15th, followed by 8 weeks of physical therapy – 4 hours, 3 times a week.
In The Recap, I mentioned that I was treated like a second-class citizen – I was. Fortunately, I had Ollie’s Gal to help sort things out, and fight my battles. I’m sure there are other injured drivers that just either give up or go along with what they are told. She took the time to learn the rules and regs, and held everyone to their responsibilities.

The people involved were more than you would imagine. During the 4 month period, we dealt with 6 different companies and 11 different people:

Maverick:
- Rachelle was my designated contact for my WC claim. I placed 12 phone calls to her, 3 were returned; also sent 9 emails/faxes, she responded to none.
- Tami became the person I dealt with for Health Insurance payments and COBRA. We called her 6 times, and she returned every call. We also sent 4 emails/faxes. Again she responded to all.
- Lisa called 3 times in response to emails/faxes that were sent to Rachelle. Each time she told us that Rachelle was out and she was filling in – as a “fill-in” she did a much better job than Rachelle.
- Tina was my DM. I left her 4 messages directly after my injury. I did not hear back from her until Feb 19th, when she called to tell me that they would need to “recover” my truck. They did not actually recover the truck until March 21st, when I finally sent an email to Derric, the Fleet Manager.
- Letha is the VP of Human Resources. We only contacted her twice that will be discussed below.
WC Insurance Carrier: The Insurance Adjuster was Carol, who was very responsive. We called her 5 times, and each time she did return the phone calls.
Case Manager: Cathy was the Case Worker assigned by the Insurance Carrier. I was in her schedule to call each Friday, so there were times I would leave her a message, and no matter the importance, I did not hear from her until Friday. And, there were times that she talked to Rachelle, rather than me, which evidently took up her allotted Friday time, so it would be the next Friday before I would hear from her. Example: Called her on 4/5 to advise her that hip pain was returning. I did not hear back from her until 4/12. In all there were 25 phone calls exchanged with her and 10 e-mails.
The Neurosurgeon: I dealt with the neurosurgeon’s nurse, Glenna. I called her 27 times trying to arrange appointments. She returned 5 calls. I did not find out until the end that she could not return my calls directly. She had to get approval from the Case Manager, who had to get approval from the Insurance Adjuster before she could schedule a visit.
Physical Therapy: I had 24 Physical Therapy Visits, and at the end of therapy, a Functional Capacity Evaluation. This was required before the Neurosurgeon could release me to Full Duty. The therapists were terrific, but the support personnel were difficult to deal with. When I requested copies of the reports they were submitting to the insurance company, I was told I would have to pay for them. I paid for them and waited weeks. I was told that I really didn’t have a right to those reports, and I told them they might want to look up something called HIPAA, (Paragraph 5b.5 Notification of or access to records). Then I was told I could have my attorney request. I told them I didn’t have an attorney – I was making the request, and had a right to copies of my records.
Long-Term Disability Insurance: The problems associated with this will be discussed further below. Basically, had Maverick responded appropriately, we would not have been dealing with the insurance provider at all. As it was, we placed 9 phone calls to the provider, and had 2 calls returned. The first call returned was basically to tell us to go away and call Maverick, who should be dealing with this. The second call returned was after leaving a message for the supervisor. She did return the call, and after hearing the problems with Maverick, she agreed to resolve our problems.

The request for records was finally resolved, but it was apparent that everyone involved – doctor, case manager, therapists - believed they were working for the Employer and Insurance Carrier, and I had no rights. There were other miscellaneous phone calls and faxes not listed above. In all during the 4 month period, there were 151 phone calls and 50 miscellaneous faxes, emails and letters. All could have been simplified if phone calls were returned.

Maverick was one of the worst offenders. I was required to make a weekly check-in to a recorded voice mail. Penalties for failing to do so could also result in termination or loss of WC benefits, but my phone calls and correspondence were ignored. I only had 3 conversations with Rachelle. She never returned phone calls, and never answered emails. I talked with her when the claim was filed, and again when I was ready to take the Fitness for Duty test. Any other information I received came through the Case Worker. Several times the Case Worker told me she had talked to Rachelle about one of my messages or emails, but Rachelle never talked to me directly.

The Doctor and Case Worker were another problem. Numerous calls to the doctor's office went unanswered. The Case Worker only performed her duties after she was challenged in an email, regarding a Monthly Report that showed several phone calls with me that NEVER happened. It was only after the Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) was completed and I was attempting to contact the doctor yet again, that I found out the doctor's office could only make appointments through the Case Manager - which explained all the unreturned phone calls - they were waiting to hear back from her.

There had been several emails between the Case Worker and Ollie’s Gal about the limit of 12 visits with the therapist, when the doctor had called for a minimum of 18, and a maximum of 30. The confusion was because the Case Worker was using Tennessee regulations, when the claim was filed in North Carolina – a mistake that Ollie’s Gal had to point out to her. Finally in an email dated 4/2, she advised Ollie’s Gal that she had talked with the insurance adjuster who agreed with Ollie’s Gal’s assessment of NC rules, and had approved additional visits. However, when I reported for therapy on the 12th visit, I was told that my 12 approved visits had run out, and I would need permission before continuing. We called the insurance adjuster only to find that insurance adjuster had NEVER heard from Case Worker. The insurance adjuster sent fax immediately approving all remaining visits for therapy.

The major issues surrounding the numerous phone calls and correspondence were:

MANDATORY 90-DAY MEDICAL LEAVE: Received letter 2/22/07 (dated 2/16/07 - and 3 weeks after injury) that I was REQUIRED to request Medical Leave. Failure to do so could result in termination or loss of WC benefits. AND, the Medical Leave could be no longer than 90 days. At that time, I was waiting for an appointment to a neurosurgeon, because the MRI indicated a herniated disk. It made no difference that the injury was caused by Maverick's FAULTY TRAILER. I was told there would be no exceptions. But I tried anyway.

By the end of April, when my Mandatory Medical Leave was about to run out, the surgeon released me to Light Duty. Maverick would only allow Light Duty to be performed in Little Rock, but my surgeon wouldn’t release me to drive to Little Rock, as he believed the drive would be too much at that time, and performing Light Duty there would interfere with my physical therapy. Now, Maverick does have an office in Knoxville, so I requested that if Maverick wouldn’t extended the 90-day Leave, at least let me perform Light Duty in Knoxville.
After several phone calls, emails and faxes to Rachelle requesting extension of Medical Leave (that ran out 4/29) or Light Duty in Knoxville, I finally received a phone call from Lisa on 4/17, who indicated she was filling in for Rachelle (The return call was actually about Long-Term Disability - more on that later - but since I actually had someone on the phone, I took advantage of the situation.)

I asked that Lisa talk with Ollie’s Gal, who questioned why no exceptions could be made. Lisa would only state that there could only be exceptions made for a matter of days - not weeks. Ollie’s Gal asked about taking Personal Leave, as the policy manual also has a provision for 30-days of Personal Leave a year. Lisa said there could only be one leave taken – either Medical or Personal, but not both. Ollie’s Gal pointed out that there is nothing stating only one or the other. Finally Lisa (very upset), stated - "he can't just take Personal Leave because he is DISABLED". When Ollie’s Gal asked why they considered me disabled, Lisa backtracked and stated "just because his medical leave is up". Ollie’s Gal then went back to why exceptions couldn't be made, because it would seem the cost of replacing a driver would be more than simply extending his medical leave. Lisa then said there were "insurance considerations". There is a strong possibility she was actually referring to the liability of letting an injured driver return, but Ollie’s Gal simply stated that we would be willing to pay the health insurance. At that, Lisa said she would talk with Letha, the VP of HR, and call back the next week. The call never came.

Finally on 4/23, we sent a letter via overnight mail to Letha with a formal request to extend the Medical Leave until 5/30/07. Again we received a call from Lisa telling us that Letha was out of the office and wouldn't return until the 30th (coincidence that it was the day after Medical Leave expired).

Immediately after that phone call, we sent a request by fax for copies of the OSHA 300 and 300A logs. An employer is required to supply these by the end of the next business day or face steep penalties. Amazingly enough, Letha was available to send a letter than included copies of the logs and a statement that Maverick would extend Medical Leave until the 25th (my FCE was scheduled for 21st).

