You are the minority Iceman...In all my years as TL driver we are treated like pond scum by Shuttle drivers and LTL mgt...as if we are the Bas***d step child...
Averitt | Teams
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You are the minority Iceman...In all my years as TL driver we are treated like pond scum by Shuttle drivers and LTL mgt...as if we are the Bas***d step child...
No need for that kind of treatment. We are all on the same team, trying to make a living. I know alot of Shuttle guys look down on TL because they pull alot of LTL. That is not the driver's fault, they, like us, are just following dispatch orders. Sadly 80% of TL drivers won't wave back at me, but that's ok, I keep waving.
I will do the same. Many a time, while fueling up or such, a TL driver will be in the fuel island along with me and will ask if I know where this or that is and I will gladly tell them. I don't look down on TL; I look badly at the "don't give a crap management" that is screwing these guys on pay and miles. Highly underpaid (as are we all). But we keep coming back for more.
TL division is at AE for a reason....to haul TL. Have zero problem with that. Glad they have that division but I wish they had more TL freight to haul to keep them busy instead of screwing them and shuttle by sending an LTL load down the road that is due service with a a TL driver that has 3 less hours than the run will take...hence service failures. Plus, if they are pulling LTL, they should be paid the same amount that the shuttle drivers are being paid. Same for the poor employees that are ripped off, known as combo drivers. What a shame. Corp. should hang their heads in shame over this but they don't give a sh*t.
You are in the MINORITY.. ICE! I go out of my way to help anyone that needs it, including to correct ANY misconceptions that others have about T/L and it's drivers. With winter coming on,I want to again state that if I see any AVRT truck,especially a "RACER" on the side of the road broke down I will stop if I can safely and check up on them. I will not have a driver FREEZE to death on the side of the road!
Where were you yesterday? Long story that I will not go in to but suffice it to say that thanks to the ingenious engineering of freightliners, I almost did.
Alot of the LTL I pull are ONE WAY only...for instance this week I did a "HOT" CLT-BHM, with instructions that if I can not make the delvr time to contact dispatch IMMEADEATLY!..Soooo....I hot foot it to BHM,got to the dock office only to be told"DROP IT ON THE YARD". There are all kinds of special deals T/L is doing for LTL, including dedicated out and back shuttle runs. I ran one for a while 2730 paid every week for 9 months. I would do the ORL-TIF-ORL everyday IN A HEARTBEAT!!! 518 miles a nite X 5=2590...yes I would do it in my sleeper for .425 in a HEARTBEAT! Don't think for a minute that CKV isn't looking at things like that! LANDSTAR was doing out and back LTL'S. Hence the fueding between Shuttle and T/L drivers, its just coming down to everyone looking out for thier own deal and the uncertian future!
LTL division is in the process of the company-wide bid procees that will go in to effect on Nov. 21. I noticed that many runs on our bid sheet are already assigned to TL. To be honest, I am surprised that we held onto the runs we have because AE is going to do as much as they can on the cheap. That is fine but it screws their company drivers over.
I see changes coming... some I may not like:
I'm already working 6 days to make what I used to make in 5
I'm pulling very heavy loads on a constant basis...CAT SCALES are $9.50,I'm talking at least $27 a week of my personal money. Only to drop the load somewhere ,then another driver gets it and the MILES!
I wonder when HOME every week is a thing of the past
running team with another driver...NOT!
T/L trucks are now in the 138xx how long before 139xx or even 14xxx
No new tandem Racers only single axle City tractors should'nt be hard to figuire that out
16xx-18xx slpr shuttle trucks is 19xx coming soon? more shuttle Teams?
BTW...been talking to UPS Package drivers CB CH12, from now on the ONLY trailers UPS is buying are 53's, spoke with one at a truck stop in NC, he was wondering about axle settings...gave him some advise
I'm already working 6 days to make what I used to make in 5
I'm pulling very heavy loads on a constant basis...CAT SCALES are $9.50,I'm talking at least $27 a week of my personal money. Only to drop the load somewhere ,then another driver gets it and the MILES!
I wonder when HOME every week is a thing of the past
running team with another driver...NOT!
T/L trucks are now in the 138xx how long before 139xx or even 14xxx
No new tandem Racers only single axle City tractors should'nt be hard to figuire that out
16xx-18xx slpr shuttle trucks is 19xx coming soon? more shuttle Teams?
BTW...been talking to UPS Package drivers CB CH12, from now on the ONLY trailers UPS is buying are 53's, spoke with one at a truck stop in NC, he was wondering about axle settings...gave him some advise
Corperate is going to do what they have to do to insure SURVIAL of the company. Since we are AT WILL employee's we either accept it or move on, we all knew what the deal was when we signed on. I would love another pay raise soon, but to be honest I'll never see one again.
The SOP for this company when I signed on is 180 degrees out of phase of the company that is today. You make many valid points for sure. However, running an LTL operation in 1/4th of the country with sleeper teams is beyond ludicrous. As bad as I hated pups, running an LTL operation without them is a poor business decision. How many of the real freight companies do you see doing this?
Almost every LTL outfit is running 48's & 53's on certian routes.....I know of Avrt teams running NOR/FUL to MIA all the time DAL-CHI,DAL-CLT almost every point in between. I have a real good friend that runs team with his wife, for CONWAY T/L, They rack up the miles...they stay out 3 weeks and take a week off. Conway T/L pulls less than 3% of Conway LTL, outside carriers do that ( Go Figuire). The T/L side is hated and dispised worse than we ever were. Between you and me..I think Avrt is putting it's self into position to acquire another carrier to expand our coverage... of course what do I know...I'm just a T/L Mercenary!
Or putting themselves in a position to be bought out and that would be my first choice. This way we get rid of the dead wood that makes a futile attempt at running this company when we know that they should have ALL retired or moved on 10-15 years ago.
Apologies offered....Wasn't " slamming or hammering " you drivers about anything....In the nineties An AE driver ( last name Cook ) came to work at my company....I had him for a student and he turned into a good carhauler..He couldn't say enough GOOD things about Averitt....The only reason he left was because they abolished his " meet " run...( Houston -Jefferson Tx. )...Now I'm old and retired and read about low miles and pay...favoritism and other complaints about AE....My thoughts were "What happened to the Averitt that my friend said was such a great company "....Every thing I'm reading here is the same complaints I had with companies I drove for from 1957 'till 1965....Finally I went to a Teamster job where I had a say in how I was treated and paid,,,Sorry about ruffling feathers on here
We don't need an outsider to come in here and tell us how "bad" we have it and how someone thinks we can solve the "problems". I can scroll through all the forums on here and hear the same griping and complaining, from the union drivers who have lost pay and benefits to the massive carriers that make .10 more a mile than we do and they still fuss and complain like everyone else. The union tried to organize us at one time and that went over like a lead balloon.
That was a long time ago. I bet that lead balloon would be filled, instead, with helium if the opportunity presented itself again. AE has screwed up a lot of things and screwed over a lot of it's people. Majority of the rank and file don't give a rats behind about AE. Like me, they view it only as a paycheck.