Your ticket to an early grave. - Anonymous employee Cowan Systems Employee Review

Thank you for your commitment over the last three years at Cowan Systems. It’s true our drivers work incredibly hard to meet the transportation needs of our clients, especially lately, due to the amount of freight and the shortage of Cowan-quality drivers. But, for the record, I’d like to clarify some of the facts. Drivers in our fleet who are paid mileage or trip pay receive detention pay after 1 hour. Our drivers also receive Breakdown pay after 1 hour. More importantly, our pay programs are designed to result in a competitive weekly wage. The average age of our fleet is less than 1 ½ years, and the majority of our drivers are home every night. In short, we offer very good jobs and competitive pay. As a result, driver turn-over at Cowan is among the lowest in the industry. It’s true we slip-seat our day cabs, and it’s true that some of our drivers don’t always leave the trucks the way they found them. In the future, please alert your fleet manager or the terminal manager immediately if a driver does not properly clean the truck interior and dispose of all trash. I sincerely apologize for the condition of the truck you mentioned. Trash should not be left for the next guy or gal to clean up. Finally, I took this opportunity to look at the use of the 16 hour exception by our local fleet to determine whether you are correct that the rule is being abused. Our company fleet is using Omnitracs elogs, so there is a record of each use. In the last 60 days, the 16 hour exception has not been used by any driver in our local fleet more than the permitted once in 7 days. In addition, it was used a total of 9 times per week in a fleet of about 91 drivers. That means about one driver in ten used it each week. All of that said, the bottom line is you have had a bad experience and we’d like a chance to make it better. Please call Eddie Crooks in our driver retention department. He drove for us for many years and now he works with our drivers to address issues like the ones you have raised. Many drivers have found his insights helpful. One thing is sure – saying nothing and getting mad doesn't fix anything.