A point to make here is that after the problems I had encountered with Maverick to-date, and the ordeal of Worker's Comp, I really had no desire to return to work for Maverick, but I did not want my record to reflect that I was unable to return because of a Worker Comp claim. I preferred to leave Maverick on my own terms.
HEALTH INSURANCE: With the Request for Medical Leave (letter dated 2/16 referred to above) was an election to pay to keep insurance in force. I chose the election and mailed back to Maverick on February 28th. Since the letter stated there was a 30-grace period for making payment, we started automatic weekly payments through on-line banking. We included an explanation of how those payments would be coming at the bottom of the form for insurance election.

On March 7th, while traveling with Ollie’s Gal on a business trip, I received a phone call from Tami at Maverick advising me that my health insurance would expire the next day if payment wasn’t received. We asked about the 30-day grace period (letter dated 2/16, this was 3/7). Tami advised us that the 30-day grace period was only for payment, but was actually due for all weeks since the last paycheck of 2/3. It would have been nice if that was spelled out in the letter, rather than just stating there was a 30-day grace period. We checked with the bank to find that 3 checks had been issued but not cashed. We called Tami back with the information, and at the same time, arranged an overnight letter to cover payments. On the way to the FedEx office, Tami called back to say that the checks had been located, but we sent overnight anyway to make sure there would be no future problems – but of course that was asking too much. Two months later we received a letter from Tami, with 3 of the bank-issued checks included – because now I was overpaid. The bank would not deposit the checks directly to our account without Maverick’s endorsement, and all we could do at that point was to wait until the checks were stale, and the bank would return the funds to our account – almost $175.

On 5/13, I received a letter stating I was required to start COBRA payments as of 5/1 and, not being sure how FCE would go, we sent payment for both May and June. When I returned to work on 5/31, we stopped the COBRA payments. Then, on 7/6 (after being back to work over a month) I received a letter from Tami with an application for health insurance enclosed, stating that since my insurance had terminated, I was required to reapply. When we called, Tami stated that the letter was only sent as “a favor”, that actually it is the Driver’s responsibility to request reenrollment when the insurance has terminated. We told her that to our way of thinking, since we had made COBRA payments, the insurance had NOT terminated. But Tami explained that it is a termination of the group policy – and that typically the DM makes sure the employee fills out the reenrollment on return to duty – but this is an unusual case, since we actually kept up the insurance during the 90 days, and rolled over to COBRA. Tami said she would discuss with Letha and call back. She did call back the same day to say that she and Letha had both talked with United Health Care, who informed them that since I had been on COBRA, I now had to wait the 60-days that any new employee needs to wait. Just when did I become an ex-employee?
LONG TERM DISABILITY: The final problem was with the Long Term Disability (LTD) insurance. Not that I hoped to need it, but the policy is written in stone: LTD claims must be made within the first 90-days of any LTD. And, since there is a minimum $100 per month payout, and I have contributed to it, we believed the payout could help offset the cost of COBRA, if necessary. All documentation we could find indicated that filing for LTD is typically done through the Short-Term Disability (STD) that rolls over to LTD – with one exception – Work Related Injuries: they can only be filed on LTD. Now here is the conundrum – how does a person file within the 90 days, for something he isn’t sure will be a permanent LTD, especially when STD does not apply? We made several inquiries, and since Maverick did not respond, we finally went directly to the LTD insurance company - both emails and phone calls. The Insurance Company advised us that they could do nothing, because any LTD claim must come directly from Maverick. Returning to the 4/17 phone call with Lisa:

Lisa insisted that the claim must be filed over the phone – directly with the Insurance Company. We told her that they said the phone applications were only for STD, which I didn’t qualify for since it was a work-related injury. Lisa insisted the Insurance Company had advised wrong. So, the next day we called the Insurance Company and filed the claim over the phone. When the documentation arrived in the mail, it was for STD – not LTD. That started another go-round. We finally reached a supervisor at the Insurance Company, who agreed to prepare the LTD claim and forward it to Maverick for signature – but advised us that the reverse should happen.

Fortunately, I was able to return to work and LTD was not necessary. And you would think that the troubles were behind me, but on 6/26 I received a VIOLATION SUMMARY LETTER from the Safety Department – dinging me 2 points for logs that weren’t submitted between 5/1 and 5/23 – I was still on Extended Medical Leave during that time. The Safety Department agreed to remove the points when a log sheet covering all days was received. But, at the same time advised I had been also been dinged 3 points for getting hurt in the first place. I was told I needed to talk to the Safety Manager, Brett, about those points.

I did talk with Brett and explained that I was not being careless – it was Maverick’s faulty equipment that caused my injury. He said he could recommend removal of the points, but it wasn’t his final decision – does anyone at Maverick have the authority to make a decision – or are they just in the habit of laying responsibility at everyone’s feet but their own? I never did hear back from Brett about the decision, but did find out the points had been removed, when I finally got so fed-up I went to Dave C., the Director of Operations for the Specialized Division, with my complaints.

After my conversation with Dave C., I promised to send him a list of the problems, and some of my experiences, which I emailed on July 31st. I never heard anything back from him. I only had one reply from Brett to several emails I sent with photos attached – only to say that he had received and had forwarded to the “appropriate people”. If the Safety Manager is not the appropriate person, who is? I have to wonder how serious they are about upholding Maverick’s reputation in the industry.

We finally hired an attorney to handle closing the case. That is still being negotiated, and we will follow-up with any new developments when they happen.

Week 25 – The Supportive DM

2007-02-03T07:31:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 2/3/07

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 307
* Loaded: 307
* Empty: 0

Gross Pay: $143.50
* Mileage Pay: $125.87
* Accessorial: $17.63

Hours Logged: 8
* Driving: 6.25
* On-Duty: 1.75

$/Hour $17.94

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 4
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg: 4
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 12

Actual $/Hour: $11.96

Pay for relay of load picked up in Laurinburg before seeing doctor in Knoxville.

During this week I called Tina 3 times and left messages. She never returned my calls. I did not hear from her until February 19th, when she called to say that since I would be off for an extended period, they would need to “recover” my truck.

Week 24 – The Injury

2007-01-27T07:27:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 1/27/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2474
* Loaded: 1044
* Empty: 1430

Gross Pay: $1,049.60
* Mileage Pay: $989.60
* Accessorial: $60.00

Hours Logged: 68.75
* Driving: 49.5
* On-Duty: 19.25

$/Hour $15.27

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 7.25
* @ Customer: 1
* In Laurinburg: 6.25
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 76

Actual $/Hour: $13.81
___________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Clayton, NC Thursday, January 18, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Friday, January 19, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Monday, January 22, 2007
Commodity: glass

Uneventful trip.
___________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Shipper: Dewitt, IA Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Consignee: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, January 25, 2007
Commodity: Decked Trailers

My injury occurred on January 24th, when I was instructed to pick up 2 trailers in DeWitt, IA and take to Laurinburg. When I arrived, both trailers were in the A-frame position and had to be broken down, as well as the trailer I had with me. I was very fortunate to have another Driver help me. Both trailers at DeWitt had problems, and we worked for 4 hours on the 3 trailers, but finally had to stop, when one of the trailers had a bad actuator rod that was bent and wouldn't come down.

The Driver that helped me had a pigtail transformer lead that my truck didn't have. I was told there was a truck available at the yard with the lead I needed, so I called for a mechanic to meet me there the next morning to repair the hydraulic, but he never showed. In addition, the truck I was told I could use to bring down the transformer wouldn't start, and since my truck was not set up for pigtail transformer leads, I had to switch trailers and bring back a converter instead. It was also in the A-frame position, and it was the pneumatic rods that support the wings on that trailer that failed, causing my back injury. This is something I couldn’t have known until I was under the wing, but the person who put it into the A-frame position would have known, but ignored it.

