truck driver

over the road truck driver

diesel mechanic

office coordinator

Decker Truck Line, Inc

This has absolutely nothing to do with vans. They are a pretty decent flatbed  Company. I signed up to do OTR which is 3 weeks at a time. They get me home almost always. The potential is there to be a very successful valued driver, and sometimes it is easily accomplished,  but often management gets in the way of that success by not following through. It hasn't been much of a rewarding career for me lately anymore mainly because of the unprofessional people that I am forced to be surrounded with bring me down. A bad attitude will get you absolutely positively knowhere so just hang in there. You have to stretch about 70 bungies super tight each load. After 5 loads in a week your arms are done.
 I have only been able to use my shower power once in the past 2 weeks of having it.
When I sit up straight the auto transmission shifts rock me into a slouched torturous like position the pinches my nerve in the discs of my back while I drive. I have so much weak muscle from no lumbar support.
 Also Decker hires some of the most sorry drivers I have ever seen that I know for a fact cut corners and take shortcuts. Go look at hiow disgusting the drivers lounges in Bessemer often get and you'll see how much they care. There's some sorry drivers that don't take pride in load placement, securement, or tarping of a load they know they will be dropping for someone else to pick up. 
They give the expert flatbedders the simple preload sheetrock loads and the sorry unprofessional drivers the critical intricate live loads.
 All the flatbeds are all scraped up badly including all the new ones now at their rear corner abs lights due to these careless drivers and Deckers' shippers. Alot of unnecessary damage from forklifts at these shippers. All the flatbeds are always filthy. There's useless rope hooks taking up valuable strap space..
I used to get to go to shippers with drivers' lounges, got to get to go through terminals, uoccasional super long haul load, coils, slinkies, H beams, Texas, Pikepass, OH/WV Turnpike, got to go to a lot of large professional shippers and meet and greet real industry professionals, pick and choose between multiple awesome truck stops to get a free shower, and travel through spectacular forests to get to some great sawmills. Now It has been none of the above. I am rarely given time to go shopping for basic necessities. They won't provide laundry facilities in the Hammond Terminal. I see no way to prosper here. There's no way to thrive here. They want you to be miserable while your living in the truck for 3 weeks by not giving you a chance to do a 34 hour restart at a favorite truck stop of your choosing. They never give me time to socialize with other industry professionals. They never give me time to just focus on driving. They never ask me how I'm doing out here on the road. They always have terrible terribly planned loads at unreasonable times of the day. Sorry unaproachable mechanics are worthless wastes of space. I never feel welcomed anywhere I go as a Decker driver.

This review is solely based on my personal experience with the company...I began my employment in February of 2012 and turned in my 'resignation' in August which I wrote up as a two week notice as a professional courtesy. The recruiting and orientation was typical, you know the usual blowing smoke up your skirt thing 'the average run is 1200 miles', 'our drivers average anywhere between 2800 and 3000 miles a week' or the ole' 'our drivers make at least 10,000 miles a month'. None of these claims where never proven in my case in the six months I was there. Although these guys really made it a point to drive it home on how great they are. Now to get to the reasons why I'm taking the time to write this review. My dispatcher was of the worst I have ever had in my 12 years of OTR driving. Communication is not a strong point for this company especially when you are the one who is trying to reach someone. There where many times that I would call and leave a message on voice mail and the qualcom not only to my dispatcher but also to other persons in other parts of the office only to never to be returned. When it came to home time that was one of the things in orientation that they made sure to let you know that home time is not a problem, like I said that was in orientation. When it came to myself though it was a whole different situation. After being out on the road for over 20 weeks I made a request for home time on June 10th to begin on June 30th for 5 days, I didn't get home until July 28th then was told by my dispatcher that I will only be allowed to spend 34 hrs at home, so much for the old not a problem speech. And don't even think about being late to a delivery even if the load never had a chance to be delivered on time. Here is my prime example. I loaded at 1500 on this day, the miles for this run was 564. The delivery time was for 0400 the next morning but I only had 5 hours left on my clock for the day. Via the Qualcom I made my dispatcher aware of my not being able to make this delivery on time. I also contacted the night dispatcher via the phone and made him aware of the situation as well. To make a long story short needless to say I was late for the delivery. The costumer charged Decker a $500.00 late fee then Decker turned around and took the liberty of taking $275.00 out of my pay check without consulting me. When I inquired about this I was told the person who made this decision felt it was fair to just take this money out of check believing that I should be held partly responsible, and this is not the only time that this has happened. I could go on and on and tell you more of my experiences with this company because believe there are plenty more. The bottom line is this company will never take any personal accountability, It will always be someone else fault. There is so much more and I could on about a couple other important issues that you should know about but I think you get the jist.

