Eastern Freightways North Brunswick, NJ

Hey,....That's more than I made in seven days of car hauling.....Only took me three weeks to bail out off that mess...lol...


Dose Eastern ever run through Northern WI????.........lol...

 

I worked for Eastern for a short time in 2006. I wouldn't put them on the pedestal that jlkklj has, but they are far from how realtyme portrays them.
Dispatchers and management alike always treated me with respect. The trucks are old, bunks are small and no place put anything, but I never broke down. When I wrote up my truck it was always ready for me Monday morning. I now live in NC and if I could I would go back with Eastern in a heartbeat.

 

It is sad that some people believe that in order to be successful at a carrier they must be a kiss ###. What ever happened to actually working hard for your employer? Doing the best job you can and treating others with the same respect we expect? Apparently my perspective is suspect as well as my earnings here at Eastern. Here is a line by line list of the things I have been paid for (year to date) based on my last pay sheet dated 12/13/2008;

Hourly Pay: $811.74
Single Mileage: $54,267.62
Detention: $212.39
Breakdown Pay: $93.50
Congestion: $22.00
Live Loads: $11.00
Saturday Pay: $50.00
Sunday Pay: $50.00
Layover Pay: $44.00
Drops: $1155.00
Hooks: $1023.00
Sick Pay: $818.40
Trainer Pay: $300.00
Skid: $528.00
Holiday Pay: $1636.80
Vacation Pay: $4092.00
Personal Pay: $545.50
Safety Bonus: $978.04
Retro Pay: $102.41

Total Earnings year to date $66,741.50

A few details about the above pay breakdown to help others understand; First of all I began training my spouse in November of 2007. I trained her for a total of 6 weeks, the last week took place in January of 2008 which explains the training pay. The retro pay was an error from 2007 that I got credited for the first week of 2008. The weekend pay is awarded to solo drivers that pick up or deliver on a Saturday or Sunday at the customers request (as a team we no longer are eligible for this). Again these were "missed" in 2007. I caught the error when comparing my pay sheets to my notes and questioned the payroll department about it. Payroll researched the error and paid me for the loads in question. The other items are a "split." Meaning I split all the miles and accessorials (including layover pay)with my spouse. Most of our loads are preloaded "drop and hooks." Once in a while dispatch will add an extra drop or hook in error. I do not complain about this and will do additional trailer moves at a customer gratis to make up for the overpayment. As you can clearly see I do in fact get paid for everything I mentioned in my previous posts. Another "caveat" to the above breakdown. I am a senior driver who was hired in 2001 under an old pay scale. This pay scale is no longer available to new hires but I am "grandfathered in." My spouse gets the same payscale I do with the exception she gets half a cent less per mile and her hourly pay scale is $15.00 per hour. I get 3 weeks vacation while she is only entitled to 1 week so far. 2 weeks after 2 years. 3 weeks after 7 years.

I have found over the years if you work hard and show respect/courtesy to not only your employer but to your employers customers you will be handsomely rewarded.

Life is what YOU make of it.

 

If your contention is correct then why am I still here, employed at Eastern, since June of 2001? I am not the most senior driver here either. I am probably in the top 10 based on seniority though.

As far as crappy equipment; they do still have some older 2000 model small bunk Volvo's in use and about 60 2006 Volvo 610 models all integrated into the fleet. Also several old Jevic 660 Volvo's bought at auction for the teams.

I see lots of older equipment being used by larger carriers such as ABF, Roadway, Yellow, UPS, etc. older equipment is a non issue if it is kept maintained and roadworthy. Yes, the older trucks do break down more often than the newer ones but they are repaired as quickly as possible while the driver is moved into a different unit to continue working even if that means renting a Penske lease truck while an Eastern truck is in the shop.

As I have stated in my posts I am a DRIVER and do not "work in the office" as you stated REELTYME. Check my profile and you will even see my picture as well as the truck and unit number I "drive".

I have been a driver since 1992. I have found that there are good and bad points to EVERY carrier I have worked for or even heard about. Based on the 4 carriers I have worked for Eastern is the best as far as pay, benefits, and respect.

What other truckload carrier pays drivers for drops, hooks, EVERY stop, breakdown pay, weekend pay, detention pay, congestion pay for not only the 5 Burroughs of New York City but also Boston Ma and Chicago IL? How about paid Holidays? Paid personal days? Sick days?

Of course the above were some of the reasons I joined Eastern to begin with (besides the free medical and dental insurance for the driver and his family). As I have stated the pay scale "I" enjoy is no longer offered to new hires but the rate per mile is higher and they do in fact charge $40.00 per week for the medical insurance through United Health care (was Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NJ when I started and was changed January 1st of 2008).

By the way in order for a thread to "disappear" it simply needs to be ignored. It will keep dropping further and further back as new threads are posted. I have kept the thread alive by posting my perspective about the company I STILL work for.

So where have you gone to work REELTYME? Do they treat you better? Getting you decent miles? Benefits? Paying you well? Getting you home each weekend? I got all the above as a solo driver. Now as a team driver I work the weekends and make a little less than I did as a solo driver but I enjoy my wifes company and together we in fact make more money collectively as well as get better, longer runs than our solo counter parts do.

By the way I have not received ANY money for recruiting any driver to this company from any forum I am a member of. I did get a referral bonus for bringing my brother and my spouse into the company. Of course I trained both of them personally so I think I earned the $750.00 extra in both cases.

REELTYME, just out of curiosity, how long ago did you work at Eastern and for how long? I would think a driver with over 17 years of experience and 7.5 years of experience (me) at the company being discussed would have more details about a company than a disgruntled "former" driver (you).

