Schneider drivers, what the hell is going on?

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Bigsad6969@reddit

I’m sorry but 6 months gets you better job?

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Mindes13@reddit

Most places want 6 months experience minimum.

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I'm on dedicated and told we can't even go home this weekend and have to run recaps cuz of all the loads. So, the owner posted a video aboit otehr opportunities at Schneider, guessing it was for your division! We need drivers on Joann Fabrics account 😆.

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First-Journalist9393@reddit

About to be a new driver somewhere, soon to get my CDL. Can you explain what recaps are? Thanks in advance!

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Dangerous_Most2327@reddit

You onlynuse maybe 10 hours max of the work day, so you have 7 days worked 10 hours ofnthise days aince we work 70 hours a week, on the eighth day you'll get back 10 more hours so you can keep running every additional day of hours coming back instead of taking a 34 hour reset. Essentially you work everyday for 2 weeks or longer. And regular people complain about working 40 hours a week, truckers work 70 hours minimum.

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First-Journalist9393@reddit

Okay, gotcha. Thanks for explaining.

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Dangerous_Most2327@reddit

I'm sorry I messed that up a bit, use 9 hours a day, cuz you get hours back after the 8th day. So 9/9/9/9/9/9/9/7 then recap (regain) 9 more after day 8. My fault for the miscalculation. Really just split 70 hours over 8 days.

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Rolling14329@reddit

Even us drivers with dedicated routes are feeling the slowdown and lengthy downtime long enough to reset in middle of week.

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MajorHymen@reddit

In my 6 years with this current company I’ve only sat without a load once and it was location based. I don’t know if I’ve just been very lucky or the fact I never refuse a load so get unofficial priority from dispatchers when things get slow. I never get 34s unless I make it happen by hauling ass to my delivery so early I have time to sit and wait. I wish I got more 34s but I think that’s just because I don’t get them. And when I do it’s my choice.

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unwantedrelic@reddit

Sounds like Prine. They will run the balls off you.

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Methmedikles@reddit

I'm actually very happy that Prime keeps me rolling. I rarely take a 34. And even when I do it's because we (team) got there early enough like another driver said.

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unwantedrelic@reddit

True. I did like how they used recaps and had enough work to keep you moving. The deadheading was a killer tho. Prime has so much contracted freight that they have to move. It’s almost like they refused to grab a spot rate to keep you in the area. Solid company overall tho.

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Wizard_with_a_Pipe@reddit

Hey, you're only earning if your wheels are turning. 😁

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THExPILLOx@reddit

When I joined up with my current company, I applied for the four day work week. Have repeatedly told them that if they ever need to call someone off, I volunteer indefinitely.

Three weeks now most of our guys have had an extra day sometimes two off due to freight being slow. I've been running 5 days the whole time lol

The extra money is cool but damn lol

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woomdawg@reddit

Here i am running 6 days 70 hrs lol

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THExPILLOx@reddit

Did that one haha, I joined up with this company and took a sizeable pay cut to work less hours and be home more, so if the universe is just, you should be making more than me haha

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woomdawg@reddit

I do ok, but I have no life. This is not what I was looking for lol.

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THExPILLOx@reddit

Yeah... It's a tough balance. But with a good record and good work ethic, you can eventually find a unicorn. Idk you or what you're about but I tell all the folks in my personal life the same thing.

"You never stop looking for a job, you just increase or decrease the amount of effort based on how happy you are. If you aren't at least peeking when that unicorn pops up, you'll never get it"

Best of luck to you brother, and if you grew up poor as shit like me. Invest and save those fat stacks, don't let your money freeload off you, make that shit work for it's housing lol.

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woomdawg@reddit

Thanks man. I am always looking.

