Schneider National Carriers Deceptive Practices and Unsafe Conditions Green Bay Wisconsin

First, I'm a trucker's wife, and he drives for Schneider. We talk daily, and as I type this, I've asked him the questions I don't already know the answer to.

1. Drivers are individuals, thinking, feeling, human beings. The ones that don't give respect where respect is due are bottom feeders. That said, my husband is on a dedicated route, the same one he went on when he was with his trainer. We are still good friends with his trainer, and he has built several good relationships with the other drivers on that account. I also know for a fact that his dispatcher and SRT always treat him with respect, because he treats them with respect first.

2. Not unless the other associates are acting like spoilt children that need to be disciplined.

3. He isn't completely sure about this, but we both agree that common sense would lead you to check your own equipment before leaving the yard, and reporting any problems to the mechanics before leaving. After all, the truck may be theirs, but if they don't know it is broken, they can't fix it. You know the truck better than they do.

4. Stick your head in the wheel well. Stick your head under the trailer. LOOK at it for yourself. I know I rotate the tires on my car every so often to get maximum wear for my money, Schneider does the same. Oh, and they give you a tread checker. If your tread is below minimum, stop at a service OC and get it changed.

5. Yes, roads would be safer, however the companies, all of them and not just Schneider, rely on the drivers to report shoddy equipment. I believe this also falls under common sense.

6. Depends on the conditions. Is it a 'no touch' load? then someone else unloads it. Not your problem. In hubby's case, he calls the company several hours ahead of time to let them know how close to the wire he is getting, and asks what they want him to do.

7. You should write everything down anyway, for your own records.

8. Gee, Schneider gives you little notepads, called "Pumpkin books" that are very detailed...they have spots for date, times, customer numbers, contact names, load numbers, etc etc. These are free, you can pick them up at any oc whenever you need one.

9. Is your pen broken? Write it down. Systems it doesn't matter much, and after being on a dedicated route for a while, you start to memorise all that information. Printers are bulky, fragile, and still fairly expensive in the long run, plus they can malfunction faster than the 15 pens you have stashed around your cab and that little scrap of paper you were doodling on.

10. Hmm. Seems to me that my husband has to send in a copy from his log book with the bill of lading in the trip-pak. Schneider does review these, and if a discrepancy is found in the HOS, a letter is sent to their home requiring proof that they didn't violate the HOS rule. This is why you send a copy to the company and you keep your old coloring books for at least two years.

11. That is why you learn to love your pumpkin book and use it. Keep your log books. There have been only two payroll mistakes that we've found because we check the pay stubs against the pumpkin books. If there is a problem, they fix it fairly fast.

12. Get a map. Trucker's atlas. Don't rely completely on the company because their directions are based off of reports that other drivers send in. If you find a directional mistake, call your STL and report it.

13. Nope. They give raises to employees that stick around and stay accident free, and violation free. Trucking isn't for everyone. I'm sure by now that the suits realize this.

14. Hopefully the trainees will turn into respectable drivers, but everyone has to start somewhere...however that somewhere is within themselves to conduct themselves as business men and women. Common sense will take you farther with Schneider and any other company than any college degree. Those that can't cut it, will be cut. Period. That is true for every job, trucking or not.

15. Do you really have to ask that or are you just being silly?

16. There is a difference between paid miles and actual miles. Actual miles can be racked up by driving around the block 45 times, but they aren't going to pay you for that. I suggest getting a mover's guide and looking that over. Those straight lines? Those are the paid miles. Yes, you might have to go out of route, but in the end, it tends to even out. (Side note: all companies, big or small, pay this way)

17. Two words: "short haul"

18. I just asked my husband what this "zip code" thing is you keep talking about. We are confused, are you working for Schneider and getting this gibberish, or is this coming from another company and you are looking for questions about how they do things?

19. Short haul pay is short haul pay, no matter what driver was the original.

20. It is your responsibility to notify the company when your load is going to be late. You are the one dragging the trailer, not them. Learn to read a map and plan routes so you have as little out of route as you can.

21. Customers don't pay actual miles, they go off of the mover's guide. I think we already discussed this.

22. You have 24 hours in a day, 14 for working, and in that 14, you have 10 that you can drive. 24 - 14 = 10. 10 = your DOT break. Time management and trip planning are very important.

23. No. One of two things will happen. Either you pick up your phone and call the customer to tell them, or you call your STL and let them do the dirty work. Yes, dispatch will estimate, but they can't estimate for all the possible "what if's" that may happen.

24. My husband has never been asked to sign any kind of confidentialty agreement. It might be different on hazmat loads, but to date, he has not been "forced" into that.

