Jeff Foster Trucking Abandoned Me At A Closed Bus Station

[rossi46]

This was first and last experience with Jeff Foster Trucking out of Superior WI. The first time "Trainer" (Dennis) they put me with decided he didn't want to train me anymore and we were in Miami FL at the time he told me this. We got up the east coast and the company bought me a bus ticket just to get out of his truck. This is the video of our last exchange together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGdpVoaiXjo The confirmation # for the bus ticket was WRONG! The ticket was for Hagerstown MD. I was in Fredrick MD. So they had to re-order the ticket. He dropped me at 715am. The bus left at 2:15 pm Thursday the 4th. The depot was closed from 9am until 2pm so I was literally a homeless person on the streets of Fredrick MD for 5 hours. Oh, then on the way home the bus broke down in downtown Chicago!! Nightmare!! Sad thing is, I haven't heard a word from the company, not 1 word! I hope nobody EVER has to go through anything like this. Feel free to PLEASE SHARE THIS VIDEO!!

 

[DubbleD]

I have no experience getting booted out of a truck. I do know bus rides are the mode used to return folks to home.

I can't help but wonder what Dennis's reason was.

 

[rossi46]

Seriously, does ANYONE have experience getting kicked out of a truck?!?! He told me he never wanted to be a trainer in the first place but the company sweetened the pot with .7 cents more per mile to get him to agree to do it. 1800 miles away from home he informs me he will NOT be training me anymore and NEVER wanted to in the first place. Complete DICK move!

 

[DubbleD]

Yeah. That happens. Drivers are strong armed into training new drivers.

Still.....

 

[Injun]

Some companies would throw you out and make you find your own way home.

I wasn't in this truck and have no idea what led up to this.

Sounds like Greyhound needs to maintain their buses a little better.

Glad you made it home safely. Hope you find greener pastures elsewhere.

 

[Injun]

For the record, the only time I've been tossed from a truck was when Swift sent me to Phoenix with a tired old Columbia and handed me the keys to a 670 with 29 miles on it. I hated giving up that old Shaker.

 

[rossi46]

Really glad YouTube doesn't edit free speech like the "cheef editor" does on this forum. If the truth never gets out, why the hell should companies ever change the way they treat people? No wonder they cant keep good drivers.

 

[Mike]

Really glad YouTube doesn't edit free speech like the "cheef editor" does on this forum. If the truth never gets out, why the hell should companies ever change the way they treat people? No wonder they cant keep good drivers.

@DubbleD hasn't edited anything you said.

I think he is curious as to what happened between you two that led up to him refusing to train you.

So, what happened that led to this?

 

[Injun]

Really glad YouTube doesn't edit free speech like the "cheef editor" does on this forum. If the truth never gets out, why the hell should companies ever change the way they treat people? No wonder they cant keep good drivers.

That wasn't DD. That was me. Your truth is out. This forum does not make enough money to defend against potential lawsuits because an individual thinks he or she is being slandered.

 

[DubbleD]

Really glad YouTube doesn't edit free speech like the "cheef editor" does on this forum. If the truth never gets out, why the hell should companies ever change the way they treat people? No wonder they cant keep good drivers.

Yeah.. I'm not editing anything but I'm confused as to why this trainer decided to toss you. Apparently you're a good driver..."No wonder they cant keep good drivers".... and I do a little amount of training, and hiring, and interviewing.

Here's the thing; you're pissed off and I understand why. There are 2 sides and we only have yours.

The Better Business Bureau has zero complaints filed....

 

[Duck]

I watched the video.

Bus stations don't exactly have room for trucks. The guy in the driver's seat did exactly as I would have if I was taking someone to a bus station. He simply can't sit in that spot very long. Cop comes along, he's the one who gets the ticket.

I've had to do exactly what that trainer did twice actually. I gave a nut-case a free taxi ride in a truck to a bus station in Sioux City after he got fired for being a nutcase. I picked him up at the company terminal & the Dirty Dog station was 60 miles away. There was no hostility, yet I couldn't sit around & wait, as soon as I pulled up he had to get his stuff out as quick as possible before a cop saw me stopped there. The driver knew why I couldn't sit around & hold his hand for 5 hours, nor did he expect me to. He was an adult. (Sort of...)

Then last winter I had to get a ride to a truck stop & surprise a driver, inform him that he failed his drug test & that he's fired & I was taking the truck right then & there. However, since the guy wasn't a nut-case, they simply had a westbound truck that was passing by stop & pick him up & take him home, then after I delivered the load he had, I asked dispatch to route me through his town in Kansas so he could get the rest of his stuff out of the truck, since he had too much to carry.



In your case though, we don't know what preceded the events in that video, but I did make one interesting observation:

What in the hell is a company doing training drivers in a truck with a freakin' automatic? That says everything about the company right there.

 

[rossi46]

I was contacted by a few former drivers of this company and they told this doesn't surprise them at all. Yeah I certainly didn't expect this trainer sit there and hold my hand until I hopped on the bus. But We drove 3000 miles up until this point and he couldn't wait 2 minutes for me to check the confirmation number that ended up being wrong?

This "trainer" did tell me that once I was done training I was gonna be put in a KW with a manual. So why I was training in an automatic I'll have NO idea. But like you said speaks to the company we're dealing with here.

Also at the time he told me he didn't want to train anymore I called the company and asked if they had another truck out in the area I could get in. They bought the bus ticket instead...why? I just cant tell you that because I do not know the answer. I haven't heard from the company at ALL.

 

[Mike]

Have you contacted the company?

 

[rossi46]

No sir. Do you think I should??

 

[Mike]

No sir. Do you think I should??

I would want to know when I will be getting another trainer, or if I was terminated and why.

 

[BigRiggin]

That company uses trucks with automatic transmissions to train drivers with? Wow. I'm speechless.

 

[Duck]

The company I'm driving for at the moment is half Kenworth with 13 speed manuals & half Volvo's with automatics.

They require 1 year's experience unless you live in western Iowa & can wait for their only trainer to become available.

At the time they bought his current truck, the company was 100% Kenworth T-660. Not enough room for two, so they bought him a big double bunk Volvo to train rookies with.


It has a 10 speed.

 

[Sinister]

Jeff Foster has some pretty good, decently priced used trucks out there for anyone looking. I know a guy that bought a T600 from them about ten years ago and said it was a great truck. Now they got grass burner exhaust and automatics, but I've still never seen one on the hook or with it's triangles out.

So they maintain their equipment decently as far as I know.

Regarding the video, I'd like to know the events preceding this like lots of people.

Also, if this was genuinely the "worst experience of your life"...you're going to have a really hard time in trucking.

 

[rossi46]

Yessir. I have already found employment elsewhere. Time to move on and make the best of this opportunity. Good luck to everyone with their driving career's.

God Bless

 

[BigRiggin]

Thanks. You too.