To Whom Would Be Concerned;
PLEASE READ THIS IN IT'S ENTIRETY.
My name is Doyle Richard Quinn Jr. (Doc)
DOB: July 23, 1949 (58 years old)
Company: J D Wentworth
I have a situation that is cause for me to fear for my life and is now causing my 10 year old daughter to wake in the night crying and asking her mother if her daddy is going to kill himself in his truck trying to make sure he does as his boss orders him to do.
I Can't Take No More!
I have been a professional (No Accidents) truck driver for over 40 years. I have mustered up some 3 1/2 (three and a half) million miles to my credit.
I'll begin but be brief about back in the day when I was a lad being taught by my father to be the best truck driver of all truck drivers. He would always tell me that loading and delivering the load was not the most important thing about trucking but that, making sure the people and the people in autos surrounding my truck didn't hurt themselves because of my truck. I was taught to protect them before I protected myself. Was I taught to take the ditch and risk dying myself before hurting any of the people around me, yes I was and I still today drive and live that rule my father set for me back in the day!
In my more than forty years of being a professional truck driver I have at times as a decision of my own worked in truck shops of my own ownerships and I fully understand the safety requirements and needs for highway equipment.
The wife and I provide a owner operator trucking service. For most of my over forty years of being a professional truck driver drove my own equipment but at times drove for other companies but still, I have never been involved in any accident chargeable or not!
Now To My Situation,
I am on the verge of killing myself in my truck and the reason being is that the company that I have been pulling for for the last twelve years, (leased to them for the last five or so years) is forcing me to make straight thru non stop for rest runs such as from Nashville, Arkansas to City Of Industry, CA.. Have you ever tried that? It's tough. Sometimes I doze, (completely fall asleep while driving) while on this run and have twice man, I mean twice woke up on the same off ramp doing seventy miles per hour! Any normal driver with a normal dispatch wouldn't find himself in this situation much less the fact that I don't even have the option to stop and rest then. That's right, I have to go back down the on ramp and continue on. I'm about to kill myself working for these people.
I know you are thinking, why Doc do you do this, right! Well here's why!
The company I pull for dangles my payroll check (my means for being a responsible provider to my wife and three children) in front of me as to say, if you do this, we will make sure it gets added to your pay even though its not on the proper pay schedule. Get it! What would you do, say no and not be able to pay your grocery bill, lights, water, mortgage, auto payment and ect. You would do the same as I was forced to do and if you weren't tough enough to make it thus far you would be dead!
Have you or anyone you know been so tired (fatigued) while driving an 18 wheeler that the highway's dotted line and fog lines at night glow neon colors? They do, in fact the first stage is bright orange/yellow neon color. The second stage which is a heavy dozy sleepy like stage glows a beautiful bright green neon color. Where this hallucination gets really scary is when the lines turn a beautiful bright purple neon color. I have found that at this stage I can stop and lay my head on the steering wheel for 15 minutes then go back to driving and it's about 2 hours before the light show begins again. This is the absolute truth! Maybe doctors know why, but I don't. All I know is that I experience it when I'm forced to run harder than the human body can handle.
Seven large either corporations, companies and individuals have a demanding hand on the weak and money greedy management of the company I am leased to. I'll tell you right now that they are, McDonalds Corporation, Tyson Foods Inc., Golden State Foods, Campbell Soup, Pilgrims Pride and Wetterau Associates. They're the end users and like the said company gain profit from my all but killing myself and I don't think that is fair. If I was to die providing this unlawful service as dispatched by this said company as per the direction of the aforementioned do you think McDonalds Corporation, Tyson Foods Inc., Golden State Foods, Campbell Soup, Pilgrims Pride and Wetterau Associates would even know it much less would they know or care how my family would suffer their loss. I don't think so!
I am going to smoke over three (3) dispatches handed to me for you and then get into how the company completely ignores Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) guidelines, rules and laws.