Week 23: The 4th DM

2007-01-20T07:23:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 1/20/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1421
* Loaded: 898
* Empty: 523

Gross Pay: $648.40
* Mileage Pay: $568.40
* Accessorial: $80.00

Hours Logged: 43.75
* Driving: 30.25
* On-Duty: 13.5

$/Hour $14.82

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 4.25
* @ Customer: 0.5
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment: 3.75

All Hours: 48

Actual $/Hour: $13.51
__________________________
Load #1

Deadhead: Conover, NC Thursday, January 11, 2007
Shipper: Church Hill, TN Monday, January 15, 2007
Consignee: Springfield, VA Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Commodity: glass

Since I had not received a call with any assignments, I went to my truck early Monday morning, only to find that a load had been assigned on Friday and I had received no phone call. If I had not had a flat tire, I still could have made it to Church Hill on time, but when I sent ETA update, received a macro from Tina questioning the late ETA. That is when I learned John was no longer with company, and Tina was my new DM. Tina was short in her macro, and I admit to being sarcastic in my response. I was already upset that no one had notified me about the work assignment, I had to start week running late, I had to deal with a flat tire, and I find out I have yet another DM.

Side note: John was laid off because of staff cuts and he was low-man on the totem pole. The prior week was the best I had in terms of scheduling. I was very disappointed to hear that Maverick would lay-off based on time with company, rather than by competence. I firmly believe that John should still be with the company, and Dave should have been let go.
__________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: Springfield, VA Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Shipper: Towanda, PA Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Consignee: Clayton, NC Thursday, January 18, 2007
Commodity: Fiberboard

Here is an example of giving the DM’s too much credit for understanding delivery times: When I received this assignment, it left me with about 8 hours to spare. So, I asked if the delivery time could be moved up. When I made the request, I didn’t give an ETA, as it was only a question at the time. No ETA was asked for, but instead I was given a new delivery appointment that didn’t give me enough time to make on-time delivery. When I reported that was impossible and asked for a happy medium, I got back a snappy retort from Tina. That is when I realized she didn’t understand scheduling at all. With one exception, I did not ask to have a delivery time moved up again. If I was given more time, I just took advantage of it by taking the back roads through the countryside.

From Clayton deadheaded to LRBG for load to take through home for reset. Waited in LRBG over 18 hours. While there, finally had repairs made to truck from accident November 2nd.

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, January 18, 2007, 2:45 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, January 19, 2007, 9:00 AM
Hours LRBG: 18.25

Arrive Home: Friday, January 19, 2007, 6:30 PM
Leave Home: Sunday, January 21, 2007, 10:15 AM
Hours Home: 41.75
Days Home: 1.74

Week 22: The 3rd DM

2007-01-13T07:18:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 1/13/07

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 2080
* Loaded: 1908
* Empty: 172

Gross Pay: $871.20
* Mileage Pay: $811.20
* Accessorial: $60.00

Hours Logged: 59.5
* Driving: 44.25
* On-Duty: 15.25

$/Hour $14.64

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 59.5

Actual $/Hour: $14.64
__________________________
Load #1

Deadhead: Denton, NC Friday, January 05, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Friday, January 05, 2007
Consignee: Etobicoke, ON Monday, January 08, 2007
Commodity: Glass

Given several assignments during the day that would not allow me time for a reset, including this load to Canada. When I advised that I would not have enough hours remaining on 70 to bring out a backhaul, Shirley responded with "are they asking you to bring something back?" Why would I think different since every load, except one, into Canada involved a backhaul. I was asked to take reset in Laurinburg before going into Canada.

I used this time to put truck in shop for PM. They still have not received parts to replace bumper. I can’t understand why they couldn’t just use a part from one of the many empty trucks sitting in the yard.

I checked into a motel while truck was in shop, and did not receive reimbursement until June.

__________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: Etobicoke, ON Monday, January 08, 2007
Shipper: Cambridge, ON Monday, January 08, 2007
Consignee: lemont, IL Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Commodity: cement stone

This load was first with new DM, John.

I did pick up backhaul.

Inadvertently blocked sniffers at border, so was forced through gamma ray. Took passport inside, and finally was allowed to leave after checking. Lost 2 hours at the border.
__________________________
Load #3

Deadhead: Lemont, IL Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Shipper: E. Chicago, IN Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Consignee: Conover, NC Thursday, January 11, 2007
Commodity: Steel Plates

Lost 30 minutes in Gary trying to get fuel. Maverick system failed. Made 2 attempts at phone calls, but Extended never answered. I went on to shipper to meet delivery time. Was out of hours, so spent night on street. Next morning, tried fuel again. Kept getting message HUB number was wrong. Finally had to call Little Rock to straighten out fuel problem. Lost 1 hour and 15 minutes.

From Conover was sent Deadhead home for Reset, since there were no loads available. Told John that I would not be at my truck, so to call me if a job assignment came in Friday.

Other than the problems with fuel, this was one of the best weeks I had in terms of scheduling. There was no wait time, and only 172 empty miles. Logged 60 HOS before taking reset at home.

Arrive Home: Thursday, January 11, 2007, 6:00 PM
Leave Home: Monday, January 15, 2007, 7:30 AM
Hours Home: 85.50
Days Home: 3.56

Week 21: The Wrong Load

2007-01-06T07:13:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 1/6/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2140
* Loaded: 1736
* Empty: 404

Gross Pay: $854.60
* Mileage Pay: $834.60
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 58.75
* Driving: 44.25
* On-Duty: 14.5

$/Hour $14.55

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 4.25
* @ Customer: 4.25
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 63

Actual $/Hour: $13.57
_________________________
Load #1:

Deadhead: Warrenton, MO Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Thursday, December 27, 2007
Consignee: sarasota, FL Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Commodity: glass

As I was getting ready to leave Ottawa, they realized they had put the wrong load on the trailer. Had to go back to dock, untarp and wait for un- and re-load.

Arrived at consignee early, but they could not accommodate me. Waited 8 hours at Walmart for 11 pm unload. Had to unload front stoce to clear drop in cargo ramp to unload optimizers - even with a single drop. Whole set up not designed for single drop spread axle.

Logged 37.75 HOS before going home for New Year Holiday

Arrive Home: Friday, December 29, 2006, 1:00 PM
Leave Home: Tuesday, January 02, 2007, 10:15 AM
Hours Home: 93.25
Days Home: 3.89

_________________________
Load #2:

Deadhead: Sarasota, FL Thursday, January 04, 2007
Shipper: Orlando, fl Thursday, January 04, 2007
Consignee: Denton, NC Friday, January 05, 2007
Commodity: bobcat

Uneventful load

Week 20 - Christmas

2006-12-30T07:07:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 12/30/06

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 1054
* Loaded: 851
* Empty: 203

Gross Pay: $411.06
* Mileage Pay: $411.06
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 30.25
* Driving: 23.25
* On-Duty: 7

$/Hour $13.59

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 11.25
* @ Customer: 2.25
* In Laurinburg: 8.5
* Waiting Assignment: 0.5

All Hours: 41.5

Actual $/Hour: $9.91

Deadhead: Roanoke, VA Thursday, December 20, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, December 21, 2006
Consignee: Warrenton, MO Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Commodity: glass

Arrived in LRBG on the 20th at 2:00 PM. Work Assignment said load would be ready 12/21 between 15:30 - 11:00. Since loads had never been ready early, I went to Walmart to pick up last minute Christmas items, and didn't check on load until the morning of the 21st. It had actually been ready the afternoon before. Either the wrong date was given on the work assignment, or no one bothered to tell me it was ready early. Spent 20 hours in LRBG for a load that could have been pulled out the moment I arrived.

Only 36.75 hours logged before going home for holiday.

Arrive LRBG: Wednesday, December 20, 2:00 PM
Leave LRBG: Thursday, December 21, 2006, 10:00 AM
Hours LRBG: 20.0

Arrive Home: Thursday, December 21, 2006, 6:30 PM
Leave Home: Tuesday, December 26, 2006, 5:00 AM
Hours Home: 107.00
Days Home: 4.46

Week 19 – The Holiday Spirit

2006-12-23T07:03:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 12/23/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1203
* Loaded: 572
* Empty: 631

Gross Pay: $469.17
* Mileage Pay: $469.17
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 34
* Driving: 26.75
* On-Duty: 7.25

$/Hour $13.80

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 10
* @ Customer: 1.5
* In Laurinburg: 8.5
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 44

Actual $/Hour: $10.66

_________________________________
Load #1:

Deadhead: Charlotte, NC Thursday, December 14, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Friday, December 15, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Monday, December 18, 2006
Commodity: Glass

On 12/13 a macro had been sent advising all drivers to pick up snow chains in LRBG. Since I had already inquired there long before the macro came out, I placed a call to Brett (Safety Manager), who told me I should be able to find them in LRBG. Asked again at shop, this time found someone who knew where they were kept.

