All I can say is that I love my new driving job!!

They have 9 trucks and 5 drivers including me. I have been assigned a 2006 Freightliner Columbia day cab with a Detroit D60 14L 475hp with an Eaton 10 speed, she has 80K miles on her. The company has mostly 48' trailers, they have a few 53"s and 2 flat beds. They do not use any type of Q-Com system, they are not speed controlled. I was told that I’m a professional driver, if I get to many tickets, I will be fired when the insurance drops me. I’m paid by the hour, no need to make up time or anything, drive safely is there number concern.

This company makes industrial insulation, which is similar to “Styrofoam”, Styrofoam is made and copyrighted by Dow chemical. They make their foam from the raw material, can cut and shape to anything the customer wants. They put big blocks of foam on a CNC machine to make things. They can cut it to any thing the customer needs.

What I do is deliver the product to the customer. Depending on the customer, some of the smaller places that do not have a dock I have to tailgate the load, customer with a dock, unload themselves. Nothing is heavy, the biggest block they make is only 50 lbs, but is 4’ x 4’ x 16’. Some of their customers are construction companies and I get to drive off road to job sites. Monday, my first solo trip was a run a job site in Moorefield WV. They are building a bridge for a new highway. I had to drive a few miles on a dirt road to get to the job site. I had a ball driving off road.

This week was my first week solo, I worked 10 to 14 hour days, I worked 57 hours for the week (5 days). I start the day any where from 3am to 5am depending on how far the first drop is away. The first drop is always at 8am, some of the customers are up to 300 miles away. I was home by 6pm everyday this week, and have the weekends off. It is so nice to sleep with my wife in my own bed.

I’m paid by the hour off the log book. This company doesn’t micro manage at all; it’s all on the honor system. If they catch you cheating you will be fired on the spot. The only type of control they have is that when I get empty I have to call the office and give then an ETA to the terminal. If I get stuck in traffic, or anything just call, to keep them up to date on ETA. They want us to log 100% legal, if I run out of hours away from the terminal they pay for the motel room, and $25 for meals if overnight.

They pay very well, I won’t go into the basic numbers, but lets say I will make very close to what Wal-Mart drivers make. I have an expense account for anything that comes up on the road, no need to call and get a PO, just get what you need and submit the expense report at the end of the trip. I get to claim $1 for every call I make on my cell phone for work. I pay nothing out of my pocket for this company.

I have been asked to get my Haz-Mat and passport, they will pay for it. As of right now, they only have one driver with a Haz-Mat. The company gets its raw material from Canada, just outside of Montréal, QB. That is the overnight trips I was told about, first day drive to the border, second day cross the border, get loaded, and then drive back home. We cross the border empty, do not haul anything into Canada. They use that new computerized manifest system, crossing the border is not bad. That is what I have been told by the only driver with a Haz-Mat.

The other 4 drivers have been with the company for over 6 years, they have nothing bad to say out the company. They all say this company treats the drivers like gold. They seem to have a problem finding qualified drivers. There big thing is no accident for 3 years and drivers need 3 years experience. This whole week the driver manager was worried that I was going to quit, I kept tell him no way, I really like this job. If the first week of any new job is the hardest, I’m going to love working for the company. I have had zero problems, everything is straight forward. I was given the driver managers, cell number and home number, any problems with anything just call.

Mark

Sounds like a dream job. That is the importance of keeping your record clean and getting a few good years of experience under your belt, landing a great job like that makes all of the early struggling worthwhile.

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