Shutupjoe
Dayton,#2Author of original report
Wed, May 14, 2008
As far as I know his contract says 18 months. He has nine left. I got out the insurance information and there is indeed a $5000 deductible. This may be new??? I'm not sure. What I meant by the Monday thing. He drives all week. His day off is Tuesday. So if he gets to the dc (distribution center) on Monday at noon. They don't have any loads for him. Again his DAY off is Tuesday. So if he leaves Monday at one (because of the sign out sheet) he has to come back EXACTLY 34 hours later. Before he could come home at one and slot for eight on Wednesday. This is to keep track of time and has NOTHING to do with the trucks at all. I still feel like he is in jail and only gets one days visit. I can't wait until he doesn't work there any longer. Thanks for the message,
Noelle
Hanover Park,#3Consumer Comment
Fri, May 09, 2008
Amanda, I can relate to your situation - to a point. My husband also drives for a Schneider Dedicated Account. I am also raising a family as a stay at home mom. And I also have a baby that my husband sees once a week when he gets home. But there are a couple of points I need you to clarify and if you're willing to listen a couple of suggestions for you. First of all you made a point of saying that HE made the choice to become a truck driver. For a man with a family this should have been a decision that you discussed and decided on together. A job that takes a man away from his family for days at a time is not a choice he should make without everyone involved knowing exactly what to expect. But that's a moot point now. (not trying to be preachy honest I'm not) Moving on - I assume the recruiters make their money based on some sort of commission for the number of people they get to sign up. So I can see, but not agree with, him saying the things he did to get your husband to sign up Only one of the things he told you can be proven or disproven as fact (He will be home several times a week). The rest are opinion, which for the most part, in my situaton have been true. So if he lied to you is was just that one point. Training, I have to admit, was the hardest part of the whole thing. My husband and I were also not used to being apart. But I'm not sure why your husband was in Green Bay for three weeks before he could come home. As I understand it Classroom and behind the wheel are two weeks with a weekend off and then you are assigned to your Trainer for however long they feel you need to be trained before going in for your CDL test. For my husband that was a week. When you say DC are you referring to his dedicated account's Distribution Center, or are you referring to Schneider's Operating center. The distibution centers each set their own guidlines as far as security And I could be wrong but I don't think that Schneider has any more than the most basic say in that. The OC Is another story entirely. Either way my husband has to sign in or out of anywhere he leaves his truck. Be it an OC, DC, or drop lot. I actually find this to be a good thing and really don't think that has anything to do with them wanting to know where he is but for a different reason. If something happens to my husbands truck or load and he is signed out for the night unless he was blatantly negligent they really can't blame him for it. As for it being " to assure that they are only taking their assigned number of hours off." They know that based on their Quallcom (SP?) entries. I am not quite sure what you mean by "Which means if my husband doesn't have a load on Monday at 2 and decides to come home (which is an hour and a half away) he has to be home the middle of the evening the next day. Which means that the kids and I don't get to see him for a full day. " I'm not sure how not having a Monday load affects him coming home a day and a half later but maybe I read that wrong, or misunderstood what you were trying to say. As far as pay goes....If he doesn't take out the loads they have open (he's still low man on the totem pole) he doesn't get the miles and doesn't make any money. So in that case your options are have him close to home and home more often and lose the mileage or let them send him out on whatever they have. That stinks for the first year or so, but as he gains senority his load choices get better. I'm not sure which account your husband works for but the majority of my husband's money doesn't come from miles but from the load/unload and city driving premiums. Talk to benefits about your benefit package. We have all the benefits available except for AFLAC which we are adding this year. Including the 10.00 a week we put in our HSA and the money that goes into 401K. They take 150.00 a week, based on a 4.5 week month That's $675 a month. Just our benefits without the 401k is half of that. That includes legal, expanded vision, expanded dental, and expanded life. Our health care is "employee driven". We pay nothing for the first $500 of medical expenses, the next $1500 maybe $2000 dollars is our "deductable" and then we move on the 80/20 plan. I'm not sure how you got a $5000 deductable plan that costs so much. Check out all three plans carefully. Just your husband's "bad habit" tacks $14.00 a week onto health care costs. It's not the best but it sure beats paying out of pocket for insurance or medical costs. A couple of points about the COMDATA card. Try your hardest to stop using it. Once My hubby actually got a zeroed out paycheck and still owed $22.00 the next week. Couple of cruddy loads and an emergency kept him from bringing home enough to cover the loan. I know it's hard, for the first year we lived on the money he could pull out every Sunday. Or talk to payroll about having a set amount taken out of your paycheck and deposited into that account. That way your not borrowing against your next check but using money you have already been payed. It's really depressing to work hard for your money all week and then have COMDATA take $200.00 plus fees right off the top. Secondly, Take all the money for the week out at once if you're not doing that already and you only pay the fees one time. Instead of paying a fee to use it 3 or 4 times in a week (about 3 bucks a shot). Some Walmarts and all of the OCs (not DCS) allow you to pull money out without the ATM fee and you can eat at the OCs and pay with your COMDATA card without fees. (or at least you can at Gary). The last point is that if your husband has been there almost a year he can quit after that one year and his contract to Schneider is fulfilled and he doesn't have to repay any tuition (double check your contract before you take my advice on that but I've never known anyone who had a contract for more than a year).