Hello everybody.

Quick qestion for y'all. My husband is "penciled in" for orientation with FFE on Oct 26. The recruiter he is working with has stated that he should call her the fridays before heading to dallas to keep in touch. Well, he called this friday and she says the they are filling up right now and may not be able to fit in in for orientation. Has anybody else gotten this response?

no, but if he goes to work for them, be sure he parks his truck before showering! FFE drivers are notorious for showering while their truck sits in the fuel island!

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are too bright. Some lack just plain ol common sense.

I would be in touch with the orientation person DAILY. That way, they don't forget you. Just a pleasant "good morning etc". It's easy to fall into the cracks, what with everything that happens and the number of people they deal with and all the stuff that changes daily (hourly).

He will be fine ! "may" have to wait a little longer, but he will get the job !

I worked for FFE four years ago . I made the mistake of being suckered in to become a lease purchase operator. I worked for four months with FFE going against the advice of a few drivers I had gone through orientation with. During the four months I ran my butt off, making an awesome paycheck but brought home less than a thousand dollars in that four months . Up to my butt in IRS debt . FFE decided that anything I made went towards the truck which was probably already paid for was theirs . They promised the truck would be fixed before you left the yard, lol my speedometer read 65 but was jacked up to 80 mph , my fuel tank gauge was wrong showing full tanks of fuel when in all reality it was 3/4's full. You don't know how many drivers I talked to were in the same boat. I talked to this one couple told me they had gone bankrupt lost everything and the only choice they had was to live in the truck. FFE has a sister company with less headache your husband should try . Its American Eagle , it's a dry van company . They treated the drivers like humans and honestly gave a ####, Nice thing its in the same terminal FFE is in Lancaster . Tell him good luck and prepare to start loosing every thing if he decides to stay with FFE .

If he does go to work for FFE pay careful attention to ALL deductions, and also to all out of pocket expenses he claims for reimbursement. All receipts need to be very clear, and all paperwork must be kept for when they decide to lose something 2 months and 29 days after it's scanned in. FFE is also good about having errors in payroll that somehow they forget to pay the week it should be (paperwork must be turned in before tuesday am to be paid on thursday). Make sure if your husband decides to work for FFE he elects to have automatic deposit done on all checks, and if they forget to pay a load that should be call the day he finds out it isn't paying, send the message in by QC, but after they dont answer call in despite what they tell you. I was screwed on loads ran not being paid for 3 weeks, total amount I finally demanded they wire into my bank was $631 and some change.

Basically it comes down to they are a starter outfit, they will screw you if you let them. But any starter outfit will do this some people just get lucky and never have it occur (or they aren't intelligent enough to watch their paperwork so they never know it happens).

Also in response to the comments about running as a lease operator for a company, anyone who isn't intelligent enough to stay away from this trap needs to have their head examined anyways. You can get a rig in better shape from other sources, and know what you're getting without the gimmicks the company will try to run. You also then have the option of taking your rig elsewhere if you find out the company is screwing you. NEVER fall into the trap of Lease Purchase from a company you drive for.

on a final note there are 3 different trucks and trailers at the yard in Lancaster (the only yard in the DFW area) There is only 1 company though even if they tell you that you're with the other. All dispatch is handled by the same people, and just becsuse you're a reefer operator don't think you won't haul dry loads, or if you're on the AE side don't think you wont end up hauling reefer.

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Look, I just left FFE to come back to hauling gas. The only reason I ended up with FFE, and back OTR in general, was because I was laid off from hauling gas. I was a company driver and I ran pretty good. Of course some weeks were better than others, but at the end of the month I was making money and averaged pretty good miles. I got home when I wanted to and for how long I wanted. I believe I had an exceptionally good fleet manager and that made all the difference. Had I not got a job hauling gas again I would still be at FFE and not looking to change.

Batmanz, you were there 4 years ago, and did a lease program. That has no bearing on today. Especially the lease vs. company thing. I looked at FFE's lease program. Just like every company out there that offers a lease, it's to make them money, not you. Also, even though It's FFE, Lisa, and American Eagle, it's all run under one roof now and everyone does everyone's work. I interchanged a reefer load from an AE driver last week to get me to Dallas.

xcountry, I would just talk to your recruiter. Where do you live? I live in Ohio and took orientation in Chicago. I had the option of Chicago, Dallas, or Atlanta. Maybe they can get you in at another terminal? Also depends on who you have as a recruiter. Keep on them.

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They call me Biscuit

The best thing about being a pessimist is very rarely do you let yourself down.

Biscuit good luck on the hauling gas again. I am waiting for my year contract to be up with FFE, but other than the problems I noted in my post I've had decent luck with them. I also found out that the longer I am willing to stay out and stay running the better my paychecks stay for the weeks out. I went from averaging a paycheck of about 300 a week to around 500 a week. Granted there are some weeks that get a little rough, but that's all part of the game.

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For all the answers. He will be going as a company driver not a lease op so that has no bearing on us. We have talked to many drivers regarding the company and have not heard very much negative feedback, I take this as a plus sign.

As far as the other orientation sites I don't think that they would send him to those as we live in Vegas. He has been off the road for 4 years now and at this point we are just glad that they are willing to work with him. So I will have him start calling every day this week and hopefully he will be in orientation on the 26th.