Red Classic Transit reviews

I know an owner who has one of his trucks there. $1/mile + FSC. ($.41 a few weeks ago) He says he can average 2500 miles/week, if he can get his driver to utilize his hours wisely. They have a fuel card which offer discounts at most major truck stops, but can get fuel at cost if he fuels at a Coke facility which has fuel. No forced dispatch.They use e logs but I don't know the system that the use. A lot of drop and hook at Coke plants, but they do have other freight besides Coke.

Red Classic is a good company going through growing pains. I was leased for a year and just quit last week. Mainly due to frustration regarding that they treat O/O different than company drivers.

Pros are the fuel. Last week I bought fuel at the coke yard in Simpsonville SC for 2.25 a gallon. The price varies from yard to yard and they don't provide you with the prices until you get your settlement. There are no discounts on fuel if bought from 3rd party sites (Hess TA Flying J etc.) They paid as of last week 1.03 per mile loaded and $1.00 unloaded and 100% of the fuel surcharge, empty or loaded. They also pay IFTA tax and $40 a hour for detention after the first 2 hours if live load or unload BUT only if they can get the money from that stop. If they cannot collect it, you don't get it! If you are unloading and reloading at the same stop than the wait time is 4 hours before you can request detention pay. 

Most the loads are drop and hook but some of the smaller coke dist centers expect you to be the yard switcher. Meaning you have to pull an empty off the dock then put your load in the hole. RCT hauls all types of freight but mainly coke, paper and beer. You are guaranteed to have a load on Monday but you may have to wait for it sometimes. You can get 1900 - 2300 miles a week if you really push hard and keep the fire burning.

Cons are having to locate a empty trailer on the yard at Charlotte and Bishopville if your load isn't ready. Spent 3 hours looking for a trailer many times. No pay for it either. Communication is horrible. You have to beg for your next load info sometimes. Its really hard to plan fuel stop when they only send one load at a time. Some days you may only do 2 stops and others you may do 6. Fuel is the key to making money as a OO, buy it where it is cheapest and never go home with to much at the end of the week. Hard to pay the bills with a gallon of fuel. When I first signed on I would receive 2 days worth of work at a time. It made planning real easy.

If a company driver arrives at a stop and his load is not ready they will give a OO load to him so he can keep moving. Which means you get to wait while they get your new load ready. They will tell you they never do this but I can not count the number of times it has happened. Company drivers come first. One reason is that they pay company drivers $20 an hour after 30 minutes detention with no exceptions. So they play the time game, pay him after 30 minutes or they can make you wait 2 hours free. 

There is no orientation just a safety check of your truck. Doesn't matter year, mileage or even what it looks like. You have to learn everything on your on. Lucky for me I knew some of the other drivers that had already figured everything out to help me. Calling your dispatcher is a total waste of time. They say there is no forced dispatch which is somewhat true, they do not force you to come to work on Monday but once you are there your butt belongs to them until they send you home. Once you pick up your first load you have no idea where you are going next and if you refuse to go there they tell you to bob tail home at your own expense and start again the next Monday. So if you prefer not to run WV, TN, KY, don't sign on because you will be expected to go there. Most of the trailers are over weight. They do pay over weight fines but nothing extra per mile for the weight. Plan on being 79,000 or more EVERY load. They have also hired new management from the big 3 trucking companies who plan to start moving freight in all the 48 states so before long OO will be expected to start OTR instead of regional. Hope this helps.

I posted I had quit working with RCT last week and today should have been my final settlement, they hold you back a week. Well now they are dragging it out not wanting to pay me all they owe me. I was promised 3.5 hours layover pay - did not receive! They say they are going to review my claim. I even sent them the email from the dispatcher saying I would receive $140 layover pay. My escrow of $2500.00 they are holding for 45 days starting today, even though the contract says 45 days starting the day I return their property (elog, Trailer Badge etc..) They are even going to hold the money I put into the maintenance fund. I owe them nothing but they are holding my money.

I had RCT shop put new king pins, wheel seals, and steer axle tires on my truck in late November. I ask for the warranty info and told them I found the wheel seal leaking yesterday, but since I no longer work there I have no warranty.  $3500 worth of work and no warranty?? Anyone thinking of signing on with them be prepared for BS storm if you ever choose to leave.

Stay away not worth it. They will not make truck payments. They will take money out of settlement, and not make payments. They will hold your escrow account for no reason. Will try to force Dispatch on you, and tell you that's the only load in the company. Will not release you to go to another carrier, for no reason.