XPO | No A/c

[ccxnobody]

yeah you sure did all of us are not losers and or lazy alot of us put alot of work in those piles of junk so you can get paid! you were right the fords were better though

I am sorry...i only base my opinions on what i have experienced first hand...and for 9 years, i have seen crap come out of the shops i have to use namely XNW...and you must know, shops and their workers have absolutely nothing to do with my pay...if they fired everyone one of you...we would receive service from local vendors and i would still get paid right?

Have a nice day, oh and keep "your" dream alive...:smilie_132:

 

[conwaygreasemonkey]

I am sorry...i only base my opinions on what i have experienced first hand...and for 9 years, i have seen crap come out of the shops i have to use namely XNW...and you must know, shops and their workers have absolutely nothing to do with my pay...if they fired everyone one of you...we would receive service from local vendors and i would still get paid right?

Have a nice day, oh and keep "your" dream alive...:smilie_132:

sure you would get them fixed but at a slower rate more downtime etc etc. oh and at a lot higher prive tag. vendors make anywhere from 60 to 90+ bucks an hour for labor compare that to what we make here's a hint its no more than drivers make an hour. ANd i agree there are shops out there that are sub par but coming from our big boss my shop puts out quite a bit of work for as small as we are.

 

[ccxnobody]

sure you would get them fixed but at a slower rate more downtime etc etc. oh and at a lot higher prive tag. vendors make anywhere from 60 to 90+ bucks an hour for labor compare that to what we make here's a hint its no more than drivers make an hour. ANd i agree there are shops out there that are sub par but coming from our big boss my shop puts out quite a bit of work for as small as we are.

Save your pleas for your resume...price tags dont concern me, thursday payday does, if the truck i use breaks, and all the mechanics had been fired...i would bump someone else out of their truck and not think anything more about yet...and i would still make my 23.05 an hour doing it...

 

[conwaygreasemonkey]

Save your pleas for your resume...price tags dont concern me, thursday payday does, if the truck i use breaks, and all the mechanics had been fired...i would bump someone else out of their truck and not think anything more about yet...and i would still make my 23.05 an hour doing it...

Wow your a hell of a company man! But whatever all i can say is its guys like you that have made conway the way it is. to many guys only worry about themselves and payday

 

[ccxnobody]

Wow your a hell of a company man! But whatever all i can say is its guys like you that have made conway the way it is. to many guys only worry about themselves and payday

No i am not a company man...i will never be a company man for conway...and, i have no shame in admitting either...

it was not guys like me, as you point out, who made conway what it is today...it is guys like me who endured the corporate greed started by Dave Mc :last a few years ago who made conway what it is today, oh and converted many a "company man" to where i am today...it is guys like Dave M, Bruce M and so on who had a vision of change, a vision of introducing conway and its employees to corporate america...the only down fall was...they didnt plan nor were the prepared to deal with the fallout of what true corporate america brings with it...that is why and where we are today, and those are the people who brought us to it..not people like me who do nothing but move freight (as i has hired to do)...like i tell those people who are hired to supervise me...when i stop moving freight, let me know, until then stuff your attitude, personal relations, company loyalty, etc..that isnt what i was hired to do...that is another problem within this grand organization..everyone wants to fix/pass blame, etc the company...and apparently it isnt just the DSR's, CSR's and greeters doing this...i can now see it passes on into the maintenance dept as well...

 

[imported_Mechanic1]

When you consider that the shops have an average of about 1 mechanic to 25 tractors, and some close to 1 mechanic to 50 tractors, we do what we can do. Sure there are bad mechanics (about the same percentage of bad drivers), but ther are also some excellant mechanics in the company. Some people are closed minded on this and I personally don't care.

We've deal with about 6 sets with major accidents at our shops. I'm sure that a few were driver error, but I would NEVER say anything like "If our loser drivers would stop wrecking trucks we'd have more time to fix the A/C." We do have some excellant drivers, we also have some worthless ones that cost the company more than they make it.

