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Saia Motor Freight Line reviews

3.1
(18)
$760 - $2,115/week

Summary

Overall

Home Time

Equipment and Maintenance

Dispatchers and Managers

Salary Surveys

$760 $1,518 $2,115
weekly average

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Ratings and Reviews

Current Employee - Jul 10, 2022

The best paying driving job I've had in my 25 plus years of driving. Not perfect by no means, but good home time and health insurance.

Pros

Pay consist of cpm, drop and hook, breakdown / delay pay.

Cons

Some managers are out of touch with reality.

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - Apr 13, 2022

I was so micromanaged if I made an error ever manager knew it was not about helping you succeed it was about who was who in the larger terminal hiring family. Meeting about how to improve 3 days later you get a verbal it’s all about power and not management to empower the employees also the AS 400 is so primitive you are the IT department ground up when other companies have their AS 400 set up to make the companies who are high paying set up when the account is entered it’s self entered but SAIA you are the set up in their 78/23 or you go to 82/11. This is so time consuming when IT or Sales could make this simplified! OD had it so why doesn’t SAIA! That’s why OD is at the top

Pros

Insurance is good

Cons

Sale your soul and sanity

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Former Employee - Dec 30, 2021

I would rather live under a bridge than go back to work for this fascist company with its nazi micromanaging company policies. So glad I quit and went somewhere else. The grass is definitely green on the other side of the fence when it comes to leaving Saia. Getting out of there was the best thing I ever did for my stress, sanity and peace of mind.

Pros

Benefits and pay are very good. About the only good things to say about this place. As a linehaul driver you typically get home every day after you get a bid. Weekends off.

Cons

Driver facing camera’s, micromanaging company policies, rude and disrespectful dispatchers, junk equipment, trucks are filthy, covid protocols are not followed, trucks are 8-10 qts low on oil, no coolant, no washer fluid. Drivers take no pride in their trucks. They have crappy tires put on in a mountain region, force you to run single screws to Grand Junction and Wamsutter through the mountains. This is a DANGEROUS COMPANY with DANGEROUS EQUIPMENT.

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - Oct 4, 2021

Long story short what everyone wants is different, SAIA has been a blessing for my family and I for the past 4 years. Could I possibly say the same about other LTL's? Maybe. Nom of them offered me a job when I came looking though. I started out here 4 years ago and was lucky enough to get hired on to a bid run. M-f 1900 miles a week at . 55 cpm. Not a lot of money but I came from beverage delivery and this was a 20k pay raise starting out, life changing money. The benefits aren't as good as the union beverage company as at but they are good and only cost $55 a week for family. 4 years in and the company has grown so fast it's freaking crazy, the stock valuation alone has more than doubled in that time. We have opened about 30 terminals (major NE expansion) in that time and our terminal has went from 3 100k+ routes to now we have 9. Our current top pay is .725 cpm and we get $28.88 on the hour for d/h and delay pay. Yes people call us Some Arse In Atlanta, it applies dispatch can honestly be completely clueless. On a bid run they don't affect you as much. No dock work for me since I started and no city work either. I can't ask for much for in a company. Every company has it's downside and everyone has their presences but im content with 6 figures and being home everyday. Yes we have cameras if you drive safe you will never hear your TM complain about you.

Pros

Money!! Work 5 days home every day home every weekend get paid holidays off. Medical benefits are good quality at a reasonable cost. Trucks are decent they buy freightliners Volvo's and international. They buy hundreds of new trucks every year.

Cons

They buy automatics. The cameras can make life stressful when caught up in traffic. They cut the balls out the trucks for fuel efficiency. For the most part dispatchers are stupid, but when you are on a bid run it doesn't affect you AS much. Still these dummies can have you sitting at a terminal for an hour or two waiting to finish up a load because they gave your load to someone else

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - Jun 7, 2020

Excellent Co In Safety,,they have Cameras in the trucks,,no cellphone use while truck is moving,,I love working for SAIA, it’s the Best Co Job I worked for in my 36 yrs of trucking...

Pros

Excellent Pay , Great Safety Record

Cons

Not for me ,but some drivers don’t like cameras in the trucks

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
No Rating
Dispatchers and Managers

Salary Surveys

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Texas on Jul 10, 2022

$1,731 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 3 Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Houston, TX on Apr 15, 2022

$1,635 per week

Current Employee

No

Company Driver - 1 Year CDL Experience

Surveyed in Houston, TX on Apr 13, 2022

$760 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Colorado on Dec 30, 2021

$2,077 per week

Current Employee

No

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in on Oct 4, 2021

$2,115 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Discussions

Saia... Anybody?

Giuseppe Ventolucci

Aug 27, 2016

Saia... Anybody?

Starting pay for linehaul system drivers is 54 and goes up to 62 cpm after 18 months.

Starting pay for hourly is 21.85 and you max at 25.12 at 18 months.

Their benefits are really good. Their health insurance is a 80/20 plan and for a family is only about 40/week.

You have major holidays off and paid

You also gain personal/sick days (maxes out at 3 a year) 

You gain vacation in order to schedule after January 1 following your hire date in which you can borrow against, but you have to pay it back in your final check if you do not stay your entire first year.


I just got hired on as a local city driver out of Lexington, KY and am training in Cincinnati for the week.


Also the line haul is based on a bid/seniority system. When you first start you are what is called a "System Line haul Driver" basically means your an at call/fill in driver. They have work for you, but its not the same thing and you could cover for other drivers taking vacation or calling out until you gain enough seniority to bid on a route that is consistent.


The bad thing about the line haul system drivers is that lets say you start off at night on monday night youll run your ten's until Saturday and youll end up on day. So a lot of people complain because they can't get a constant sleep cycle.


The good thing is that you can earn a good 65k your first year as a line haul driver with them! I seen their pay stubs because I told them they were BS'n me!

Is it true about Saia and OD?

cherishangel

May 1, 2015

Is it true about Saia and OD?

I work for saia in the chicago region. I can tell you with certainty that you will not work 80 hour weeks here. We use "vnomics" electronic logs and it WILL NOT let you work more than 70 hours in a workweek. We are a 5 day operation in the city and a 5 to 6 day operation on linehaul. You may have to work a 6 day workweek if you're on linehaul during a busy stretch and you're low on the totem pole. Also, a lot of linehaul hustlers will take up the weekend work by working until saturday, or starting their workweek on a sunday, so you might be working mon-fri most of the time.

Saia info needed?????

Alrsr28

May 1, 2014

Saia info needed?????

Paid every week. You will be on the extra board, do not expect to be home every night, more than likely every 5-7 days. Pay is great so are benefits

Saia?

Mack185

May 7, 2013

Saia?

Saia was good when I worked there but that was before the recession. I worked line haul and a lot of the local guys wished they were line haul. They paid good but be careful you don't mess up, they will fire you in a heartbeat! A guy dropped a trailer because the kingpin didn't lock and they fired him on the spot. Stupid mistake but they don't like it. Another one was if the bar on the front of the trailer unlocked and slid down while you were driving, another automatic fire. Accidents too if they were bad enough. They paid for sitting, breakdowns and mileage. At Reddaway I don't get paid when I sit unless a guy is late on a meet turn. My yard isn't union though.