Averitt | The trucks and trailers are looking worse every day

rnsgn

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Maybe it's just me, but it seems that the fleet is starting to look worse and worse. I may be mistaken but many years ago if there was a cosmetic problem with a truck they wanted that eyesore repaired immediately. Now I'm seeing trucks missing bumpers, different colored body parts, bungee cords holding side fairings if they aren't missing and or bent in, mirrors are taped up with black tape, sleeper windows leak and are duct taped closed, trailers with big patches, one of the 2 doors replaced with a white door, 1/2 the decal missing, a yellow loves truck stop mudflap and could go on and on. You go to the shop and they want you to park it for days and because they are undermanned trucks are parked 2 or 3 deep because they have more trucks to repair than spots to park them in, you can't get a steer tire because they want to align it, but they only have one guy who does alignments and he only works day shift, it will take days to get this part or that part, the trailer guy is covered up, or we can't work on a loaded trailer. You can go to get something repaired and they send you to go find the mechanic, you don't even know who john doe is but you have to find him to work on your truck, then you find out he goes on break in 10 mins and he will do it after break, all the while your clock is running, you have places to go, customers to take care of. Think I'm making this up? It happens on a daily basis. Meanwhile they have their own soap opera going on in the shop, they can't keep good mechanics, they are afraid to give you a part or tool to do it yourself, you may have been driving and working on a truck longer than the mechanic has been in the world but he has to do the job..... If many of our shops were privately owned maintenance facilities they'd be out of business. Not all of our shops are like this, it seems the smaller the shop the better the service, the larger the shop the more unorganized.
 
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Seeing several of them that they are selling or scrapping. Hate to see any air ride go as I hate these spring rides and will avoid them whenever I can.
 
It all starts with the person CURRENTLY managing our maintenance system.....and of course the BEAN COUNTERS! Of course the smaller shops are giving better service. The BIG push to replace all the AIR RIDES comes from the current maintenance director....says they are too expensive to maintain....of course if you don't maintain them in the 1st place....The people who make the decision, don't have to pull the darn spring rides, don't have to restack freight, or explain to the receiver why their freight is scattered all over the floor, or have a sore back from those suckers snapping. We have had some really good mechanics leave because of pay issues and work hrs...I know AVRT has 2 align rigs...one in Nas and they were hiding one in CKV....they really need one in DAL and FUL, I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel...... 30 Sept 2015 if not sooner!
 
Remember, they stated in the monthly Pravda that "Our customers are not really interested in their freight riding on spring ride". Remember that foolishness?
Seems reminiscent of when they came out and said that "After running the tests, we have found that 68 mph burns no more fuel than running 65 mph". Do they really think that they can spew out all of this BS left and right and that we are going to buy it?
I swear guys, we work for some highly inept people.
 
Remember, they stated in the monthly Pravda that "Our customers are not really interested in their freight riding on spring ride". Remember that foolishness?

I can remember being in truckload and moving glass and part of the requirement was that it had to be on an air ride trailer. That was when the fleet had the 8XXX's series trailers, below 8500 was spring ride and above was air ride. I'm betting that most customers just figure that companies have all air ride now
 
I can remember being in truckload and moving glass and part of the requirement was that it had to be on an air ride trailer. That was when the fleet had the 8XXX's series trailers, below 8500 was spring ride and above was air ride. I'm betting that most customers just figure that companies have all air ride now

Same way of thinking that made most all of the daycabs now are registered for 74k gross. If we hook to a load that puts us over gross and you call the rocket scientists in central dispatch you will get something akin to this (and they say it in all seriousness)..."Well they are rated for 80k so it will be ok." Imagine telling the scalemaster that. They think we are stupid. I will NOT pull a load that puts me over 74k...WILL NOT, irregardless of what they say. It's my CSA now and I don't intend for these ner-do-wells in our corporate office to try and BS me in to compromising that. Tell them to stick their overweight loads where the sun don't shine. And I think all of you really know by now that I don't give a damn about the CSA points but I'll protect them form AE stupidness.
 
No accountability...look at the new trailers...even they are getting banged up.....a lot of them are getting the AVERITT stripe down the side, where the P&D drivers with the axles all the way up are backing into narrow docks, and the ass end of the trl is scraping down the side of the one next to it. Caved in nose's top front corners banged in. Newer trucks that look like crap.
 
Lifer will all do respect, if you knew the CSA rules it clearly states that overweight tickets will NEVER go against the driver, only the company. I think it's a great money saving idea to tag the trucks for 74,000 lbs. I bet I haven't weighed 74k five times in my 26 year history. Some centers have 80k tags due to their history of heavy loads.
 
Lifer will all do respect, if you knew the CSA rules it clearly states that overweight tickets will NEVER go against the driver, only the company. I think it's a great money saving idea to tag the trucks for 74,000 lbs. I bet I haven't weighed 74k five times in my 26 year history. Some centers have 80k tags due to their history of heavy loads.

I have been involved rather recently and refused the load.
 
Lifer will all do respect, if you knew the CSA rules it clearly states that overweight tickets will NEVER go against the driver, only the company.

You get an overweight ticket it DOES count against your CSA plus if you get the second one in a month, the fine is doubled. Has happened twice to drivers out of my barn.

Rule of thumb, NEVER pull an over gross load no matter what or who tells you to.
 
Over 80,000lbs yes we can refuse, over 74,000lbs? Central would laugh us off the phone. Your guys should fight that in court,once again I will say with 100 % certainty that there are a few offenses that go only on the company and overweight is one of them. Here is proof :CSA and from Averitt's site : https://www.insideaveritt.com/CSA/
 
Over 80,000lbs yes we can refuse, over 74,000lbs? Central would laugh us off the phone. Your guys should fight that in court

I stand corrected on the CSA. You're right on that point. I read and reeducation was the result. Thanks for the info.

As for the over gross issue, if your tractor registration is 74k and you pull a load that is 74250, you're over gross, I don't care what Central tries to tell you. Try this on for size...you b pull into a coop and you weigh 74250. You also get a level 2 inspection. A sharp DOT cop sees the 74k on the registration. He tells you you're over gross (an out of service violation). You being the Andy Averitt, lead around by the nose ring, driver (not you personally) politely, with a smile, tell the friendly officer that yes, your registration says 74k but your tractor is rated for 80k and central dispatch says you can pull it. Officer prints out your over gross ticket, tells you to pull over in the back after you have signed the ticket, and then the happy little driver enjoys getting a money order to pay the fine. He then calls the terminal and informs them that he is out of service until someone comes out and removes 250# from that trailer.

You think for one second that Averitt is going to pay it? ROFLMAO
 
I can speak from personal experience I witnessed at a Tennessee Scale while working an event to train local mechanics and staff on what inspectors are looking for.TL driver crossed the scale he was grossing 82,000 and some change. He was NOT over on any axle. He received an overweight ticket plus an additional "tax assesment" for the extra 2,000lb's he was hauling. Basically saying Averitt is permitted to haul 80k not 82k and we had to pay the difference. He was not placed out of service and went on his weigh. His bills read 38k and was picked up at a customer's dock sealed. I reminded him he should have scaled this load and he agreed. I have driven away with an overweight ticket of 2,000lbs on drives in a single axle, ticketed but no shutdown. Inspectors have told me the only time they would shut me down would be if my axle weight was over the max weight printed on the tire, for example if my tires say 4500lbs max recommended then I could leave with 36,000 on my axle without being shutdown.
 
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