As far as A/C goes, we do fix it between PM's. Last time I looked, there were only abour 4 trouble tickets entered for A/C problems, which is very low for the number of units we service, and our shop manager does call them in the be looked at. Is your terminal entering trouble tickets so we know? WE don't get your 8300's, TT's are our only clue most fo the time. At the very least we can identify the problem at order the parts it needs to we have them the next time it comes in for PM rather than daignosing it on the PM and making you wait another 3 months until next PM. And yes, we do fix A/C between PM's if we have the parts and have the time. With all the accidents, normal PM's and Sterling issues, driver complaints, time is tight, so it may not get done right away, but in our shop it's rarely held off to next PM unless the PM is very soon.

Bottom line is that a mechnic is doing a unit down job lets say a clutch), you come in with no A/C, do we stop fixing a unit that can't run to fix A/C? WE don't have any extra units at most locations to hold a unit for A/C, we don't have the manpower and the truck can be used until we have time. I'd love to have 4 more guys and jump on every problem, we just can't. We do what we can do. I'm open to any suggestions on what we're doing wrong and how to fix it.

I can tell you how we can have a little more time. Please tell all the DSR's that we have a driver repair list, light bulbs, light cords, wiperblades, if you want to get down to the nitty gritty mud flaps, mirrors & fuel filters are on that list too. We didn't make the list, but they are all DSR jobs that all too often are done in shops because the DSR cannot do it and don't want to try to do it. We're the jerks if we say it's a DSR job.

Some drivers do a very good job fixing the little things that they can, others don't want to do anyting on that list and it is your job, not ours. Like I said, we didn't make the rule, but catch hell for helping you do your job if we get caught.

I was just fix A/C last week and a DSR came in saying he needed new wiper blades. I said they are in the drivers shed, he went off about how lazy mechanics are, we don't do anything and stormed off, also did not put the wiper blades on his truck (I guess the next DSR will have to do that).

Now that was a jerk that does not know what his job is. I wasn't about to stop working on a truck that I could finish before the DSR leaves to do a DSR's job for him. I would also not call all DSR's losers because he is a jerk. For every jerk we have a few that have no problem snapping a couple of wiper blades on their truck and going on their way.

 

[conwaygreasemonkey]

When you consider that the shops have an average of about 1 mechanic to 25 tractors, and some close to 1 mechanic to 50 tractors, we do what we can do. Sure there are bad mechanics (about the same percentage of bad drivers), but ther are also some excellant mechanics in the company. Some people are closed minded on this and I personally don't care.

We've deal with about 6 sets with major accidents at our shops. I'm sure that a few were driver error, but I would NEVER say anything like "If our loser drivers would stop wrecking trucks we'd have more time to fix the A/C." We do have some excellant drivers, we also have some worthless ones that cost the company more than they make it.

As far as A/C goes, we do fix it between PM's. Last time I looked, there were only abour 4 trouble tickets entered for A/C problems, which is very low for the number of units we service, and our shop manager does call them in the be looked at. Is your terminal entering trouble tickets so we know? WE don't get your 8300's, TT's are our only clue most fo the time. At the very least we can identify the problem at order the parts it needs to we have them the next time it comes in for PM rather than daignosing it on the PM and making you wait another 3 months until next PM. And yes, we do fix A/C between PM's if we have the parts and have the time. With all the accidents, normal PM's and Sterling issues, driver complaints, time is tight, so it may not get done right away, but in our shop it's rarely held off to next PM unless the PM is very soon.

Bottom line is that a mechnic is doing a unit down job lets say a clutch), you come in with no A/C, do we stop fixing a unit that can't run to fix A/C? WE don't have any extra units at most locations to hold a unit for A/C, we don't have the manpower and the truck can be used until we have time. I'd love to have 4 more guys and jump on every problem, we just can't. We do what we can do. I'm open to any suggestions on what we're doing wrong and how to fix it.

