Lies?

Sean McQuaid

Whiny baby
Recently as a last ditch effort to drive in the industry and pay for the CDL, I applied to P.A.M.. I was told by recruiting (Lavonna McClanahan) they could not hire me yet because they are short of trainers and the trainers are only picking up contracted students. Yet I know a trainer with P.A.M. and Decker, and I am told that they have not been given a student in a month. Below is the letter I sent to Lavonna McClanahan. Nowadays, I don't know who or what to believe. And needless to say that since sending the following e-mail a couple of weeks ago, I have not recieved a response to either confirm or deny my findings - probably because I was right.


Lavonna,

I just wanted to let you know that it has come to my attention that the
validity of the trainer issue does not seem to be valid. I know people with
PAM/Decker. I was told by a trainer I know that he has been waiting for a
student for a month now. He has been told by other trainers that what I was
told regarding trainer shortages seems to be untrue. It's more like PAM is not
hiring.

These days (because of what Werner and Swift put me through), I do not know
what to trust or believe. But because of past experience, I now look into
things where others may not. All I wanted to do was drive, and drive legally
and safely without added pressures. I was denied that. It also seems that I am
one of the chosen to be played around with - though I don't know why.

On my next communication with the school, I will pass on my most recent
findings as per what I am told. Where there is nothing you can do where my
issues with the school are concerned thanks to Werner and Swift, this finding
will simply be another thing to address when the inevitable happens and the
school try to sue me. Knowing facts as they are from the start would inform me
as to whether or not to bother applying for certain jobs. I know I would not
be lied to by the driver who has told me he has not been able to get a
student, nor would he be lied to by others.

Patients, trust and beliefs with me have run out. Anyone else who has had my
experiences would react the same way I am. I simply wish I'd be told like it
is, and not given false hopes. That's as bad as being lied to. It really seems
that this economy has made employers crazy/dishonest and open season to ruin
everyone.

I will look into ways of checking into this in more depth.
 
To each, their own. However, I don't think I would have said all that to a prospective employer. No matter what happens now, even if the economy takes off like a rocket (wishful thinking), you've put yourself on the "never hire in a million years" list. They probably won't even talk to you again without a corporate lawyer being present.

You should have kept your "insider" knowledge to yourself, and, kept hammering on them for a job because you then knew that they had capacity to put you with a trainer. When you told them you had this knowledge, you lost the advantage the knowledge had given you.

Sometimes it's better to remain in stealth mode.

That's my entire :twocents:, welcome to TruckersForum, Fringe is coming on the idiot tube, so, Hi & Bye...
 
Thanks but.....

Thanks but I think it's too much a "shut up" world, and kiss butt. That' what the industry has turned into. And for what?!?!?! The sterling pay and great job future?!?!?! The trucking industry acts as though they are the ultimate job for you, and you are in the upper class of pay scales when you have to be away from home and barely make more than minimum wage while putting up with irate dispatchers who don't know what they are doing half the time. And they don't care about the drivers. Who cares if I am on the "never hire in a million years list"? If I were paid equal to the B.S., I'd have been a butt kisser in the first place and allowed them (Werner) to abuse me. Has nothing to do with whether or not the job was for me, it has to do with the nosense not being for me.
 
And with the B.S. I have been handed in this industry necause of a bad economy and the fact there are those who "get off" on ruining the lives of others, on top of the fact I could care less if I am hired with another carrier, I will speak out so others can read, learn of the experiences of others, and decide for themselves what they will do when they have a similar experience. I'm pretty much blacklisted anyway.
 
HeHeHeHeHe, and not talking to me without a Corporate Lawyer being present...... Why need a Lawyer if you are straight and on the up and up? I speak of what I experience. Don't give me the experience, and hence, don't give me anything to speak of. Too many of these companies are dishonest, malicious and just plain rake people over the coals. People like me who are not afraid to tell of the experience are feared and kept out. Now that I have had the experience (along with Swift and Werner), I feel the right to vindicate and be verbally combative. Somebody has to say what is going on, and since I will never get in the industry again anyway, it's going to be me. I don't care if I have to get a minimum wage job sweeping floors, shoveling poo, or washing dishes to support my resolve. I am going on with it.

I had no "advantage" any knowledge gave me as I was not going to be put with a trainer based on what I was told. Whetheror not they had the capacity to put me with a trainer, they were not going to do so. I was told they were short handed of trainers and the ones they had were only picking up contracted students. I was told by other trainers they were not getting students, and what I was told was untrue. I know these people well, and they have no reason to lie to me. And you can "hammer" for a job until you are blue in the face. In the end, you will just be another annoyance to the company recruiter. I (for one) don't appreciate being lied to. This recruiter should have just told me that they were not hiring me at this time.

