CELADON is not a place you want to be!!!!!!!

Just the drivers alone are starting to make Celadon look like Swift. Right now I'm at the FlyingJ in Albuquerque and a celadon driver is pulled in nose fist next to me and he's parked diagonally across 2 spaces and the space between me and him is empty. Ok so he had 3 spaces in a row to choose from and very easily back into. What does he do? He pulls in nose first.

If you look at the side of some Swift trailers they say "best in class" now celadon is joining the ranks of Swift's freaky ### underdogs

 

I just learned the Celadon Lonestars are not for company drivers. 500 lease purchase trucks. That's too funny.

 

I do not want to bicker here but I think you keep drinking the Kool Aid, You do not know the way I was run and I did take all loads dispatched to me and did let them run me, you do talk like a Kool Aid drinking big dog, a big dog? really? that's foolish. I feel that you should really stop drinking the Kool Aid and talk more like a professional driver, again you do not know what you are talking about, RGT did have good points but a lot of bad. good luck to you in your future.....

 

Geez, Lets just pick on everything you think is bad about MY company! I have been a solo driver for them for 4 years and its not perfect, but its been a great place for me..yes, I would only do a lease with them if the things I would be gaining are worth having to put up with the headaches of additional paperwork, higher tax liability, etc..with a lease you get the options of picking more of your loads, having a pet, etc..etc.. personally, I just want a paycheck and I deduct my per diem myself at the end of the year..
I know that with Celadon if you act professionally and treat this as a job and not just a way to earn a paycheck here and there, you will be in return, treated well...Have a good relationship with you driver manager, communicate any issues on a timely manner..ask for preplans, keep your eta and pta up to date at all times and you will do well with them..I have had several driver mangers and with the exception of 2, that moved on rather quickly they have been awesome!! Operations managers are and can be helpful in a pinch as well..I have been able to do over 130,000 miles with these guys each year with totally awesome equiptment and support..Its very hard to come across that with any other company..i have seen so many leave thinking the grass was greener on the other side only to return..what does that say?? the instant gratification of being offered sign on bonuses, etc..wears thin pretty quickly overall, as far as I have seen..Doesnt lure me to go elsewhere..
As far as what you have been saying about the school...geez, man?? I don't know all the particulars, but, I wish I had had better training when I started out..I started out with Werner..its was ok, but, when I was done with my 3 week local school that just barely taught me enough to pass my CDL test, and then my 8weeks on a truck with my werner trainer, I seriously didn't know if I was going to be able to do this as a career when I was given my own truck with them.. I stuck it out, asked for help..every chance I got, pulled into empty warehouse and went around and around practicing backing over and over, and went thru 6 months of total stress everyday because I was no where near prepared for what I was doing..I learned so much about how strong and determined I could be by going thru all that, tho..18 months later, I was a trainer for them for 4 years straight after that and used my experience to help others get thru..BUT..it still isn't a very good program..Celadons is so much better..and I don't know about the 10000$ thingee each student, but, I bet..and im pretty sure that barely covers the expenses of having these student get thru their training..Celadon covers room, board, transportation, medical checks, etc..etc..for the entire time the student is there..plus, the trainers fees, accounting, human resource cost, etc..etc..what do you expect?? I bet we are lucky to keep 25% of the drivers for more than 1/2 the training program..Lots of people come into trucking with a totally unrealistic view of what its all about..its a job..not fun and games..Go blow you unhappy smoke up some other peoples butt and quit bashing a really good company that is trying to expand and maintain itself for the future..The bigwigs here don't skim tons and tons of extra money or hug salaries off the bottom line here..its reinvested into making us better and looking out for our future..I LOVE Celadon and im just a lowly solo driver..I don't want anything from defending MY company, no $ from any referrels, Nothing...and I wont take it, but everyone..most people who spend time bashing companies on this forum and doing it because they cant make their job work for them, not that the company isn't trying to make it work for them... Thanks Lori H.

 

looks like they are getting back into FLATBED work as well Celadon Trucking Services has recently ordered tractors for the flatbed fleet, including Kenworth W900, Peterbilt 579 and International LoneStar tractors. In addition, the company also is buying 100 new 53-foot aluminum flatbed trailers. To complement this equipment, Celadon has also purchased deluxe, enclosed head racks

 

This the first time I've ever heard this wow please

 

Swift, Crete, Jb, Schneider etc.. don't just single out two companies nothing new

 

People always rub their opinions In saying they make all this money at these awesome companies. ..

Well not everyone has 6k to drop on a school so they go to a training company to get their cdl.

 

I didn't have 6K or even 3K, and i did not go to a training company to get my CDL either. Get a student loan, go to an accredited tech or community college and get your CDL. If you can't even do that, you will have a miserable life being married to a company like Swift or Celedaon.

My first job in 2003-2004 I grossed close to $46,000 in a calender year, and I was home every week. The industry and hiring process was almost as bad then as it is now.

And if people would stop working for companies like swift, celedon and werner, these dirtbag outfits would be forced to either shut down or pay more, causing other companies to pay more and treat drivers better.

By not getting yourself a CDL on your own, and going to work for a megacarrier to finance one, a new driver solidifies even more the problems in the trucking industry without even realizing it. The system will never change if everyone keeps allowing the system to write the rules in our industry.

 

I don't know about the other companies you mentioned, but I did read that swift has uped their pay and got rid of some of the trucks that seats were not filled. So as far as swift is concerned they have been forced to change things. Which is good. I looked into them back in '96 when I had 5 years experience, they only offered to pay me .26/mile. I laughed and walked away. I do agree that more people need to pass on these companies for better ones, but unfortunately they wont.