Interstate Distribution Company - Tacoma, Wa.

It is nice to see all this about Interstate. After being messed around for 17 months on WC with the company we drive for out of MO we are going to make a switch as soon as I get released from the DR. Since I can only drive an Auto shift we are limited on companies and had always heard Interstate was a good one. One the thing I was impressed about is the recruiter was honest when I asked about miles she quickly said not going to lie it is soft right now but the whole industry is soft. I told her we only cared about being treated as people and not giving 7 yrs of loyalty and getting crapped on

Would love more input on Interstate. I am scared since I have been off since May and so afraid I will forget how to drive

 

I have a friend that drives local for Interstate now. Several years ago before his wife developed health issues, they drove team. He was telling me that they keep teams moving, and you can stay out as long as you like.
He also told me that as a team, he and his wife brought home over $100,000 two years in a row. He had nothing but praise for IDC. As soon as I get my 6months OTR experience, that's who I'll be going with.

 

Howdy Rangerman! Now I know who got the name before I did! LoL. I'm guessing you were 2nd battalion as well? I've heard some good about Interstate, but been hearing that the company's changing for the worse.

 

I worked for IDC and had a great time there and made good money . I do however believe that they need to change their pay scale since .36 a mile for a driver with 6+ years continious driving was low in my book. And if you look at their scale you do not get another raise till you are their 15 years if you start out at .36. The perdiem saved me money, but it might not be good for everyone, so I would check on that before hiring on. I thought my truck at USX was loaded till I got in a IDC truck. They are the best large company trucks I have seen on the road. You can hire on there as a local driver but I would'nt since they are payed crap and work long hours., especially if you hire out for local in Fontana, Ca. Their benifits are good, but cost more then the same benefits I had at USX. They pay you to spot trailers ($10) into a dock, but they do not pay layover. I did not have any since I was able to enter Canada and did not have to drop my loads in Blaine which can cause you to sit waiting for a backhaul. They don't like to deadhead a driver to far if they can avoid it. Many of their solo loads have multipule drops so you will need to know how to log so you can do your restarts at home like I did, and not on the road. You will also have to find time to do thier safety training becuase it is Mandatory. Their terminals In Tacoma Wa and Fontana Ca are Clean and modern but the oithers are kind of old and could use some updating ( don't know about the ones back east since I ran mostly I-5, I-84). If you are a new driver you best have some skills dropping a trailer at the Wilsonville Or term. I have seen a few drivers get the boot trying to park a trailer in that terminal becuase they did not set up properly or got in a hurry. The company Insurance will not allow you to have a prevent and stay working there. So if you are coming from a coupany who was a little slack on their requirments, then you best keep that in mind.

 

Hi Ya''ll
I started perusing this thread looking for some ideas for a new company. My husband is currently driving for Interstate and I just attended a school that is sponsored by them so that he and I can become a team. So, then, why am I looking for a new company? Simple as this.. broken promises. In a nutshell, we have had to fight to get home.. we haven't been home since January, yet our miles are not so great. We requested to be home in March for 3 days so that I could get my stuff that I needed for driving school and to just take a breather. They got us by the house for 2 hours and we haven't been back since. We had to fight to get to the school.. we had to fight for my husband to get to the school to pick me up when I finished... we are fighting right now to get us to Orientation and training. We lost 3000 miles this week by dropping a load so that we could turn back towards Tacoma, just to sit in Salt Lake City for 3 days and have a greater risk of not making it back due to lack of freight. We were told that today there were 67 trucks in the area and only 9 loads going out. I ended up calling the recruiter that set my schooling and orientation up and "requested" that something be done. I told him I would give him a few hours to get us heading in the right direction, or my next call was to the VP. Within 10 minutes of hanging up with him.. A load magically appeared on the Qualcom.. hmmmmm! The Load Fairy must have made an appearance. This is the 4th time we have had to take things to a higher level to get resolution.

I know this is supposed to be for favorite companies so I will acknowledge the good stuff to.

Do the dispatchers really care about the drivers? I believe so for the most part.. there will always be a few that don't. But its pretty bad when our own dispatcher requests us to take it above her head because things just aren't right.

From what we understand.. and hope to be true.. is that Teams are treated much better than solos. As wrong as it is, I am hoping that is a fact after being on the road with my husband as a solo driver with IDC this entire time. We would really like to stay.. but time will tell. I came on just to see what people were saying about other companies.. to put some feelers out so to speak.

The one thing that I cannot stress enough is that you need to take matters into your own hands when it comes to your success with this.. or probably any company. You CAN AND SHOULD fire a dispatcher that doesn't work for you. Don't be afraid to take things to a higher level. That doesn't mean being nasty about it, just be assertive. If you are a good driver, the "higher-ups" will bend over backwards to get a problem resolved.

I honestly think that IDC is basically a really good company, but it seems like there might be some internal issues going on. The left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing for the most part.

Would I recommend this company to someone? I wouldn't tell a person to go with them.. but I wouldn't say not to either. I know that every company has issues, but I would be sure to tell them exactly what I have said right here. Just things to be aware of.

We are toughing it out for now!

 

Listen..after one and a half years of on time deliveries...they gave me a delivery ..driver unload. 1300 boxes, 33,000lbs...not just to the end of the truck..but into the store.

one man..33,ooo lbs....4 hrs to do it.
get real
I refused and they fired me. and ###### up my dac...enjoy Interstate, until they screw you

 

No..driver assist
was written on the bill

 

Wow.. I have never heard of anything like that from anyone in the company before! The most we have ever had to do was "power assist" which is moving it to the tailgate. Are you sure you were not supposed to have hired a lumper to do the unloading? Interstate usually actually frowns on drivers having to do any sort of actual unloading... thats one reason why they will only pay a driver $30 to unload a truck, but will pay a lumper over $200 to do the same job. They would rather have a driver resting and not risking injury.. or at least that's what we have been told by several people.. including other drivers. That's just insane to expect a driver to unload that type of load. Sorry to hear that it messed up your dac.