Too many of these big companies seem to think they have the greatest job in the world to offer, when it's nothing more than slave labor for minimum wage. I was willing to deal with the long hours, low pay, and very little time at home. Things went a lot farther than that.
 
There are good and bad sides to every industry, XR is expressing that in which has been proven over and over again in this industry.

As for whether P.A.M. lied to you or not is not for me to judge, but in reading the start of your comments that read:

Recently as a last ditch effort to drive in the industry and pay for the CDL, I applied to P.A.M.. I was told by recruiting (Lavonna McClanahan) they could not hire me yet because they are short of trainers and the trainers are only picking up contracted students. Yet I know a trainer with P.A.M. and Decker, and I am told that they have not been given a student in a month. Below is the letter I sent to Lavonna McClanahan. Nowadays, I don't know who or what to believe.

If that is the quote from this lady, my understanding to her comments was she was diligently tring to let you down easy by saying the only have their trainers working with those who actually contracted services through P.A.M. You see when the economy took a dump and laid or fired so many people from their jobs, it open up an endless supply of people needing to work. Allowing every industry right now to be diligent in those to which they wish to hire and those to which they wish to overlook. There are folks right now that was in this industry for many years that got left unemployed for one reason or another.
 
Yes, that is indeed a DIRECT QUOTE from that recruiter.

I understand the logistics of the layoffs, terminations and such. At the same time, I understand the false hopes people are given by so many companies who continue to hire students for the subsidy money.

My point is they need to just tell it like it is so some of us do not waste our time. They need to stop playing around with people. I had enough of the playing around and being screwed over by Swift and Werner.
 
Yes, that is indeed a DIRECT QUOTE from that recruiter.

I understand the logistics of the layoffs, terminations and such. At the same time, I understand the false hopes people are given by so many companies who continue to hire students for the subsidy money.

My point is they need to just tell it like it is so some of us do not waste our time. They need to stop playing around with people. I had enough of the playing around and being screwed over by Swift and Werner.

I understand what you are saying and our country has become such a sue happy nation that you will probably never see again a company that will be straight forward to you for fear of the LAZY A$$ people that do not want to work for a living
 
now my friend i have seen what you went thrue many times and all trucking companys are about the same . as far as the stand you are taking against the lies and deseat i aplaude you for it if more drivers took a stand like that things might get better but each man has to decide for himself and they do might not be right but that is the way it is.

i for one do just as your saying but then again i dont work for a company i have my own trucks its a little different for me i dont have to take there BS. but till you get started it might be best if you took another aproch it would help you to get started then you can pretty much take a stand.

best of luck to you.---southernpride
 
Thanks for reading and the input.

To Chae Transport: It is a shame how much a sue happy country this country has become. But companies who lie and set drivers up to quit or be terminated only adds to the problems. I was a new driver only wanting to do a job safely and leaglly - I just did not know a year ago how bad the decision was to get into trucking at this time - how bad my timing was - and the nonsense and games the companies who take students on are playing. Swift did not give me a truck, then gave me a task to do that was impossible before getting a truck (my very long thread is here on that story in the Swift section) - they knew what they were doing. Then Werner setting me up for late loads, not doing repairs which messed up my performance, then telling me I was idling when I was not. Werner does not want drivers to go to a terminal. But when I di for repairs and such, EVERY SINGLE TIME I went to a terminal, I would see a bunch of guys with their bags packed and going home because they were fired over late loads, idling - all the things I was being told I was doing (the idling was not true, and the late loads was because they ran my time so tight, it was impossible to deliver ontime - even without stopping to eat during a 11 hour drive day). So they set me up to quit or be fired too (and my long thread about that story is here too under Werner). I know I am not the only one who has been given a problem. Trouble is these companies set themselves up to be sued with the games they play. They hire drivers to get the subsidy money, and get rid of drivers who have been with the company a while, and the newbies who don't even have 6 months in yet. Then you get a bad report on your DAC, so when things get better, you're still screwed. No wonder this is a sue happy nation.

To Southernpride: I don't know what kind of stand I can really take. In the end, it's all the "he says this or that against the big company, and the company says this is what happened". In the end, it's usually the little guy who loses. I get the crap from Swift and Werner. Then PAM tells me "Yes, submit an application". They review it, do all background checks as if they are interested in hiring me. All background checks come back positive (I have copies of them all), and I am told I submitted a good application with a clean CDL - etc.. The recruiter does not call me back. I call her to find out what is going on, and I am told all background checks come back positive (I have copies of them all), and I am told I submitted a good application with a clean CDL - etc.. I am also told they are short of trainers and the trainers are only picking up contracted students. Then several trainers I know with PAM and Decker tell me they are not shor of trainers, and a couple of these guys have been waiting for a student for over a month. I have been rubbed RAW as it is by Swift and Werner, and what seems to be a lie from P.A.M. does not help. I am tired of being played around with just because the economy is bad. So I e-mailed back to tell of my findings. At least if I am never hired in a million years (as 2xR said in a reply to me), they will at least know some of us are tired of being lied to, raked over the coals, and we check into what we are told. Maybe Lavonna McClanahan will not be so fast to lie to the next person. Besides Werner pretty much screwed me anyway with a termination before I even had 6 months as a First Seat Driver. And more and more companies now require 6 months and more experience. The door is closing to newbies more and more.

