Heartland Express. Do not work here!

I worked for Heartland for 1 1/2 years. When I started it was ok, I got near my promised miles of 1800 a week. A few times I even got more. At 40 cents a mile I was making about $700 a week. I got home a couple times during the week and was off on weekends. Having a low mortgage payment I was doing ok.

As time went on though, the miles seemed to get less and less, but the time away from home sure didn't. I was faithfully gone 5 nights out of the week, but instead of getting my 1800 miles it started dwindling down to 1600 or even less. I tolerated this thinking things would get better. God that was a bad decision on my part. Miles started getting even less. Once the new HOS service rules came about, they hired a bunch of new drivers and left us all with about 1000 to 1200 miles a week. If it wasn't for gps tracking I could have done that in one day. In true Heartland protocol no such luck, I was gone for the full 5 days, and boy did I get to know the truck stops rather well. It wasn't uncommon to get done, go to a truck stop and spend the night. The next day get awoken by the people net with a run leaving that night at 2300 due back in LA by 0800. It didn't matter that you just slept 8 hours at night and there was no way to fall back asleep. God forbid you told dispatch this was a little difficult since human beings don't easily switch sleep patterns so easily. I got plenty of responses like, well if you can't do it, we will find someone who can and then leave me sitting for another 12 hours without a run. This from dispatcher who wouldn't work a minute past 1700 or any weekend day he wasn't mandated to do.

As time progressed, the miles dwindled down to somewhere around 1000 to 1100. At 40 cents a mile, that was barely $400 a week gross. Take out taxes and insurance and my checks were netting just under $300. For being away from my family for a week I was getting less than the security guard at the mall.

Their trucks are not dependable. They are nice inside and have plenty of shelf space, but it seemed every month or so the shop would find something wrong with it and I would spend the day packing up one truck and moving into another one. Heartland did not pay for changing trucks, but they did offer you a run overnight after spending the entire day in the shop, finding your replacement truck, packing and unpacking all your stuff and getting settled back in. It was amazing. Of course at these wages you were hungry so you had no choice but to take the run, hoping the flying J coffee would keep you awake long enough to make the 350 mile journey all night long.

These undependable trucks caused me to have one break down on me in Mesquite, NV. Typical Heartland problem, no power and left me stranded again. I spent the day talking to breakdown trying to fix a problem I had no business fixing. After this effort was unsuccessful, they sent a mechanic out to look at it. He came to the same conclusion I did and said yes, it needs to be towed. Interesting as I told them the same thing, but what do I know, I'm only a driver! Hours pass and finally a wrecker shows up to tow me to St. George, UT. 30 Minutes up the road. I get in at night. It is below freezing the ground is covered in ICE. The wrecker drops the truck and says they will be open in the morning. I have no heat and it's in the 20's. Never mind no food or water and don't even think about a shower. I call breakdown and tell them this is unacceptable so they offer me a room, but have no way to get me to it. Heartland is very opposed to taxi services. They call the wrecker and ask him to take me to the hotel. Amazing, they would pay this guy $150 an hour to drive me, but won't pay a cab $3 a mile. I get to the hotel and spend the night. The next day I am told they are working on the truck, so just sit tight and they will let me know when it is done. I wait 3 days, at least I was paid for these. Well, day 2 and day 3 anyway. Heartland says they do not pay you for the first day the truck breaks down. Apparently they feel the 72 miles earned on day one is sufficient to keep an employee happy.

After day 3 dispatch calls me and says they are going to send me to Bakersfield for a replacement truck and they will have a driver come by and pick me up. Driver arrives in the evening and is angry I am not standing outside, in the snow waiting for him and he has to call me to get me to come down to meet him. I guess the 10 minute delay was unbearable for him. It would have been much more convenient if I stood in the 28 degree weather waiting for his arrival. I wanted to feel badly for this, but just could not do it.

While waiting for the ride to Bakersfield, I was called by dispatch and told my truck would not be ready in Bakersfield, so instead I will be sent home to await the repair of my truck. I am told not to worry as I will be receiving break down pay of $65 a day each day until it is ready.

I wait for another 2 weeks and am told my truck is ready in St. George and a driver will be by to pick me up in the morning to take me there. The driver contacts me and we agree to meet at 8am to allow me time to take my daughter to school and head for the agreed upon truck stop in Hesperia, CA. At 7:30 am I drop my daughter off and turn my phone on and head for the truck stop 20 mins away, ETA 0750, 10 mins earlier than agreed too. Message after message is waiting for me on my phone. 3 from the driver and another 2 from dispatch, all saying the driver, who obviously can't tell time or has no short term memory is or rather was at the truck stop at 0600 waiting for me. Since I didn't respond, he has left and I need to call dispatch immediately. I call dispatch and say what the hell, he said 0800 and I'm here at 0800. I'm told, he came at 0600 and I was not there. I explain we had an agreement to meet at 0800. You don't pay me to be on standby, so if you say 0800 don't change the time during the night while I am sleeping and expect me to be ready. I think that is reasonable, don't you? Dispatch disagreed and said I need to answer my phone anytime. Seriously? this from a guy you can't reach after 1730 or on weekends? Give me a fricken break! I told him if you want me to answer 24 hours, you need to pay me for that as well as provide a phone. I'm not your slave. You tell me when to work, I will work, but don't expect me to be at your beck and call without compensation.

Dispatch says you will have another truck when I can find one. I say fine, I will take a greyhound and get to St. George on my own. They tell me not to do that because they are not sure if I will be able to pick up the truck yet. A reply I still don't understand. Another truck is scheduled 3 days later and I got St. George to pick up my truck. I find the mechanics have cracked the windshield while fixing it. I sit another day while they fix that.

