P.T. H. Express (P&A) Elk Grove Village, Il

The reason we have this second company is mostly because of our CPA. In 2007 we decided to get 10 brand new trucks ( big mistake, never give a new truck to a driver, they will ruin it). Until than this company had only O/O's. Once we bought the trucks our CPA advised us that it will be much easier for us and him to keep up with the books if we separate the employees from the O/O's . Which in most part is true but it gives my accounting department a bit more work.

 

You really should quit while you're behind Nataly, your description of PTH Inc and PTH Express is the classic setup for double dipping!

 

For your post in red : I am not planning to stand as low as you and to even comment on your insults, but I would say this :
For your 27y of experience you are showing me nothing but ignorance, You understand this industry as well as a chef can fly an air plane.
Q" Trucking isn't trial and error when it comes to safety, you better know the rules coming in and you'd better abide by those rules so nobody gets hurt."
I will have you know that I have been certified by : CDS (Certified Director of Safety) issued by Penn State University and National Committee for Motor Fleet Safety
CAI (Certified Accident Investigator) issued by Florida State University and National Committee for Motor Fleet Safety
Certified by National Safety Council in Instruction and Certification of Truck Drivers in Defensive Driving Standards, Policies and Practices, so please don't talk to me about rules and regulations.

Are you really that ignorant or you are pretending to be?
http://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/reports/rwservlet / http://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov/LIVIEW/pkg_carrquery.prc_getdetail
PTH Inc, is an Inactive company. It was created by the founder of PTH Express, Inc before he had his partner and was never used. It was insured in 2006/07 for a while for unknown to me reasons. You should really examine the facts closer before you speak.

 

Now I'm going to be rude and disrespectful. You blame drivers for "ruining" new trucks, who's in charge of the drivers? Who's in charge of the trucks? Your co. that's who, you allowed the drivers to "ruin" the trucks had you hired qualified drivers you wouldn't have "ruined" trucks.

I can't say PTH is like so many immigrant co's in the Elk Grove area. These co's have operated south of the law for years, they hire poor immigrant drivers that can't speak english (a PTH driver got a ticket for that) they run them through CDL mills then pay them squat. The immigrant drivers are for the most part ignorant to the laws so they rely on the owner to tell them how things work which eventually leads to violations, many like the ones PTH has.

These co's are bottom feeding scum (PTH aside of course), they are unlawful and at times dangerous, the fools that run these co's care about one thing and one thing only, that is the almighty dollar. Of course when they get caught they immediately blame the driver, the one person they hired and assured through hiring guidleines set forth by the FMCSA would be safe and compliant is the one to blame, not the owner or manager that hired them, no, they are completely blameless, it's all the drivers fault, lol.

Judging from Nataly's posts PTH is a driver friendly co. so much so that they allow their drivers to do what ever they darn well please when it comes to compliance and safety. I guess if I were to ignore the glaringly obvious CSA score and the violations then I would have no arguement but there is according to Nataly "more to the story".

Maybe PTH is no bottom feeder, I wouldn't know, but that pesky CSA score sure doesn't help your cause, What are you going to say when your shippers start looking at these scores? "There's more to the story?" Shippers don't care about stories, they care about litigation, shippers and brokers are getting dragged into court now when a trucking co. causes a wreck, this new (CSA) public information will give no shipper or broker an out when it comes to negligence, so if I were you I'd get cracking on straghtening the mess rather than telling me there's more to the story, missy.

 

Ok so I'm using the wrong co. big whoop, having O/O's and co. drivers under the same roof is no that big a deal accounting wise. Seperating the co. drivers and O/O's into two seperate entities is a text book way to double dip, pure and simple. If you did it the right way the first co. would be a freight forwarder.

 

Having certifications and degrees mean nothing when it comes to common sense and experience Nataly plenty of MBA's run companies into the ground. I'd say your 'professional pedigree' has done little in regard to PTH's safety score, anything else.

In regard to years of experience, where were you 27 years ago?

