The Load One Team, Greasing the Wheels, and a Rock

xxiv24

Expert Expediter
Hello out there in Load One land! Many of you do not know me, in fact, only a select few do...I tend to keep fairly quiet and i rarely post on these forums, but i feel that something needs to be said concerning recent events that feed a darkening shadow over the light. (mmmm, an attention grabber)

As i sit here in my current location, i step from my vehicle and pick up a small stone. Rolling it about between thumb and forefinger i begint to ponder the events that brought me here.
A few years ago, I returned to this country from the military and began to carve out a life...got a truck...then another, and finally a house. I had a decent job as a shipping/recieving clerk and things were going well. Then i met a girl and wanted to integrate her into my life. It took me awhile to get that part of the job done as i am a slow shmooze, but i did get it done. Sadly, however, it turned out to be a bad idea...to make this part shorter, i ended up losing my trucks, my house, my job, and the girl. Wow...sometimes it doesn't pay to be helpful. In this case it cost me dearly. Welcome home, right? Anyway, now i am in a jam...so i look to expediting. I land a truck through an owner leased to Nations Express. I started in Nov of 08. My checks were bi-weekly and to say the least not very good at that time. In fact, my Jan income was $24.00 and change. I stayed on because i was told that it would get better and so I did. For the next 2 1/2 years i trundled on through bad month after bad month with a few gems towards the end. With that owner i came to know TP and my very good friend Bill S.
TP convinced me to come over to Load One after showing me some rather impressive figures in revenue and stories of the comraderie of the company in general. I was needless to say excited and looked forward to joing the team. I became a driver for the wolfeman in Oct. of last year. Unfortunately, things did not get off to a good start for me as i was plagued by a seemingly stubborn vehicle, so i could not stretch my wings to effectively show off my capabilities as a long haul driver. This culminated in a shattered krank shaft and the bitter end of my ride. But through efforts of Wolfeman, Shirley (the wolfette), Myself, and TP (thanks for the ride again), the van was repaired and this time i was put into position to be the owner. I am very greatful to all involved in this as not only is it my source of income, but now my home. (sniff sniff, sheds a tear...:) )
Now that you all know a little bit about me, i want to offer you my insight on this company. Throughout the few years that i drove about, I did converse with many drivers and got thier thoughts on different companies. As you all know some are worse than others and so on, but none that I know of are as efficient as this company. Everyone here is friendly, noone gives anyone a hard time...intentionally that is, and the overall enviroment is like a breath of fresh air. I love it here! I love the hats, the shirts, the jackets...the bs'ing at the door by the smoking station...all of it. That last part could have went into the pride thread, but i digress, it has a place here as well. That being said, when i feel that this enviroment has been threatened, which i do, i feel compelled to speak out.

Also in the few years that i have been driving, i have met a few lads/lasses that feel the best way to make money is get on the dispatchers good side. They would refer to this as greasing the wheels. Things like buying them gifts, food, race tickets and so on, all in the name of getting them better, or more loads. Often it is open and blatent, and sometimes cleverly disguised as gratitude. Being a somewhat worldly adventurer I have seen alot of schemes, trickery, and underhandedness, and like one would surmise, in the end nothing good ever comes of it. I am part of the silent few as i have already stated, but i do read the boards here as do alot of other silent types. The reason i say this is because there are grumblings and suggestions of the nasty word, favoritism. Favoritism can be directly attributed to greasing the wheels. Now i have heard that there is no such thing here and i have heard that there is. Lets face it folks, currently times are tough. Loads are not as frequent as we would like and sometimes not as lucritive, especially with climbing fuel prices. I did not think that i would ever sit in a spot unloaded here with load one like with nations but it has happened and i blame noone. This is a team. We all drive for the same company. The other drivers out there are no less capable than another wearing the same clothing and bearing the same logo. We are all Load One.

(I examine the rock in my hand more closely.)

This forum is here for us to post what we feel and to have intelligent conversations or even jest. But at the same time it can also inadvertantly breed contempt and dislike...like tooting your own horn. It is a fact that some others certainly do much much better than others. Posting such continuously while others are struggling puts such individuals in the spotlight. It breeds bad thoughts and perhaps makes other less fortunates fires burn a little less. this is a bad thing and even worse when someone in the spotlight complains of being treated unfairly. For those shiny happy people, i suggest you look around and see if everyone is as shiny before crying foul.

There are companies out there that have dispatchers totally shut off from drivers. Do we want that here? No. could it happen? Yes. Don't get me wrong, i have oft complained and threw fits of disgust, but i do it to select few...Steve likely thinks i need fittied for a diaper on occaision, poor TP may burst into tears, lol. But i will not thunder away at the very hand that feeds me. These people have a job to do and they do just that. I in turn do the job they assign me. I expect nothing more or less from them. This company is a well oiled machine and i would like to see it remain that way and not see it's gears slowed by those who wish to deceive, envagel, and obfuscate.

