BEWARE - Freight Runners - BEWARE

[Capt Big Daddy]

Hi Y'all,

It's not worth it. Get your turbine someplace else. Be careful of the training contract they will try to force you to sign. It's not worth it. The contract gives them the right to sue you for training costs without giving you notice of the action, without letting you know they are taking you to court, and whether or not you are at fault.

In other words, he can train you, take a dislike to you, fire you without cause, and then sue you for training costs.

Sounds like sour grapes, BUT IT IS NOT!!!!! BEWARE of FREIGHT RUNNERS! BEWARE OF FREIGHT RUNNERS. Deal with Chip Zens at your own risk.

He is a sheisty, old, good-ole-boy who has it in for all the pilots he thinks has screwed him in the past. AND, HE WILL TAKE IT OUT ON YOU.

Example of sheisty: I was told, in the midst of writing up an attitude indicator that continually rolled, that, "some pilots fail check rides because of too many write ups,...." Read between the lines folks!!! That is just an example of what to expect.

 

[Propsync]

Chip is legendary here. Have yet to meet him. But it seems everyone has a Chip story. So it probably means it's not everyone else.

 

[BoeingBaller]

There are ways of fixing guys like chip. If you need any help in this area PM me.

 

[Way2Broke]

The Chief Pilot seemed like a good guy when I met him.

I'm thinking there is more to this story. Did you work there and get fired or did you recently quit? I guess what I am wondering is, what prompted you to take the time out of your day to enlighten us on the operation?

 

[SinglePliot135]

FWIW...

If you don't want to sign it, don't work there, nobody forces you. Find a job without a contract.

FRG is what it is. I worked there and thought the people were honest and the work was hard but rewarding. Good experience, good pay, good people; I'd do it again.

 

[Way2Broke]

SinglePilot,

I think you hit the nail on the head. Anytime you take a job you should know what your getting into. If you don't you are likely to be unsatisfied. Same applies to alot of things in life.

I don't know though, I didn't live through what your talking about.

 

[time builder]

Personally, I'd take this advice, no questions asked about his situation. If someone posts something like this, and there's no one to refute it, it's usually good advice.

I've warned people about other places in aviation, but people are so desperate to get their career going that they don't listen.

 

[goodgig]

I agree time builder.

Unfortunately, there is an a$$ for every saddle and then some.

 

[X-Wind]

There are ways of fixing guys like chip. If you need any help in this area PM me.

Curious, How do you fix guys like Chip?

 

[Morettis]

Personally, I'd take this advice, no questions asked about his situation. If someone posts something like this, and there's no one to refute it, it's usually good advice.

I've warned people about other places in aviation, but people are so desperate to get their career going that they don't listen.

If you finish reading the thread, SinglePilot135 did refute it. That and this guy not responding to anything else said in the thread leads me to believe he got Sh!t Canned and is just pissy about it.

 

[goodgig]

I really don't think you can fire someone, and *then* expect to recover your training cost though.

I know they would have had a hard time getting it from me!

 

[Windsor]

I'd have to agree with the original poster. FRG is a place where you need to be one of the "good ole boys" to survive. If you write stuff up, forget it. You'll be on their sht list. Too many write ups and they will find a reason to get rid of you.

For example, i flew a plane early in the morning that developed engine trouble shortly after take off. I returned to mke and told the d.o what the problem was. He was very angry I didn't fly the plane in that condition. Brushed me off and told me to go home. Later that night I get a call to fly the same plane on a charter. I asked if the problem was taken care of, they say they cleaned the plugs and the plane is ready to go. During the engine run up, I noticed the problem was not gone and in fact seemed worse with some nice big fireballs shooting out of the exhaust. I shut it down, went into ops and told the chief what was going on. He went and got chip, chip and I had a discussion that including calling me an idiot and told me i didn't know what i was doing. He then goes out there to run up the plane to prove i was an idiot. He goes out there and gets bigger fireballs than i did. Chip storms back inside, shoots me a dirty look and yells at me to go home. Turns out one of the mags was completely shot.

A few weeks later I was fired for a "shady at best" reason. They did not enforce the contract when I was fired. I know my firing was partly my fault, but the fact that I wasnt part of chips "good ole boy" network, did not work in my favor.

 

[goodgig]

Windsor, it sounds like they did you a favor.

 

[waka]

The Chief Pilot seemed like a good guy when I met him.

I'm thinking there is more to this story. Did you work there and get fired or did you recently quit? I guess what I am wondering is, what prompted you to take the time out of your day to enlighten us on the operation?