 

Yeah, your rudeness is quite charming. First I am not a "Missy"
2nd what I meant by don't give brand new trucks to drivers is that you will get the same result if you give them used trucks but the money you spend will be less. Drivers with dogs, parrots, hell there was even one with a wolf... go figure. And guess what mister.., no one comes and tells you I have a wired friend that will ruin your interior. We get to find out when we take the truck for inspection..., it's a nice surprise.
Now you are not only rude, you are a racist as well. Immigrants who don't speak English..., well i am not an English teacher and it is not I that gave them the CDL's. Once upon a time, drivers were allowed to take the exam on English, Polish or Spanish... take it out with the Secretary of State I don't have the authority to issue CDL's
$0.43 per mile is far away from paying squad, and we have all kind of drivers, immigrants from all over as well as Americans! We believe at equal employment opportunities and will not turn some one down just because he is not born in USA.
And Yes we are a driver friendly company, I don's see nothing wrong with that. We try to work with our drivers, and YES we do cut them slack some times, and Yes we do give them second chances. ( I am not saying that I agree with all the second chances because there are some that take advantage of that) but the co's get sympathetic some times.

Now don't call ppl bottom feeders, you look only true you prism and are far away from reality. Brokers/shippers/receivers like those "bottom feeders" ..., do you have the slightest idea why? I'll tell you, because those companies with 2/3 trucks that are mostly driven by the owners expedite freight for a cheaper price. The broker pays less and makes more. And again this is the fault of the DOT. I also work as a Safety Consultant and 2 out of 3 companies don't even have records, let alone DQ files. And again I blame DOT, because they let those companies operate, without giving them at least basic training.
Now I can see that you are not only fluent in Safety, you are an expert in accounting..., how wonderful!!!! Such a know it all person will be an asset to any company ... Uhhhhhhh.......

 

As usually happens when I start a post I get carried away and well stay with me as this one is another Rollover Information filled post!



You never had me as a driver! My dad taught me that when you borrow something you return it in as good of shape or better than when you borrowed it! I have NEVER turned in a truck in a dirty or trashed condition! Ask any who drove in the same company as I have how I kept my equipment. I treat it like it's mine! I get really pissed if a mechanic even gets grease on the steering wheel lets not even think about the floor or carpet!

Here's an easy way to buy a new truck and get it back in as good condition.

A small "contract" that the driver must sign stating that you are given a truck in such and such condition. An inspection sheet with check boxes with good and bad behind each part to fill out along with a set of rules like, You will NOT drill holes, cut any wires, remove any parts or leave Velcro stuck for more than 2 months in the same spot. Then you have the pet clause and a deposit (large) for shedding/large pets.

You CAN ask for a small deposit out of the pay up to maybe $500 and call it an escrow account which I never had a problem paying as long as when I turn in my truck and all the check marks on the same inspection sheet as what we signed at the time you put the keys into my hand are the same then I do want my money back! Like in a com check! Make it bettrer and give them an instrest rate to the escrow for if they turn in or terminate their employment and it was never touched! Just another incentive to be on their toes! Yes the interest might set you back a small amount but figure it as if you had that money for X number of years and he never failed a DOT then how much did you lose?

Yes, that's calculus and I never passed it but any marketing or management college graduate can figure it! You win and come out ahead. This is where many companies are not thinking.

You make it so that some of these wanna be drivers that can't keep a bicycle in clean and good condition will think twice about screwing up a piece of equipment that probably costs more than the house they live in!

Some of these morons live like pigs! Everything from trash, food, paper, uncertain unsanitary items, toys, pet dander and hair, dried velcro thats a PITA to remove, smoke and smokers effects such as holes burned in seats, floors, beds, tables, dash and steering wheels.

The CB idiots that just have to cut wires and coaxial who don't have the intelligence to go to the dealer and buy the other side of the power plug for that truck to hook his POS CB to! Yeah it costs maybe $10 but if they looked at the stock plug they would see that a male crimp plug available at any auto parts store or truck stop will slide onto the ends in the plug but it's way cheaper to cut that end off the wire! Lazy and cheap morons in my book!

Now I'll pissoff a lot of members with this part but do you have or offer health insurance? Want to cut some costs in both health care costs and truck cleaning and repairs and trade in value? Hire non smokers! Non smokers will cut the health care costs. The trade in value is higher when the smell of the truck isn't dead and stale smoke.

That health care cost is a MAJOR cost from the start! I don't have to tell you that because you're a GM and sit through the same company meetings and BS sessions on where the money is going as I have.

You will not have to replace seats due to burn holes or even replace a whole truck from a stray cigarette that burned it to the ground or pay the cost to have all that skanky smell removed from the upholstery and from the A/C venting! (I charge $200 for an interior detail and $500 with smoke removal!)

Finding qualified non smoking drivers isn't hard these days and it's not against the law making that a requirement for employment!

