Heartland Express--A very dangerous co. to drive for. Worst than the mafia.

by Betsy
(New York)

If you value your integrity, your good work history, and you wish to move on to better pastures in the future, I'd think twice about it.....Or better......A dozen times before you even think about it.

1) They have a culture of pure mechanization---whereby they treat their drivers as pieces equipment. They want to extract from their drivers every drop of sweat and blood they can, without ever thinking about the lives of their drivers. It does not matter if your spouse is ill, or an emergency has taken place, or if the driver, himself, is ill....All they care about is the bottom line. Fleet managers have a board, and if they fall under a certain percentage, out the door they go. And it didn't matter that Heartless would preapprove my husband's time off-----they always figured out a way to take him to another geographical area----far from home, so as not to give him his time off. Mind you, he would only come home once every four weeks. Even when he was out for longer than three months, they would still give him a hard time if he asked for time off---which they regarded as personal favor. Or.....Let me put it this way. He was always told yes, ahead of time. But when it came time for him to come home, he'd be told that the needs of the company preceded the needs of the driver. As a spouse, I found myself having to call the company to plead and beg them to allow my husband to come home. As a disabled spouse, I needed him to be home at least once per month, on a Friday, in order to see my doctor. That didn't matter, either. Knowing that my husband would be driving, they would tell me on that late afternoon that they would not speak with the spouse of a driver, by which time it would be too late for my husband to come home. This happened every time my husband was due to come home. In a few words, they are a snake with several heads: One head is the safety Dept. always at the orders of the Operations Dept. Once they want to get rid of the driver, the Operations dept. will get in touch with the safety Dept. who will get in touch with HR, which are one and the same to see how they can find the slightest reason possible, to do so..... Trust me, once they find something.....They will make it impossible for you to be hired anywhere else. It is happening to us, as I'm typing. I could understand their actions, had my husband been drinking, or doing drugs, or if he had had an accident. None of these things apply to my husband. Yet.....They will go to extraordinary lengths, willing to spend dozens of hours if necessary to ruin a driver's financial and/or honorable life. These people are vicious, immoral in their work practices,and very dangerous. What makes them so dangerous is the fact that they have the ability to ruin the lives of law-abiding citizens who have the misfortune of working for them. Once you are perceived by them as persona non grata, they will make sure you won't be hired anywhere else.

These people are worst than the mafia. They don't play games, and they always make an offer that the driver can't refuse. But.....Whatever the offer is, it will ruin the driver's life. For many years to come....Your good record with no incidents, no accidents, no violations no citations---All out the window---Just like that---In a day or two. More than 25 years of perfect driving? Never, ever been involved with the law in any negative manner? None of those excellent records will mean anything to any prospective employer. HeartLess, as they are called by their drivers, will make the driver's life one pure, unadulterated living hell. Don't fall for the high rate miles they pay, either. They make their drivers drive through back roads for even hundred of miles in one given week, just so that they don't have to pay for tolls. They treat their drivers like garbage in such subtle manner, making their drivers feel as if they are really beneath them. Not ever wanting to meet the driver in person, or even talk to him if he happens to be around. Did you ever feel like you wanted to meet your fleet manager, or his boss? FAT CHANCE!! GOD forbid..... A driver is not one of their own..... Although I bet you all---My husband has more education than they do. (My husband, Has a Masters Degree in International Relations and National Security Studies.)Will not give the university's name for fear of what they will do with that information. My husband is well spoken, he presents well. He drove for 2.5 years under very stressful circumstances, trying to build a good three year record, in order to start driving for a company that would pay him $85,000.00. I personally saw the horrible conditions under which my husband worked for, and submitted to the whims of this company. How many drivers does it take to file a law suit against this company, for what they do to their drivers? Anyone? I'm so willing to take them on!!!! I will do all the leg work necessary. Why? Because with such a perfect driving record as that of my husband's, he should be able to find work in this industry. Yet, I don't know what they have told prospective employers, to make this an impossibility. All companies he has applied to, have failed to respond to him. How can they classify "A logbook violation" as a "Falsification"? I will do whatever is necessary to rectify this error. My reputation (and that of my husband's) is the only one thing we have left here.....I will not allow them to take that away. And.....IS IT NOT against the law for a company or an individual to prevent a person from ruining one's professional reputation and from earning a livelihood? Any lawyers out there?

