Anyone know about HillBros Trucking

This guy is an O/O leased to Hill Bros. http://otrjournal.com

 

Being an Omaha guy and a former recruiter for another Omaha company, I have talked to a lot of Hill Bros drivers. They generally seem content, and have nice new Volvos.

 

I am the lease operator mentioned above... do you have any specific questions about HB? I've been there since March of 2008 and leased on since June of 2008 and am satisfied, overall.

Jim

 

Mileage: I average 2,450 or so each week and I'm fairly certain I'm the laziest O/O or L/P driver in the fleet. Averaging 3,000 or so a week is certainly doable if you wish to work that hard.

Pay: You are paid by the mile, so the AMOUNT varies depending how many miles you run but aside from a 1 CPM performance bonus (more below) that CPM remains the same.

Bonuses: There are three bonuses:

1 - Longevity. Paid annually, it is 1 CPM to start plus half a cent each year, paid on all miles run the previous year. Mine came in at just under 2,000 dollars this year (for last year's miles).

2 - Safety / logs. Paid quarterly, if you have no preventables and get your logs in on time (and correct any errors that get spotted) it is 2 CPM for all miles run in that quarter. I've never had any difficulty here.

3 - Performance / Productivity. Paid quarterly, 1 CPM per mile if you hit a certain number of miles in the quarter. I think the number is average of 2,750 or so per week, but I'm not sure. This bonus I've never attained, as I drive for efficiency not total miles.

Maintenance: All company trucks are maintained at HQ, with occasional PMs or things like replacing tires and such done over the road. Any time you get through Omaha you can tell them in advance via Qualcomm when you'll be there and what you need to have fixed and they will get it done, or send you out to ThermoKing (APU) or Volvo if it is something involved. I've never heard any squawks about the equipment that weren't addressed, and I certainly maintain my own equipment to a high standard (using mostly the company shop).

Load planning: I'm preplanned about 50-60 percent of the time; it varies depending on how busy the fleet is. The ops people are very keen to have you let them know (via Qualcomm) when you will be available and what hours you have to run. They call this ETA / PTA (Estimated time of Arrival and Projected Time of Availability). Compared to CFI / Conway Truckload that I used to work for, there are tons more preplans.

Where we drive: We don't do any northwest or northeast. You might rarely be sent someplace like northern New York (the state, not NYC) or Pennsylvania but then you'll be sent back to the midwest. We do a decent number of loads out to Phoenix, and occasionally out to middle and southern California. No I-95, no Florida. Most of our traffic is in the area formed by Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago. I go through OK regularly and I know several drivers who live in that state (I live in MO myself).

Hope that helps,

Jim

 

Every time I see a Hill Bros truck out here, I wonder if it's you JR OTR....
I do look for a cat though...could be a giveaway!

 

There are only two or three HB trucks with 100% white paint (the rest are either red / blue paint or white paint over red fenders) so I kind of stand out like a sore thumb.

Also, my truck doesn't have the logo on top of the superstructure, just small rectangular stickers on the sideboxes. I've got some pictures on my picasa site.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim, your posts on this website are really what pushed Hill Bros to the top for me. Some other people on here seem to be angry at them for some reason, but you seem to have been truthful and seem to have an understanding of the industry, and you don't expect perfection. I start orintation on Tuesday June 2, and can honestly say that I am excited about the change. Hope to see you around sometime!
BJ

 

hey JR OTR have you pulled a new trailer out of Great Dane in Wayne Ne.?