Schneider Teams- Only $800-900 Weekly

[Note from Brett Aquila: Normally we don't allow this kind of stuff in the forum but this time I'm going to leave the complaint so we can dissect it and try to figure out what went wrong here...]

I worked for Schneider teaming for short of six months. I had 5 different partners and 4 of them including me are no longer with the company. I had only two weeks that I earned over $1,000 gross and both of them were solo when I was between partners. I shared a spreadsheet I kept with two different DBL's and their managers to professionally explain I was not getting the promised miles of 6,000 a week. I actually have never gotten over 5,000 in any week. To average 6,000 you must have a week over 6,000. The managers avoided any commitment or apology and blamed it on chance. Not only did we not get the pay or miles promised we would regularly get stuck sitting between loads for hours 5-10 at a time. This is not productive for the company nor its teams since then both the trucks and the drivers are not producing income. There freight management system and interaction between the planners and DBL's is very flawed. They have huge turnover, supposedly turn away tons of freight daily but can't keep their drivers moving. On three occasions I have been at drop yards and OC's where there were over a half dozen drivers waiting multiple hours on loads. A good system would keep them moving, have the loads preassigned and wouldn't bunch up drivers where there is no business.

Ya know William, I'm not real impressed with your rants. You seem to think you know way more about moving freight than one of the largest players in the game, you've lost five driving partners in less than six months, you claim chneider "promised" you six thousand miles a week, you can't seem to keep your wheels turning in a way that's profitable, and it's somehow all Schneider's fault.

I realize a lot of these trucks don't have a mirror inside them but you seriously need to stop and take a long contemplative look in one sometime. You just might find the reason for most of the problems you've carried on about.

A friend of mine and his wife worked for chneider and ran as a team for a couple of years. They made waaaaay more than you mentioned in your post and, with the exception of the occasional delay while being live loaded, their truck was always rolling. My fiancé and his best friend are team drivers with [Company Name Removed] and the company's been very good to them. We have absolutely no complaints with the money or the availability of loads. That hasn't been an issue for us at all.

Reading your post, it sounds to me like there's definitely a problem somewhere, but it's not on Schneider's end...

5 different partners in 6 months and Schneider's the problem?? I believe that statement says all we need to know.......

Got any good stories about your partners?

5 different partners in 6 months and Schneider's the problem?? I believe that statement says all we need to know.......

They left the company too! They had the same issues with broken promises, long waits and below average team pay. I was a new driver and was not perfect by any means but I busted ass to run 550 to 600 miles a day when on loads, kept to my ETA's when feasible and always communicated our status so there were no surprises.

Ya know William, I'm not real impressed with your rants. You seem to think you know way more about moving freight than one of the largest players in the game, you've lost five driving partners in less than six months, you claim chneider "promised" you six thousand miles a week, you can't seem to keep your wheels turning in a way that's profitable, and it's somehow all Schneider's fault.

I realize a lot of these trucks don't have a mirror inside them but you seriously need to stop and take a long contemplative look in one sometime. You just might find the reason for most of the problems you've carried on about.

So five of us left the company due to broken promises from their ads and recruiters and it is all my fault? Who are you Don Schneider? I am a new imperfect driver but I know it makes no sense to keep two motivated drivers and a truck sitting not running 5-6,000 miles a week when the driver proved they can run 550 to 600 a day each. I don't know why you took this personally but I agree that I am not perfect and still have lots to learn.

Got any good stories about your partners?

One guy only made it 24 hrs after seeing my shipment miles and pay tracker. He quit and went back home. Another guy had several kids and was away from home for 3 weeks at a time for only 700-900 weekly gross.

Another guy should have never been hired and should not have passed the physical and screening.

I had little experience and attended a crappy CDL school in NY which did not prepare me for real world. I need much more experience but get better every week.

Ok let's see if we can figure out what's gone wrong here.....

I worked for Schneider teaming for short of six months

Working for a big company for six months is barely enough time for them to learn how to spell your name. It takes time to prove yourself when you're new to a company, regardless of your experience level. It takes time to develop a good relationship with a solid dispatcher and get to know some of the people in management so you have someone on your side when you need help, like when you're not getting enough miles.

Lesson #1: Give it time. Jumping from company to company every six months is going to keep you at the bottom of the totem pole forever. You have to stick with a company for a year or more before you're really "in" with the important people and you've developed a great reputation for yourself.

I had 5 different partners and 4 of them including me are no longer with the company.

