Never Say Never

Thanks, I never would have guessed this would happen here. They have been growing, expanding, and most of the equipment is 2 yrs old at the most. There were certainly no outward signs of it. This has had to be in the works for awhile. It was awesome while it lasted though. Now I have to go back working for a living lol. The new job, they have been around along time and keep the trucks moving. I would rather take a chance on them than go back otr. Where I live granite is the only local gig. Everything happens for a reason.

Update: Well after all the rumors the trigger was pulled. The first rumors are very true. Star Granite sold out to Matthews Inc. for 48.1 million and they took over on 2-1-18. I got back yesterday morning at 0530 and dropped my trailer. Turned in my paperwork and there was nothing in my box at all. In fact none of us had anything in our boxs. Normally we would have had our bills for next week in them. I went home, in their truck as I always do. I waited till about 0900 and called to check on next weeks load. I was told I had to see HR before they could do anything. This was the very first official notification I got about the buyout. I drove down to the plant and had to stand in line for almost an hour, was given a onboarding packet I had to fill out, then stand in another line to turn it in. I had been up since midnight getting back and was pretty tired. I’m also getting over the flu which certainly hasn’t helped. I worked last week sick, I was not so bad as dot would put me out of service, just not 100%. The lady took my paperwork was very rude and told me I needed to read the rest of the packet. I started to ask her a question and she cut mee off and told me I could call the 800 number in my packet and told me my employee number on the card I would need.

I work for small folks for a reason. This type of very large corporation stuff I don’t like at all. I have not been able to find out anything other than “nothing is changing right now”. This was written on a information paper in the packet.

I checked with the company I applied too and they have a management meeting monday to discuss a few things. My possible new boss told me the guy I am replacing set his retirement date as 3-1. However they bought an additional truck last week and are going to decide which location to assign it. Of course my guy here wants too put me in it and when the guy retires they can move it to the ky terminal. It’s hard to find drivers in my area much less good ones so he wants me on board as fast as possible. He just has to convince his boss of that.

It will all work out. Just wanted to post this update. It may be helpful to others considering smaller companies.

Sorry your current job is ending with "a bitter end", but it looks like a bright future is in the works. Hang in there. Fingers are crossed for your continuing success.

Thanks everyone, I sure hate all the uncertainity. This morning my new boss called and asked me too come by. He has me all approved, all I need is the pre employment drug test. They do them 1 block away. I went over and got it out of the way. We discussed me giving notice. It’s kinda touchy since my current supervisor is best friends with my new boss. Small town what can I say. We came up with a game plan together with plan A and plan B. Always nice to be prepared. I went and found my boss and we had the hard talk. At first he was upset, but after hearing me out he looked at me and said “I can’t argue with your logic”. He asked me too stay on till 3-2 when the other seat opens to help him out. That was Plan A by the way. I agreed and we all made this as easy a transition as possible. So its all coming together.

Oh Plan B my new boss told me he would take me immediately if they didn’t want me to work out the notice and just go today.

I was told by some very savy people once that working for small companies is one extreme or the other. Either wonderful or terrible, really nothing in between.

I have loved this job and things were great until they sold to a large international corporation. They told us nothing was changing right now on friday and today announcements in pay structure and building access came out. That sure didn’t take very long

3 weeks and I’ll have a new home at least for awhile.

Awesome and Sad, both...

Yes it is. I really liked this job. I ran a short load this week and the phone rang off the hook. I did manage to find out a few things in the process.

A manager for the Matthews International made a comment that they were not in the transportation business and don’t want to be....

However a quick search of fmcsa shows they have 2 dot numbers and 495 trucks total. I would say they are in the transportation business. They have a 3rd dot number that went inactive with 208 trucks. Curious....

A couple drivers made some calls around about jobs and boy that set off a firestorm. The former owner decided to personally call all the drivers. I heard him out. Bottom line he says our jobs are intact and we have nothing to worry about. I had rec’d a call before he called from my immediate supervisor saying he had NOT submitted my notice yet and if I changed my mind about leaving To let him know next week.

It makes leaving a bit uncomfortable however I thought about everything more on the way home and I feel I’m making the right decision.

I’m the type person who likes and needs consistenty in my life. I guess we just never know what is likely to happen we just have to go with our gut and the odds based on facts at hand

Sounds like the drivers worked there because of the former owner.. I am sure the drivers all had similar reasons for working there. No one can blame them for wanting to go elsewhere now a large corporation took over.

TBH, if Wolding ever got bought out or sold to a larger company, I would leave. I doubt it would ever happen, but.....

Even though Wolding is a 300+ truck operation, it truly feels much smaller. It is one of those things I absolutely love about Wolding.

Hey ya’ll. G town, errol, old school and anyone else I need a sounding board. I got a call today from the former owner again, this time he knew my notice was in. He asked what in the devil happened for me too want to leave. I told him bcause of all the incertainty surrounding him selling out. I was afraid because of the guy shooting his mouth off they would move toward outsourcing and since I’m the only driver on salary they would probably take that away and put me on mileage.

He shared some details on the contract he has with Matthews and he still has control over the day to day operations, hiring/firing, pay scale and needs of the operation. He went to the top of matthews about the trucks and they asked him which way he felt was the best, which obvisously is to keep them and they agreed. He swears my job and salary are safe. He offered me a 250.00 a week bump in salary while he was at it. He has never lied to me in the past that I know of, and I feel he is being honest with me to the best of his ability. I just don’t know which way is best.

Unfortunately there's always a critical transition period when one business buys another and the #1 priority during that transition is to prevent a major disruption to the business. Their first goal is to keep as many of the existing employees as long as possible so you don't have a mass exodus and a complete disruption of the business which can snowball into lost customers, lost contracts, a big hit to the revenues, and a bad reputation.

So it's quite common for the ownership and management to say whatever it takes to prevent a major disruption to the business. Personally I wouldn't believe anything unless they put it in writing and signed it. If they give you a contract in writing that guarantees your job and salary for a set period of time then you might have something you can count on. Otherwise it's all just talk.

I'm not saying you should stay or leave. That's totally your call. I'm just saying if it's not in writing with a signature from the owner then it doesn't mean anything.

Wow PJ, you are dealing with a bit of a roller-coaster. I must agree with Brett...in short try to get something in writing.

Nothing is gauranteed, however conversations are quickly forgotten. If he (former owner) was willing to say it, then politely ask him to confirm it in writing and cc current ownership. Anything less than that would create doubt in my mind.

Interesting chess match. Good luck with it.