Dispatch:
Directed by company management on a Tuesday afternoon to drive (deadhead) to Nashville, AR. and load fresh chicken at Tyson Foods Inc. and deliver at Golden State Foods, (supplier/warehouse for McDonalds) on the next Thursday morning in City of Industry, CA.
Miles from Tyson Foods Inc. in Nashville AR. to Golden State Foods in City Of Industry, CA. = 1654
When I arrived at Tyson Foods Inc. I was told the load was not ready (the loads are never ready) and that I would have to wait to be called to the dock for loading. Ok, I waited to be called to the dock and was finally loaded at 02:00 hours (Wednesday) the next day!
Later in the day (Wednesday) when the company I'm leased to opened their office they called me and asked my location. I told them where I was and that I didn't get loaded at Tyson Foods Inc. until 02:00 that morning. The exact words from the company management was as follows. "You know you have to deliver that load in the morning, (Thursday) and we need to know what time you will be there. You need not be later than 11:00 am and if you do this, I (manager) will make sure it gets on your payroll even though the bill of laden (BOL) can't be trans flowed (Trans Flow Service) to the office by 07:30 hours Thursday. Just stop and send in all your receipts except the signed BOL to the office and when you can after you are unloaded send in the signed BOL. Call me as soon as you are unloaded, I need you to reload right back"
I stopped in route in Quartzsite, AZ and sent in all the receipts as directed. I arrived at the delivery point at 09:00 hours on Thursday as directed but nearly dead due to lack of sleep, proper nourishments and proper toilet duties. Blood pressure was ringing my ears, body trembling like inside, had the trots, sick from fatigue and ect.. But, I done it because my wife and kids need my payroll to live like normal kids and wife's do. But again, I think it's unfair for me to have to work like this for the company!
1654 miles running the bottom lanes divided by the hours driving (31) = average speed of 53mph. Non stop except for fuel, coffee and the time it took to trans flow the receipts back to the office. Do I have the records that can prove this. Yes and what I don't have can be obtained from all parties involved, right! All documents have times, dates and ect. All fuel receipts can as well show violations up the you know what!
When I called them and told them (said company) I was empty at Golden State Foods, City Of Industry, CA. (McDonalds warehouse) the said company manager dispatched me right on to a load back to Dallas, TX and told me to get there, load it and call them as soon as I was loaded. What kind of people are these people? Why can't they tell me to just get some sleep and call them after I am rested after doing a load like the one they all but killed me with. I loaded and headed right back to Dallas, TX.
McDonalds Code Of Conduct For Suppliers - Click Here!
Dispatch:
After a delivery in Sac., CA. (exact date I will get later for you when you need it, for example we will use Monday, ok) I was directed by the company (manager) to load fresh ingredients In Northern CA and deliver to Campbell Soup, Paris, TX. I drove to the pick up point and loaded. I drove until my hours of service, (HOS) were up (midnight) and went to sleep at the rest area in Tulare CA. At 10:00 hours on Tuesday the company dispatcher (Angie) called my cell and asked where I was. I told her I was just waking up in Tulare, CA. She then said, "I need you to deliver your load at Campbell Soup Paris, TX. tomorrow because they called and said their kitchen would shut down if their product was not there by 18:00 hours on Wednesday. I asked her if she knew how many miles she was asking me to drive in this short amount of time and did she know where Tulare CA. was. She said it didn't make any difference where Tulare, CA. was nor how many miles away I was, just have it there by 18:00 hours on Wednesday. Dang, here I go again, right!
I smoked the damn rig 1550 miles overnight from Tulare, CA. to Campbell Soup, Paris, TX and arrived there at 16:00 hours on the Wednesday date she gave me but you wouldn't have wanted to see me much less be around my stinking self. Let me tell you, if you have never smelled the odor ones body puts off due to being pushed beyond it's expectations well let me tell you, it will curl your hair. It puts off an order that will make the lack of ones personal hygiene order seem odorless. But again, I was nearly dead due to lack of sleep, proper nourishments and proper toilet duties. Blood pressure was ringing my ears, body trembling like inside, had the trots, sick from fatigue and ect.. But again, I done it because my wife and kids need my payroll to live like normal kids and wife's do. But once again, I think it's unfair for me to have to work like this for the company!