This is to all readers: Definately there are more people being hired than there are trucks or loads. Werner, Swift and who knows who else, are hiring and firing in a frenzy. This is because they get a Government Bailout Subsidy money (like $5,000.00 - $10,000.00 for EACH student) for taking student drivers. They get the money, and find a way to get rid of the new driver before they have to pay anything significant back to the school the driver had a contract with. But like all the other misuse of subsidy money others do in this country, it will take the Government FOREVER to put a stop to it. Meanwhile, too many of us get a bad record on our DAC we should not have recieved. Too many new drivers are entering a trucking school who is in cahoots with companies like Swift and Werner. The person going to school is told that there are always trucking jobs, and that all they have to do is work for one of these companies for a year for tuition reimbursement. Then the student at the school gets dropped from the carrier he was supposed to work for and talked into a company like Swift (this happened to me when I went to C1 Indianapolis). Then/and/or the student goes with Swift, Werner, ..... and gets played around with and made to quit or get fired. Then the school is not getting paid, your account goes to collection, and they badger you every week for $7,000.00 you don't have. At the same time, veterin drivers get screwed, and these carriers who get this subsidy money keep cycling drivers through like cattle. With more and more companies not taking drivers with less than 6 months to a year experience, or not taking a driver who was terminated, more and more CDLs are not worth the plastic they are printed on. If the nonsense does not stop soon, I will just go to my license branch and get rid of the CDL because they are a nuisance to have unless you are driving a big truck. And I fully believe these schools who SELL you on these jobs, or the jobs (companies) selling you on the schools, know full well what is going on. But keep taking people anyway to keep their accounts lined with money. As these companies are a BUSINESS, so is the school - they're in it for the MONEY, not YOU. But then people need to look into this industry more closely before thinking they will be doing okay when they really most likely will not. People need to look after their number 1 business - themself. So I definately will not pay the school for the way I was set up to fail. And I hope they try to sue me, because I will take my full story to the media before i get hauled into court. Actually I should just see what media entity may want to hear what is going on anyway.

In short: I entered the trucking industry expecting to have to work 70 hours a week for $600.00 or $700.00 (you are told you can make $35,000.00 - $40,000.00 your first year, but they do not tell you that you'll drive over 100,000 miles that year to do it, and work 70 hour weeks just about every week that year - but I already knew it); I knew full well of the 3+ weeks away before you go home, and the only 1 day off per week; I knew of most of the time not really getting home when you ask; I knew you really don't have a life exept the road; I knew when you really look at it, an new CDL-A driver is no where near paid what he is worth (come on, I know about "paying your dues", but let's get real here); and I knew the D.O.T. in a lot of areas just itches to slap a $2,000.00 fine on a driver. I knew all these things and more before deciding to go to CDL training. I have been on the road a lot, and I knew I could handle being out there, and I was willing to accept the things I mentioned above for the little bit of time I was going to put into O.T.R. company driving (2 years at the most is all I was going to do). But it all got to be too much when I saw all the ways drivers are taken advantage of, made to bend the rules, and made to work more than 70 hours a week because most really don't know they are being used, and buy into all the "loopholes" in logging as being okay (yeah right, YOU he driver is responsible, and when you get caught doing something wrong, the D.O.T. will not listen to you when you tell them "my dispatcher told me to do this, or it was okay to do that". see how much they care and how much they back you up when you get caught and lose your CDL). So the forced dispatch all the time, and the attempts to get me to work more hours than i should have to got to be too much. And it has nothing to do with being lazy, it has to do with knowing full well when I am being used and abused. It's all in the regulations about logging and when you are legal to be on line 1, line 4, or whatever. I'm not stupid enough to be awake and doing something company related 90 hours a week for $600.00 just to save on my 70 hour clock.

By the time Greenhorns learn what is legal and what is not, or learn all the ropes and when a dispatcher is screwing you over - it's too late and you are gone with a bad work record to try to fix or explain later.

I should have just driven a Taxi Cab. I'd have done better.
 