I can tell you how we can have a little more time. Please tell all the DSR's that we have a driver repair list, light bulbs, light cords, wiperblades, if you want to get down to the nitty gritty mud flaps, mirrors & fuel filters are on that list too. We didn't make the list, but they are all DSR jobs that all too often are done in shops because the DSR cannot do it and don't want to try to do it. We're the jerks if we say it's a DSR job.

Some drivers do a very good job fixing the little things that they can, others don't want to do anyting on that list and it is your job, not ours. Like I said, we didn't make the rule, but catch hell for helping you do your job if we get caught.

I was just fix A/C last week and a DSR came in saying he needed new wiper blades. I said they are in the drivers shed, he went off about how lazy mechanics are, we don't do anything and stormed off, also did not put the wiper blades on his truck (I guess the next DSR will have to do that).

Now that was a jerk that does not know what his job is. I wasn't about to stop working on a truck that I could finish before the DSR leaves to do a DSR's job for him. I would also not call all DSR's losers because he is a jerk. For every jerk we have a few that have no problem snapping a couple of wiper blades on their truck and going on their way.

well i ahve to say i agree completely! very well put

 

[TiredDvrsWife]

A drivers list? I'm at a loss on this one and will have to ask my husband about it. Last I heard the drivers here were told that if they so much as touched a screwdriver to a screw on the truck it was an automatic firing for the driver. And nothing, i.e. CB's, radios, etc. are to be bolted into the truck.

The DVD on the new 2008's coming out said something about a place for the driver to keep his tools. Was confusing when the official word to not touch any of the trucks hasn't been changed around here.

I can tell you how we can have a little more time. Please tell all the DSR's that we have a driver repair list, light bulbs, light cords, wiperblades, if you want to get down to the nitty gritty mud flaps, mirrors & fuel filters are on that list too. We didn't make the list, but they are all DSR jobs that all too often are done in shops because the DSR cannot do it and don't want to try to do it. We're the jerks if we say it's a DSR job.

Some drivers do a very good job fixing the little things that they can, others don't want to do anyting on that list and it is your job, not ours. Like I said, we didn't make the rule, but catch hell for helping you do your job if we get caught.

I was just fix A/C last week and a DSR came in saying he needed new wiper blades. I said they are in the drivers shed, he went off about how lazy mechanics are, we don't do anything and stormed off, also did not put the wiper blades on his truck (I guess the next DSR will have to do that).

Now that was a jerk that does not know what his job is. I wasn't about to stop working on a truck that I could finish before the DSR leaves to do a DSR's job for him. I would also not call all DSR's losers because he is a jerk. For every jerk we have a few that have no problem snapping a couple of wiper blades on their truck and going on their way.

 

[ccxnobody]

When you consider that the shops have an average of about 1 mechanic to 25 tractors, and some close to 1 mechanic to 50 tractors, we do what we can do. Sure there are bad mechanics (about the same percentage of bad drivers), but ther are also some excellant mechanics in the company. Some people are closed minded on this and I personally don't care.

We've deal with about 6 sets with major accidents at our shops. I'm sure that a few were driver error, but I would NEVER say anything like "If our loser drivers would stop wrecking trucks we'd have more time to fix the A/C." We do have some excellant drivers, we also have some worthless ones that cost the company more than they make it.

As far as A/C goes, we do fix it between PM's. Last time I looked, there were only abour 4 trouble tickets entered for A/C problems, which is very low for the number of units we service, and our shop manager does call them in the be looked at. Is your terminal entering trouble tickets so we know? WE don't get your 8300's, TT's are our only clue most fo the time. At the very least we can identify the problem at order the parts it needs to we have them the next time it comes in for PM rather than daignosing it on the PM and making you wait another 3 months until next PM. And yes, we do fix A/C between PM's if we have the parts and have the time. With all the accidents, normal PM's and Sterling issues, driver complaints, time is tight, so it may not get done right away, but in our shop it's rarely held off to next PM unless the PM is very soon.

