Complaint Review: NFI - National Freight - VINELAND New Jersey

 I can believe it, i,worked for a year for ine of their dedicated divisions and it was a horrific place to work. Not 1 trailer would pass a d.o.t pretrip inspection and when reported, you were told to pull it or find a new job, they have a total lack and complete disregard to federal regulations. They were just sued by a driver that they illegally fired because they forced him to violate his hours of service and he refused to do so, courts awarded him over 200,000.00 and ordered nfi to rehire him. This company is 1 of the worst ive ever seen when it comes to their treatment of employees and following federal mandated regulations.

Their over the road fleet is decent, but the local dedicated divisions run trailers till the wheels fall off ( abs malfunctions on ALL trailers that they "fix" by busting light or cutting electric wires, bad tires, cracked brake pads, air lines almost on ground, broken airline springs, air leaks, trailer brakes not working, holes in roof, steel floor plates bent 3 inches upward, leaking hub seals, expired plates, no dot registrations, lights not working on trailers) are all things i experienced everyday and was told pull it or wewill find someone who will since drivers are dime a dozen, needless to say i quit.

to john.  something smells fishy here.  i worked for nfi for four years and they never pressured me to take a load i couldn't do legally.  Of course i did loads all the time that weren't legal. sorry to tell you this,but this is how you make money.   this is how you get them on your side.  my dispatchers knew full well that i would do most any load if they asked me . they appreciated me doing it. in exchange for doing it I was able to get many preferred loads, i got many a long-distance drop and hook , i was usually pre-planned for 3-4 days ahead! i'm talking about good loads.  You have to play ball sometimes. i did not run illegal as much as you may think,it happened now and then. i was never forced. but because they knew they could count on me, i never had trouble getting home,i could even take an extra day if i needed it. I turned in a legal log every week. I am confused. you were in OK getting loaded to go to houston, i assume he meant drop that load at waxahatchie Tx, grab different trailer and go to houston.. you went home for 10 hrs before leaving for houston. ? you knew or should have known you wern't going to make it in time to houston. why did you accept the load? they can't make you accept it.  the drug test was most likely just random unless you were  belligerent or obviously suspect.  why did you need to go home for 10 hrs. when you were going on vacation the very next day? and did they know you were doing it? the load planner out of TX  sets these up not your dispatcher, and no one is setting these up for 80-85 mph! that makes no sense, every load would be late! also, never,ever go on vacation with unfinished business in the air! postpone it until you get some clarification going on.  also you should never just walk out and quit . you give them a weeks notice no matter what, and you put it on the quallcomm. quallcomm messages are kept virtually forever they are legal record. DOT can use it against you or company,you can use it too for your benefit. that all being said, when you are running OTR there are times you just have to grin and bear it, find a way to get the load done. if it happens too much,then put in your notice and leave. dont put yourself in a position where they have you by the short hairs.  I made $69,000 my last year at NFI, running dedicated out of Illinois.  the people were outstanding  good luck to you