Five different partners in six months? Sounds like either this guy is hard to get along with or all of the other drivers at Schneider are.

Lesson #2: Get along with people. As a trucker you have to learn to work with people, not against them. In this case as a team driver you're equal partners and it's important to work together. Everywhere else you go you will have no authority over anyone. So you can't boss people around, threaten them, and force a situation to go your way. You have to learn to coax people into being on your side. You want them to like you and respect you so they'll want to help you. It's the only chance you've got. This applies anywhere from the loading docks to restaurants, DOT checkpoints, your own company's offices, on the docks, or in the shipping office. You're not in charge of anyone so don't act like it. It will bite you in the *ss.

I kept with two different DBL's and their managers to professionally explain I was not getting the promised miles of 6,000 a week.

"Professionally explain" sounds perfect. You really have to be professional when dealing with people if you ever want to get anywhere in this industry. But my concern is the word "promise". I have indeed heard of companies that will guarantee a certain number of miles or a certain salary each week as long as you're available to drive and meet certain requirements. And you can be sure that these companies will put this in writing. In this case I'd really like to know if this promise of 6,000 miles per week was put in writing. But I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it wasn't simply because almost nobody could ever guarantee that a team will always get 6,000 miles per week. 5,000 miles maybe, but not 6,000.

Lesson: It means nothing if it's not in writing. Get all promises in writing or consider them bogus.

The managers avoided any commitment or apology and blamed it on chance.

Well they wouldn't be able to avoid a promise that was put in writing. They might be able to try, but legally they would be obligated. And apologies don't pay the bills. So if the company did fall short on a promise they should be putting money in your pocket, not making apologies.

Not only did we not get the pay or miles promised we would regularly get stuck sitting between loads for hours 5-10 at a time. This is not productive for the company nor its teams since then both the trucks and the drivers are not producing income

This is an example of someone making a misjudgment about their company due to a simple lack of experience in the industry. Waiting times at shippers and receivers are not under the control of the trucking company. This is solely in the hands of the shippers and receivers. And companies can't preassign everyone freight. Some of the experienced, proven drivers they will but not the rookies. Rarely will they do that.

There freight management system and interaction between the planners and DBL's is very flawed

Schneider was founded in 1935 with just one truck. The company now operates more than 12,300 trucks and more than 33,300 trailers employing more than 18,200 people worldwide. While no system is perfect I find it hard to imagine that someone with six months of driving experience knows enough about the trucking industry or inner workings of Schneider to detect and repair flaws in their logistics infrastructure.

They have huge turnover

This driver went through 5 partners in 6 months. Now that is what I call a huge turnover!

supposedly [they] turn away tons of freight daily but can't keep their drivers moving

That's a puzzling statement.

On three occasions I have been at drop yards and OC's where there were over a half dozen drivers waiting multiple hours on loads. A good system would keep them moving, have the loads preassigned and wouldn't bunch up drivers where there is no business.

If drivers, freight schedules, weather, road conditions, and the equipment itself was reliable enough that you knew for a fact every load would be delivered on time then you could assign every load ahead of time. Do you know what would happen if they preassigned 12,000 loads for 12,000 drivers before those loads were delivered? omg...

Another guy had several kids and was away from home for 3 weeks at a time for only 700-900 weekly gross.

I certainly hope he wasn't surprised by that because that's exactly what he should have expected from OTR driving his first year. And I mean exactly.

Another guy should have never been hired and should not have passed the physical and screening.

That's an interesting statement. So now the doctors aren't doing their job during DOT physicals, the drug testing clinics aren't doing their job, and Schneider isn't screening drivers properly. Man, it seems like everyone else keeps doing everything wrong.

I had little experience and attended a crappy CDL school in NY which did not prepare me for real world.

Whoa! I almost spoke too soon. Turns out the truck driving school also did a crappy job. I'd hate to leave anyone out. In fact, I think that covers pretty much every single person he came across from the time he stepped into a classroom until he quit the company.

Let's see where the score stands at this point:

I'm told that Schneider as a whole is crappy but more specifically their recruiting, screening, drug clinics, doctors, logistics software, dispatchers, load planners, operations managers, and all 5 drivers he was paired with all suck! And of course the CDL school also sucks.

My God I think I'm feeling left out. Seriously, don't I suck??? Either insult me too or I'm gonna go get a lollipop cuz I've gotta suck if everyone else does. I hate being left behind and singled out like that.