Was in LRBG over 20 hours, waiting for assignment. First load offered had an open window of pickup in LRBG anywhere from 15:30 (same day) until 7:00 the next morning, with a delivery in Cuyahoga Falls, OH 12/18 at 7:00 am. My experience with LRBG is that they push the load until the last possible minute. If I had to wait until the next morning, there would not have been time to go through home. I had already been out 10 days and taken one reset away from home. I asked if delivery could be changed to 12/19 to accommodate time at home. Instead load was pulled. The next load assignment I received had a closer delivery point, and later schedule, but I had to wait in LRBG until the next day to pick up load - arriving at home 11:00 EST.
During long wait, checked again on repairs to truck. LRBG still did not have parts.

Since I had taken Reset on Tuesday, only 33.75 hours logged when I arrived home for this Reset.

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, December 14, 2006, 5:45 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, December 15, 2006, 2:30 PM
Hours LRBG: 20.75

Arrive Home: Friday, December 15, 2006, 11:00 PM
Leave Home: Monday, December 18, 2006, 8:30 AM
Hours Home: 59.50
Days Home: 2.48

_________________________________
Load #2:

Relay: Harvey, IL Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Consignee: Roanoke, VA Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Commodity: railroad machinery

Uneventful trip. Deadhead to LRBG after unload in Roanoke.

Week 18 - The Cost of Fuel in Canada

2006-12-16T06:59:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 12/16/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1595
* Loaded: 1396
* Empty: 199

Gross Pay: $662.05
* Mileage Pay: $622.05
* Accessorial: $40.00

Hours Logged: 46
* Driving: 36.75
* On-Duty: 9.25

$/Hour $14.39

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 2
* @ Customer: 2
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 48

Actual $/Hour: $13.79
__________________________________
Load #1

Deadhead: Riviere du Loup, QC Friday, December 08, 2006
Shipper: Riviere du Loup, QC Friday, December 08, 2006
Consignee: Bedford, PA Monday, December 11, 2006
Commodity: Peat Moss

This was my first trip into Quebec. I fueled in Albany before heading in, but did not have enough fuel to get out. I was issued a ComData check, but couldn't find a place in Quebec that would take it. I lost several hours, stopping to inquire about acceptance of ComData checks, and the language barrier only slowed down the process. Since I didn’t relish the idea of being out of fuel in Canada, at night, with -15 degree temperatures, in a snow storm, I finally paid for the fuel myself - $360.

__________________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: Bedford, PA Monday, December 11, 2006
Shipper: Towanda, PA Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Consignee: charlotte, NC Thursday, December 14, 2006
Commodity: fiberboard

Uneventful load.

After dropping load in Bedford, I took reset in Breezewood, PA with 67.75 HOS logged.

Week 17 - The Search for Snow Chains

2006-12-09T06:05:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 12/9/06

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 1779
* Loaded: 1162
* Empty: 617

Gross Pay: $733.81
* Mileage Pay: $693.81
* Accessorial: $40.00

Hours Logged: 49.5
* Driving: 36.25
* On-Duty: 13.25

$/Hour $14.82

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 5
* @ Customer: 2.75
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment: 2.25

All Hours: 54.5

Actual $/Hour: $13.46

Deadhead: Milford, OH Saturday, December 02, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Consignee: Riviere du Loup, QC Friday, December 08, 2006
Commodity: Glass

While in Laurinburg, I asked about snow chains, since I was heading into Canada, and bad weather was predicted. Was told they didn't have any. I looked anyway, and finally found these:

I stopped at the Maverick terminal in Jarrett, VA, and they had no snow chains either. Shirley told me to pick up at truck stop and I would be reimbursed, but couldn't find a truck stop that carried snow chains for the super single tires.

The Jarrett mechanics expressed their surprise that I would be allowed to drive my truck with the bumper missing. Note it has now been a month since my first request for repairs, and I am still driving with tape holding on the turn signal and left third of bumper missing.

Week 16 – The Snowball Effect

2006-12-02T06:01:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 12/2/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1736
* Loaded: 1175
* Empty: 561

Gross Pay: $917.04
* Mileage Pay: $677.04
* Accessorial: $240.00

Hours Logged: 56.75
* Driving: 42.25
* On-Duty: 14.5

$/Hour $16.16

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 20
* @ Customer: 10
* In Laurinburg: 10
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 76.75

Actual $/Hour: $11.95
________________________________
Load #1

Deadhead: Church Hill, TN Monday, November 27, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Consignee: bridgeport, NJ Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Commodity: glass

This load was 6 hours late out of Laurinburg and started a snowball effect continuing with late deliveries through the week.

Again, while in Laurinburg and waiting on load, asked about repairs to truck. Told parts were still on order. (There is a Freightliner dealer in Charlotte 90 miles away).

I waited 5 hours for unload at Consignee. Sent Extended new ETA at next shipper.
________________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: bridgeport, NJ Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Shipper: Mt Holly Springs, PA Thursday, November 30, 2006
Consignee: Milford, OH Friday, December 01, 2006
Commodity: glass

When I arrived at Mt. Holly Springs, they had not received notice that ETA had changed. As a result, I had to wait 15 hours before they could load me. I took 10 hours in sleeper berth and was at Consignee a total of 18 hours. On 11/30, I received instructions to Deadhead home after delivery in Milford. However, after I sent in Empty macro, I received a macro from Extended that I would be “left on ice” overnight since they had no loads. Why did they not have a record that I was given a deadhead home?

I made delivery in Ohio, and had logged 50.75 hours by the time I reached home. Since freight was slow, I had 3 days at home before I received load assignment.

Arrive Home: Saturday, December 02, 2006, 7:00 AM
Leave Home: Tuesday, December 05, 2006, 6:30 AM
Hours Home: 71.50
Days Home: 2.98

Week 15 - Thanksgiving

2006-11-25T04:02:00.000-05:00

Planned OG’s surgery as close to Thanksgiving Week as possible, so not as much work would be missed. No loads delivered this week.

Week 14 - The Reset

2006-11-18T03:51:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 11/18/06

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 1638
* Loaded: 1274
* Empty: 364

Gross Pay: $704.52
* Mileage Pay: $638.82
* Accessorial: $65.70

Hours Logged: 44.75
* Driving: 33.25
* On-Duty: 11.5

$/Hour $15.74

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 1.75
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment: 1.75

All Hours: 46.5

Actual $/Hour: $15.15
____________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Etobicoke, ON Thursday, November 09, 2006
Shipper: windsor, ON Thursday, November 09, 2006
MultiLoad: mcgregor, ON Thursday, November 09, 2006
Consignee: Relay to Ottawa, IL Saturday, November 11, 2006
Commodity: lumber

While I was in Monroe, on my 34-hour reset, Shirley was off and Dave and Lamar changed the Waterloo delivery to a Relay in Ottawa, IL. Then, between the 2 of them I was sent over 40 Macros through the course of the day. In those 40+ macros, I was sent 4 work assignments, that all required me to leave that day, and none that I could deliver and be home by the 15th for OG’s surgery. Every time, I sent back a message stating that I could nothing, as I was on my 34-reset, and reminding that I needed to be home by the 15th.

The macros started with Lamar at 8:55 in the morning, and didn't quit until 5:02 that evening, when I finally called and requested a supervisor on Extended Shift to find out what part of "I'm on my 34-reset until 7:30 tomorrow morning" does Maverick not understand? He read back through the macros, and finally got me a load that would allow me to finish my 34-reset, make pickup and delivery, and still be home by the 15th.
____________________________
Load 2:

Shipper: Ottawa, IL Saturday, November 11, 2006
Consignee: Youngsville, NC Sunday, November 12, 2006
Commodity: Glass

Uneventful.
____________________________
Load 3:

Deadhead: Youngsville, NC Monday, November 13, 2006
Shipper: Relay - Laurinburg, NC Monday, November 13, 2006
Consignee: sanford, nc Monday, November 13, 2006
Commodity: steel bars

I could still run 3 days, but was given short run, since no loads were available that would get me home by 15th for OG’s surgery on the 16th. Waited in LRBG until morning of the 14th, when I was sent home.