Decker Truck Line is NOT the place to work! This claim is substantiated by the high turnover of employees. The Fort Wayne terminal for instance discharges Approx. 2 drivers per week average, sometimes more. The Fort Wayne terminal is managed from Fort Dodge, Iowa, Approx. 800 miles away. The Fort Wayne terminal itself has no manager, just 2 dispatchers--one of which that is the self-appointed manager. That self-appointed manager has little--if any--formal education and no management experience whatsoever the second in command is a ex-truck driver with a bad back that lacks formal education or management experience.as well. This 'management" team controls the on site employees by making reports to the main office in Fort Dodge. The Fort Dodge office investigates allegations based on the information recieved from the Fort Wayne "management" team. No quarter is given. The discharge decision is made and the employee is then asked for his imput and then discharged. The Fort Wayne "management" team is aware of this system and uses it to control employment based on their personal likes and dislikes or when they feel that their positions may be in jepordy. A father/daughter team team works in colaboration and substantiates each other's story. When the person is discharged the Fort Wayne "management" team escorts the discharged person from the company property while laughing and making rude comments. Again, this is standard operating procedure. The high employee turn-over rate at the Fort Wayne terminal is a direct result of this practice. The constant back stabbing and threats by a female employee of "I'll get you fired" making working for Decker intolerable. My first hour there I had a fellow employee calling the district manager making false reports in attempt to have me discharged. This activity was continued during my short term of employment with Decker . During that time I was seeking employment with other firms using my lap top and cell phone and as luck would have it was able to start another job immediatly when discharged by Decker. My experience was not an isolated case. The constant employee turnover is easily verified with the stastics available with the Indiana Employment Office. This is written in hope that I might spare someone the grief that I went through with Decker truck line.

As with many other trucking companies Decker gives many promises up front and does not deliver. Very low pay for the hard work and long hours you put in. They also have a habit of redirecting you to handle a load someone else would not or could not deliver, with low pay. Their very interesting safety flaw is in a series of Peterbilt tractors 2016-18 year model 379s with automatic transmission and no reverse creeper gear. The Eaton transmissions in these model are known for extreme uncontrollable movements and extreme jerking while backing under load with the occasional forward lurching. In two different tractors #2655 and #2867 this uncontrolled jerking pulled the brake lines off of the axles causing major safety violations. The maintenance department also reported that drive lines were occasionally twisted off. My experience with Decker showed that no one in the company really cared about this issue and only stated that the newer models they were leasing soon would not have this extreme safety issue. I drove both of those tractors and ended my work with Decker in 2867. I can also attest that you as a driver are blamed for any and all issues that may arise from how the truck reacts. Additionally, anyone can call into Decker and give them your truck number and complain about how you cut them off, or how they were blocked while you passed slow moving vehicle, believe me you get a call in the cab while driving and accused personally. My final pay check after 1842-miles was ZERO. They deducted fraudulent expenses and falsely claimed I did not return issued equipment. In addition Decker did not even pay me for a 43,779.00 LP load of Tyson meats from Perry, IA to N. Richland Hills, TX.
So in closing, I would not recommend this company to any experienced drivers.

I will always appreciate decker for being the company I trained at as a rookie. I even worked for them for over a year after I completed my training.

The flatbed instructor I had has been instrumental in my success in this career. And I'll always honor that.

However home time was always an issue with this company. I could never make doctors appointments because I'd always be late getting home.

They also paid me about 25% under industry average. And I couldn't get them to work with me enough to get better miles or a raise. Ultimately they wouldn't budge when I showed them the counter offers other companies were providing me so I had to leave and it's been one of the most lucrative moves I've ever done.

Their safety department is also hugely problematic. They're over funded and sit all day behind a desk watching you drive.  They'll call you in to critique you on the smallest things. Wasting your time and miles. (To date Ive been in trucking 5 years and have never had a collision) But I guess they have to justify their salary somehow. The safety department largely doesn't want you to drive they want you to keep the truck operating within it's AI. 
After leaving Decker I've found that my stress towards driving greatly decreased and my road rage disappeared, which is due to not having to maintain impossible and unsustainable safety policies.

