Averitt | People who live in glass houses.....

jeepman

Truckload Mercenary
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As you all know, I have been very critical of those who damage company equipment. This past Tuesday night at one of our customer's(Keefe Supply, Jacksonville ) I had my 1st AWSH!T moment, this was done spotting my mt trl, after pulling the loaded one out. I am having a VERY LARGE piece of HUMBLE pie.


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Been there done that...Got my new truck last summer and with in 6 months damaged the passenger side skirting trying to back into a tight spot late at night at one of our smaller yards. They just had to replace that panel and you can never tell it happened. But of course you have to write up an ACCIDENT report as if it's an accident and do the perp walk to safety...LOL
 
I took many pictures of the incident, including the retaining wall I scraped, I was'nt the 1st AVRT to hit the wall, lot's of red is present, along with many other colors. I had to pull my loaded trl out, then pull the AAA Cooper trl and respot that out of the way, then put my MT into the dock. It was dark and raining, I've been there many times, it's a royal pain in the shorts!
 
Looks like a scrape only, correct? Where I'm going is get to a body shop, ask for some paint, do a little sanding to smooth out the edges and dont worry about it. Why ruin your driving record with a company over $2 worth of paint? You know as well as I do there are others denting equipment, putting holes in trailers, running over stuff and leaving flat tires, hitting other property and damaging it and not saying a word. When you get out of that truck, or the next time you park at a service center, you may have a driver tear that front corner off that you just took a cpl of points for!
I'm not saying to hide it, or to be dishonest, but if you can take care of it and protect your family what's the harm in painting it yourself and going on? It will still look better than most of the equipment and while I cant see all of the damage, it appears that a little sanding/paint would just leave some swirls/slight scratches that wouldnt be too noticable. As I said it'll suck to repair and take points then start getting road dings etc in the same spot!
 
Looks like a scrape only, correct? Where I'm going is get to a body shop, ask for some paint, do a little sanding to smooth out the edges and dont worry about it. Why ruin your driving record with a company over $2 worth of paint? You know as well as I do there are others denting equipment, putting holes in trailers, running over stuff and leaving flat tires, hitting other property and damaging it and not saying a word. When you get out of that truck, or the next time you park at a service center, you may have a driver tear that front corner off that you just took a cpl of points for!
I'm not saying to hide it, or to be dishonest, but if you can take care of it and protect your family what's the harm in painting it yourself and going on? It will still look better than most of the equipment and while I cant see all of the damage, it appears that a little sanding/paint would just leave some swirls/slight scratches that wouldnt be too noticable. As I said it'll suck to repair and take points then start getting road dings etc in the same spot!
I already reported it, did the accident reports, my statement of facts with pictures is ready to go to risk management. I have a load Monday, picking up at Bridgestone JAX and delivering to Bridgestone LEB, then on to NASHVILLE to the body shop and they can do their thing. The driving light and bracket are busted and need to be replaced. I hate driving a truck or any vehicle that looks like CRAP, I figuire if I going to get points, I might as well get it fixed. Earlier in the day I delivered a load to WINN-DIXIE Orlando, they rejected one case of pickles(6 jars), I had to drive 18 miles back to the ORL serctr and turn in to OS&D, then head up to Jacksonville to pick up my next load, why lose my job over 6 jars of pickles! I already had MAX points, so getting them back will be no problem. If CKV has issues with me and the way I do my job, all it takes is a phone call or a msg and I'm on my way, I'm going to be 60 soon, so I have 5 years left at the MOST to work anyways!
 
I hate driving a truck or any vehicle that looks like CRAP,
You are describing the world of night time shuttle drivers. We have to drive crap all the time. I could expand on it but I think you know where I would go with it so suffice it to say, everything I get in has "pre-existing" damage to it.
 
You won't get any points knocked off I have max points and they didn't take points off me for my mishap...
 
You won't get any points knocked off I have max points and they didn't take points off me for my mishap...
Used to be you were allowed something up to $400 at least once before they started pulling points, think maybe that's why you didnt get points? Not sure if they still have that in practice or not.
 
I know there is a dollar amount but not sure how much it is...I can assure you my damage was more than jeepmans damage...
 
Got to NAS this week, got there 1st thing in the morning....Walked into the body shop, they looked at it, pulled me in, in 3 hrs all was good. Looks just like new, even got the engine fan issue resolved thereafter. I looked at the latest employee handbook, looks like $400 is the point when they start pulling points. I'm not worried one bit. On the Cascadia it looks like the front bumper comes in 3 pieces...right center left. Did not see any new 3 axle Racers....just sleeper and single axle tractors.
 
The sectional bumpers come in handy! When running team on our Honda acct a cpl of years ago my partner and I hit 5 deer in 6 months. Cheaper to replace a section than the whole bumper- or at least one would hope.
 
Did not see any new 3 axle Racers....just sleeper and single axle tractors.
This is because they demand that their senior drivers drive the junk a$$ freightliners that some boneheaded management type decided to buy back when. These pieces of mechanical crap have sat on yards all over the system night after night while the far superior Volvos were rolling up the miles because who the hell wants to drive an abortion like a Freightliner Columbia when there is a Volvo available. Oh, I know there are some sick individuals that will disagree but there are sickos in all walks of life.

Of course, city drivers, Teams, TL et.al. get the new iron while we have to travel down the road in this junky dirty nasty unkept crap to run up the miles.

Yes, I am actively looking for another job. I thought I could tolerate Averitt and all of their crap but I have had it. This is exactly what the suits want because they will GLADLY replace me with an underpaid combo driver that will drive this junk with a big old smile on their face. Not me. I will leave this ridiculousness to the fools that will run a rig down the road gladly for 5 cents less a mile. They can have the low pay and the tractor. I am done. Will notify you all once the ink has dried on this new endeavor. Screw Averitt and their sophomoric operational and management style.
 
I am done. Will notify you all once the ink has dried on this new endeavor.
Lifer, I am wishing you much much luck, I am totally for anyone bettering themselves. I am not one that will be jealous of you doing so, I will be proud you had the nards to take that step, something I'm not in a position to do for a long long time. I hope your plans work out for you.
 
It is not etched in stone yet but it is moving in that direction. After almost 37 years in the LTL business that I thought I would never leave, it is time to move to something else. I am planning on staying in the trucking business but running away from the LTL side of it (and no it is not going to be in TL).

I will advise once the deal is done.
 
Lifer I have always said this life is too short to spend a second being miserable in your career. It is not fair to our families for us to let our job bring us down and we bring it home. You are correct in saying we aren't the company we once was, but I'm thankful that we have explored different way of doing business, dedicated, supply chain, flatbed etc. So many companies failed during the last several years but we held on. I have a good 20 years left in me, but if I start to have a reason to not trust my local management and then corporate management I will not hesitate to seek another job. But that hasn't happened yet and as of Friday night I still did not dread starting my shift and finishing out a great week. Good luck my friend and I congratulate you on this decision and truly hope the best for you.
 
I hope everything works out for you, I'm going to hang in here. This December I'm going to be 60, so at the most I'll be work 5 more years. The wife and I were looking at pulling the plug at 62, and still might. If it did come to pass that I would HAVE to make a change, I would go back into Food Grade tankers.
 
Food Grade tankers only!...I worked for Carry Transit,BulkMatic,Rooney Tank lines, and Ottery Carriers. Petroleum or Chemical NO WAY!
 
Lifer, a man with your years service and experience in all operations of trucking will make you a valuable new hire, not to mention your safe driving record. Guys like you are rare, best of luck my friend .
 
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