While in Laurinburg, took truck through shop to see about repairing bumper. Was told they would have to order parts.

HOS Logged: 45.75.

Arrive LRBG: Monday, November 13, 2006 7:00 PM
Leave LRBG: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 9:30 AM
Hours LRBG: 14.5

Arrive Home: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 7:00 PM
Leave Home: Monday, November 27, 2006 8:15 AM
Days Home: 12 – OG’s Surgery and Thanksgiving.

Week 13 - The Lucky 13

2006-11-11T18:42:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 11/11/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 3026
* Loaded: 2553
* Empty: 473

Gross Pay: $1,215.14
* Mileage Pay: $1,180.14
* Accessorial: $35.00

Hours Logged: 76.5
* Driving: 58.25
* On-Duty: 18.25

$/Hour $15.88

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 76.5

Actual $/Hour: $15.88

_____________________________
Load #1

Deadhead: LA, CA Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Shipper: Newman, CA Friday, November 03, 2006
MultiLoad: Laurens, IA Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Consignee: delhi, IA Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Commodity: casting

While on 34-reset in California, had yet another hit and run. I was sleeping and at first thought it was an earthquake. By the time I got out of the truck, the other driver had left. It did not leave the truck undrivable, but missing the front driver side section of the bumper. Remember this, when you see how many times, I took it to Laurinburg, and kept getting told "parts on order" – it was finally repaired on January 19th.

Other than a change in delivery, trip was uneventful, and I again enjoyed the long drive.

____________________________
Load #2

Deadhead: delhi, IA Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Consignee: Etobicoke, ON Thursday, November 09, 2006
Commodity: glass

When this load was put on me in Delhi, I only had 17 hours left on my 70, and I needed to be home by November 15th, as Ollie’s Gal was now scheduled for major surgery. Shirley assured me that she would get me into Canada, and out to take 34-reset, and then route me home before 15th. She told me it would be a favor to her if I would take this load into Canada. She had been great at working with me during OG's need for medical care, so I was happy to oblige.

By the time delivery was made in Etobicoke, I had less than one hour left on my 70, and planned to find the nearest truck stop to take 34. After having already sent in my hours, I was still questioned twice about them, and twice I detailed all of the last 7 days. Even after submitting my total hours for the second time, I was given, not just one backhaul, but 2 backhauls to pickup. Both backhauls were supposed to have been picked up on the 7th and delivered to Waterloo, Wisconsin (over 1,000 miles) on the 9th. It was already the 9th, and I could not pick up from either Shipper on Saturday or Sunday, making it impossible to take 34-hour reset before proceeding to Shipper. I had no choice but to continue to both Shippers Thursday afternoon, then take 34-hour reset. By the time I was finished with both pick-ups, I was 10 hours over my 70.

I realize I should have stopped right then, but OG’s medical condition was questionable, and I preferred to be in the States, where she could reach me easily by cell phone, so decided that since I was already over my 70, I would get across the border (30 miles away), so OG could reach me if necessary. Unfortunately, I was detained at the border almost 3 hours, because the shipper had transposed 2 numbers on the paperwork. Probably because of the mix-up, I was also required to be x-rayed. By the time I crossed the border and reached a safe and legal, I was 14 hours over the 70.

After leaving both Shippers I had sent an ETA of 11/11 17:00, and heard nothing back from Shirley. But after 5:00, I received a macro from Extended Shift wanting to know why delivery would be almost 2 days late.

Even after explaining the reason for late delivery to Extended, I was not left alone on my 34. Continue with reading next week.

Reset Hours: 34

Reset in Monroe, MI, with 84.75 HOS – 14.75 over the 70.

Week 12 - The Indian Givers

2006-11-04T18:28:00.000-05:00

Week Ending 11/4/06

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 3074
* Loaded: 2469
* Empty: 605

Gross Pay: $1,198.86
* Mileage Pay: $1,198.86
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 71.25
* Driving: 59.75
* On-Duty: 11.5

$/Hour $16.83

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 71.25

Actual $/Hour: $16.83

Deadhead: Church Hill, TN Friday, October 27, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Saturday, October 28, 2006
Consignee: LA, CA Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Commodity: glass

When we attempted to reconcile the 10/27 direct deposit (pay period ending 10/21), we found that $142 had been deducted from my check for the 2 pay periods ending 10/7 and 10/14. This was based on a new pay election that was sent to all drivers. We could elect to take an increase in cpm, but would take a reduction in accessorial pay. The new pay election was structured on experience tiers. The cpm would increase from $0.30 cpm, to $0.35 cpm for “Students”, $0.39 for “Trainees”, and $0.40 for experienced Drivers. The announcement stated that the election of the new pay structure was FINAL, and would not be reversed.

The program Ollie’s Gal wrote kept very accurate records of how much the actual cpm was, based on accessorial pay, and I had been averaging $0.37 cpm. She was able to run a comparison of old against new pay election. Under the new pay election I would average $0.34, as a Student, and $0.38 as a Trainee. There had been some confusion when I was hired by Schneider about my experience, but to my knowledge, this had been resolved and I was classified as Experienced with full benefits when the Maverick purchase was complete. Since the new election defined the Students, Trainees and Drivers by time worked, OG sent an email to Shirley asking for clarification of how I was classified. Shirley responded that I was considered a "Driver", so I elected the new plan. Then, with no warning, $0.05 cpm was deducted from my paycheck for the prior two weeks, because according to Derric (Fleet Manager), I had been with the company less than 6 months, so was still considered a Student.

We talked with both Shirley and Derric, and pointed out that I made the election based on wrong information from Shirley. We requested that I be returned to the old pay structure, but of course the election was FINAL. We finally got Derric to look into the initial confusion, and he found that I was hired as a Trainee, and agreed to have the money re-instated at the $0.39 rate. Although this was done on the next check for periods ending 10/7 and 10/14, the difference for the 10/21 period end has never been returned. After 3 attempts we gave up. It was no longer worth our time to try and collect $56, so we just moved on.

The trip to LA was pleasant, and I enjoyed the opportunity to have several days of driving, rather than the multiple stops generally experienced throughout the day. I arrived in LA early, and took 34-reset in CA.

Reset Hours: 34
Reset in Frazier Park, CA, with 65.75 HOS.

Week 11 - The Unnecessary Drop

2006-10-28T18:23:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 10/28/06

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 1166
* Loaded: 495
* Empty: 671

Gross Pay: $474.74
* Mileage Pay: $454.74
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 28.5
* Driving: 24
* On-Duty: 4.5

$/Hour $16.66

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 5
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg: 5
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 33.5

Actual $/Hour: $14.17

Deadhead: Geneva, NY Saturday, October 21, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Monday, October 23, 2006
Consignee: Columbus, OH Monday, October 23, 2006
Drop Trailer: Church Hill, TN Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Commodity: glass

Only 1 load delivered this week. Ollie’s Gal was scheduled for another minor surgical procedure on Thursday. I had requested the time on 10/19, but after the Deadhead from Geneva, that took 1-1/2 days, I waited in LRBG for 5 hours for a load that would get me back home before my 70 ran out. Load to Columbus would do just that.

But after delivering to Columbus, I was instructed to drop trailer in Church Hill, TN. I advised DM that this would be an additional 160 miles and would put me over the 70 by the time I reached home, but I was told they were desperate for trailers in Church Hill, and to make drop. Since it was impossible to take a 34 hour reset and still make it home in time to take OG to hospital Thursday, I continued home after dropping trailer and was 3.25 hours over my 70 by the time I reached home.

On Friday, I was instructed to return to Church Hill and pick up the same empty trailer for deadhead to LRBG.