1550 miles divided by 30 hours = 51mph. Non stop except for fuel, coffee. Do I have the records that can prove this. Yes and what I don't have can be obtained from all parties involved, right! All documents have times, dates and ect. All fuel receipts can as well show violations up the you know what!
Now, without going more into detail which is something we can do later, I want to tell you that this company does not even have a safety office, safety advisor, nor cares a damn about safety. Fact is, they say I have to turn in legal logs but turn their heads to what I turn in as long as the HOS are not violated on the logs. They know the logs are lies and do not match any fuel, delivery and resting times. They don't give a damn as long as they can get their loads delivered and please the big monies peoples. These are the most greedy people I have ever met. In a bit I will explain why I'm still at this company run by such animals.
Campbell Soup don't want their product tumbling end over end on some highway. That's why they asked the said company manager if he was providing the overnight service illegally. They are smart enough to know what liability risk they have for being involved in illegal practices. But the said company manager lied and now has implicated, exposed and involved them (Campbell Soup) to exactly what they don't want. I sat with and talked to my daughter Stormey Lynn last night before she went to bed and assured her that her daddy (that's me) was never again going to let some fools subject him to death for services beyond the call of duty. Maybe not in them exact words but she is only 10 years old and I have to be as easy on her little mind as I can about how said company, said company management and Campbell Soup all but killed me by forcing me to drive sleepless for both of their gains.
Dispatch:
I was contacted late on one evening by the company manager and he told me that he could get the Pilgrims Pride account back that had been lost due to late deliveries by his company drivers if I would go load the chicken and deliver it non stop to Bakersfield, CA. I told him that I would rather not if he had someone else he could call. He said he didn't and I knew he didn't. I asked him if he had any other work for me and he said he had none! I asked him what happened to the load he had told me about the day prior and he told me his dispatcher (Angie) had accidentally gave it to another driver and that all he had for my payroll was this unlawful run. Dang, here I go again and why?, because my family depends on me providing for them!
I loaded the load in Mt. Pleasant, TX and made the delivery non stop and yes, it dang near killed my tail but with God's help, I seem to keep on living, I don't know why, but I do!
Here's a sad issue:
My youngest daughter, Stormey Lynn (10 years old) over heard her mom talking to me via our home phone to my cell phone while I was on a illegal dispatch (change order) issued to me by said company manager. The portion of the run that I was forced to do illegal originated in Tulare, CA. and delivered at at Campbell Soup in Paris, TX. . Stormey heard her Mon (Jennifer) say to me, "I sure hope you don't kill yourself for said company and Campbell Soup just because some a_ _hole at Campbell Soup wants his product to make Soup". Well, three times since that night Stormey Lynn has woke her mom in the middle of the night crying and asking if daddy (that's me) was going to kill himself tonight because his boss at said company and Campbell Soup make him drive without Sleep! How unfair to a kid is that man? She won't even eat Campbell's Soup anymore, can't say I blame her.
Stormey is dreaming about me (her daddy) dying working for said company and Campbell Soup because of said company's illegal dispatches and or change orders. Whatever you want to call it. For single drivers that load should have been re-motored twice or re-motored to a team truck which said company doesn't have.
The said company met with the Campbell Soup Headquarters employees here in Paris, TX a few weeks ago? The said company was trying to get a contract to provide trucking services re-negotiated. The said company manager told the Campbell Soup Headquarters employees that said company has in the past provided overnight service from Ca. To Paris, TX. The first thing they (Campbell Soup) ask you was, "You don't do this illegal do you?" The company manager then flat out lied to the Campbell Soup folks and said, "NO" We (said company) re-motor the load to team trucks if necessary! Said company manager LIED to them people. I am the one (single driver) that is forced to pull them loads. What would have been so bad if said company manager were to have said, well I have in the past but from this point on any illegal for a single driver trip will be re-motored to a team truck. Why lie, lying is not right.