Bottom line is that a mechnic is doing a unit down job lets say a clutch), you come in with no A/C, do we stop fixing a unit that can't run to fix A/C? WE don't have any extra units at most locations to hold a unit for A/C, we don't have the manpower and the truck can be used until we have time. I'd love to have 4 more guys and jump on every problem, we just can't. We do what we can do. I'm open to any suggestions on what we're doing wrong and how to fix it.

I can tell you how we can have a little more time. Please tell all the DSR's that we have a driver repair list, light bulbs, light cords, wiperblades, if you want to get down to the nitty gritty mud flaps, mirrors & fuel filters are on that list too. We didn't make the list, but they are all DSR jobs that all too often are done in shops because the DSR cannot do it and don't want to try to do it. We're the jerks if we say it's a DSR job.

Some drivers do a very good job fixing the little things that they can, others don't want to do anyting on that list and it is your job, not ours. Like I said, we didn't make the rule, but catch hell for helping you do your job if we get caught.

I was just fix A/C last week and a DSR came in saying he needed new wiper blades. I said they are in the drivers shed, he went off about how lazy mechanics are, we don't do anything and stormed off, also did not put the wiper blades on his truck (I guess the next DSR will have to do that).

Now that was a jerk that does not know what his job is. I wasn't about to stop working on a truck that I could finish before the DSR leaves to do a DSR's job for him. I would also not call all DSR's losers because he is a jerk. For every jerk we have a few that have no problem snapping a couple of wiper blades on their truck and going on their way.

Hold on while i grab a tissue...ok, done...most of your statement is good...a few points which are not good...you can never compare the numbers of bad dsr's as you call them, to the number of bad mechanics...one bad mechanic is probably representative to about 50-100 dsr's...so your one bad guy stands out pretty good...the FAC where you work probably hosts around 50-60 dsr's a night to your what, 3-4 shop people??? Well, the math doesnt add up...as for your driver to do list...we are not mechanics...we were not hired to be mechanics...a headlight, wiper blades, yes...when has conway ever taught us how to repair mud flaps, or the trailer lights??? when has conway ever provided us drivers with the tools needed to do this with? when did we ever learn about the electrical wiring when the trailer lights are torn off??? we never did, why? cause conway has mechanics to fix that stuff...that is why they hire you...we as drivers do have simple responsibilities when it comes to DOT safety, etc...conway has a responsibility to supply, train and equip us to do these functions...they do not...so therefore most of us will not do it...your manning or lack of manning issues are not our problems...they are maintenance problems...as is our manning problems are not your problem...we stay at an FAC until the FAC is finished...we stay out on the road until the last shipment is either picked up or delivered...we do not come back any earlier then the job is finished...maybe your department should start working on resolving your own problems with manning instead of trying to farm out the maintenance issues to the drivers...as one thing is for certain...we didnt make the driver to do list either, and i would venture to say we had absolutely no input into what goes on that list as well...where as it is easy to vision a maintenance director crying to a VP for Ops about how his staff are over worked and not enough manning and hey, these little things like mud flaps, wiring, air lines can all be done by the drivers...in a perfect world that could be done...but unfortunately we do not live in that perfect world now do we...you have a nice day...

 

[ccxnobody]

well i ahve to say i agree completely! very well put

Of course you agree with him...your one of his peers....

 

[conwaygreasemonkey]

Of course you agree with him...your one of his peers....

well yeah we greasemonkeys have to stick together

 

[conwaygreasemonkey]