Arrive Home: Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Leave Home: Friday, October 27, 2006
Hours Home: 65.00
Days Home: 2.71

Week 10 - The Long Relay

2006-10-21T13:17:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 10/21/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1342
* Loaded: 677
* Empty: 665

Gross Pay: $543.38
* Mileage Pay: $523.38
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 39
* Driving: 30
* On-Duty: 9

$/Hour $13.93

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 3.75
* @ Customer: 3.75
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 42.75

Actual $/Hour: $12.71
____________________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Church Hill, TN Saturday, October 14, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Consignee: Columbus, OH Thursday, October 19, 2006
Commodity: glass

Other than long wait in Church Hill, previously mentioned, this was an uneventful trip.

____________________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Columbus, OH Friday, October 20, 2006
Shipper: Bridgeport, WV Friday, October 20, 2006
Relay: Geneva, NY Friday, October 20, 2006
Commodity: glass

This trip went well, but I question the Relay point. The other driver was coming from Bridgeport, CT. If we had relayed in Scranton, PA, it would have shortened my round-trip miles by 114, and not made any difference in his route.

Week 9 - The Split

2006-10-14T13:13:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 10/14/06

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 2955
* Loaded: 1973
* Empty: 982

Gross Pay: $1,172.45
* Mileage Pay: $1,152.45
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 78.25
* Driving: 63
* On-Duty: 15.25

$/Hour $14.98

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 7.75
* @ Customer: 2
* In Laurinburg: 5.75
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 86

Actual $/Hour: $13.63
____________________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Greenville, SC Friday, October 06, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Friday, October 06, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Sunday, October 08, 2006
Commodity: Glass

Uneventful trip and short wait in LRBG
____________________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Monday, October 09, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, October 09, 110
Consignee: South Easton, MA Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Commodity: glass

Uneventful trip. I arrived at consignee the night before, but had to wait over an hour the next morning for them to unload, while they finished an in-house meeting.

____________________________________
Load 3:

Deadhead: South Easton, MA Thursday, October 12, 2006
Shipper: Cinnaminson, NJ Thursday, October 12, 2006
Consignee: Church Hill, TN Friday, October 13, 2006
Commodity: glass

There are several problems with this load, that all started with incorrect mileage. To explain how I know this - Ollie’s Gal has purchased routes from Intelliroute (RandMcNally on-line). When she has time to catch up payroll, she checks the miles against those paid, and against the STAA routes (typically 7 - 10% more). The actual empty miles for this trip should have been 280 - not 155, so I arrived at the Shipper late, and sent macro with ETA at consignee 1 hour later than schedule.

When I arrived at the consignee, an hour late, they had not heard anything about a late arrival. Since no one had called to reschedule appointment, I was left to wait until they had an opening. Several hours went by, and I finally called Extended Shift to see if they could do anything to help speed up the process. I explained that I would have to do a split sleeper berth if I was to make it home that night – 1-1/2 hours away. I was told in no uncertain terms that Maverick did not allow splits, and I would have to take my 10 at the consignee's yard, even though I explained I had done many, many, many split sleeper berths just to make on-time deliveries.

I did take a 10 hour sleeper at the consignee, but have not done a split sleeper since. A couple of weeks later a macro was sent reminding drivers that split sleeper berths could be used to help extend the 14-hour day. I question why the split sleeper is OK to make an on-time delivery, but not OK to make it home.

I arrived home Saturday morning with 67 hours logged. Ollie’s Gal was having a minor surgical procedure on Tuesday, so didn’t leave again until Wednesday.

Arrive Home: Saturday, October 14, 2006, 6:00 AM
Leave Home: Wednesday, October 18, 2006, 11:30 AM
Hours Home: 101.50
Days Home: 4.23

Week 8 - The Coil

2006-10-07T13:04:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 10/7/06

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 2956
* Loaded: 1965
* Empty: 991

Gross Pay: $1,172.84
* Mileage Pay: $1,152.84
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 76.5
* Driving: 60.5
* On-Duty: 16

$/Hour $15.33

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 15.25
* @ Customer: 4
* In Laurinburg: 7.25
* Waiting Assignment: 4

All Hours: 91.75

Actual $/Hour: $12.78
_________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Westville, NJ Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, September 28, 2006
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Monday, October 02, 2006
Commodity: Glass

Other than long wait in Laurinburg (previously mentioned), this trip went smoothly.

_________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Commodity: glass

3 Hour wait for unload.
_________________________
Load 3:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Shipper: Butler, IN Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Consignee: Greenville, SC Thursday, October 05, 2006
Commodity: Coil

The weight of the coil was 36,200. I was taught that anything over 36,000 pounds should not be loaded on a converter unless it spans the 2 hinges (10’ apart). Doing so will cause damage to the aluminum deck supports. When I received the pre-plan, I sent macro that I thought coil may be too heavy for converter, but was told not to worry. Below is a photo of that load. Note how the strap in the foreground is bowed by the weight of the coil:

Here is the damage this load can cause to the converters. This is one of several photos showing this same damage.

Here is what the repairs look like. Note it is starting to crack again:

Had unusually long wait in Indianapolis, and a wait as long in Butler, that caused delivery to be 7 hours late. ETA was changed, but new expressway altered directions, leaving me on a back road that left me no choice but to backup over hills and around tight curves for a half mile, with a double-drop converter. I finally found a local who guided me into the plant, and I made delivery 1 hour late.

From Greenville, I was sent to LRBG to pick-up load for weekend through home. There was only a 3.75 hour wait in LRBG. Shirley does a great job of scheduling home-time. Arrived home at Midnight Friday with 68.25 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Friday, October 06, 2006, 1:15 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, October 06, 2006, 4:00 PM
Hours LRBG: 3.75

Arrive Home: Friday, October 06, 2006, Midnight
Leave Home: Sunday, October 08, 2006, 4:00 PM
Hours Home: 40.00
Days Home: 1.67

Week 7 - The Midwest Problem ? ?

2006-09-30T12:57:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 9/30/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1659
* Loaded: 1442
* Empty: 217

Gross Pay: $607.70
* Mileage Pay: $497.70
* Accessorial: $110.00

Hours Logged: 42.75
* Driving: 36
* On-Duty: 6.75

$/Hour $14.22

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 42.75

Actual $/Hour: $14.22
___________________________
Load 1:

Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, September 21, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Sunday, September 24, 2006
Commodity: Glass

Uneventful trip - again short wait in LRBG
___________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Monday, September 25, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Monday, September 25, 2006
Consignee: Westville, NJ Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Commodity: Glass

From Westville, instructed to DH to LRBG. This was the first long wait I had in LRBG since moving to Shirley’s board. She couldn’t find any loads to the Midwest, but kept the macros coming so I knew what was happening. I arrived home after midnight on Friday with 52.75 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Wednesday, September 27, 2006, 9:00 PM
Leave LRBG: Thursday, September 28, 2006, 2:15 PM
Hours LRBG: 17.25

Arrive Home: Friday, September 28, 2006, 12:15 AM
Leave Home: Sunday, October 01, 2006, 9:00 AM
Hours Home: 56.75
Days Home: 2.36

Week 6 - The Best So Far

2006-09-23T12:51:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 9/23/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1824
* Loaded: 878
* Empty: 946

Gross Pay: $657.20
* Mileage Pay: $547.20
* Accessorial: $110.00

Hours Logged: 52.25
* Driving: 39.75
* On-Duty: 12.5

$/Hour $12.58

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 5.5
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg: 3.5
* Waiting Assignment: 2

All Hours: 57.75

Actual $/Hour: $11.38
____________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Goldsboro, NC Friday, September 15, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Friday, September 15, 2006
Consignee: Louisville, KY Monday, September 18, 2006
Commodity: Glass
Trip went very smoothly.
____________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Louisville, KY Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Consignee: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, September 21, 2006
Commodity: Glass
Again a very smooth trip.

This was the best week to-date. Even though the miles were not as high as other weeks, it was nice to have a week with no problems. And, again, Shirley was able to arrange a short wait in Laurinburg, and get me home at a decent time on Friday.