The photos of the logs you see are from my loose leaf log book and they are logs that I re-write while on the road. I have to sometimes re-write my logs as many as four time during a 1500 mile run. I have to lie, lie, lie and lie for these people. Can't Take No More! I am the Billy Saw Estes of log book crimes and forced to be by this company! I am so embarrassed as the professional driver I am but I am still doing it in order to keep my job and once again provide for my loved ones.
The company has had for the last four years or so a company that governs the drivers logs. This company is Dallas, TX. based I think and at times goes array and don't ever ask for anything but at times, they send me a request for logs that I can not provide due to them being so illegal so the company has me make off duty logs to suffice these folks request.
I know the man that owns this company. When I first started pulling for the company, a father and son (not company related) were the manager and dispatcher. About 14 months ago these two folks were released for reasons I think I know about but not sure about and the owner put his son in as manager. His son had not a clue about the trucking industry laws I guess and has all but killed me. We will talk more about this soon I'm sure. I want his (the company manager - the owner's son) ass out of the industry or the company heavily fined for wrong doings to the point he won't do it again before he kills someone!
The latest very hard to do run for this company was 1700 miles in 30 hours. I can prove it! I didn't want to do it but I was forced to with my payroll dangling in front of me! I just delivered this load in Henderson, TX on 1/02/08 at 11:00 hours and I left Oxnard, CA. with it on 1/01/08 04:00 hours. That's a 56 mph straight thru run if you don't figure any stopping for fuel which I have to do three times. So just how fast was I driving without any sleep non stop (zero sleep breaks as required by law) for this company dangling my pay in front of me!
This company should be forced to follow all laws, rules and guidelines of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). They should be held responsible for my having to have a pee jug in my hand in my own home restroom just so my bladder will function because this is what I have to pee in while driving and not being able to stop like normal drivers get to. That's right, my body has grown accustomed to doing things I never dreamed it would do because of the abuse I have taken from these companies. They should be held responsible for me having the eating and sleeping and restroom disorders that I have!
Grant you that, I have made illegal runs without being forced in efforts to get a paycheck but, I will take my punishment. Like I say, I done it to get a paycheck. At least my punishments won't kill me nor will they kill innocent folks on the highway! Besides, I read where in most cases the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) holds the company and management responsible for drivers breaking log book laws because the company is not properly monitoring nor following the laws of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Can't Take No More!
We can sit and talk over all this to no end and it will all come to this, these big fortune 500 companies and the trucking company that has forced me by their dispatch should pay for my daughter waking up at night asking her Mother if her Daddy was going to die tonight because his boss won't let him sleep when he gets tired.
I have a Marine Brother (all Marines are brothers) that works for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. His name is David H. Hugel - FMCSA Deputy Administrator. I haven't had contact with him but I could if needed to.
I still have so much to share with you but this much has to give you an idea how I have been drug thru it all and now feel that it is time for them all to toe the line.
I have never been compensated for how hard I am forced to work our truck nor excessive fuel consumption, nor have I ever been compensated for duties performed beyond the normal scope of work or in this case the unlawful scope of work!
Our truck has never been worked as a team truck. I am the only driver. Just a few weeks ago when the manager was signing a new contract with Campbell Soup he stated to them that, the company has done overnight runs from CA. to TX for them and the Campbell Soup peoples asked, did the company do this unlawfully and the manager told them no, he said he re-motors the load in Phoenix to a team truck. That's BS !! The loads don't even go thru Phoenix and the company does not even have team trucks. I am the one that does the runs that he is lying about!