I have been passed over several times for loads. Some i am aware of some i am not...ok....bummer. Perhaps when i take that shorty and the next guy gets texas it was purposefully plotted against me...wow...conspiricies galore. You see?...nothing good.

(bouncing the rock in my hand to measure the weight)

Just wanted to vent a bit on the matter. Sorry if i bored some of you, but hey, there it is.
Lastly i just want to say from the bottom of my heart. Those of you that continually cast yourself in that big shiny spotlight...how about trying a hand mirror, a taperecorder, and a bottle of jergens lotion. :)
I love it here Mr. E. May the song always remain the same!

( I look closer at the rock....yep....it's just a rock. I toss it over my shoulder and get back in my van to await the next call...hopefully a load? Or maybe Joe wanting me to deadhead to DesMoines. LOL )

You all have a great day!!!
 

rfields200

Seasoned Expediter
Hello out there in Load One land! Many of you do not know me, in fact, only a select few do...I tend to keep fairly quiet and i rarely post on these forums, but i feel that something needs to be said concerning recent events that feed a darkening shadow over the light. (mmmm, an attention grabber)

As i sit here in my current location, i step from my vehicle and pick up a small stone. Rolling it about between thumb and forefinger i begint to ponder the events that brought me here.
A few years ago, I returned to this country from the military and began to carve out a life...got a truck...then another, and finally a house. I had a decent job as a shipping/recieving clerk and things were going well. Then i met a girl and wanted to integrate her into my life. It took me awhile to get that part of the job done as i am a slow shmooze, but i did get it done. Sadly, however, it turned out to be a bad idea...to make this part shorter, i ended up losing my trucks, my house, my job, and the girl. Wow...sometimes it doesn't pay to be helpful. In this case it cost me dearly. Welcome home, right? Anyway, now i am in a jam...so i look to expediting. I land a truck through an owner leased to Nations Express. I started in Nov of 08. My checks were bi-weekly and to say the least not very good at that time. In fact, my Jan income was $24.00 and change. I stayed on because i was told that it would get better and so I did. For the next 2 1/2 years i trundled on through bad month after bad month with a few gems towards the end. With that owner i came to know TP and my very good friend Bill S.
TP convinced me to come over to Load One after showing me some rather impressive figures in revenue and stories of the comraderie of the company in general. I was needless to say excited and looked forward to joing the team. I became a driver for the wolfeman in Oct. of last year. Unfortunately, things did not get off to a good start for me as i was plagued by a seemingly stubborn vehicle, so i could not stretch my wings to effectively show off my capabilities as a long haul driver. This culminated in a shattered krank shaft and the bitter end of my ride. But through efforts of Wolfeman, Shirley (the wolfette), Myself, and TP (thanks for the ride again), the van was repaired and this time i was put into position to be the owner. I am very greatful to all involved in this as not only is it my source of income, but now my home. (sniff sniff, sheds a tear...:) )
Now that you all know a little bit about me, i want to offer you my insight on this company. Throughout the few years that i drove about, I did converse with many drivers and got thier thoughts on different companies. As you all know some are worse than others and so on, but none that I know of are as efficient as this company. Everyone here is friendly, noone gives anyone a hard time...intentionally that is, and the overall enviroment is like a breath of fresh air. I love it here! I love the hats, the shirts, the jackets...the bs'ing at the door by the smoking station...all of it. That last part could have went into the pride thread, but i digress, it has a place here as well. That being said, when i feel that this enviroment has been threatened, which i do, i feel compelled to speak out.

Also in the few years that i have been driving, i have met a few lads/lasses that feel the best way to make money is get on the dispatchers good side. They would refer to this as greasing the wheels. Things like buying them gifts, food, race tickets and so on, all in the name of getting them better, or more loads. Often it is open and blatent, and sometimes cleverly disguised as gratitude. Being a somewhat worldly adventurer I have seen alot of schemes, trickery, and underhandedness, and like one would surmise, in the end nothing good ever comes of it. I am part of the silent few as i have already stated, but i do read the boards here as do alot of other silent types. The reason i say this is because there are grumblings and suggestions of the nasty word, favoritism. Favoritism can be directly attributed to greasing the wheels. Now i have heard that there is no such thing here and i have heard that there is. Lets face it folks, currently times are tough. Loads are not as frequent as we would like and sometimes not as lucritive, especially with climbing fuel prices. I did not think that i would ever sit in a spot unloaded here with load one like with nations but it has happened and i blame noone. This is a team. We all drive for the same company. The other drivers out there are no less capable than another wearing the same clothing and bearing the same logo. We are all Load One.

