Obtained Cdl Today, Keim Ts Orientation Tomorrow!

PS

I am new to this site and trust me I will provide insight and positive feedback where it is deserved. However, I will also be brutally honest in the same fashion. Hope to post something positive. But it wont be about Keim.

When I complained about being manipulated like this I was basically told "oh well.....you dont have to stay here."

If you complain you are told "maybe you will be happier elsewhere."

You have to really force yourself to argue when you want time off.

If you complain you are told you can leave.

Sorry but I am not a malcontent.

I'm no expert, and I obviously don't have all the facts, but I think I can make a reasonable judgment of what happened here:

Things were fine at first. Then something happened that you didn't like. You complained about it and likely accused them of treating you unfairly. They did not like that, so they decided to try and teach you a lesson by making things more difficult for you. This got you even more upset so you complained again, and harder. And with that, the downward spiral had begun.

That's just what it sounds like to me. Again, I'm no expert and I know I'm still a rookie, but I've read enough posts on here and I know enough about human behavior to be able to make an educated guess.

I was there for a few years and tried like hell.

If it was so horrible, why did you stay so long? There's a million companies out there that pay great and will give you all the miles you can stand. I never worked for a company that didn't give me great miles and I wouldn't have stayed somewhere if they hadn't.

Oh, and about John Deere loads. Only the "good ol boys" and "favorites" will get those loads

Why weren't you one of those guys then? Especially if you were there for a few years. Didn't they want their best drivers handling their best paying freight for their most important customers? That's how companies normally work.

Things were fine at first. Then something happened that you didn't like. You complained about it and likely accused them of treating you unfairly. They did not like that, so they decided to try and teach you a lesson by making things more difficult for you. This got you even more upset so you complained again, and harder. And with that, the downward spiral had begun.

I agree 100%. That's my guess too. Otherwise an experienced driver who knows their worth isn't going to stick with a place for a few years if they're not getting the miles and not getting treated well.

And you don't perceive yourself to be a malcontent, and yet you used the word "complain" a thousand times, you were clearly disgruntled and complained to them a lot, and you came here to the forum specifically to complain about the company and let everyone know how terrible they were. What would you call yourself if not a malcontent?

I have a friend who works at Walmart and one time I went to visit her on her lunch. She had to put a few things away quick that were in a cart so I followed her around for a minute. It was like a week before Christmas. She says, "I hate Christmas time around here because everyone is so crabby and in such a rush." As we went through the store she's weaving in and out of other customers like a 19 year old on the Interstate in a sports car. She bumped carts with two different people, didn't say excuse me or anything to either one, let out a big sigh every time someone held her up, and had a scowl on her face the whole time. She'd look at me with this exasperated look every time someone was in her way like, "My God these people are driving me nuts!!!"

I watched each person she came in contact with and not one of them was in a hurry or a foul mood. Almost all of them smiled, and both of the two that she bumped into said they were sorry and smiled even though it was my friend's fault. My friend, of course, said nothing.

That was many years ago but it was a lesson I tucked away and kept with me. She was literally the exact type of person she was complaining about and the only person that day that was like that. And yet she somehow believed she was the pleasant one and everyone else was the problem. So even though everyone else's mood was fine and their experience at the store was fine, she was miserable and everyone aggravated her though they did nothing wrong whatsoever. If I hadn't seen it for myself I wouldn't have believed it.

However, I will also be brutally honest in the same fashion.

Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself why they weren't giving you the freight you wanted. Because obviously the freight was available and the people they liked were getting it. Why weren't you one of those drivers?

Were you the type of person that they wanted to give good freight to?

Did they hire you just to aggravate you with no intention of giving you good loads?

Do they hate turning profits and decided they'd enjoy letting your truck sit all the time?

Be brutally honest with yourself but do us a favor....don't be brutally honest with your perception of trucking companies. Someone who thinks they're not a complainer and yet does nothing but complain needs to accurately assess themselves before they'll be of any help assessing someone else.

If you had said that all of the drivers were unhappy or no one was getting freight then obviously there was a company-wide problem. If you had said you were only there three months and said the heck with it and left I would say you had a bad experience from the start. But it certainly sounds to us like a lot of people loved it at that place but you rubbed people the wrong way and complained a lot. Hey, I was that guy once!

I worked for a company that had a ton of drivers that had been there for a lot of years. But I didn't like their policies and I wouldn't do the things the "good ol' boys" would do like bring their own tools to help work on their own trucks on the weekend for free! (I kid you not!) So I complained a good bit and in return they wouldn't fix the air conditioning on my truck and gave me the crappy jobs. But I knew I rubbed them the wrong way, it wasn't the right place for me, and so I moved on. But I never once complained about the company or thought it was their fault that things didn't work out. And I didn't feel the need to go around the web blasting them for the way they ran things, nor did I blast the good ol' boys for volunteering their time to help the company. They did things a certain way, I didn't agree, I complained, and I got put in the doghouse. That's life. You have to find a place that suits you well and make your own way.

I would not call it complaining. When a carrier is questioned about why you cant get home, why you get low miles etc. it is deserving of an answer. I really dont want to get into a word game but I think you get my point lol. Call it "questioning" or "complaining" ....its the same thing lol.

