About bolt-express read this before you go onboard

[KEEKEEBOO]

Well, i have had my first and very last month with bolt-express this company is a rip off for sure after a 4 week term with them my team player and i got shafted with checks that never lived up to contract dispatchers will tell you anything that is possible to get you to do the run and tell you that your getting so much per load however when it hits the qcom you are stuck with what they issue and that wont even pay your fuel. Sir charge what is that they tell you that you are given 50% fs but they list it as a advance as if you took cash from them ho hum .
So if you are thinking about going with this company reconsider it liers they are every one of them

walk on thin ice with bolt-express and never be able to pay any bill that you owe ever ........
Take this job and shove it
for sure
keekeeboo<><

 

[Suds43]

I"ve read where alot of people are happy with Bolt................maybe wasn't a good 'fit' for you????

 

[piper1]

It's been a slow month for a lot of folks and is generally slow this time of year. Maybe you need to take more time to figure out the specifics of running with them. A judgement and move after a month costs you, not them.

 

[kwexpress]

Need more info.I underestand you are upset but please if your gonna call them liars.please post more detail.

ok you said you got shafted with checks that never lived up to contract dispatchers

What do you mean are you saying the dispatcher quotes you an amount on the phone and then when the load comes across the amount is different?

or does bolt even put your pay amount over the qc before you accept the load

I am not sure about the fsc either.I dont understand if they give you cash for anything wouldnt it be an advance untill final settlement?

are they loading 50% of the total load pay on your card.

you drive for someone else whos paying for the fuel you or the owner?

you guys are class a drivers you got alot of options dont get discouraged because it didnt work out with one company get in a big truck with a 48' or 53' van
and run.

 

[Jack_Berry]

where did you drive before where it was so bad you also left?

this is not my experience. rose colored listening is often the problem. i don't think bolt ever said they were just giving away fuel money. i called and talked to scott. i didn't like what he had to say because it sounded like the system from last year when i was in a strt. when i take an advance i pay for it. don't like it but that is the way the system works.

today is what 8/10? you got your first load 7-18. how could this have gone bad so soon? they told you that they were taking 1500$/$50 week for ins, weekly qc fees and ppwk handling fees. does this ding the pocketbook? no doubt but is it lying? no.

if there are problems with the check call susan or e-mail her. i have a couple problems and expect them to be taken care of properly.


you said in your first post on this board you and co-driver were former company drivers who quit and came to expedite. the difference is that company drivers empty and load. expedite is hurry up and wait. i don't like "wait" but it is part of the business.

 

[danthewolf00]

hey jack do we have a load board for bolt?

 

[Moot]

If you are offered a load over the phone ask that all info be sent over the q.c. This should include rate, f.s.c. and any bonus. Do not accept a load verbally.

Panther has a deal where they ask on the phone: "Can I make you AWARE." My reply: "NO! But please send all the info via qc so I can verify and have record of what we discussed."

Get it in writing.

 

[cheri1122]

Keekeboo: I'm kind of confused on the 50% fs thing, (and think maybe you are, too). I don't know of any carrier that pays 50% as a fuel surcharge - do you mean a 50% advance, with which you can get fuel?
PS Whatever dispatchers tell you, what's on the QC is all that counts - surely you already knew that?

 

[pjjjjj]

Ok, nuther dumb question.. I had always thought that 'drivers' get paid by their fleet owner? Do drivers in fact get paid directly by the carrier? Isn't it complicated for the carrier to keep track of each 'owner's' method of paying his drivers?

 

[cheri1122]

Pjjjjjj (when I try to count the 'j's, my eyes cross, lol) it would be complicated, if the carriers did it, but they don't. Carriers pay the truck owner, who then does as he/she sees fit with the money. Most, far as I know, are honest, and pay their drivers accurately.

 

[mcbride]

Well, i have had my first and very last month with bolt-express this company is a rip off for sure after a 4 week term with them my team player and i got shafted with checks that never lived up to contract dispatchers will tell you anything that is possible to get you to do the run and tell you that your getting so much per load however when it hits the qcom you are stuck with what they issue and that wont even pay your fuel. Sir charge what is that they tell you that you are given 50% fs but they list it as a advance as if you took cash from them ho hum .
So if you are thinking about going with this company reconsider it liers they are every one of them

walk on thin ice with bolt-express and never be able to pay any bill that you owe ever ........
Take this job and shove it
for sure
keekeeboo<><

keekeeboo:

I don't know one thing about Bolt and probably will never know anything Bolt...BUT I have learned one thing about attempting to stay at a carrier you have started off on the wrong foot with.

We had a very brief experience with another carrier after Con-Way Now sold out. We found fault and issue with all of their procedures...thought they were liars... etc. and just generally were miserable, in fact, we almost quit expediting altogether because of our experiences.

What I learned from this experience was: it was not totally the carrier that was making us miserable it was us too...we got off on the wrong foot and "knew" we weren't going to like it, therefore we didn't. It was a self fulfilling prophesy.

I know that you are ****ed off now and I am not saying you should leave or stay with Bolt AND I am not saying you don't have legitimate gripes...but maybe you could contact someone there to help you figure out what is going on. Even another driver?

For what is worth, my next recommendation-- IF you can't work it out---LEAVE, but remember---what doesn't work for you might work for others as typified by the fact there are hundreds of satisfied drivers/contractors still leased with the carrier we were miserable with.