I finally get rolling again. When my paycheck comes I have no break down pay. I'm already short because of the low miles and now I have nothing to feed my kid or consider paying my bills. I get to Phoenix and ask what is going on. The manager tells me he isn't paying me breakdown pay because I was sitting on my ### for nearly 3 weeks. My dispatcher told him that wasn't the case and explained I was ready everyday. Manager said he didn't care, he won't pay. Dispatcher tells me he will talk to him so I leave. 2 days later I call dispatcher and ask what happened with my breakdown pay. Dispatcher apparently had his testicles removed in an accident or via a surgical procedure because he said, "The manager has a point, you werent working". I couldn't believe this. I sat at home, not looking for other work and not applying for unemployment benefit because I was promised pay, now I'm told I won't be getting any pay.

My marriage fell apart, my wife just had enough and left me. The divorce killed anything that resembled a savings account. I fell so far behind on bills I could never catch up. I filed for bankruptcy. My 13 year old daughter called me while on the road and said there is no food in the house. There was nothing I could do, I had an over drafted checking account, cancelled credit cards and heartland wouldn't give me an advance because I had no salary due because of the nearly 3 weeks waiting for my truck. I couldn't be in any worse of a situation.

I started applying everywhere and was hired by a company in Texas driving a Tanker making about 60k a year being home about 5 nights of the week. It took some time to process but I got through it and as soon as my Bankruptcy finished I borrowed money from my family and crammed what few things I could fit into a Nissan and drove to Houston. 1800 miles away. It was difficult, I slept on an air matress and visited the food bank a couple times but I got through it. Today I am back to current on things like my car and have food in the house and enough money to feed myself and my child.

Today I have Heartland and in particular, the manager at the Phoenix terminal to thank for starving my child and I nearly to death. Causing the failure of one more marriage and the embarrassment of being unable to feed my child. I will never forgive that selfish inconsiderate ####### or that terrible greedy uncaring company again. When I got my current job I debated waiting 2 weeks to give proper notice. Believe me I would have enjoyed knowing I was leaving in 2 weeks and sharing this attitude hourly! Unfortunately after what I had just been through, I couldn't bear the thought of waiting any longer to leave them. I was talking to my new job debating starting the next Monday or waiting 2 weeks. I had my last pay stub on my nightstand and looked at the net pay of $287.00 and just couldn't help it and said can I start next Monday! They agreed and set me up on a flight to start training. I called Heartland and told them I was quitting on Friday. They were outraged I didn't give them 2 weeks notice. Amazing they can let me sit at home unpaid for 3 weeks but expect me to give them 2 weeks notice while not even paying me enough to keep my child fed? I have words for them but will refrain on this posting.

I have never worked for a company that left me so disappointed before in my life. It seems something has happened to them. I was not the only one who was suffering such a loss. Other drivers were also making the same poor wages. For most of them they had wives who worked so it wasn't as bad. I did not and had a child to raise. Everyone I knew at the company agreed they would never stay if they had a child to raise, there was no way to pay for that on this salary.

If you are considering working for Heartland Express on the west coast, be forewarned. You will probably make very little money. If you can live on $300 a week, then go for it. To me it wasn't worth it and destroyed my life. STAY AWAY FROM THESE SELFISH ######## ! I hope I help someone make the right decision. Trucking sucks, but some suck more than others and now I can say, Heartland Sux very badly!

 

Your right, I should have at least filed for Unemployment and if called back just returned the check. I trusted them and thought all would be good. I could have used that time to search for a better job. My only regret is my now ex wife won't even talk to me. She insists I was hiding money and making her and the kids suffer. She said I would never go to work for so little money. What do you say to that? I almost wish I had said, Your right and quit on the spot. Sadly unemployment would have paid me better based on my years average. It was commented on by her atty that she was shocked to learn my salary was really so low. I think she might have come back, but was so embarrassed after all this she couldn't face me. Sad because I would have forgiven her.

Thank god I have a better job now. I'm home far more and make much better money. I don't go as far and the job doesn't leave me sitting in truck stops waiting for a load. Hopefully I get over the hurt my wife caused me and can start looking for someone else.

 

You are right OPUS, when do you call it quits versus sticking it out. It's always easier to say in hindsight I would do this or that, but when it's happening you just think it will get better. Plus my marriage was getting rocky and my focus wasn't as clear as it should have been. I believe they call that a compound effect. Once I saw no money, no food and bills greater than my last 3 paychecks...I went into hyperdrive and did what I had too.

 

Thank you Kimbosa, glad to be here. I'm getting used to your state. It's not that much different, just a few words I had to pick up and freeways are a little different getting on, but it's still the USA Now I can have a few more guns without hassle. I had a CCW, I believe you call them CHL here, in CA, and it was a pain to get but it can be done. I understand it's more like a driver's license here, if you qualify you can get it. LOL.

 

Thanks Big Joel, I know, but these companies sound good in the beginning and we think we are going to be ok. Then something happens like the DOT changing the HOS rules and instead of sharing in the change with their dedicated employees, and heartland had a lot of them, they just make whatever change they need and basically defecate on the employees. Heartland wouldn't take just anyone, you had to have a year of experience and it seemed like a cool place. Now I have been told they have dropped the requirements to 3 months of experience because they just can't get anybody. They might be heading for the ranks of Swift and CR England the way they are going. I guess they would be the best of new hire companies since they at least get you home most weekends. Of course there are worse companies, but I'm not a new driver and I didn't feel what they did was appropriate. If your truck fails, I should receive an average of my weekly pay while it's being fixed. Why should I take a loss when your equipment fails. I am staying with you, therefore you owe me something in exchange. That something should be my average weekly pay while you decide what to do with your truck.