Of course the readers are free to choose sides and decide for themselves who is more thruthful about Eastern Freight Ways. Feel free to continue "bumping the thread" though and we can continue to debate the pros and cons of Eastern. I have to thank you for starting this thread REELTYME. There are over a thousand hits to this thread alone and that means ALLOT of people are now aware of Eastern. Considering it is a small subsidary of a larger carrier any press is good press!

 

I assure you am not an employee, I was in 2006 but have since moved to North Carolina. They may have changed (As companies so often do) since I was there. The yard is deffinately CRAP! I have pictures of trailer legs sunk in the mud all the way to the chassis, that was from the storms in March 2006. If it truely is what you say than I stand corrected.
There are alot of suck job trucking companies out there, especially now!.
Good luck in your search. I'm in the same boat.

 

So you never even got hired by them did you? Something bad come up in your DAC?

You form all this bad opinion based on what you saw in their yard during orientation? I've found that if you're at a trucking company yard at 8:00 am most of the units are dispatched and on the road making money, the few pieces left in the yard may be waiting repairs, etc.

For a guy who never even turned a wheel for them, I think you're a little over the top with all this bad press about Eastern Fwys.

I think jlkklj777 makes a lot more sense than you.

 

REELTYME I really have no desire to track you down. I could care less "who" you are. I questioned your perspective based on the amount of time you were employed with Eastern. From the sounds of it I doubt you made it more than a month.

To be fair, REELTYME is correct about the yard. It is un paved in the back and although it has recently been enlarged considerably it still gets very muddy. Each Spring Eastern has loads of gravel brought in to fill in the ruts and pot holes. The area is flat and swampy especially in the back so we have to be careful when we drop trailers. We have had some heavy trailers sink as well. I have seen the very same thing happen at other locations at customers and trucking companies alike.

A funny story that REELTYME may find amusing; When I was invited to orientation I was supposed to catch a ride with a local driver from Camp Hill Pa to North Brunswick NJ where I would be sent to a local hotel for the evening and begin orientation the following day. Well I met the local driver in Camp Hill but was informed he had to drive to Richmond Va first and then go to NJ. Well I had no intention of sitting in a day cab for a 4 hour drive to Va, a possible 2 hour wait to be unloaded, and then a 6 hour drive back to North Brunswick. The operations manager spoke to me on the phone and asked me if I would rather drive a unit directly to North Brunswick from Camp Hill Pa instead. I agreed to this solution (got paid 3 hours local pay to bring a truck and trailer to them $45.00 for a little under 3 hours work). When I got to EFW (Eastern Freight Ways) I was informed I would have to wait until they had someone come in to give me a ride to the hotel. I sat around for the rest of the day and the local driver I had met in Pa showed up around 9 pm. He drove me to several hotels only to discover that due to some convention in the area there were no available rooms. He took me back to the terminal where I had a nice "chat" with the night dispatcher. I must say I was not a happy camper at this point. I asked for the keys to a sleeper truck and told him I would just sleep in the truck and would check in with Safety in the morning. I pocketed the company check (for the hotel) and went to bed...

Orientation was supposed to be 3 days. I did all the paperwork and watched their movies in half the time (I was the only recruit). I then had to go out with a "trainer" for a couple of days so my "driving skills" could be evaluated. I got a senior driver on a trip to Ohio that was out of hours. I took the wheel and after an hour of talking to me and watching me he went to bed. I woke him when we got to within 10 miles of our destination. We made our drop and then bobtailed to a local hotel and crashed for 8 hours. We returned to NJ with another load and I was "upgraded" and assigned to my own truck for a NYC delivery. The truck was an old Freightliner with no a/c. I made the delivery on time and requested the unit be routed to a terminal for repairs. I dropped the truck in Elizabeth NJ and switched to a different truck. All told I think I went through 6 trucks within 2 months. Each truck I got would be thoroughly inspected and ANY defect documented, reported, and routed to a shop for repairs. I finally got a decent truck after about a year and was able to hold onto it for a couple of years before I was given a newer one.

The point to this story? Every company has good points and bad points. Rather than just jump ship and try another company I made this company work for ME. I earned managements respect and the mechanics made sure my equipment was fixed right the first time. Otherwise I was a pain in the ### until it did get fixed. I have always prided myself on personal integrity and making the best out of any situation. This "attitude" has served me well. Oh yeah I was also instrumental (along with several other senior drivers) in getting rid of loads that were driver "unfriendly" as in floor loads. After it got around that I was "refusing" to hand sort and unload Fortunoff loads in Brooklyn and was willing to quit to prove my point I was no longer assigned to those loads. Other senior drivers soon refused these loads as well. We then balked at doing multi stop KB TOY Store hand unload deliveries after the upper management cut our unloading compensation. We used to get rewarded with $22.00 for each stop plus $38.00 for the full load, plus a $10.00 bonus for each delivery after the second, plus an additional $22.00 for congestion for every delivery in the 5 Borroughs of NYC, Boston, or Chicago. On a 5 stop Chicago load I could make an extra $298.00 bucks (including the $11.00 for the initial drop and hook) on top of the mileage pay. Once management took away the $38.00 for loads with more than 2 stops and the bonuses after 2 stops I refused to pull those loads. I was willing to sweat if I was paid WELL, otherwise it wasn't worth it to me.

The good thing about a smaller company is you can affect changes from within provided you build a reputation as being reliable, competent and capable. I also am very careful in choosing my battles. Thus far it has worked well.

As I have said before; "Life is what YOU make it."

If anyone has any questions about Eastern TODAY feel free to ask.

 

I enjoyed working at EFW, sorry I left. I'm sure we know one another.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! and have a safe 2009.