Just my opinion--

 

[KEEKEEBOO]

As a reply for all the wonderful comments on my frustration with Bolt....
Thanks for the advise and yes I am going with another company
we pull out on Tuesday no qcom no calls to find out where I am at if I need a 10/100 stop.... My owner of our truck pays us and they are the best people on the face of the earth....
No I will not go on a 53ft van again for a time although I did make alot of money that way I just think that Bolt tells stories and takes advantage of a newbie..... But newbies become seasoned expeiditers and I have integrity and faith that my owners are on my side and with their help and Gods by God we will get this right......
Only time will tell...


Thanks again for the advise and comments
KEEKEEBOO <><

 

[Dreamer]

KKB, I wish you luck on your next venture, but perhaps, as others said, it would have been better to talk to someone at the company before blast off I've talked to several people with Bolt and they have a better rep than a lot of companies. Not defending them, as I couldnt actually understand some of what you wrote. . . but over time, we usually get a pretty good pic of a company. perhaps there were communication issues, different expectations, who knows, but less than 4 weeks hardly gives you time to know a company, or them to work out any issues you have.

 

[Jefferson3000]

Hey KEEKEE,

No recruiter or dispatcher is a fortuneteller. They cannot pull loads out of their rear ends to dispatch to you. July didn't meet my expectations either. You sure won't make any money by jumping around. No carrier has the magic potion to make you a success. That's your job anyways. Hopefully you'll be happy with the culture at your new carrier. More likely you'll find that they will be competing for the same loads that Bolt is.

My recommendation would have been to stick it out and learn their system and how to prosper in it. Unfortunately, it sounds like you've already slammed the door on yourself there. But then what do I know? I've only been doing this freight thing for sixteen years.......

 

[theBeemer]

I have talked to some people leased to Bolt and they said it was the best thing and they are running all the miles they can and then some. I have talked to others and same as your situtation.
I was them Late October till middle December 07 and lost my a--
Sat in Louisville fo three days watch all the Panthers come and go out with loads and I sat there.Was told o yes just hang tight we want that truck their in case something happens.
Leased on to Panther January 08 was doing good real good except going to Canada twice a week and it burned me out o it. I kept asking Panther to send me other places and was always Canada. I think in the 1st month and a half I saw Kentucky one load.. And Tennesee another load. Go tired of the one trips stopped going to the Klondike..actually miss it sometimes.
March and April did real good with Panther here in the states. Mid may slowed down till now its still the same as Bolt was.
I think every body has slowed down to the point the heard needs to thin out. To many companies undercutting each other and making freight even lower..
This is my last week. I had a wedding to go to and needed to go out of state. Knowing when I take a Class A job I might not be able to get time off.
When you bring home $126.00 one week $57 the next week I can't make it.

 

[MCBuggyCo]

I have been slower than I would like. Luckily, I put away money when things were busier. I learned that from reading this forum. THANKS EO!!!

 

[KEEKEEBOO]

Thank you for responding and valiating my issues with Bolt
I think we may go back with a 53' van and be a company driver or I may just go home and make and sell tye dye and quilts
who knows ....
KEEKEEBOO <><

 

[pjjjjj]

KKB weren't you starting today with a different carrier? What happened with that?

 

[chefdennis]

KEE, Since you have moved on, this will not be a fix for you, but it needs to be stated so that others that read this thread will know that there are solutions i place that you were made aware of when you left orientation with bolt.

1 of the last things covered by Brian from bolt on the last day of orientation is a 2 page check off and followup sheet. 1 for use after your very 1st load and another for your use after working with bolt for 2 weeks. These sheets are to make sure that you understand how it all works and to let bolt know how things went for you. In both cases, the 1st load and the 2 weeks worth of loads if there was a issue, you are instructed to call Brian or Scott so that things that maybe an issue can be fixed so that everyone is satisfied.

Did you use those 2 sheets? Did you call Brian or Scott so that they were aware of your issues? Dispatch isn't in the driver relations end of this business, they are there just to get you loads and open and close those loads. If you took your issues to dispatch, iam pretty sure they didn't get resolved, but if you had talked to Brian or Scott, i'd be willing to bet that things that might hae been miscommunicated or for whatever reason didn't workout right, they would have been resolved.

Brian could not stress the fact that he was available to any driver at anytime to fix just the type of issues you have. Now that being said, maybe they wouldn't have fixed the issue in the way you wanted, but they should have been given the chance, and then everyone would have known where all involved stood. So I really need to say that it sounds like you didn't use those 2 sheets nor did you contact Brain or Scott. Thats your choice as is moving on to another company, but if you didn't follow the steps to resolves your issues, it really isn't Bolt when the steps weren't taken.

As for them not calling you to see where you were, did you take yorself out of service? Did you give them a "return to service date?" They aren't going to call you if you went out of service and didn't tell them you would be back in service on such and such date. Now if you did give them that info and they didn't call you, then yea, i'd wonder why also. Now if you just said screw it and walked away, after your last run, I'd think you would have heard something from them, if only to offer you another load or to see if you were alive...

There are alot of variables that aren't stated here as to what went on, but to be fair to all involved, you should have at least contacted them, and they would have been in contact with you.

Just my 2 cents worth, for what it is worth....

PS: Hope your new gig works out for you.

 

[Jack_Berry]

i went back and re-read the start of this thread. you are driving someone elses truck. what was your contract rate?
what was your percentage from the owner?
somewhere in between is your financial problem.
chef is correct in you should have called scott or brian to iron out problems.

it would have been nice to have hard examples rather than a lot of anger.