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IEatCouch@reddit

My ltl dedicated route has been running light, I'm usually full this time of year

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OrganizationNo6167@reddit

I’ve resetted 3x in a week a couple times this year 🤣

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R34CTz@reddit

Interesting. I just quit Schneider over a week ago. I never really had this type of problem with them, though. But I got tired of the poor pay, the 65mph limit, and the overkill fuel efficiency programming of their trucks. I'm starting with a much smaller company tomorrow that pays better, has more bonus opportunities, gives more miles, and has much better equipment.

Schneider is great to start with but I just couldn't stick around.

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SanDuskyMclusky@reddit (OP)

I feel the same, I am grateful for the experience and their generally good patience with newbies but the company is just too big, too faceless with its employees and of course the pay is abysmal, but I think they know they're an experience farm.

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thesunking93@reddit

I can attest to Schneiders after hours call center. It's a hit and miss and very frustrating. I spent 6 months on a lousy payroll as a new CDL-A driver working nights averaging between 10 - 14, hour shifts driving a '24 Cascadia Day Cab pulling 53' preloads in Southern California. I think the most I spent on hold was 75 minutes. The best chance of getting through was on my personal time after getting some morning sleep and calling in between 12 & 1pm during the day. Once I hit 6 months of verifiable experience, I turned in my tablet in person and left the keys on the dip stick on my last day of the work week.

I work part-time on weekends as a Local City Driver and earn a descent hourly wage with X 1.5 premium pay after 8 hours and best of all, Dispatch knows me by my name and answers the phone plus I don't have to identify myself with a 7-digit driver ID #.

Hopefully you get squared away with Dispatch or you take it up with your driver team leader if he or she is any good.

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SanDuskyMclusky@reddit (OP)

I'm really looking forward to getting with a smaller company, as long as I'm rolling this job is fine but excessive downtime on the road is really getting to me.

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scottiethegoonie@reddit

Schneider dispatch is the worst dude.

When I was regional I had the same problem all the time. I could not get ANYBODY on the phone and would wait on hold for hours. Even I transferred to local intermodal (dispatchers were literally in the same building as the yard) - calls would take forever because calls from across the US were routed there first.

Swift's msg system is 1000x times better and quicker. I have no idea why but that's just how it is.

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SanDuskyMclusky@reddit (OP)

Yeah I'm going to use that from now on but sometimes messages go unread, 3 1/2 more months but I'll jump on a garbage truck near home at this point, even deliver drinks again despite the unending labor.

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J-Kensington@reddit

When I worked for schneider, they had a yard in dallas.

If you can't get anybody on the phone, go track them down in person. It's their truck, so you're not doing anything illegal or even immoral if you take it to the company yard and find out why nobody is answering the phone.

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SanDuskyMclusky@reddit (OP)

Good answer I should have just driven to the OC instead of staying at a horribly busy Pilot that has hindreds of massive rats crawling everywhere and didn't seem scared of people. Ha.

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icy_penguins@reddit

Isn't Dallas a main yard for them? Do they not let drivers talk to the planners that are there anymore? Or are there no planners there? It's been 20 years since I worked for big orange and I know lots of things have changed.

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flipsidereality@reddit

So the planners pretty much got sent to gb. Your team lead is based on where you live. The dedicated planners are in each oc.

So going inside is not much use anymore other then basic needs of life.

Dallas yard was on its way out when I left in 2019. They built a new one south. Think most still call it Dallas but it on 45 an hour south of Dallas lol.

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ahowls@reddit

Wilmer tx

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flipsidereality@reddit

That’s it! I forgot. You ever forget? I forgot. lol

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JankyMark@reddit

Lots of these mega companies have poor communication skills

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Marcellius-the-3rd@reddit

Nothing will ever top Schneider poor communication

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unavoidable-walrus@reddit

Stevens Transport would rival it, based on my personal experience anyways.

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JankyMark@reddit

Swift enters the chat 😂

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DrSideShowbob@reddit

You know I have been noticing a ton of mega company trucks always in truckstops. I can park. Do a reset and so many trucks that have been there longer than me are still parked after my reset is finished.