(I examine the rock in my hand more closely.)

This forum is here for us to post what we feel and to have intelligent conversations or even jest. But at the same time it can also inadvertantly breed contempt and dislike...like tooting your own horn. It is a fact that some others certainly do much much better than others. Posting such continuously while others are struggling puts such individuals in the spotlight. It breeds bad thoughts and perhaps makes other less fortunates fires burn a little less. this is a bad thing and even worse when someone in the spotlight complains of being treated unfairly. For those shiny happy people, i suggest you look around and see if everyone is as shiny before crying foul.

There are companies out there that have dispatchers totally shut off from drivers. Do we want that here? No. could it happen? Yes. Don't get me wrong, i have oft complained and threw fits of disgust, but i do it to select few...Steve likely thinks i need fittied for a diaper on occaision, poor TP may burst into tears, lol. But i will not thunder away at the very hand that feeds me. These people have a job to do and they do just that. I in turn do the job they assign me. I expect nothing more or less from them. This company is a well oiled machine and i would like to see it remain that way and not see it's gears slowed by those who wish to deceive, envagel, and obfuscate.

I have been passed over several times for loads. Some i am aware of some i am not...ok....bummer. Perhaps when i take that shorty and the next guy gets texas it was purposefully plotted against me...wow...conspiricies galore. You see?...nothing good.

(bouncing the rock in my hand to measure the weight)

Just wanted to vent a bit on the matter. Sorry if i bored some of you, but hey, there it is.
Lastly i just want to say from the bottom of my heart. Those of you that continually cast yourself in that big shiny spotlight...how about trying a hand mirror, a taperecorder, and a bottle of jergens lotion. :)
I love it here Mr. E. May the song always remain the same!

( I look closer at the rock....yep....it's just a rock. I toss it over my shoulder and get back in my van to await the next call...hopefully a load? Or maybe Joe wanting me to deadhead to DesMoines. LOL )

You all have a great day!!!
excellent and right on point!!!!!!!!!!!
 

jelliott

Veteran Expediter
Motor Carrier Executive
US Army
For a man of few words, he nails it when he does speak. Very well put Scott.
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
As John told me over lunch the other day....

The thing about trying to have a transparent operation..is everyone can see everything...so any mistake , deal or miscue is seen.....

Now should Load 1 be like other carriers and separate staff from drivers and throw up that cloak of secrecy? Is that what you'd like...or do we just learn from our mistakes to minimize them the best we can.....there will always be decisions made at "Dispatcher Discretion" that we might not agree with....but trust is where we are at...it'll all work out in the end...:D
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Just a fictional story...


so jerk Jack crap is sitting in the yard...dispatch wants him to do a local really bad..."nope, don't do short ones"
ok dispatch finds another to do it.....well this particular customer is having something fabricated around the area with a few back and forths...and this driver does all he can to get the job done as the customer is under time restraints....
NOW the finished product is ready to be shipped to the final destination....Laredo!! so dispatch sees jerk Jack crap is #1 and say oh no, not a chance....so they give it to the guy that did all the shorties....and JJC goes ballistic about being passed over....

and ya know I don't have a problem with what dispatch did...would anyone else?
 

shadow7663

Expert Expediter
Just a fictional story...


so jerk Jack crap is sitting in the yard...dispatch wants him to do a local really bad..."nope, don't do short ones"
ok dispatch finds another to do it.....well this particular customer is having something fabricated around the area with a few back and forths...and this driver does all he can to get the job done as the customer is under time restraints....
NOW the finished product is ready to be shipped to the final destination....Laredo!! so dispatch sees jerk Jack crap is #1 and say oh no, not a chance....so they give it to the guy that did all the shorties....and JJC goes ballistic about being passed over....

and ya know I don't have a problem with what dispatch did...would anyone else?

Not under those exact circumstances!
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
See I've had this discussion before ..upper level....

seeing we don't have forced dispatch and there is no penalty for refusing...Mr JJC was within his rights and should have been awarded the job...ya see there are no contractual obligations for being a team player...
 

Wild Child

Seasoned Expediter
My hats off to you.....right to the point, absolutely factual, and experienced everyday by most drivers out here. Favoritism is a big thing and hard for people to see beyond. I have heard and seen for myself, the gift cards to restaurants and the boxes of candy, etc. pass across the counters. It will never stop at any carrier and I will never stoop down to that level myself. I figure my 30% line haul deduction is plenty of compensation for them and hope that none is hurt too bad as a result of the under handed tactics that sometimes go on. I personally believe that a big thank you is in order on every load, short or long, but that should be the end of it until the next assignment.
 
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