Why did I stay? To be honest I made a lot of friends and forged good relationships with my brother drivers. I made there, but in the end its about my ability to take care of my kids and family. When someone begins to play games with me...and it effects my wife and kids....I will address it!! I am a hard worker and will haul anything any where. I was hoping it would get better or my concerns would be heard. If their answer was to tell me they had other applicants waiting to get a truck......well that response speaks volumes about how Keim is.

I dont want to be a good ole boy. I want to be a responsible driver who earns a decent living for their family without having to politic. Sorry but I am not built that way.

Some of my friends have moved on (for the reasons in my original post) and some are still there. On that note they are currently in the shopping mode looking for another carrier.

The brutal truth is they are no different than the larger carriers that love driver turn over for various reasons (that would be a good topic about all trucking companies).

I am just pointing out that this carrier is not a "truckers utopia" lol.

I am happy with my current carrier. (Melton) They are up front. They answer questions and address issues. Fair tarp pay. Good miles. Good pay. Excellent benefits. Great communication.

PS I had some friends that went to Maverick. They like it there.

Moglar I would just like to point out a few things so that someone actually looking at Keim does not give any credibility to your accusations. I am 1 of those people and I was reading the thread in this forum and the thread in another forum on a different trucking site. The common denominator was you sir. In the other thread you were singing the praises of Keim and how wonderful a company they were. How you felt like family and was treated so well. On here you have done nothing but complain and Bash them and of course throw in the praises of your new company.. which my theory is that this is your M.O. To talk of how wonderful a company is in hopes to have a new driver elect to go to that company. In which case they will list you as the person who referred them and you will be able to collect any referral bonus that company is paying. which is perfectly within your rights. However I would hope that in future posts you could at least list some of the good thing you were saying about the company you are now bashing.

It would give a bit more validity to your comments and perhaps shed a bit of light on your true motivation.. I will also add that I find it very difficult to believe your version of what happened at Keim. Not because of your posts on another site but because of your posts on this thread. As I believe you Moglar and Kevin H are the same person having set up different accounts on the same site. That is made clear by the detailed posts by Kevin H and you representing that you are New to this site and then 1 final post by Moglar who has been a member for a couple of years and you reference your previous post as Kevin H... It is unfortunate because there are New drivers who are trying to research and make the most informed decision they can. which will impact there life in a very big way. Like me and part of my research on potential employers is done by reading reviews and forums about companies I am interested in. Only to read posts by you that appear to be inaccurate and false..

I've read a lot on here that it was hard to get your cdl without going to school, and yes it was a challenge, But I am proud that I accomplished that challenge. I've also read that it's hard to get a job, keim hired me without any issue that I didn't complete a school. Maybe it was due to the fact that all my training was with a flatbed O/O, but I could not be more excited! I head to Sabetha, ks in the morning to start orientation, drug test, driving test and then out with a trainer for the weekend! This site has been a good tool and I will continue to keep you all updated!

Good luck Gregory H. I wanted to apply to Keim TS but live 750 miles from their terminal! They caught my attention as being a smaller company, with really nice trucks! Good luck, if you get time post how things are going for you. My wife is looking at graduate school maybe at Kansas State, if we move there I will be applying with Keim.

I would like to say that I am beginning my career at Keim. I have spoke with them the beginning of this week and they have me scheduled to begin on Dec 27th.My experience has been great so far! They have been very helpful and have answered all my questions. I never felt "recruited" by them they have openly taken me in. I was informed that I will be starting out makin 25 1/4%. I am excited to start! I am going to do the best I can for them and hope the same for me! Looking forward to eventually becoming a trainer and hauling their specialized freight. They have definitely tried me like family so far! I tried going to TMC, while they seemed to be a great company while I was in origination it unfortunately did not work out for me due to unresolved issues with the training department.

So coming from a family where both my parents are drivers my dad for 31 years and my mother for a little over ten years now I've seen my fair share of trucking companies both large and small. My dad has bounced between numerous companies in my short 27 years of life. I currently work for a modular home plant moving houses from the plant to their final destinations and set them on their foundations. My crew foreman (who is also our house puller) worked for keim some time ago he said it was a great company to drive for he just couldn't handle the flatbed situation with his reconstructed shoulder. I am scheduled to complete my driving time for my driving school the 26th through the 31st of Jan and then complete my driving test for my cdl. I have already begun my application process with Keim and actually visited their terminal today. The people I have dealt with have answered my questions completely none of their responses have sounded rehearsed and some of the answers were actually different from what I hoped they would have said they have been brutally honest with me thus far. I am may not be an experienced driver but I do have experience dealing with this industry. I do live within a hundred miles of Sabetha Kansas their main terminal. Therefore I do not forsee me personally having many issues with home time. I am also from Tennessee fairly close to Jasper where they have a Satellite terminal. I do believe that bashing a company is quite uncalled. I however do not let another person's opinion of something affect my own opinion.

Gregory H. I do wish you the best of luck and maybe I can get a heads up on what to expect from orientation. Hopefully by the end of February I'll join you on the Keim Team.