Also the company manager was just at a Pilgrims Pride bid meeting last week in Atlanta, GA. and he told me last Friday in his office that the Pilgrims Pride peoples stated that they do not dispatch unlawful runs on any lanes. The company manager said he raised his hand and was called on so he stated that some of the fresh chicken loads out of Pilgrims Pride in Mt. Pleasant, TX to Unified Grocers in Santa Fe Springs, CA. were dispatched as unlawful runs. The Pilgrims Pride folks said that the rule did not apply to fresh chicken loads. I told him (the company manager) that was the reason the company had the load. Because legal trucking companies such as JB Hunt and England can not break the law. He laughed and said that I was the only one that could haul Pilgrims Pride products without getting them in trouble. He's killing me! Can't Take No More!
WHAT DO YOU THINK!
Please call me as soon as you are done with reading this and give me an idea of where we (J D Wentworth) stand.
Important: My wife and I don't have the monies to be off work long nor do we have the monies that we wish we had to start our own authority for trucking and brokering so we can get away from these killers. So, please advise soon as I am dispatched already for tomorrow and who knows, is this the one that finally gets me!
We are currently behind about $3,000.00 in normal home owners bills due to the company no longer paying us for dead head miles, waiting times for loading and rate fees being lowered by the companies new management in efforts to go for volume and not load by load better rates.
We can get a new start for approx. $15,000.00 and I am sure that my life is worth more than that!
The $15,000.00 would let us get caught up on a few late bills we have, obtain the LEGAL authorities needed for trucking, necessary LEGAL insurances and suffice our need for fuel monies until we got the ball rolling and the business ran on it's own.
But .., if I can't get the monies we need to start over I will be in pursuit of all the monies possible including punitive damages.
The corporations, companies and individuals are as follows...
Midcoe Transportation
Mike Middleton - Owner Midcoe Transportation
Michael Middleton - Manager Midcoe Transportation
Campbell Soup Company
Douglas R. Conant - CEO Campbell Soup
Kyle Perry - Campbell Soup
Tyson Foods Inc.
Richard L. Bond - Tyson Foods Inc.
Golden State Foods
Mark S Wetterau - CEO Golden State Foods
* Michael Waitukaiti -Golden State Chief Financial Officer
Wetterau Associates
* Mark Wetterau CEO
* Conrad Wetterau - Associate
Pilgrims Pride
Lonnie Ken Pilgrim - CEO Pilgrims Pride
McDonalds Corporation
James A. Skinner (Jim) - CEO McDonalds Corporation
Legend: * - The three together have 70% ownership of Golden State Foods
end
We are buying our home that has a appraised value of $180,000.00 We owe a payoff of approx. $138,000.00
We had our truck paid off as well as our trailer paid off until a company employee ran over our truck while it was parked at the companies yard. The insurance people totaled the truck and we had to borrow on our trailer and use the little they (the insurance company) gave us for our paid off truck to obtain another truck, (used). Now we are always behind because we bought our home not owing any truck or trailer payment and now because of the company we not only have our home payment but additional truck and trailer payments. We bought because we got the prior equipment paid off and knew we could make the home payment but, now we are behind the eight ball a tad. I figure that the company should make that right for us also!
I can tell by the way my wife and kids hug me goodbye when I go to work that they are so worried about, will he be back or will this be the run that kills him. They hate the company that does this to us!
I know I/we are entitled to compensation from all these companies and individuals and more than likely due large amounts of monies for them hurting my health, and all but killing me by making me run like I've been running but, if my wife and I could just get enough money to get away from these people and start pulling under our own authority we would jump at the chance but, I want to watch this trucking company that has abused me fall and I mean all the way down to the ground. They all but killed me. A weaker man (truck driver) would have already died from total exhaustion and/or by Hwy accident and no telling how many other people that would have gone down with him. Surrounding traffic ya; know!
Thanks,
"I Can't Take No More"
J D Wentworth
and
Doyle Richard Quinn ( Doc )
903 783 0475 - Home
903 272 6959 - Cell