Since it seems to be over with for me, I will post my experience on every blog and forum I can find. I will join any crusade that any group gets together for those unnecessarily screwed over by the company eager to pocket all the subsidy money they can by rotating as many drivers through as they can - especially if the crusade is against Swift or Werner. I will not be silent, or tuck tail and run like I was wrong. Very simply, if there are not enough trucks or freight, these companies should not be leading drivers on to thinking they have a secure job. The government is mostly to blame for allowing the student subsidy money. These companies saw that as a way to get easy money.
 
Sean from what I am gathering you're feeling sorry for yourself and are looking for that perfect company.Well dear sorry but they just don't exist.In the trucking industry IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY.You're not going to find that 100%legal company.Heck even the DOT knows that.They know that drivers and companies don't go strickly by the book.If we all went strickly by the book,there would be alot of late loads and alot of companies out of business.So dear instead of having this negative attitude.Think possitive and get out there.
 
Oh and sean as far as late lds at Werner goes or with anycompany,u tell them right away if you cannot make ontime delivery.They always worked with me on that.I never got a service failure on my dac for late lds and lord knows they've given me plenty of late lds their fault not mine.It's when u dont tell then they get mad.Although they should know but they don't.If you're not happy with your dispatcher,you go to their boss or someone hire up.You don't need to put up with anyones crap.Don't sit back and take it and get even more stressed.It just isn't worth it.Because at the end who pays,you do.
 
I am attending a school to obtain my CDL, being paid for by PAM and going to work for PAM...was scheduled to start school the 2nd of Nov., but I had to move it to Nov. 9th, which Driver Solutions did happily...PAM is certainly hiring....Sean wants someone to be straight with him...I will....you should find another line of work.
 
I am attending a school to obtain my CDL, being paid for by PAM and going to work for PAM...was scheduled to start school the 2nd of Nov., but I had to move it to Nov. 9th, which Driver Solutions did happily...PAM is certainly hiring....Sean wants someone to be straight with him...I will....you should find another line of work.

You haven't finished school yet, just cause they gave you a pre-hire doesn't mean they ain't gonna screw you over.
 
Oh, absolutely, and it does worry me a little....but they are not turning people away as was stated above, that's my only point....and as Patricia stated in another thread...these companies will continue to hire, even if they have more drivers than frieght....point being if they turn you down....they have a reason.
 
Oh, absolutely, and it does worry me a little....but they are not turning people away as was stated above, that's my only point....and as Patricia stated in another thread...these companies will continue to hire, even if they have more drivers than frieght....point being if they turn you down....they have a reason.

Yeah to collect the money the Government is paying them to train new drivers and "create" jobs and then spend the money on something else.
 
patriciajnsn: I could care less if someone feels sorry for me or not. That is not my intent. Rather to get the word out as to what is going on. You are doing the common thing - taking what I say out of context. As for working with you on loads: how long ago was that? Things started getting crazier a year ago. As for being positive: I was for several months after the Werner B.S.. It did me no good, and it seems I have exhausted all options (which are very few just now).


ssayzarc: I am well aware PAM is hiring. But they are only hiring CONTRACTED STUDENTS, which is what you are. They are not hiring anyone else. I indeed need another line of work. Not for what you think. It's because of the B.S.. You have not even driven in the industry yet; therefore, you don't have a leg to stand on where criticising anyone is concerned. I will drive again only to pay for the CDL. Otherwise, it won't be paid for.


In the end, it is just as Larry said. Companies who take students are creating illusions of plentiful jobs just to make the subsidy money and a lot of people are getting screwed in the process - it's not just me.
 
And I did try going to someone higher up than the dispatcher. I tried explaining things to my diapatcher (JD Hodgestradt) about the times being too tight. He would not work with me. I also asked to be taken off his board and put on another. Werner would not do it.


So some think a company has a "reason" for turning you down. Werner gave me a termination. That's one reason. Another is I am not one to take flack without saying something. Wimps and people who can think for themselves and not a trainable puppy dog are not allowed.


Okay, P.A.M. is hiring. But only contracted students. That's who they get the subsidy money for. But a recruiter does not need to lie about a trainer shortage that does not exist.


As for being strictly by the book, not being ontime because of being strictly by the book, or drivers and companies going out of business if the book is followed - CRAPPOLA! The D.O.T. regulations exist for a reason, they contain no ambiguities. They are not open to driver or company interpretations of their making because they don't agree with a certain guideline, gut feelings or little hairs standing on the back of your neck. And not open to creating loopholes to make a few more dollars for you or the company. If the company can not give a load which can not be delivered ontime going by the book - that's plain wrong. And just because the D.O.T. knows companies and drivers don't go strictly by the book does not make it okay or exempt anyone from being slapped with a violation or lose a CDL when they get caught. Bottom line is I was not easily brainwashed into doing this or that just because "everyone else does it".
 

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