Again!!!! I will do all the leg work. How many drivers out there, do we have, for a law-suit?
As for their terminals, I can tell you they are at the bottom of the barrel. Filthy, extremely old, and one feels as if upon taking a
shower, one has to disinfect the entire place. How fitting that the driver's quarters have been left Unattended and devoid of any service? am most positive no manager has ever gone down or up---whatever the case may be, to see if things are clean, or in working order, or falling apart? Or perhaps they need to be changed or improved? Again.....GOD forbid one of those "managers" sets foot in a place sooooooo much beneath them. The snakes at HeartLess Express have to answer for what they do to their drivers. This must stop. I/we will use everything that the law provides and is within its boundaries, to address this issue. They (the snakes) have venom in their fangs, but I/we have persistence and a fiery will to do what is right. How many good drivers, driving for HeartLess Express are in the same predicament? To anyone even thinking of driving for this company, I say.....Stay as far away as possible from them. You will thank me in due time. These people don't play games. They can, and will destroy your lives once you no longer serve their needs. The have no conscience. They are devoid of any moral values. I say this, because I know of no other organization that will so viciously, so adamantly, so persistently, and so forcefully at will, and with all of its ability destroy the life and good reputation of a driver who did nothing more than to press a button crawling at a painfully slow speed, just to make better time in order to deliver their load on time. They are a thankless bunch of thugs, all devoid of any ethical behavior and humanity. They are worst than the mafia. With the mafia, you at least know that if you play your cards right, you have a chance. With these thugs you don't. Being under their direction is as if one has stepped into a den of snakes. You won't know where you have stepped, until it is too late. By that time they have ruined your reputation, your good work history, and you find yourself in the most precarious situation you could possibly find yourself in. All thanks to Heartland's desire to destroy not just the life of the driver, but also the lives of those who are close to the driver. Please stay away from them. I wish I had known all of the above mentioned facts, before my husband started working for them. We would have saved ourselves lots of grief. Trust me. They are a malevolent and powerful force.

Comments for Heartland Express--A very dangerous co. to drive for. Worst than the mafia.

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Feb 01, 2023
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Former Heartland Driver? Read this.
by: Help?

If you are a former Heartland driver, I would like to hear about any safety issues you've experienced.

Driving too long? Trucks not being serviced properly? Anything that would cause a driver to crash? I would like to talk to you.

Email me at o0ni9o0n@proton.me (secure email)
*the email address has an o from alpha and a 0 (zero).

Thank you.
-S

Oct 28, 2019
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Been working for them for 9 years NEW
by: Heartland driver

Heartland is just like all companies everyone has their problem. Yes Heartland will roll over drivers for their own selfish needs and never wanting or giving two chits if a driver gets home but that’s it. Your 70 hour rule will be exhausted in 5 and a half to 6 days. They will run you hard as hell and yes they will send you to granny back mountain roads. The first 2 years at the company is extremely hard because your learning new routs to drive and most everyone that’s so young in the company is a dog and will take it when they get kicked and Heartland loves to kick drivers. Heartland will attempt to rout you home and get you 300 miles from the house then call you and say ‘sorry don’t know what to tell you there are no loads headed that way. But I have this 400 mile run you can pick up now headed in the wrong direction.
Here’s the difference between a Heartland driver and a new guy. A Heartland driver will tell the fleet manager sorry bud I need routing or a load headed in the direction of home and I’ll sit here for two or three days waiting for one. A new guy will take the 400 mile run. Rejecting the 400 mile run Heartland will have you a load home within 1 to 4hours. Your region you sign up for plays a big part in your hometime. If you run all 48 states and stay out a month at a time you’ll have the hardest time getting in for home time. Doing regional you’ll sign a paper saying your only supposed to run specific states but plan on running a bunch more you’ll be paid less but no north east and pa toll, Ohio, Chicago you’ll never visit depending on what region your hired out of. Regional drivers are home 3 out of 4 weekends a month. I personally like to run two weeks when it’s hometime it’s an express run home. Your fleet manager plays a huge roll in what you do. You like to run hard there’s a fleet manager for that. You like to sleep in and run a little a day there’s a fleet manager for that, you want hometime and run hard when out of the house, there’s a fleet manager for that. It’s up to the driver to find the correct fleet manager. I’ve had approximately 7 fleet managers in my time here. If you and your fleet manager is not seeing eye to eye call the terminal manager and straight up go over your fleet managers head. Big props to Jay in Iowa his one of the coolest dudes on the planet. You want to run regional or if you want to run systems, or the 48 you can swap divisions at anytime. New guys get to Heartland and think all is hell .. it is but then it’s not. I currently do 65k a year with the company that’s good for me out two weeks home two or three days. To add once you get home Heartland will try and rush you out of the house cutting your hometime short saying there is a load that needs to be delivered Monday morning at 6am 300 miles from you meaning you’ll need to leave Sunday night and in most cases you get on hometime Saturday afternoon. Straight up and tell your fleet manager your time out of the house. You want to leave Tuesday at 17:00 tell them to set it in the computer and the pp that has you leaving early tell them that’s great sounds fun but it’s not my load. As a driver you tell your fleet manager what’s up not the other way around. If your bumping heads time to call terminal manager