Is that a serious question? Some people feel compelled to look out for their fellow aviators and give advanced warning......ya think?

 

[Way2Broke]

Of course it is a real question. The poster only has 6 posts, and that alone brings the credibility of the poster into question. Sometimes, before I decide to side with someone on a subject I like to see what their posting history entails. That isn't possible with this poster.

One thing is for sure, I seriously doubt that Capt Big Daddy woke up one morning, and said to himself, "I think today is a good day to warn everyone." I am sure there was something that prompted the post. Possibly getting fired, or something as simple as the comment after the attitude indicator incident. It is fair and reasonable to want to know what happened.

 

[Capt1124]

Unbelievable. If you want to say, "yeah it's probably dirtball outfit, deal with it" that's one thing, to say, "it's probably a good company and you're just mad you got fired" would show to me little practical knowledge of the aviation industry.

It's very possible and even probable the OP wrote this because he got fired and he's mad. But that doesn't mean it's not a dirtball outfit! In fact places like this like to fire people proactively. If a pilot looks like he's not with the program and may cause trouble he'll be out at the first vaguely plausible excuse, to avoid him grounding an airplane in the future (for *anything*) and as a warning to others who may get ideas, like the attitude indicator should work or the engine should run up correctly.

Learn from the experience of others. If a place has a reputation, it is probably deserved, and you can wait six months or a year to get a job at a company that doesn't put your life or your license at risk.

 

[regionalcap]

Of course it is a real question. The poster only has 6 posts, and that alone brings the credibility of the poster into question. Sometimes, before I decide to side with someone on a subject I like to see what their posting history entails. That isn't possible with this poster.

One thing is for sure, I seriously doubt that Capt Big Daddy woke up one morning, and said to himself, "I think today is a good day to warn everyone." I am sure there was something that prompted the post. Possibly getting fired, or something as simple as the comment after the attitude indicator incident. It is fair and reasonable to want to know what happened.

The number of times that someone post has nothing to do with credibility. Maybe he has more to do than sit and post on flightinfo all day. I am sure that there is more to the story but maybe he shouldn't divulge too much information here.

 

[Way2Broke]

Unbelievable. If you want to say, "yeah it's probably dirtball outfit, deal with it" that's one thing, to say, "it's probably a good company and you're just mad you got fired" would show to me little practical knowledge of the aviation industry.

It's very possible and even probable the OP wrote this because he got fired and he's mad. But that doesn't mean it's not a dirtball outfit! In fact places like this like to fire people proactively. If a pilot looks like he's not with the program and may cause trouble he'll be out at the first vaguely plausible excuse, to avoid him grounding an airplane in the future (for *anything*) and as a warning to others who may get ideas, like the attitude indicator should work or the engine should run up correctly.

Learn from the experience of others. If a place has a reputation, it is probably deserved, and you can wait six months or a year to get a job at a company that doesn't put your life or your license at risk.

I never said, "it's probably a good company and you're just mad you got fired."

I have worked at places that had the reputation of being a great company, and it sucked. I have also worked for companies that had the reputation of being a dirtball outfit that I was really happy at. I am by no means saying he is wrong, as he lived it, not me. It is his opinion, how could he be wrong for having a opinion. As far as "putting your life and license at risk" I am a firm believer that only a pilot is capable of that. If you accept a plane that is not airworthy, it is your fault. You sign the paperwork, and you also push the levers forward and pull back. Those are your choices, and you are the only one that has the authority to do both of them. If I get fired for being safe, so be it, because what is the point of getting a paycheck if your dead when it clears. If the poster stood up for safety, then kudos to him.

I see your point of course: if you know what you might be getting yourself into by listening to someone elses experiences you might protect yourself from ever having to deal with it. But if you don't know the whole story, are you really protecting yourself?

You guys are hanging me for wanting to know what happened. Even something as simple as, "I got fired for being safe" would satisfy my curiousity.

 

[Way2Broke]

The number of times that someone post has nothing to do with credibility. Maybe he has more to do than sit and post on flightinfo all day. I am sure that there is more to the story but maybe he shouldn't divulge too much information here.

Sure it does, otherwise it is kindove like taking the advise of a stranger.

I do agree with you that if he is not comfortable sharing, then he shouldn't.

 

[waka]

Sure it does, otherwise it is kindove like taking the advise of a stranger.

I do agree with you that if he is not comfortable sharing, then he shouldn't.

I have to disagree. Message board "seniority" means nothing.....or little at best.