Having a signed inspection sheet a requirement isn't against the law either! In fact send them a copy of it BEFORE you schedule them for orientation along with the rules of even sitting in the truck so that they will know that is what is expected of them before they get the keys! If they have a problem with those easy and simple rules then I would have a problem spending the money on them to come to orientation. A win win situation from the start!

Yes, handing the keys to a new driver can be hard BUT why? Hand them to the older drivers in your fleet who you have witnessed keeping their equipment in tip top shape, then clean the old truck till it's spotless and then inspect it with the new hand at the same time so he knows that "this company actually gave me a clean truck and did this with me? WOW!" It's the simple things that will have a driver become a "company hand" and not a steering wheel holder!

Now as to that little problem of your scores.
OK so it's the O/O side. That has a simple fix.

In the contract a new clause and it should be in bold print!

DOT inspections.
You fail or get written up with anything that's under your control, YOU get a large fine removed from your settlement OR termination and fine!

If its a PTH owned piece of equipment and he's written it up, reported it to the company and company thinks that "waiting till it gets back to the yard" is a good policy or getting it to a cheap shop, then that failed DOT inspection is on you! Any driver worth his salt will find things that need to be fixed and when reported they need to be addressed as soon as possible (ASAP!)

Yes the FMCSA says a yearly inspection. That needs to be changed to a company policy of every 6 months. You foot 1/2 the cost of this as it is your score to share and again from a monetary value, it's cheaper to inspect then fix than it is to throw that money at a service call and the DOT fines not to mention most DOT OOS happen while UNDER a load! Think rescheduling a load and maybe even having to pay the broker or shipper a "late fee" is good business?

They might be O/O's BUT they have your name on the door and maybe your trailer hooked to their truck, BUT if it's in the contract that keeping YOUR truck in FMCSA rules passing condition is a must do or hit the road deal. If it costs stupid money because someone was too cheap or lazy to fix or to do a proper "get off their arse" and walk around PTI then something is wrong!

Offer a "reward" for that passed DOT inspection! I passed EVERY DOT I've gone through since 2003 because #1 if it didn't pass MY PTI it didn't move! My last company knew this and knew that I had the experience to make the decision and they had no problem with it as it saved money down the road. They paid me to pass these inspections and I LOVE being paid rewards! Also my arse was in that truck and if there is nothing I love more than money it's MY arse! That truck will be right or it ain't moving and as there is no one in the truck holding a gun to my head it's hard to threaten me on a phone or keyboard! Especially now with the CSA making the driver just as responsible as the company!

I hope you both are in this to make money not throw it to the gooberment due to fines for bad equipment or for coloring in a logbook!

The old days of skipping and dodging rules are at an end. Might as well do what you have to do to keep the money flowing and in the black. Just the few things I mentioned are good for you and yes for your drivers.

Anyway Nataly, I truly hope that the OP is wrong with the charge as to the check. I also hope that she is wrong with the other accusations with the logging. If they ever do show back up and set the record straight can be an iffy thing in internet land!

If they are true I hope you take it on your self to make things right especially in the logging and that sad score!

Don't give up with the new truck problem. They do save money during their first 2 years with a GOOD driver! Just tell the guys how it is as it's your truck! OH! A Hint! If they drive their car or P/u to orientation why not go out and look in their ride! You just might get a hint as to how they keep their surroundings! If it's trashed then have second thoughts!
Pay a reward to pass a DOT! The reward might be way cheaper than the fine! Have then help to pay the fine as well they ARE the captain of the truck!

You're the Admiral of the fleet!

As Piccard would say "make it so!"

And don't believe everything you see from HireRight/USIS/DAC. Take that BS report with several grains of salt!

 

Uhhhhhhhh here goes more...!

Having an education means a lot. You are the last person to judge what have I done, or didn't do for this company. Changes take time, nothing happens over night. If you want to know that much, 27y ago, I was playing happily at a play yard, but guess what things have changed a lot since than. Your 27y of experience don't show me in any way that you understand this industry as much as you are pretending to. Well mine are 11 and most of it I had to learn the hard way under the circumstances. Insulting me or the owners of PTH or the immigrants in the US shows me quite a bit.

 

While I was typing my last post and talking to insurance companies these last few posts made it to the thread.
Lets stop with the misseys and sirs and the "talk big" speak! Lets get back to being civil!

This thread is close to being locked and I really want to see how this actually works out!

Lets get the blood pressures down!