Its even like that after my 10. Seems like i park next to people for a 10 and im in and out and they are still just sitting there.

I never really have extra time to just chill places. In out and gone. Gotta make the coin ya know

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Outlaw11091@reddit

It's stupidity, mostly.

I'm working at Werner. I get guaranteed pay, regardless of miles because I cover accounts that have a driver shortage.

A couple Fridays back, my dispatcher had told me to go to a Walmart DC for Sunday. Sunday rolls around and I call the DC before I start my clock. They tell me to stay put, they had no indication that I was going there.

Monday morning rolls around and my dispatcher tells me I need to hurry up and get there.

So, I point out that I'm only 10 hours away from a reset...and he says I can run on recaps, it's fine.

I get to the DC...I've only got 5 hours on my 70 and am only getting 4 the next day...and oh by the way, Walmart doesn't do running on recaps.

So, after sitting for 24 hours on Sunday, I drove 4 hours only to have to do a complete 34 hour reset on Monday. 3 days of sitting, essentially.

I get paid the same, so, it's fine by me, but that guaranteed pay is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

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woomdawg@reddit

What's a recap?

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Outlaw11091@reddit

Your 70 hour clock is limited to 7 days (iirc). So, if you worked 14 hours, 8 days ago, that 14 hours no longer counts against your 70 hour clock.

The 14 hours gets 'recapped'.

So, essentially, if you run 10 hour days, EVERYDAY, your 70 hour clock becomes irrelevant.

Let's say Sunday is your 7th day driving. You drive 10 hours, which puts your 70 hour clock at 0 (or 70 aka full).

Monday, you get back the 10 hours from last Monday.

Little confusing, but I think I overexplained...

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Methmedikles@reddit

To make it just a little simpler. On the 8th day, you get back exactly whatever on duty time you used 8 days ago. The next day you get back exactly the on duty time you used 8 days ago from that date.

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HighwayStar71@reddit

Sounds like a bunch of amateurs.

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Outlaw11091@reddit

Idk...my dispatcher is pretty competent.

I think what had happened was that he had emailed the account manager Friday afternoon...and the account manager was probably not back in the office until Monday.

Since I was assigned to an account, MY dispatcher can't really do anything until they release me again...so...

I just think it's corporate bureaucracy and I feel like it's common among magas.

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DrSideShowbob@reddit

That is horrible tho. So inefficient of time management on their end. You said your guaranteed paid helps. But do you get paid more if your miles go over a certain amount? Still feels like it is giving you the shaft

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Outlaw11091@reddit

Yes, it's a guaranteed minimum, but I'm not missing anything driving for Walmart.

Their stores usually gum up my 14 hour clock, so I'm not getting as much mileage as usual, anyway.

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GlockinaCroc@reddit

I did local intermodal for Schneider in SoCal for almost 2 years. Communication after midnight was absolute garbage. Fuck em

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Fishdude909@reddit

Im with Schneider, haven’t noticed anything. Dedicated account though

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TheJuggernaut043@reddit

Telling any company your 'about' to quit is a bad idea.....

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oasuke@reddit

I've heard drivers give a 2 week notice and the company cut them that same day. Always take your vacation first, make sure you get your vacation paycheck, then quit.

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Alkanfel@reddit

Yeah this happened to me when I left Western. The (crook scammer) I worked for afterward didn't care, but after I left his (exploitative, dogshit) operation I discovered that Western was saying I "left without notice" and freaked out, thinking it would hurt my chances with a legit company. When I spoke with a recruiter for my current company I offered to show her my social media posts with pictures of me and the truck as I was turning it in at the terminal but she said that wasn't necessary and companies do that shit all the time.

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ShoddyRaisin4042@reddit

Actually there's a massive driver shortage 🤓👆

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Freightliner15@reddit

I'm not a Schneider driver. But, I pull reefer and stay plenty busy.

