Central Transport | What will it take?

I will be making a change soon.....Just not sure what I want to do....I'm thinking about buying my own truck and hauling freight for some of my existing customers at Vitran.....Just local stuff in the D-FW area.....I got a couple now wanting to give me a shot. Kids are grown and wife can carry insurance....So I really don't have a lot to lose.

change carefully,,,,,, i have had others talking to me, but this is fist one with great financials and what looks to be a future,,,,,promises are easy, backing them up is the issue.

be careful of how they pay you,,,, load, miles, hourly,,,, watch the bottom line
 
Thanks NW....My wife will be all up in my business as usual....We will be careful....Most the time when something is too good to be true...It's BS
 
What will it take to shake Vitrans employees out of apathy? Apathetic employees are not happy, nor are they disgruntled, they're just there. Some people are apathetic because its part of their personality. But most apathy is caused by something in the work environment. Policies and precedures that are inefficient or constantly changing is the main cause. Employees view it as if this company doesn't care enough to get their act together....Then why should I ??? A company is only as strong as its work force. And if employees don't care about what's going on it will be reflected in all areas, from customer service to customer retention. Apathy will prevent this company from being the best it can be. Chris Keylon has failed to make the necessary changes that must be made to address apathy among his employees. In my mind a good start that would help with apathy would be to turn a profit in the next quarter. His time is running out and so is ours. Like sand in the hour glass.
What it will take they don't have....And you can't give what you don't have. So where does that leave us? You tell me. And yes it's just me writing to myself.....Searching for answers to impossible questions.
 
Even the great NW has his breaking point....As do we all.

passed that last year, but like we talked about before, i needed a lateral move and that's what i got. our insurance didn't bother me, only been to dr once in about 6 or 7 years (grandmas concoction's work better
than flu pills from dr, and about 5% the cost)

i won't be just a driver, also put me in charge of dot compliance over the other 4 trucks and trailers. part of my interview surprised them, i was told to go outside and give the equipment a look over, they didnt expect me to go to my pickup and get overalls to crawl under equipment. so out of 5 trucks and trailers, 1 truck oos for broken steer axle leaf spring, 1 truck oos for a rusted air tank leaking more than 3 pounds per minute, 1 truck oos for no low air pressure alarm. 1 trailer oos for cracked drum, 1 trailer oos for brake cam bushing to sloppy, and 7 brakes needed to be adjusted which would only be warnings. boss said i had him right there, 3 other drivers interviewed did not even kick tires.equipment looks nice, just drivers spent to much time washing and not enough time looking. the one i am going to drive passed fine except someone did not put this year's insurance card in permit book
 
damn NW, you're good. you should've been one of those D.O.T. inspectors at the scale house and nailed every vitran truck that strolled through. lol.
 
passed that last year, but like we talked about before, i needed a lateral move and that's what i got. our insurance didn't bother me, only been to dr once in about 6 or 7 years (grandmas concoction's work better
than flu pills from dr, and about 5% the cost)

i won't be just a driver, also put me in charge of dot compliance over the other 4 trucks and trailers. part of my interview surprised them, i was told to go outside and give the equipment a look over, they didnt expect me to go to my pickup and get overalls to crawl under equipment. so out of 5 trucks and trailers, 1 truck oos for broken steer axle leaf spring, 1 truck oos for a rusted air tank leaking more than 3 pounds per minute, 1 truck oos for no low air pressure alarm. 1 trailer oos for cracked drum, 1 trailer oos for brake cam bushing to sloppy, and 7 brakes needed to be adjusted which would only be warnings. boss said i had him right there, 3 other drivers interviewed did not even kick tires.equipment looks nice, just drivers spent to much time washing and not enough time looking. the one i am going to drive passed fine except someone did not put this year's insurance card in permit book
Ever thought of being a diesel mechanic.....Good pay and you don't have to put up with the idiots on the road. One of the big reasons this company won't survive is because they can't see that drivers like you they can't afford to lose. They just don't care and they will pay the price in the end.
 
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Vitran's mechanics are almost as bad the TMs, It takes forever to get a PO to get certain things fixed, which is not the mechanic's fault, it is the higher-ups at road service who approve them. I am still waiting for a new window crank on the driver's side. It has been ONE MONTH!!! This is Bull$hit!!
 
Vitran's mechanics are almost as bad the TMs, It takes forever to get a PO to get certain things fixed, which is not the mechanic's fault, it is the higher-ups at road service who approve them. I am still waiting for a new window crank on the driver's side. It has been ONE MONTH!!! This is Bull$hit!!
I wasn't suggesting he work here as a mechanic....Maybe a company like OD or Southeastern, maybe at Stewart and Stevenson or Cummins...Caterpillar....Peterbilt....Kenworth....International....Companies like those pay good money and have great benefits.
 
Vitran's mechanics are almost as bad the TMs, It takes forever to get a PO to get certain things fixed, which is not the mechanic's fault, it is the higher-ups at road service who approve them. I am still waiting for a new window crank on the driver's side. It has been ONE MONTH!!! This is Bull$hit!!
Just take one off a truck in the boneyard. That's what we do.
 
Vitran's mechanics are almost as bad the TMs, It takes forever to get a PO to get certain things fixed, which is not the mechanic's fault, it is the higher-ups at road service who approve them. I am still waiting for a new window crank on the driver's side. It has been ONE MONTH!!! This is Bull$hit!!

i hope it is not missing. all windows must work as the factory supplied them!
 
Just take one off a truck in the boneyard. That's what we do.

or take them off another running truck or a passenger side off a running truck. at the terminal i work at trucks have had wiper blades, fuel caps, radio knobs, ect...taken off running trucks. unbelieveable.
 
Vitran's mechanics are almost as bad the TMs, It takes forever to get a PO to get certain things fixed, which is not the mechanic's fault, it is the higher-ups at road service who approve them. I am still waiting for a new window crank on the driver's side. It has been ONE MONTH!!! This is Bull$hit!!

I've been fighting with a mechanic for two years to fix a starting problem, basically keep getting told I'm just a stupid truck driver that doesn't know his head from his backside, and should leave the wrenching to those who know what they are doing.
 
I've been fighting with a mechanic for two years to fix a starting problem, basically keep getting told I'm just a stupid truck driver that doesn't know his head from his backside, and should leave the wrenching to those who know what they are doing.


good way to fix a starter is to hold the key over while you rev the engine,,,,,,, when you hear the bang call breakdown and tell them the bendix must have stuck engaged and you were afraid of shutting it off because then it would not re start so you could deliver precious freight
 
Vitran's mechanics are almost as bad the TMs, It takes forever to get a PO to get certain things fixed, which is not the mechanic's fault, it is the higher-ups at road service who approve them. I am still waiting for a new window crank on the driver's side. It has been ONE MONTH!!! This is Bull$hit!!
get use to it all the same new mgrs losing more than old ones. as long as keep making changes at the bottom.. mgs dont trust them they will all through you under the bus. just cya......
 
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