Profile For Mike G.

What are the possible penalties for driving a part of a teammate's shift? Ie the teammate is tired, and the load has to be on time.

You work for a big company.

A hypothetical teammate is a pile of garbage as a teammate. Drives with all manner of distractions, including watching youtube on their phone which is mounted on the windshield, directly in view of their lane. Despite your best efforts to get them to correct this, they refuse. They also refuse to drive their shift, claiming they're too tired, and refuse to get enough sleep. An all around failure of a teammate. You want to report them due to them being a wreck waiting to happen.

However, last week, before you did a 34 hour reset, You have a load, and the teammate refuses to drive the rest of their shift, claims they only need two or so hours of sleep. You're wide awake, and foolishly drive two hours of their shift. You're brand new to team driving, haven't even done a shift that week, and the thought to just start your shift early doesn't occur to you. You're worried that if you refuse, they will drive tired and potentially cause a wreck.

Now, you want to report the teammate to the company, but you worry they'll say that you violated company policy as well, potentially getting you fired along with them.

In this hypothetical, what should you do?

Congrats Simon!

I don't think I've ever heard of that company. They have beautiful looking rigs, that's for sure! Says they have over 300 tractors so it's a nice size company. I'd be interested to hear how things go for you over there.

Let me give you a bit of objective information about Big M. Not going to ***** about miles and whatnot. Just going to give some accurate information.

Pay:

1. New drivers start at 27cpm with a 10cpm per diem. Top pay is 45cpm last time I checked. There is a 1cpm safety bonus. It does not stack.

2. Drivers are eligible for a pay raise every 3 months. However, in order to be eligible for a raise, you must first have a minimum of 6 months experience.

3. Drivers are paid for all miles driven, whether empty or loaded

4. Drivers are not paid for all the miles they drive. Pay is from zip code to zip code. If you drive a bit out of the way to get around traffic, you will not be paid for those extra miles.

5. Pay is 2 weeks behind. When you first start, you will be paid your first check 2 weeks after that friday

Equipment:

1. The trucks do look great. The paint is a beautiful red color.

2. The trucks are governed at 65 on the pedal, 68 on the cruise.

3. All the trucks have automatic transmissions. With the exception of the ratty old yard truck

4. Drivers are unable to manually select gears.

5. All trucks have an exterior and interior facing camera.

6. Big M uses volvos, freightliners, internationals, and a few Macks.

7. Trucks are programmed for maximum fuel mileage, sacrificing pulling power.

8. Trailers are decent. Most have air actuated tandems.

9. Big M is good about maintenance and repairs on the road. However, this applies only to repairs that have to do with DOT regulation and drivability.

10. Trucks have speed gauge. Unlike most companies which are told only if the truck exceeds a certain speed, speed gauge will tell them if the truck exceeds the speed limit by a certain amount. However, many roads have updated limits and speed gauge will not be updated yet.

11. Trucks have APUs and thermoking engine-off air conditioning.

12. They advertise 3 year old or newer equipment. Some of their trucks are 4 or 5 years old.

Culture/Operation:

1. Most loads go to the northeast. Only teams will go west.

2. You can refuse to deliver to NYC.

3. Their biggest contracts are Cooper Tire, PCA paper rolls, and FedEx. However, there are many broker loads.

4. They fuel at Pilot/flying J, and a few Loves truck stops.

5. There is a shortage of trainers. Some new people might wait several weeks before going out on the road. This time is spent practicing backing on their range/drop lot in their yard truck.

6. They hire people with criminal records and at fault accidents.

7. They are very strict about spending only 10 hours in the sleeper. Even if you like to deliver while in sleeper to save your clock, or if you can easily make your appointments.

8. There is a pet and rider policy

9. Other drivers have little respect for big m.

10. You can route yourself to get around traffic or take a better route.