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ForgottonTNT@reddit

It’s winter, and a holiday is just around the corner. This time of year tends to be really slow.

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oasuke@reddit

Funny, my company said it was peak season. Also Winter starts Dec 21st

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disturbedrailroader@reddit

my company said it was peak season.

Because it is. Peak season is typically right after Halloween up to the first week of January.

If you want to get a really good feel for how busy peak season is going to be, find your closest intermodal rail yard and take a look at their tracks. If it's full of loaded railcars, it's gonna be busy. Empty or empty railcars? Hunker down, it's gonna be rough.

Obviously, this isn't foolproof. There's a great number of things that could affect rail traffic, but on the whole, it does hold true.

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ChiTruckDGAF@reddit

That's what they told me during the summer.

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ForgottonTNT@reddit

Are you specialized? I did reefer, so it wasn’t really slow for me. Plus, a lot of dispatchers can be petty—if you prioritize home time, they’ll skip over you for loads to make sure you get home on time. Meanwhile, the drivers who don’t take home time often get more loads since they can be sent anywhere.

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ChiTruckDGAF@reddit

I was dedicated dry van. Now I'm dedicated chemical tanker and even that's not been as busy as I would prefer. Both accounts home weekly. But I'm still new with this and don't know these office staff as well, so who knows.

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Meatbuns66@reddit

dfw dtls over the weekend were short staffed due to pto usage.

I don't think you have to worry about the company. They've "never laid a driver off", and after looking at their financials for the last 12 months company is operating with a profit.

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NewZJ@reddit

Perfect time to lay off a ton of drivers and raise the stock price up before end of q4

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Meatbuns66@reddit

👀

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zultan91@reddit

Did you send a cherwell?

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Accurate_Fee710@reddit

My dedicated account has been getting me 50 hours in 4 days all month. But I’m one of top performers on my account… are you otr?

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SanDuskyMclusky@reddit (OP)

I'm regional and everything I do is completely random, I understand I'm lowest on the totem pole but I do a good job, never go over my hours or mess anything up. The sheer randomness of my loads has gotten me in some hairy situations regarding my time and where I will park but I haven't messed up so far.

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ManxMammoth@reddit

Is your nat set correctly? The only times I don't get loads are caused by my nat being set incorrectly and I usually get one within a few hours once I correct it.

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Wstiglet@reddit

This. Use the Trip Plan app. It overrides your NAT on the Work Flow app. They don't tell you that in training. Took them 6 months to tell me.

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Mindes13@reddit

What can you adjust on that besides breaks? On mine that's all I can do. If I need my nat or ETA to stay put I choose 'driver related'.

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Wstiglet@reddit

On the trip plan app whatever you set your last break to is your Nat on work flow. So if you're ready now but your Nat won't stay updated on work flow go and put a 5-10 min break at the end and it should update if not you'll just have to wait that 30 min hold to get ahold of your dtl.

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Accurate_Fee710@reddit

Oh yeah regional without being dedicated sucks ass. Definitely see if you can get on account and you won’t get the leftovers

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jeff4sex7563@reddit

They're closing the doors. Moving to China

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ManxMammoth@reddit

I've been still getting loads but it feels like I've been filling in for local/dedicated drivers in random areas. No communication issues a few days ago on the weekend.

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StunningPass5040@reddit

Did Western 11 with them, and that’d happen to me quite often. Deliver in Modesto/Stockton, CA area, then sit around for 1-2 days easy with still half my 70 remaining, would call in and they’d sat their working on it. Well crap you better work overtime cause there’s 4-6 other Schneider guys in this same truck stop that have been here as long as I have!

Dedicated account with them is for sure the way to go. Pickup from the customers DC, deliver to their store or wherever, then they route you back to the city with the DC.

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SubstantialWonder409@reddit

There's been issues with the tablets, so I'm told. Phones never work, especially if everyone and their uncle is calling in so.

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xDoomKitty@reddit

Don't worry, there's a driver shortage