25. If you haven't noticed, fuel isn't cheap. If you have a reason to keep your truck idling (load can't freeze, you can't freeze, conditions are such that the fuel wil gel before the next start, etc) call your STL and get authorization. Those other two trucks you may be parked between will probably be from other companies that have different regulations, or an O/O that is paying for his own fuel with his own money.

26. Schneider uses no technology that is in testing phases, to the best of my husband's knowledge.

27. That one is on you, not the company.

28. Ah, that would fall under the disability act. Talk to your STL. You may have to kiss your bonus goodbye, but at least you would still be alive.

29. It depends on the time of day, day of the week, time of year, and department you call. My husband can get through to dispatch or his STL in less than 5 minutes.

30. Ask and you shall receive. However, they do hope that you will be able to do a lot of it on your own, and know that the pretty blue squiggly lines aren't roads.

31. Nope. You do an inspection when you get the truck. You should also do a pre-trip and a post-trip on every load as well. If you find problems before you sign for the truck, don't accept it until they are fixed. Again, common sense.

32. You would have to ask them about that.

33. Maybe if you are an O/O but not as a company driver in a company truck.

34. I don't think that Schneider caters to anyone, but they do use appointment times, frequently. Both on systems and dedicated.

35. He was bussed from the hotel to the training center, but the bus wasn't bad. The only people that didn't do that were the ones that drove their own vehicles to training.

36. You have two weeks classroom training. If you don't cut it in that time, you are cut loose. After that, when you are assigned a trainer for one on one OJT (you can only fit 2 people in one of those trucks, by the way) how long it takes is up to the trainee. They tell you this up front. My husband was told it "could be as little as a week, it could take a month, it is dependent on how well you learn and drive."

37. No. Again, it depends on the trainee, and team drivers are paid more.

38. Yes. If I (me personally) wanted the job badly enough. Yes, in hubby's case because he wanted the job badly enough. For the record, he is now on the same dedicated account as his trainer, and we are good friends with the trainer and his family. Funny how you can make friends out of complete strangers. Oh, trainers are asked to be trainers, they aren't "picked out at random".

39. No. The trainee does all the driving, paperwork, customer contact, trailer hookup, trailer unhook. Why else would it be called training? The trainer helps you, but not physically. He or she is only there to supervise and teach...not hold your hand and do it for you.

40. No. My husband has had several complaints, they were addressed and fixed, with no reprocussions.

41. Depends, how much are you planning on driving for that first week and then the rest of the month? If your wheels aren't turning, you aren't making money.

42. The 34 hour restart is there for a reason. My husband is lucky enough to be able to come home now for his restarts, but there have been plenty of times when he has been in a truckstop or an oc for it. Everyone needs a little time off now and then, or they will burn out.

43. 99% of the time, that is their choice. A driver that drives 3500 miles in one week does tend to deserve slightly more pay than a driver that drives 600 miles in one week...no?

44. The OC (operating center, I apologize if I didn't clarify that before now, as we are sure you aren't working for Schneider because you don't seem to be using their terminology) is run like a truck stop, but you aren't forced to buy anything there if you don't want to. You can get free showers, free internet at some of them, and free laundry. The chow line and store are for the benefit of the driver, should he choose not to borrow the company car to run to McDonalds and Wal-Mart to get what he needs. Anything you can get at a truck stop, you can get at an OC. They don't give everything away for free (they will give you washer fluid if you have your own bottles), but they do have very nice apparel (you should see my shirt collection) and other company labled things.

45. Maybe you should ask other drivers of other companies these same questions, as we can only speak from our experience with Schneider.

46. There is a "per diem" in effect, but you have to opt in. How it works, exactly, could probably be explained by your STL.

47. It isn't leveraged, and it is your pay, hence your participation.

48. I don't think they are going out of their way to install it on trucks that are older and being phased out. My husband has an '06 with the wabasto installed.

49. No. Work with your dispatcher so they know when you need to be serviced, so they can route you to the closest service center. It is your job to keep track of these things, not theirs.

50. Yet another question for the coroporate office.

51. My husband is not an O/O or I/C so we can't answer that for you.

52. If you have a valid reason to refuse the load, talk to your STL.

53. Again, we can't answer this one.

54. If you pick up a nasty trailer, go wash it and send the bill to the company, you will be reimbursed. Wear a mask when you sweep out the trailer. Common sense is not your enemy here.

55. Don't slide the tandem then. Call repairs, and report the trailer for it's deficiency. Ask your STL that the load be moved to a new trailer and take that one instead. Mind you, a lot of Schneider is about 80% no touch freight.

