Canadian good and bad trucking companies

Artie65,


I've been thinking about Celadon as one of their recruiters just called me.

1)What's your mileage like and is it pretty consistant?
2)Do you do a lot of Laredo runs?
3)I've heard that if you go to the Wax terminal your sitting for a while
(From the U.S.drivers)waiting for a backhaul,has it happened to you or
does it happen at all?
4)Also heard that they tried to get the Kitchener drivers to interstate
while in the U.S.Have you heard anything like this happening?
5)Are they giving the Kitchener drivers Prostars or are they still using the
Columbias'

Thanks Artie for any info you can enlighten me with in regards to Celadon.

 

Tatersalad:

1/ Milage varies a lot. I'm finding Cdn driver's get better milage than our US counterparts. I'm averaging about 1500- 2500/week. As well, you can control how many trips you submit for your pay. We use Trans-Flo and trips have to be submited b y Tuesday at midnite for next Tuesday pay. If you want to hold on to a trip because you know you'll be off for a weekend, then you can wait and submit it for the next pay period.

2/I do do a lot of Laredo's, as I am on the long haul board. if you with the 5 day out, 2 day at home; no, you won't do any.

3/If you go a terminal in Texas and get a load that originates in Mexico, then you refuse that load because it delivers in the US. - Yes, you will sit for a while. Cdn'd are under the impression that we cannot deliver in the US from our terminals in Texas. We ARE able to do that as the load originated from Mexico. Although I hear it is still a grey are with US CBP. I have done it a few times and have been questioned on it by CBP. No charges!
Unless your doing a reset, you may have to sit for about a half a day.

4/If you feel that you are being asked to interstate, then get a hold of your driver manager and let him know. He will clarify the situation and let you know if what you are being asked to do is legal or not.

5/We company driver's in Kitchener are driving Prostar-Eagles. Columbia's have been sold off and are owned by o/o's.

 

280 Shoemaker Street Kitchener, ON

 

Well, I guess I might as well chime in here. A few years ago I drove for Portage Transport in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Great company to work for as a company driver, but apprently their owner/operators got screwed on a fairly regular basis.

On relocating to New Brunswick, I went to work for McConnell Transport. They kept their equipment well maintained, but a lot of the time they would push you to run schedules that were not even close to legally possible. I quit. Interestingly enough, the owner of the company (NOT a company recruiter) calls me from time to time just to see how I'm doing and ask what it would take for me to come back.

Next up was Bestway Transport out of Woodstock, NB. Wee little company running dry vans and flatbed. No real problems there, but my dispatcher always seemed a little shifty.

On to AYR Motor Express. My god, where do I even start? I got yelled at for not wanting to run 21 days out, 7 off, so I said fine, I'll run that. Not once did they ever get me home later than day 12. I rarely ever got back out when I was supposed to either, because when the company drivers go home, the spare board drivers get in and run the truck until you are supposed to go back out.

The owner is a certified psychopath. NB Tel stopped giving him phones because of how many he threw through his office window. To save money on replacing windows they finally put in plexiglass.

On more than one occassion, drivers have been escorted off the proerty by the police after coming VERY close to assaulting their dispatcher. Were these drivers fired? Nope, usually just given a few days to cool off. When I left there after giving 3 weeks notice, I went to shake his hand, and he just looked at me and said "Good riddance." Last week their recuiter, my former driver manager, called me and said the boss told him to call me and ask if I would come back.

On to the company I currently work for, Donnelly Farms, out of Hartland, NB. Relatively small company with about 50 trucks, hauling reefer. My only complaint about this company is "running the triangle". This triangle is from home to Jersey or so, then Toronto, then home. Roughly half the company drivers work from Sunday to Thursday, and most are very happy. As an owner op leased to them, I am generally very happy. They pay o/o's on percentage of revenue, which is 90% of 88%, plus FSC. My average to the truck so far with FSC in is $1.77/mile.

There is some instability at this company right now, because the owners are a husband/wife team in the midst of a messy divorce. A lot of guys are wondering when they're going to smarten up and start running their business again instead of fighting about everything just for the sake of fighting.

 

Artie65,


What are the benefits like or offered at Celadon? How much is the driver responsible to pay for?

Thanks,

Tater

 

The benefits are kind of ok. I think you pay the 2 or 3$ dipensing fee for scripts and dental is 80%. No eye coverage though. A o/o has the option of buying his own plan or getting the one offered thru NAL.

 

Thanks for the info Artie,appreciated!

 

There is J&F Trucking out of Ajax, On. They run flatbeds about a 500 mile radius of GTA. Older equipment but heard not bad to work for. Good pay, decent runs and equipment is maintained regularly. Family run business though but sometimes that is good sometimes bad. I think that they are curently looking for drivers.

 

Artie
Any idea how they treat their O/O's?? Thinking of leasing on with them.

Thanks

 

Does anyone know anything about Commercial Logistics out of Delta/Richmond? There website seems to be a few years out of date and doesn't say much about what type of shipping, freight they do. Found a bit of info on them out of Driver's choice magazine add, which shows a slogan "Serving the beverage industry" and what seems to me as a student a low starting rate at least on the company local side of things.
http://www.driverschoicemagazine.com/advertisers/commercial.html
http://www.containerworld.com/cas-html/announcements/CW_New_Home.pdf
anyone with knowledge of them?
thanks in advance