Hold on while i grab a tissue...ok, done...most of your statement is good...a few points which are not good...you can never compare the numbers of bad dsr's as you call them, to the number of bad mechanics...one bad mechanic is probably representative to about 50-100 dsr's...so your one bad guy stands out pretty good...the FAC where you work probably hosts around 50-60 dsr's a night to your what, 3-4 shop people??? Well, the math doesnt add up...as for your driver to do list...we are not mechanics...we were not hired to be mechanics...a headlight, wiper blades, yes...when has conway ever taught us how to repair mud flaps, or the trailer lights??? when has conway ever provided us drivers with the tools needed to do this with? when did we ever learn about the electrical wiring when the trailer lights are torn off??? we never did, why? cause conway has mechanics to fix that stuff...that is why they hire you...we as drivers do have simple responsibilities when it comes to DOT safety, etc...conway has a responsibility to supply, train and equip us to do these functions...they do not...so therefore most of us will not do it...your manning or lack of manning issues are not our problems...they are maintenance problems...as is our manning problems are not your problem...we stay at an FAC until the FAC is finished...we stay out on the road until the last shipment is either picked up or delivered...we do not come back any earlier then the job is finished...maybe your department should start working on resolving your own problems with manning instead of trying to farm out the maintenance issues to the drivers...as one thing is for certain...we didnt make the driver to do list either, and i would venture to say we had absolutely no input into what goes on that list as well...where as it is easy to vision a maintenance director crying to a VP for Ops about how his staff are over worked and not enough manning and hey, these little things like mud flaps, wiring, air lines can all be done by the drivers...in a perfect world that could be done...but unfortunately we do not live in that perfect world now do we...you have a nice day...

ok on our reship 40 to 50 or more drivers 2 mechanics at any given time here so he's pretty close with his numbers and add in our equipment that we service during reship. k im off my soapbox now all i can say is why argue about this stupid crap and lets all do our jobs and get paid

 

[ccxnobody]

well yeah we greasemonkeys have to stick together

I would never insult your chosen profession by calling you a greasemonkey...and i hope that , however you interpret what i type, you do not think i am saying you are useless or a "typical" mechanic in the way i view them, as that is not my intentions at all.

 

[imported_Mechanic1]

as for your driver to do list...we are not mechanics...we were not hired to be mechanics...a headlight, wiper blades, yes...when has conway ever taught us how to repair mud flaps, or the trailer lights??? when has conway ever provided us drivers with the tools needed to do this with? when did we ever learn about the electrical wiring when the trailer lights are torn off??? we never did, why? cause conway has mechanics to fix that stuff...that is why they hire you...we as drivers do have simple responsibilities when it comes to DOT safety, etc...conway has a responsibility to supply, train and equip us to do these functions...they do not...so therefore most of us will not do it....

On the same note, your lack of training issue is not our problem, address this with who trained wrong. I don't agree with everything on that list, but the list is there and it's company policy, we catch grief for doing repairs on that list. When they tell me that we need to do something new, if I don't know, I take it apon myself to find out how, not push it off on someone else. That to do list has been here for many many years. It's parts of a DSR's job, cut and dry.

Next time you have a problem that is on that list and you really don't know how to do it, ask the mechanic how. I know in our shop we have never failed to help a driver that didn't know how to do it.

As far as the #'s go, I'd bet a pay check that the percentage of below average drivers is greater than the percentage of below average mechanics. We have 7 guys on nights and there is only 1 that I can say that probably wont last much longer, they other 6 are hard workers and good mechanics. We average a 1.5% comback rate. That's based on returns within 30 days of PM for anything other than a fuel filter, including vendor repairs. Last time I checked, the industry average was 17%, so the grass doesn't look any greener on the other side.

On the drivers side, our FAC has 80-90 drivers a night. I can name 12 that are way below average, in the shop all the time for simple things that is their job to do. Beat teh crap out of the forklifts for no reason. These are drivers that we can do without. I can also think of 7 that are way above average and there are probably moe that just do their job and never come in the shop that we don't see. We also get several driver throughs a night for problems that were obviously there when that trailer came in, but the driver just dropped it ans stuck the next guy with the problem when he's leaving, so there are more abd DSR's that we don't see to. I guess it wouldn't make much sense to red tag a trailer so it wont get reloaded and have the driver wait while we fix it, that'd make too much sence. I'd say that about 20% of the DSR's suck, about 20% are better than average, and the remainders are average.