Overall: I logged alot of hours for this company for them to be incredibly critical of my time and operations. I wouldn't recommend this company unless you are training as a rookie which I'm unsure if they still provide.


What is the best part of working at the company?
You are treated respectfully. Based on your performance you will earn the trust and autonomy many drivers look for. Communication is very good. Mistakes happen but there are many moving parts in this large company. You will help on correcting these mistakes  with good communication. The trucks and other assests are top notch with regular maintenance schedules. Late model Petes FL and V. all outfitted with fridge, microwave, wifi and 32" tv. APU and invertor.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Its trucking, so its your choice how long you want to keep the wheels turning. Hometime is a priority but loads are not always available to get where you need to be perfectly as you may expect. No different than most companies.  You'll need to work closely with your driver manager, who will do everything possible to get you home on time (or early)

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Excellent. Administration is a well coordinated team that work together to ensure all departments run smoothly. You feel that as a driver as your concerns are recognized and acted upon immediately. Most of our drivers have a positive team oriented attitude.

Start off with recruiting. She was a honest recruiter, as for the pay and benefits. I was told I would be a dedicated runner for a local packing house in Sioux City to Chicago. I was told that I would be getting 3000+ miles a week. Orientation was fun. Very informative. Compared to other orientations that I have attended. Orientation instructors were very well educated on company ins and outs. They wait till the driving test to tell you that there is a rear facing camera in the trucks. then proceed to tell you that they only record about 2 minutes in a 24 hour period. Either that is false, or i was just lucky enough that my "2 minutes" were recorded as i was leaving a lot in Chicago to go to the dock. I got a "talking to" as i didn't wear my seat belt to go across the the street.  As for miles, I get 2 loads per week. Therefore getting around 2000 miles per week. So my supposedly 1400/wk paycheck turned into 880/week. Not complaining about that. It is still good money. I have great home time. The only "complaint" i have about the company is the camera. Not used to it i guess. Overall, its a good company to work for.

Mostly team effort among drivers and company. Typical day is to be up and ready in order to keep loads on time. Plan route, where to park if no parking at shipper or con,  Make calls for directions if non available , calls for any safety issues if needed, double check load information, where on route will need fuel,  do Pre or Post trip and add fluids when needed.  My dispatcher is easy to get along with, in that we can disagree and still be nice, I could send cute jokes which cheered him and others up on stressful days, He knew he didn't have to worry about me getting the run on time or any equipment issues as I proved over and over I worked and communicated when necessary. Could work with fellow drivers and even learned from them or able to enlighten them on our job with my years of experience. Would swap loads in order to help other drivers or to also help me, when needed such as family emergencies or just time off for family.

I have worked for D.T.L. for roughly six years and I truly love the company. I fully believe that they have one of the best safety records around. Each and every terminal that I have gone to my truck has been inspected by trained mechanics that specialized on whatever area of the truck that they are looking over. They have NEVER once asked me to leave with a broken down truck or trailer that needed any kind of repair that they claimed would be taken care of upon the completion of that particular run. Each of my questions and concerns have always been answered before I left the terminal. I look forward to continuing to work here for a lot longer. My particular dispatcher could definitely be a better communicator. In order to get information from him...I need to ask as many questions as humanly possible. 

Work-life balance
Pay is no good. I was on Guaranteed weekly rate, but they will find a way to not pay you that. And end up making less than half of what you check is supposed to be.

Pay & benefits
Pay is cheap, and they will find a way to charge you back for things that are out of your control.

Management
They don’t listen to you about what you need to do your job. At first it’s great but as time passes by they don’t care or listen no more. My truck was a smokers truck. Smelled like cigarettes. I’m not a smoker, asked to be switch to a different truck multiple times. Was just brushed of.

Overall
This place is a joke! They act like they listen but nothing ever changes. When I received my tuck smells like cigarettes, and I am not a smoker. Asked to be switch multiple time they ignored me. Would recommend this place if you have no other option. The pay is cheap. And they expect you to go above and beyond for them. Runs are easy. So when you don’t meet their requirements for guaranteed pay, you can expect a $300-400 check for being out all week.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 1811 salaries reported	$1,543 per week
Over the road truck driver 11644 salaries reported	$78,000 per year
Otr 274 salaries reported	$172,500 per year
Diesel mechanic 10 salaries reported	$29.20 per hour
Office coordinator 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour

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