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, September 21, 2006, 7:30 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, September 22, 2006, 5:30 AM
Hours LRBG: 10 (only sleeper time)

Arrive Home: Friday, September 22, 2006, 3:30 PM
Leave Home: Sunday, September 24, 2006, 12:00 PM
Hours Home: 45.50
Days Home: 1.90

Week 5 - The 2nd DM

2006-09-16T12:43:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 9/16/06

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 2423
* Loaded: 1860
* Empty: 563

Gross Pay: $831.90
* Mileage Pay: $726.90
* Accessorial: $105.00

Hours Logged: 63.5
* Driving: 47.75
* On-Duty: 15.75

$/Hour $13.10

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 10.75
* @ Customer: 1
* In Laurinburg: 6.25 (over and above 10 hours in sleeper)
* Waiting Assignment: 3.5

All Hours: 74.25

Actual $/Hour: $11.20
______________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Sumter, SC Thursday, September 07, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, September 07, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Monday, September 11, 2006
Commodity: glass

This load was uneventful, other than 18 hour wait in LRBG.
______________________________
Loads 2-4:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Multi-stop Indianapolis, IN: Pickup trailer for relay to St. Louis
Consignee: Relay - St. Louis, MO Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Shipper: Granite City, IL
Commodity: Glass

This was first assignment with new DM, Shirley. There were 3 load changes this day, as Shirley was trying to arrange a relay for a Driver who needed to get home for a family emergency. I immediately liked that about her, and was willing to do whatever it took to help her out. Final change put me in St. Louis, where I relayed and picked up an empty trailer. I was to take the empty trailer to Granite City for load.

______________________________
Load 5:

Deadhead: Granite City, IL Tuesday, September 12, 2006
MultiLoad: DeWitt, IA Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Shipper: Sterling, IL Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Consignee: Goldsboro, NC Friday, September 15, 2006
Commodity: Radiator

I arrived in Granite City to find this was a “NO LOAD”. Extended instructed me to go to Sterling, IL for load to Goldsboro, NC. On way to Sterling, I was told I needed a different trailer for the load, so was told to go to DeWitt, IA and swap trailers. I had to backtrack 50 miles to accomplish this. There had already been several changes through the day that left me low on fuel, with no Loves or Pilots close. A request for fuel and routing had been sent at 13:42 that was never answered.

At 10:00 PM, I called Extended to request assistance. At first they refused fuel, and instructed me to go 50 miles out of my way, with a load that was already running on a tight delivery schedule. I finally purchased 20 gallons with my own money at a Flying J. Extended sent first a PO to approve, and finally a ComData check. Both came after I had already paid for the fuel. A note here is that when I purchased fuel at an approved Pilot the next day, it was 10 cents a gallon more than what I had purchased the night before at the Flying J.

It wasn't until I received my next paycheck that I found out the repercussions of the ComData check. It was deducted from my paycheck, as an advance - on money I never received. Shirley was very helpful in getting straightened out.

Months later I received a call from the Safety Department about my logs. One of the problems was this evening, when fuel receipts showed a time stamp, but my log showed I was in Sleeper Berth. This was not accurate, as the fuel stamp was derived from the time Extended issued the PO, which was after I had already fueled and gone to sleeper berth.

From Goldsboro, I was assigned a load to pick-up in Laurinburg. I arrived late Friday afternoon, and waited only 5 hours for load. With no hours left on 14, I waited until Saturday to drive home. Arrived home Saturday at 12:30 with 63.5 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Friday, September 15, 2006, 5:00 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, September 15, 2006, 10:00 PM
Hours LRBG: 5

Arrive Home: Saturday, September 16, 2006, 12:30 PM
Leave Home: Monday, September 18, 2006, 1:30 PM
Hours Home: 50.00
Days Home: 2.08

Week 4 - The Extended Experience

2006-09-09T12:38:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 9/9/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2096
* Loaded: 1179
* Empty: 917

Gross Pay: $718.80
* Mileage Pay: $628.80
* Accessorial: $90.00

Hours Logged: 62.75
* Driving: 48.75
* On-Duty: 14

$/Hour $11.45

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 1.75
* @ Customer: 1.75
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 64.5

Actual $/Hour: $11.14
___________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Etobicoke, ON Friday, September 01, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Monday, September 04, 2006
Consignee: Butler, PA Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Commodity: Glass

After picking up load in LRBG, I had an airline break during a rainstorm in the Virginia Mountains. I sent macro to Extended Shift at 10:30 pm. I did not hear back until 7:45 the next morning. By that time, I had taken care of myself, by disconnecting trailer, leaving on shoulder and driving tractor 30 miles to truck stop, buying airline, driving back and repairing myself. During this time, I was warned by a highway patrolman that the trailer could only be left at shoulder for an hour before they would have it towed. Since the closest truck stop was 30 miles away, I was able to convince him to give me more time to make repairs.
___________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Butler, PA Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Shipper: Lorain, OH Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Consignee: Sumter, SC Thursday, September 07, 2006
Commodity: Steel Bars

When I received the work assignment for this load, I sent a macro back that there would not be enough time to make on-time delivery without an earlier pickup at shipper. I never heard back, but when I sent ETA on leaving shipper Extended Shift wanted to know why I couldn't make scheduled delivery. I had to refer them back to the macro I had sent earlier advising that there were not enough hours allotted between load and scheduled delivery.

From Sumter I received instructions to DH to LRBG, where I waited 18 hours for a work assignment. I arrived home at midnight with 60.25 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, September 07, 2006, 9:45 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, September 08, 2006, 4:00 PM
Hours LRBG: 18.25

Arrive Home: Friday, September 08, 2006, Midnight
Leave Home: Monday, September 11, 2006, 10:30 AM
Hours Home: 59.50
Days Home: 2.48

Week 3 - The Lie

2006-09-02T17:30:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 9/2/06

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 2146
* Loaded: 1403
* Empty: 743

Gross Pay: $788.80
* Mileage Pay: $643.80
* Accessorial: $145.00

Hours Logged: 70.5
* Driving: 53
* On-Duty: 17.5

$/Hour $11.47

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 8.5
* @ Customer: 0.75
* In Laurinburg: 2.5 (over 10-hour sleeper)
* Waiting Assignment: 5.25

All Hours: 79

Actual $/Hour: $10.24
_____________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Ravencliff, WV Thursday, August 24, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, August 24, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Commodity: Glass

No problems other than previously mentioned wait in LRBG.
_____________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Consignee: Antwerp, OH Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Commodity: Glass
This was a short trip and went smoothly.
_____________________________
Load 3:

Deadhead: Antwerp, OH Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Thursday, August 31, 2006
Consignee: Etobicoke, ON Friday, September 01, 2006
Commodity: Glass

I received the Work Assignment for this load at 21:16, with a scheduled time at shipper, (230 miles away) of 18:30 the same day. Pay miles for this load were 772, but actual (using a mapping program) were 844. I was only given 17 hours to load, drive 844 miles and deal with Canada border crossing. In addition, I had to stop at the Gary yard for repairs to coolant system. Even though the border crossing went relatively smoothly, I was still 3 hours late for delivery.

When delivery was complete, I waited 5 hours in Etobicoke before finally receiving work assignment. It was right at 5:00 EST, and I was instructed to DH to Laurinburg. I advised Dave that I only had 15.5 hours left on 70, and LRBG was a 17 hour drive. He told me to get out of Canada and take 34-reset.

This was Labor Day weekend. Home was a 15 hour drive, so I requested to DH home to take 34. Extended (Drew) told me that he had checked with Dave who would not approve. Ollie’s Gal checked into the possibility of meeting me in Wytheville - a 3 hour drive for her, and roughly 12 hours from Etobicoke, but that weekend the area was hosting an annual event, the worlds largest flea market, and hotels had been booked up for close to a year. She made calls to Little Rock, and was finally routed to Tom in Green Bay, who looked at all of the macros and information and granted permission for me to be go home for the weekend.

Later, when I confronted Dave about his refusal to allow me to go home, he denied that he had given Extended those instructions. Either Extended Shift lied, or Dave did. Either way, I now felt the need to keep documentation. That is when Ollie’s Gal added a field for Notes to the program that allows me to track macros, as well.

