A&A Express

Ok. This is just my experience and my experience alone. I have no need to go over everything that A&A Express offers as I have added the sheet that was e-mailed to me. It details everything that the company offers and they are willing to work with you on getting hired as long as you fit the criteria that they're looking for. So without further ado, I'll talk about my time here as it has nearly been a year.

I was hired here at A&A Express April 28th, 2021. The orientation is your typical three day orientation where you go through your paperwork and contracts (lease ops) as well as your general company info. I was assigned a very nice 2018 Volvo VNL 780 aptly named "Two Ton Tessie" . Most of the trucks offered are automatics and a few 10 and 13 speeds (unfortunately I have an automatic ). You are given a book with phone numbers for each area you will be running. You may be assigned a "tour" which may see you circling around either doing drop and hooks and a few live load/unIoads (ask about this if interested). As far as pay goes, you may combine loads in the same week for a $50 early fee to do. O/O pay cutoff is midnight on Mondays (Tuesday). This means you just notify payroll if one of you loads runs past the deadline. In the case that your truck goes down, they will allow you to rent a truck from then until yours is fixed. In the one year, I've only had one bad month and that's it. Other than that, this company has done everything that they agreed to do when I was hired on. I haven't got a single regret about working here nor am I leaving any time soon. I'm currently in the shop as Tessie is having a fit. I'm looking down either this being a simple repair or renting a truck from A&A so that I don't have to miss a beat.

Anything else anyone wants to know, feel free to ask as I will respond to this as long as I am a driver for A&A Express.

Oink, Oink.

~Voodoo Pyg.


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20210627_210453 by Voodoo Pyg posted Feb 17, 2022 at 2:26 PM

 

About to update. Feel free to ask as many questions as you want.

 

Welcome back. As of February 16th, I had to surrender Tessie to Volvo. The transmission is shot as far as they can tell. It started in New Mexico and continued all the way to our terminal in South Dakota. They told me three days, but that turned into a week and almost $500 worth of hotel and Doordash spending. Turns out it has to have a new transmission and we have no ETA of when it will be finished with all that's going on. My payments on the Volvo are being deferred as we speak. I did get a chance to shag two trucks. One to auction and one back to the yard to get me out of the hotel. A week ago, I was rented a nice 2020 Kenworth but I hate it more than you can imagine. Freaking CMS crap that I hated on my TEL truck. However I am back to work and just left Tennessee for Kansas and now on the way to California. Things are looking up so far. Let's hope they stay that way.

 

Hey. I'm sorry as I've only just pulled over for the day. And even though you're the only one who gives a hang about this. Anyway, my lease is through a company called ENGS. When I tell you that they have worse ratings than TEL ever will, believe it. My truck is $890 a week along with your insurance and what have you. My expenses of the truck before fuel are about $1200 a week. Now this rental is $770 a week plus insurance. It's a lot less but I'm suffering man. My Volvo is wide open whereas this one is governed at 68 MPH with CMS Radar on the truck. Can't complain, I still get the same pay rate I would if it were my unit. Now ENGS is deferring my payments in the meantime so I'm not stuck paying for two trucks. Transmissions are a ##### and so is Tessie for breaking a week before I was due home. Ah. But a driver's life wasn't supposed to be easy.

 

They've been demanding rate increases for us because of the fuel. I mean they pretty much have to cos people aren't going to run for less in their wallets because of this stupidity. I'll let you know how I did this week as I have one more that's headed to Tolleson, AZ. I'm hating the rig I'm in cos I can't do what I know I'm capable of. 68 Mph and CMS does NOT mix out on this highway. I still can't complain though.

 

Good Arizona morning peeps. I hope you're living the dream like I am and wherever you're turning, I hope you're earning.
Well we still have no ETA on Tessie for the foreseeable future, so I'm stuck at 68 mph and CMS. Had to so some minor repairs on the trailer I'm currently hauling. This is the second time and thankfully I didn't have to go into a shop. I did however email everyone from the president all the way to shop personnel. The shop manager did respond and I'm waiting to hear from anyone else. Apparently, they dont take this lightly. Why would you half ### a simple repair with tape, knowing it won't hold? Then they didn't report it. Ah, but not all drivers give a flip about the other.
And how about that ponce of a driver for Landstar? Yep hooked a good right turn and nearly took my mirror off of my truck. I honked and so did a Prime driver whom saw everything. He sped away and out of the truck stop before either of us could get out of our trucks. Thankfully, my company issues dashcams to the fleet (even O/Os) and hopefully it caught a trailer number and he's charged with a hit and run. Currently in Phoenix getting a load of furniture so I can get by the house for a couple of days. See you soon when I can begin anew.

Oink, oink.

Pyg.

 

Hey! Hey! Guess who's back? Well I did finally receive some great news in this cluster of an adventure. Tessie has a new transmission and will be out of the shop and back on the road by the end of the month. That's better news than recently. I'm currently back on the road after two false starts this week. Still will make a decent check if all goes according to plan (when does it ever?). I'll check back at a later date as I'm currently trying to get back at it.