56. They should hopefully be smart enough to wear PPE when doing so. Their negligence is not your fault or problem.

57. It is not the customer or dock worker's responsibility to slide your tandems.

58. Move the truck, THEN slide the tandem. Don't be rude. See my previous comment about reporting the trailer as deficient.

59. I guess you would have to ask a lot of drivers that question and carefully weigh the responses.

60. The tires not being routinely checked for proper air pressure is your fault, not the companies. If a trailer has a bad tire, call repair and get a new tire or trailer.

61. Not in my husband's experience. However, your mileage may vary. (pun intended)

62. I'm sure there are a lot of factors for this, however I'm just guessing based on common sense. I would imagine that none of those factors involve "jealousy".

63. Yes, because Schneider hasn't taken the time or expense to install said technology on every last rig and every last trailer. O/O might be different. Oh, did I mention to send in your weigh reciept so you can get reimbursed?

64. Yes, no, no. Almost any trailer will have some form of corrosion on it. No, it is not because of the mechanics, it is because of the salt the northern states put on the road and because drivers fail to report inoperable equipment. No, you don't have to trade in your tractor frequently.

65. Because they get paid to drive, not push a pencil around. Anyone can drag out filling out a log book for a couple hours if they wanted to, and I believe this is called scamming. The company does not do it for them because the company is not their mommy and doesn't have to hold their hand for them. Drivers are expected to not only work like adults with common sense and a strong work ethic, but as a representative of the company behave as if they have manners and maturity.

Just because they won't hold your hand while you go potty (so to speak) does not mean that they are "bullies". This is a grown up world and you are expected to act like a grown up (not just with Schneider, but with any job, even those outside of the trucking industry).

This means they will give you Point A and Point B, and if you ask for it, they will give you not only the nearest fuel stop, but they will give you directions. It is your job to check those directions against your map to make sure they are correct, because people /do/ make mistakes from time to time. In the end, it will be your butt on the line if the load doesn't make it there, regardless of who sent the instructions. You are given a free atlas at training, and you can buy new ones fairly cheap at an OC when you need or want a new one. (They are tax deductable, did you know that?)

If you tell them that you need to be home on XX day for a dr appointment, or wedding, or special day, they will do their best to help you get there when you need to be there. They can't read minds, so you need to speak up.

If you have a problem with your equipment, you need to tell them. They are not out there with you every day, examining and inspecting everything for you. Remember when you were in high school? Did your mom look at your shoes every day to make sure your laces were tied and you didn't have holes in your shoes, or did she think that you had the sense to tell her when you needed new ones? Neither of us were ever spoon fed like that, and we don't spoon feed our children, but that doesn't mean that we weren't taken care of or that our children aren't taken care of. If there is a problem, speak up. It will get fixed.

The customers and dock workers/lumpers are not employees of Schneider, and are not treated as such. Should they think they need PPE to unload and sweep a trailer, it is up to THEIR employers to make sure they have the right equipment.

Your question #58 really bothered me. Common courtesy is a big big thing in this world. If /you/ don't want to sit and wait while someone else fools around with their tandems do you "get revenge" and do it to the guys waiting behind you, or do you do the polite thing and show your manners and move the truck before you fix your tandems so the next guy in line who may have just enough time to pick up and get to the next truck stop can get there? I am truly appalled at the insinuation in your question. Do not forget that a large part of Schneider is systems, with lots of companies that are sometimes one time only customers. Some of these customers get deliveries from other companies as well...are you going to hold Schneider accountable for the behavior of other companies and their drivers?

I sincerely hope not.

I also sincerely hope that you are not a current driver, as you would only cause more people (other drivers, other companies, people not associated with trucking at all) to form a bad opinion of trucking in general. The reason I say this is that the whole tone of your report there is that you want someone else to do the majority of your job for you so all you have to do is shift gears and sleep.

If you work for a company that will hold your hand and do your log book for you, slide your tandems, give you pristine equipment, have the most polite ever customers with perfectly paved lots, new tires every month, doesn't sell anything with their logo on it to you (god forbid you have any company pride here), pays you for actual miles instead of book miles, AND gives you $5000 a month for driving 600 miles a week, both me and my husband would love the name of that company so he can start driving there, and stop having some pride in a real day's work.

You have to have and use common sense while out there if you want to stay alive and make money.

Since you obviously don't have the benefit of working for Schneider, why are you 'bashing' them? Maybe if you actually worked for them, you wouldn't have so many questions, and would think a little different than you do.

Good luck finding the perfect company though. I think that is going to be difficult.