If you disagree with the #'s as far as equipmet to mechanic ratio's, ask a shop manager to see the stats. We have 1 shop on the list at 53:1. That does not include trailers, only power units. Are shop is at 27:1 which seems to be about average. It's not you problem that we're short handed, it is ours and they will not let us hire more mechanics, so the problem remains. It is however your problem that you wont do your job because you weren't trained.

 

[ccxnobody]

On the same note, your lack of training issue is not our problem, address this with who trained wrong. I don't agree with everything on that list, but the list is there and it's company policy, we catch grief for doing repairs on that list. When they tell me that we need to do something new, if I don't know, I take it apon myself to find out how, not push it off on someone else. That to do list has been here for many many years. It's parts of a DSR's job, cut and dry.

Next time you have a problem that is on that list and you really don't know how to do it, ask the mechanic how. I know in our shop we have never failed to help a driver that didn't know how to do it.

As far as the #'s go, I'd bet a pay check that the percentage of below average drivers is greater than the percentage of below average mechanics. We have 7 guys on nights and there is only 1 that I can say that probably wont last much longer, they other 6 are hard workers and good mechanics. We average a 1.5% comback rate. That's based on returns within 30 days of PM for anything other than a fuel filter, including vendor repairs. Last time I checked, the industry average was 17%, so the grass doesn't look any greener on the other side.

On the drivers side, our FAC has 80-90 drivers a night. I can name 12 that are way below average, in the shop all the time for simple things that is their job to do. Beat teh crap out of the forklifts for no reason. These are drivers that we can do without. I can also think of 7 that are way above average and there are probably moe that just do their job and never come in the shop that we don't see. We also get several driver throughs a night for problems that were obviously there when that trailer came in, but the driver just dropped it ans stuck the next guy with the problem when he's leaving, so there are more abd DSR's that we don't see to. I guess it wouldn't make much sense to red tag a trailer so it wont get reloaded and have the driver wait while we fix it, that'd make too much sence. I'd say that about 20% of the DSR's suck, about 20% are better than average, and the remainders are average.

If you disagree with the #'s as far as equipmet to mechanic ratio's, ask a shop manager to see the stats. We have 1 shop on the list at 53:1. That does not include trailers, only power units. Are shop is at 27:1 which seems to be about average. It's not you problem that we're short handed, it is ours and they will not let us hire more mechanics, so the problem remains. It is however your problem that you wont do your job because you weren't trained.

Your numbers are probably correct, and i agree with those...

The training stuff you mentioned tends me to believe you are delusional at best. WHen i have a problem of not knowing what to do within the purviews of my hired position, i ask, when i have a problem outside of the purviews of my hired position i let the people who were hired for that position do their job...as we would not expect you to know how to properly load a hazardous drum, you should not expect us to know how to rewire a trailer light...we are far too often left with fixing our own equipment to far greater extents then what is within the purview of our title as DSR...we are to report what we observe for the proper people to repair...nothing more nothing less...now, when i read about a change in my job responsibilities, and receive the proper training to accomplish those new or additional tasks, i will do them...until then, it is tampering with company equipment which is a termination type offense...if i recall correctly, it is mandated as an automatic termination...if i were to improperly re-attach a mud flap onto my dollie, and the mud flap falls off enroute to a terminal, and the mud flap flies off, through a windshield, kills the person who was driving that car, causes another accident which more people or either killed or injured...who is liable for that? me? conway? both?? i would venture to say both...which would open myself up for litigation and i can only imagine the distance conway would take from me in that event...stating something like "he should not have tried to fix that"...

no, you fix the equipment...we operate the equipment...it is an even balance...and the overall picture, the job gets done...you are starting to venture into a realm of reality that i dont think you want to go into...some drivers are cruel people when it comes to their equipment and their feelings for the shops...

 

[TiredDvrsWife]

I've been reading this for days and I'm still confused... no surprise there, right??