Jun 26, 2018
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Fired NEW
by: Anonymous

I was wondering how many drivers out there have been fired from Heartless for BS reasons? It seems like a Mode of Operation for them if a driver even slightly stands up for him/herself.
The worst thing about this company is the pretty picture it likes to present to the public, but it's ran like a sleazeball operation. Sad!

Oct 12, 2015
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this page gets 5 stars, not hearland NEW
by: Anonymous

Just the facts.
I drove, never complained, always on time, and got paid great. $1200/week is great for the experience I had. My dispatcher was good too, but the night-time dispatcher could be creepy.

So, one day they had me go through that torturous section in NJ. The truckers know what I mean. I was sick by the time I got out of there, very sick, and then they had me get an empty from a Walmart lot. The walmart employee parked in front of me and locked me in for too long. I was already sick. It just made it worse. Then I went to the VA headquarters and they told me I had to do a production load. It weight about 180# short of 80,000# with empty fuel tanks.
I never refused the load.
This was during "safety week" when all the trucks were getting checked at all hours of the night. I told them I would risk my reputation and run it, but I wanted to be able to fill up at as many fuel stops as I needed to, so I could keep my weight legal.
They TOLD me to park.
I parked and waited till sunrise, knowing that the load would be late if I did. The man in the office looked sorry, as if he was going to come out and talk to me, but he didn't.
When daylight came, after a good night's sleep, I was no longer sick, but they told me I was fired. No warnings, not a single warning. If a production load is late, you're fired. I said "Be reasonable. These are the facts. You guys told me to sit. I never refused the load. Be fair. Be just. Is this a reasonable thing to do?"
The man in charge of the facility complained that I used the word "legal". The load was not "legal" if I filled up the tanks. So what? That is the truth? What did they want? What was I supposed to do & say? Squirm around the truth like some crook?
Then the man in charge brought up the subject of my dispatcher. I had never complained about him the whole time I was there, but since he brought it up, I let him know I wasn't happy with him. Then all of a sudden that became a point of contention, as if I was being fired for that. He loved using the phrase "You're fired." He used it over & over, as if pretending to be like Trump. Prick.
He suggested I plead for my job, so I did, & it didn't change a damn thing.
Later, I called the owner of the entire company and explained to him what just happened, and he told me I was in the wrong. He was fully aware that they told me to sit, that I never refused the load, yet he pretened to my face on the phone, that I had done something worth being fired over, and they must have screwed up my DAC. I'm having trouble getting hired. They put me down for "refusing a load", and that's BS!
It's true. This company will ruin your DAC. I was set up. They didn't like my internet activity that night, and that is what caused it all. They had no damn business to have been monitoring that in the first place! Who the heck do they think they are? Do they think they have the moral authority to view other's private activities and judge them morally, not knowing how stressed, sick, or tired their driver is? What gives them the right to lie like that and ruin a driver's reputation, with no warnings?
Heartless fits them good. The other trucking companies didn't do me like this. I worked just as hard for all of them, just as politely, and none of them fired me for using their internet connection in the privacy of my own room.
This wasn't about a production load not making it. This was a set up, because they have an image to uphold. Well, these guys ruin the careers of hard-working people for unstated reasons, and reasons that their busy-body has no business in. They need to be honest with their workers and let them know that they should use their own IPs.

Aug 26, 2013
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Ditto NEW
by: Anonymous

I also could not read the entire post and agree with the other above comment. All companies are the same pretty much.
One thing I do believe you need to do is let HIM deal with his company. You are not doing him any favors by call the company begging them for him to come home.
That will for sure ruin his career.
I think this is the worst profession to be and I HATE that my husband is a driver but he will have to learn on his own just how bad it is.
I'm sorry you are having a tough time and I'd have to say 9 out of 10 spouces feel the same way.
Hang in there....most don't last in this profession.

Aug 25, 2013
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Sorry NEW
by: Anonymous

I just couldn't read your post all the way through it just is to long.....but I did want to say and not to be mean Welcome to the world of trucking! Most companies are the same not much different... sorry your having such a hard time...

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