Questions that a company driver should ask a potential new company

I've put this list together based on what I've learned over the last three years. The list is probably not complete, so other members please feel free to add to it if anything is missing. It's probably a good starting place however.

Note: Besides the questions below, you may also be interested in checking out the company's CSA scorecard.


QUESTIONS:

About truck:
- Make, model, year, auto or stick?
- Super singles or dual drives?
- On Guard?
- On board cameras? Facing driver?
- Idle shutdown? If so, what temps?
- Trucks governed at?
- When park at home, attached or not? Or park at nearest terminal?
- Procedure to fix truck?
- Procedure to fix trailer?
- Truck washing? Procedure?
- Inverter supplied? Allowed? What size?
- APU supplied?
- Any amenities in truck, i.e. refrigerator?

About Company:
- Number drivers?
- Truck to trailer ratio?
- Number of Terminal locations, terminal nearest to home?
- How long orientation? How much paid?
- Driver amenities at Terminals?
- Where run? Regional or everywhere?
- Training company?
- Leasing opportunities?
- Fueling locations?
- Pre-Pass?
- E-Z Pass? Any other (Kansas, Florida)? i.e. how handle tolls?
- How scale tickets handled?
- How lumper fees handled?
- Detention pay? How much and when kick in?
- Breakdown pay? Procedure for breakdown/hotel?
- Routing solutions supplied or follow own?
- TransFlo? Trip Pak?
- Electronic logs?
- Longevity bonus?
- Any contractual work with other companies? i.e. Walmart, Target, etc.? How is pay determined?
- Teams?
- % of Northeast driving? Any extra pay?
- Safety Bonus?
- Fuel Bonus?
- Road test in Auto?
- Overnight deliveries?
- Store Deliveries?
- % of Drop and Hook?
- Easy/hard to switch dispatcher?
- Whose decision to stop in inclement weather? i.e. chaining policy

For Driver:
- Practical or Household Movers pay?
- Pay per mile, and what does pay go up to after a year?
- Bobtail miles payed as well as loaded?
- Forced dispatch?
- Miles per week avg?
- Trainer Pay and benefits?
- How many days off per running time?
- Do days off accumulate or lose?
- Total number of days off, at one time, allowed?
- Allowed take any day off during week, or limited to specific days?
- What encompasses the entry physical?
- Sign on bonus?
- Paid holidays?
- Paid vacation days?
- When Benefits kick in?
- Direct Deposit?
- How dispatcher handle 34 hour reset?
- Procedure for getting home?
- Rider policy?
- Pet policy?
- Emergency home time?

 

Well, sure. Nobody is suggesting that when you talk with a recruiter you just fire off all of these questions. But the point is, once you start driving for another company you WILL learn the answers to all these questions. It's up to the individual which questions are important to have answered FIRST, before making a change.

I find that many drivers are really upset about how their current company conducts a certain part of business. They didn't know it going in, now it is the driving force behind them leaving. Take tolls for example. I met a driver who had to pay out of the pocket for all the tolls. Then get reimbursed. But the company dragged their feet in reimbursing him. It bugged him so much that he may have gone with a different company to begin with.

As far as "a little high maintenance" I don't agree. Trucking companies are desperate for good drivers. A recruiter is NOT going to say "we can't use you" just because you ask a lot of questions about the company right off the bat. And they're not going to keep a record of it. All they care about is that you deliver from point A to B on time, and safely.