Ok, so my driver tells me years ago that if a driver tries to do ANYTHING to the truck it's automatic firing. Now I'm hearing that it's ok to do something to the trucks/trailers as long it's on a list?

I know they were concerned with modifying equipment when they said no touching the trucks but a driver is a driver and a mechanic is a mechanic.

BTW, when my driver has his truck sent for PM he gets it back, drives it to his FAC for that night and let's THEM fix it right He has nothing but good to say about the FAC mechanics. I'm not going to quote him on the PM guys. I'd be banned for use of unbecoming language.

Added this thought: Maybe they should hire one guy, not a mechanic tho. to do the simple stuff like the changing of wipers, etc. Yeah. Right.

 

[imported_Mechanic1]

no, you fix the equipment...we operate the equipment...it is an even balance...and the overall picture, the job gets done...you are starting to venture into a realm of reality that i dont think you want to go into...some drivers are cruel people when it comes to their equipment and their feelings for the shops...

Until you can talk management into changing policy, then we don't do what on this list. Whether or not either of us agree with it, it's still policy. If you can talk management into stop giving us flack for doing things on the list, I'd be glad to hang those mudflaps for you. Right now, it's just not the case.

I've seen DSR's, SCM's and RM's all try to change that, but the list is still there. Now with Mike G as director of fleet, you can count on it being enforced a lot more.

Peronsally I don't care if a driver is cruel toward the equipment or me. I'm here to do a job and i do it, if some has a problem with that, is it THIER problem. Bottom line si that I will not get a stupid LOI for doing a job that I am told not to do. So if you came in our shop and said I need a tail light bulb put it, my answer is, they are in the drivers shed. If you have a problem with that, tell my boss or your SCM, see how far that gets you.

 

[imported_Mechanic1]

I've been

Ok, so my driver tells me years ago that if a driver tries to do ANYTHING to the truck it's automatic firing. Now I'm hearing that it's ok to do something to the trucks/trailers as long it's on a list?

I know they were concerned with modifying equipment when they said no touching the trucks but a driver is a driver and a mechanic is a mechanic.

Modifying equipment is the no no. If anyone told him that he'd be fired for doing anything to a truck, they lied. They have a clear list of driver repairs.

As far as PM's, we put PM report cards in the trucks and belive it or not, we get very few negative comments. I cannot speak for other shops, but me personally have only gotten 1 bad PM report card back in 7 years and that was for leaving a greasy handprint on the bumper. OK, my bad. Many of the other negative comments were about a front-end shimmy that we could not fix, it was a Sterling issue that took them 2 years to coem up with a fix that we are just starting to do now. I understand that a truck comes in with a shimmy problem and goes right back out with the same problem, we're the jerks that couldn't fix it.

Most driver don't care to know that we've been fighting with Sterling for a fix for many years on many problems. Right now there about 40 open issues with Sterling now. Font-end shimmy, dashes cracking & falling apart, A/C problems, premature clucth failures, seat side panels breaking, just to name a few.

A driver writes all these things up, the few fixes that they do let us do always ahve a parts shortage. Do we hold a truck becasue the seat side panel is cracked because they are back ordered for a week? No, we let it run and get complaints that the drivers concerns were not addressed. Sorry, I woudl ahve replaced it if we had it. Sterlings are not quaility trucks.

My best suggestion would be to be totally honest and calm when filling out a PM report card and send it to the director of maintenence like it says to do, they follow up on all report cards, good or bad. They don't put much faith is irrate letters though. Tell the facts and ask for a follow up. We need a solution. As drivers,tell us what can we do better so we can all get along? You'd be supprised if you actaully talked to the mechanics how many of them will glad to explain why or why not something was done or not done.

I know that we are really talked bad about when we take off an extra antenna, or when we took the ashtrays out, but we were to do so. They also hate when we move the radio box, but we have remove the passenger seat to get the engine cover off, it unavoidable to touch your radios sometimes.

We could go on forever about what problems we have, DSR vs. mechanics. But who's got the solution? Are there any questions that we can get some honest feed back about and maybe make something better?