This incident prompted me to send an email to Steve (VP Logistics), requesting removal from Dave’s board. He forwarded to Dave C., Director of Operations for the Specialized Division, and I was removed from Dave’s board a week later.

I had 69 hours logged when I arrived home for reset.

Arrive Home: Saturday, September 02, 2006
Leave Home: Monday, September 04, 2006
Hours Home: 35.75
Days Home: 1.49

Week 2 - The Fuel Shortage

2006-08-26T17:19:00.000-04:00

Week Ending: 8/26/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1642
* Loaded: 1104
* Empty: 538

Gross Pay: $602.60
* Mileage Pay: $492.60
* Accessorial: $110.00

Hours Logged: 51.5
* Driving: 41
* On-Duty: 10.5

$/Hour $12.09

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 28
* @ Customer: 19.5
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment: 8.5

All Hours: 79.5

Actual $/Hour: $7.83
_________________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: London, ON Saturday, August 19, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Sunday, August 20, 2006
Consignee: Etobicoke, ON Monday, August 21, 2006
Commodity: Glass

The weight on this load was 45,082 and limited the amount of fuel I could run with and still pass scales. This created a very real problem getting out of Canada. (See next load.)

This load was completed at noon, and I waited until 4:00 before receiving a work assignment from Dave. When I asked about detention pay, I was told it was not paid for waiting for work assignments, but only at CERTAIN customers that agreed to it in their contracts.
_________________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Etobicoke, ON Monday, August 21, 2006
Shipper: Tillsonburg, ON Monday, August 21, 2006
Consignee: Ravencliff, WV Thursday, August 24, 2006
Commodity: Steel Pipe

After receiving work assignment, I drove directly to Tillsonburg, since I needed to be there by 7:30 the next morning. After arriving, I did trip plan, and called Extended Shift to advise that because of prior (heavy) load, I came into Canada with just enough fuel to get me into and out of Canada. With additional 200 miles and heavy load, I would need fuel to get out of Canada. Extended said I needed to talk with Dave the next morning.

Dave told me that if I went through Buffalo, I would have enough fuel to make it out. Since I would have to backtrack 40 miles to London to scale, I convinced him that Monroe, MI was actually closer, but I still didn't think it would be close enough. I knew from experience not to count on the last 50 gallons in a Freightliner.

The scale was 40 miles away, and showed 900# heavy on tandems. Dave told me to move the 5th wheel. I told him that wouldn't solve the problem - that moving 5th wheel affects weight on steering, not the tandems. He disagreed, so I tried anyway. It made the tandem scale worse. So, I returned to Tillsonburg to have the load shifted 2 feet forward. Scaling and returning is now an additional 80 miles, so I called Extended again and told them I would need fuel. They again referred me to Dave.

Again advised Dave that with a heavy load and now another 80 miles for rescaling, I would definitely need fuel. He stated reserves should be sufficient. AGAIN, I disagreed. He wanted an ETA, I told him it would depend on when I ran out of fuel. I ran out of fuel a half hour later at 8:30 AM. The tow truck driver brought fuel, but we couldn't get truck started. It had to be towed to the closest truck stop. It was 1:30 before I was fueled and running again.

The load was already a day late and the size of trailer further complicated delivery. The road, 20 miles back in the West Virginia mountains required an escort. The Escort said he didn't believe they had ever taken a trailer like this one up that road before. The wrong load was put on the wrong trailer. Fortunately I have had experience driving heavy construction equipment in mountainous conditions. On leaving, due to double-drop clearance, I could not make it through the exit, and had to go back through the entrance. Even that was so tight it required a fork lift to move the back end of the trailer over to get out.

At this point I was 5 hours from home, with 6 hours remaining on my 70, and only 4 hours remaining on my 14 for the day. I had been on the road for 9 days with no tools, and only what I could stick into an overnight bag. But I was given a work assignment to DH to LRBG, and be there the next morning at 8:00. I explained that LRBG was 6 to 7 hours from Ravencliff, and would put me over my 70, as well as the 14. Dave told me not to worry, because I would "pick up another 8 at midnight".

I made it into LRBG that night, only to find myself waiting until almost 11:30 AM before I received the first load assignment. The first 2 assignments had schedule deliveries so tight, it would be almost impossible for me to complete 34-hour reset, and both of them would not be ready for several hours, leaving me an even longer wait. Finally on the 3rd try I received a load that had already been loaded, and allowed me 2 days at home. Why wasn't I given that load earlier?

Logged hours by the time I took reset were 80.5.

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, August 24, 2006, 11:30 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, August 25, 2006, 2:00 PM
Hours LRBG: 14.5

Arrive Home: Friday, August 25, 2006, 9:00 PM
Leave Home: Monday, August 28, 2006, 1:30 PM
Hours Home: 64.50
Days Home: 2.69

Week 1 – The Omen

2006-08-19T10:36:00.000-04:00

Week Ending 8/19/06

Loads Delivered: 1

Total Miles: 525
* Loaded: 440
* Empty: 85

Gross Pay: $212.50
* Mileage Pay: $157.50
* Accessorial: $55.00

Hours Logged: 13
* Driving: 10
* On-Duty: 3
* $/Hour $16.35

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0
* @ Customer: 0
* In Laurinburg: 0
* Waiting Assignment: 0

All Hours: 13

Actual $/Hour: $16.35
________________________________
Load Details:

Deadhead: Gary, IN Thursday, August 17, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Thursday, August 17, 2006
Consignee: London, ON Friday, August 18, 2006
Commodity: Glass

My first week with Maverick actually began on August 12th (Saturday), when I made it home sometime after midnight, and parked truck and trailer at a Loves 10 miles from home, where Ollie’s Gal picked me up. Sunday morning I received a call that there had been a hit and run involving my truck.

The load was due in Jeffersonville, IN Monday morning, but I felt the damage to the truck would make it unsafe to continue delivery, since I would be taking it over Jelico Mountain on the TN/KY border with a front end damage. I offered to email photos to Extended Ops, but they weren’t interested in them. They did, however, insist I complete the delivery. When I refused, I was told to drive it to the Pilot station (5 miles away) to make it roadworthy. The mechanic said because of the damage to the front end and steering mechanisms, it couldn't be made roadworthy in time. Extended advised me to leave truck there and contact my DM, Dave, Monday morning.

Monday morning Dave had me leave the trailer at the Pilot for a Relay and drive the truck to the Schneider drop lot in Knoxville 25 miles away. Several weeks later I saw the truck at the Laurinburg yard, where it had been brought with a wrecker. The mechanic was making repairs in the yard, rather than the shop, because the tie rod was in such bad condition, he refused to drive it from said yard to shop (100 yards). But I was forced to drive it 30 miles (5 under a heavy load) by pressure from Extended Ops and Dave. They did not trust my opinion of the condition:

Broken Tie Rod:

I called Dave several times over the next couple of days to remind him the load was still at the Pilot and that I needed a truck. But he did not have any answers for me until Wednesday when he called early afternoon, instructing me to be at the Knoxville bus station by 6:00 pm to catch a bus to the Gary. IN yard, where I would pick up another truck. I questioned if it would not be better to rent a car, so I could load the tools and stuff I was required to carry. He told me not to worry about that because I would be routed immediately home to restock the new truck. In Week 2 you will see that it turned into 9 days, 2 trips to Canada and 10.5 hours over my 70, before I was finally routed home. When I got to the bus station there were no tickets waiting for me. Fortunately I arrived before 5:00 and was able to call Dave about the tickets before he left for the day. He told me hadn't gotten to them.

When I arrived in Gary, I picked up the truck at the Schneider yard. There were no keys, so I had to do creative locksmithing to obtain entry. There was no securement equipment, and Schneider wouldn't even give me water for the radiator. I drove it to the Maverick yard, where I met Steve, the VP of Logistics. After several phone calls, unanswered faxes from Dave, and six hours, Steve was finally able to arrange for me to go back to the Schneider yard to get the securements. By now I had been awake almost 48 hours (have you ever tried to sleep on a bus), and Dave accused me of wasting too much time in the lounge.

Rather than route me home, as promised, he assigned me this load to Ottawa and into Canada. This was my first trip to Canada and the only Canada trip I had no problems.