They do have you take a physical close to your home. Then after they get the results you are off to orientation. By the way meals were taken care of in Greenbay. Yes there was a dollar amount limit and no alcohol, which was not a problem. Take care

much appreciated, cheers

Does Gordon haul HAZMAT ? ?

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yes they do

I must say gordon has been good to me. as long as I can make money for them I'm sure I will have a good job as long as I want it. but like ALL jobs, you fail in your duty's long enough and your gone. that's just the life of a blue collar. bottom line with gordon is they are a easy place to work it.

Yes, we do haul HazMat, but its rare. An actual placarded load i was told is apx 1 in 1000 loads. There so rare, they dont even require us to have HazMat or Doubles/Trips like they used to.

Gee whiz, look at all the newbs starting up with Gordon, congrats (I guess). In a volitile world such as it is, and employment as rough as it is (no offense to the new guys) but the less people we hire the more miles available for me to run. But I figure our attrition rates are getting kind of high now, since GTI is no longer one of the top paying companies out there and our annual "lets stick it to the driver" policy changes that start at the new year. For 2009, no more free rider passes anymore, that'll cost you $25.00 for "administration fees". And from what I have heard (have not confirmed this yet) insurance rates are gonna be doubled next year. "YIKES". WHen I started with GTI, solo insurance was like $12 a week and has slowly crept up to now $25 a week. But if it doubles to $50 a week, I will drop it and go and acquire my own insurance (which would be cheaper). Plus we always lose more drivers in the winter then the summer, something about the seasonal slow down and the winter weather.

Oh you new guys that dont know, when you finish your trainers, (yes 1 weeks worth of clothes should be sufficient - and buy 1 of those single wash boxes of soap you would get from a laundromat - you may end up at the Clack terminal and they got free W/D but no soap) you'll be coming out sometime during the beginning of the year. Right during GTI's slow period, and with the economy the way it is, it will be probably even slower then last new years. Late Dec, Jan, Feb are traditional slow for trucking because it's after Christmas, stores are inventorying what they have left and not ordering any new products. Mar and Apr life starts perking up like a flower buried in a snow drift thawing out in mid morning sun. Frieght usually peaks around Aug / Sept as stores order up for the holidays and then in Nov - Dec it starts to slide. This is trucking. If you get onto something specialized like TC fleet (we haul a ton of apples out of Central WA during the winter, you'll get to know Wenatchee and Selah and Yakima real good), get on the beer fleet or heavy haul ( I hear there fairly steady all year). Or GP fleet out of Halsey (everyones got to wipe their keister) and we pull alot of toilet paper out of there to the Costco stores.

Well it time to head out, got to deliver in 2 hours here in New Albany, MS and its raining pretty good (atleast Im far enough south now, its only raining.) Good luck everyone and ciao.

Looks like I might go with Gordon.

At least now I know what to look forward too.

How are they about home time???

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I live in Dayton, Ohio. I've been driving for JB Hunt for the last ten years, thinking about making a change. I talked to a Gordon driver on a trip to California I made last week. Those are rare these days, most of what we run now days is mid-west, northeast, and south east. The economy is grinding to a halt for everyone, and yeah, I know it's slow everywhere. I understand sometimes we all have to wait 24 hours for a load, but when those down days are getting to be 2-3 times a week and you end up getting a 200 mile load, it's time to start weighing your options.

So anyhow, what can an experienced guy like myself expect at Gordon? Are they interested in Ohio drivers? I'm not all that big on hometime, I pretty much prefer to stay out 3-4 weeks at a time. I'm interested in longer runs. If they hand me another load from New Jersey to north Virginia, while they put the good stuff on the train, I'm going to puke.

What's the real scoop on safety there? I'm getting conflicting reports in this thread. One of the things I like about where I'm at now, is like me, JB Hunt is in the game for the long haul. I don't run illegal. Period. If you give me a load I can't legally do, and I tell you I can't, then that's it, I'm not going to discuss it any further. As far as my log books go, the DOT is my boss, not the dispatcher or fleet manager. I've been around too long to let a college kid behind a computer terminal talk me into risking my career. JB is pretty good about rescheduling loads that are too tight, how is Gordon on this?

Also, I have an old bat for a wife (lol) that is somewhat expensive to maintain as far as medical expenses..how soon would I have medical insurance, and is that insurance any good? I have Aetna right now, I'm kind of happy with it.

I'd appreciate any info, thanks.

Mr. Mustard , I feel your pain, I do. I was with schneider and they kept me on the east messed up coast. Mr.,Mustard putting that to the side. what I have learned in my years of trucking is to make good money as to support my family, most of my runs are tight. we ( usa ) are in a just in time world. yes I know it s@p*#. but driver this is far from a perfect world. I think you know that! I live in the mid-west and run a lot out west with gordon, but I was told that they are not hiring in the mid-west right now but that could change. good luck and marry christmas. homebody

Does Gordon let you take the truck home when on home time???
How often does Gordon pay each month???

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