 

[TiredDvrsWife]

I was saying that it was automatic firing for modifying equipment. It's hard to convey your meaning on these boards sometimes.

Hard for me to type exactly what my driver says because he starts in with *(&%*^& but he doesn't sit back he will actually say things straight to his bosses. And he has his Conway buddies to sound off to. If you want to know his opinion he'll let you know. Heck even if you don't want to know he'll tell you

As for the parts that are in, he understands that and I've never heard him fuss about that. Mostly it's when something is taken to the place where they do PM and the job isn't done but taken to his FAC and they fix it.

He comes from a family of mechanics and our son is one so we understand how it is when getting things fixed.

Modifying equipment is the no no. If anyone told him that he'd be fired for doing anything to a truck, they lied. They have a clear list of driver repairs.

As far as PM's, we put PM report cards in the trucks and belive it or not, we get very few negative comments. I cannot speak for other shops, but me personally have only gotten 1 bad PM report card back in 7 years and that was for leaving a greasy handprint on the bumper. OK, my bad. Many of the other negative comments were about a front-end shimmy that we could not fix, it was a Sterling issue that took them 2 years to coem up with a fix that we are just starting to do now. I understand that a truck comes in with a shimmy problem and goes right back out with the same problem, we're the jerks that couldn't fix it.

Most driver don't care to know that we've been fighting with Sterling for a fix for many years on many problems. Right now there about 40 open issues with Sterling now. Font-end shimmy, dashes cracking & falling apart, A/C problems, premature clucth failures, seat side panels breaking, just to name a few.

A driver writes all these things up, the few fixes that they do let us do always ahve a parts shortage. Do we hold a truck becasue the seat side panel is cracked because they are back ordered for a week? No, we let it run and get complaints that the drivers concerns were not addressed. Sorry, I woudl ahve replaced it if we had it. Sterlings are not quaility trucks.

My best suggestion would be to be totally honest and calm when filling out a PM report card and send it to the director of maintenence like it says to do, they follow up on all report cards, good or bad. They don't put much faith is irrate letters though. Tell the facts and ask for a follow up. We need a solution. As drivers,tell us what can we do better so we can all get along? You'd be supprised if you actaully talked to the mechanics how many of them will glad to explain why or why not something was done or not done.

I know that we are really talked bad about when we take off an extra antenna, or when we took the ashtrays out, but we were to do so. They also hate when we move the radio box, but we have remove the passenger seat to get the engine cover off, it unavoidable to touch your radios sometimes.

We could go on forever about what problems we have, DSR vs. mechanics. But who's got the solution? Are there any questions that we can get some honest feed back about and maybe make something better?

 

[ccxnobody]

Until you can talk management into changing policy, then we don't do what on this list. Whether or not either of us agree with it, it's still policy. If you can talk management into stop giving us flack for doing things on the list, I'd be glad to hang those mudflaps for you. Right now, it's just not the case.

I've seen DSR's, SCM's and RM's all try to change that, but the list is still there. Now with Mike G as director of fleet, you can count on it being enforced a lot more.

Peronsally I don't care if a driver is cruel toward the equipment or me. I'm here to do a job and i do it, if some has a problem with that, is it THIER problem. Bottom line si that I will not get a stupid LOI for doing a job that I am told not to do. So if you came in our shop and said I need a tail light bulb put it, my answer is, they are in the drivers shed. If you have a problem with that, tell my boss or your SCM, see how far that gets you.

I have better solution...i just drive the truck with the taillight out and if i get stopped for it (which i havent yet) i would looked surprised and say something original like "was working when i left"...and in a worse case scenario..i would back the trailer back to the dock and spend extra time (cha ching) swinging the load...

my theory in life with conway tucks is simple...i will fix what is needed for me to see and be comfortable, or if i cannot fix either...break something else so the shop has to fix it...it is simple...in the mean time...if one truck breaks...conway will give me another...have a wonderful time...