Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL) reviews

I drive for SEFL in Okc. Good company, good benefits, and decent equipment. I make between $1,000-$1,200 per week doing P&D. I'm home every night and off every weekend. All P&D drivers are off every weekend. I think some of the line haul will run on a weekend, but very few.

Well here we go this is my first post on this board. I haven't seen anything about the company I work for so I guess I will start one. 

I've been pretty lucky to work for such a great company! No Layoffs, No pay cuts, no Benefit cuts and we still made a profit last year. We are non-union and they do treat us pretty fairly. I work as much hours as I need most of the time, and whenever I need a day off there is never a problem. Dispatch is ok, I'm never forced to back into a place that I don't feel comfortable. Safety First! Hopefully 2010 is a better year for everyone. If you work for Southeastern Freight Lines, please let me know how you like it.

I got to say atleast SEFL is fair about diving up work. Every one is given a unpaid day off regardless of senority. When I was at Con-Way I didnot work for a whole week and the Senior guys were making overtime. Not complainig mind you, the Manager was up front when he hired me about it. I wish it would have worked out for me there, really believe LTL is a great way to make a living.

Our road tractors are International day cabs tandem and single axle. The local city drivers drive older Intenationals and newer Freightliners. The teams drivers have Volvos.

As far as the union goes. I'm neither for or against the union. I wouldn't vote for one at Southeastern because we simply don't need one. We are paid the same if not better than comparable union companies. We work only Mon-Fri, with vacation and holidays off. We are treated fairly. Everything is done on a seniority basis from tractors to routes to start times. Safety is first at Southeastern and they will back you up. No one will ever force you to do anything or go anywhere you don't feel comfortable. 

Now on another note...Southeastern demands a very high work ethic and you will be rewarded for your hard work...I can only say this from experience. This is the major difference about Southeastern and a union company. You will be rewarded by being given extra hours if you want it, and earlier start times on an as needed basis.

Im new to the forums but ive been at SEFL for 7 years. You only need 1 year or 100,000 miles from what my terminal manager said when he hired me. Thats to get hired in as a driver... put and app in as a dock worker and ask alot of questions and work hard and you can be promoted to driver. Dock workers get paid too. about 16+ i think so thats a good wage to live on. pay is currently around $22 hr for city drivers and $.527 per mile. everything bobtailin said is true. no pay cuts no layoffs no 401k cuts no insurance raises. btw i pay $38/wk for insurance me and wife cigna is awesome. great dental. 

NOTE: all terminal managers can run things how they want inside corporates guidelines. not all terminals go "by the book" as far as seniority bidding on early start time or assigning trucks to city drivers. some locations might not assign city trucks or give you a choice when you come in or what route you run. but if you think you've been done wrong call HR & see what policy is. pesonally, I like SEFL... alot. I hear complaints from alot of guys but guess where they're choosing to 

also - you are not guaranteed a transfer if you want one. some guys try and try to get a transfer but when it comes down to it, the manager of the facility you are going to can hire from outside the company before they let you move. just a heads up if you are planning to move.

the only time ive seen seniority work the same at all terminals is for the road drivers. they bid every 6 months or so on what run they want. every terminal has a set amount of line haul runs going out from that terminal to various places and they bid according to seniority to get what they want. and to get to line haul you have to be a city driver and bid according to seniority. I was only here for a year before I was offered linehaul so you can move up fast if the city drivers are content with their runs. you can also get lucky and get hired in as line haul if no city drivers want it. rare but it can happen. all day cabs except team drivers so you stay in a hotel if you're on a run that stays out, but most runs come directly back home. at my terminal the lowest mile run is 2160/wk and the highest is about 2800 i think. its a new run. for years the longest run was 2550/wk add that up at 52.7 cents/mi. then call central dispatch and tell them you want to run on the weekend and get an extra day in every now and then.

1 week vacation after 3 months, 2 weeks after 3 years, 3 weeks at 8 years, 4 weeks at 18? something like that. I would come here just for the 401k match. if you just put in what you would have been paying in insurance per week and let SEFL match it then in a few years youll have 20k in there. 

I dont particularly like the trucking industry but this is a sweet deal and Ive only seen 1 guy in the past 7 years hate this job.

one more thing- we do residentials. corporate doesnt care where its going. you will have this truck in places it should never ever go. be careful. dont plan on having a straight truck or a 48 liftgate when you need them. be ready to pull a tandem road tractor and a 53 down a street at 5mph watching power lines and branches graze the roof. but like bobtailin said... hey! you dont have to, but if you bring it back they will probably give it to another driver tomorrow and he will have to deliver it along with the stops he already has. so you see how it works.

I'll probably be around for a couple weeks so ask some questions if i didnt answer them

no recruiters. I think only the OTR companies have recruiters. The terminal manager is who you need to talk to. They only take online applications. Play dumb and go to the terminal and ask for an application and let them tell you to go online and try to meet the terminal manager and hopefully that will make you stand out. Or put in the app and then a few days later call and ask for the terminal manager and discuss the app. But he will be the one that does the hiring.

I would seriously apply for a dock position and tell them you want to be a driver. Ive seen several young dock guys start driving with no experience. Didnt even have a CDL before they were hired. Also that will give you an inside look at how things operate and it will help you when you start to drive. I started here after only a year and 3 months of OTR driving and there was a steep learning curve. Its a whole different job. But who knows, you might like working the dock. Driving is a lot of extra hassle and most drivers have a couple "incidents" when they first start driving P&D. I mean you will go wherever the delivery is, residential included. It can be very nerve racking. Personally I wouldnt mind switching to the dock even for a pay cut. I was gung ho! at first but after 7 years im getting burned out on it. Though it will make a big difference if you are very familiar with the Houston area.

As far as assigned trucks... depends on the terminal. If you drive line haul then yes you will have an assigned truck. I believe they assign a truck to a certain route. so say they have a houston to dallas run and scott in truck J345 runs it then he goes on vacation for a week and you're covering for him then you will have J345 all week. And when bids come up and Jimmy takes the houston dallas run for the next six months then jimmy will be in J345.

now in P&D it depends on the terminal manager. some guys have assigned trucks and some dont. Its safe to say you wont when you start. But the guy that runs Huntsville everyday might. When I first started they said they dont assign trucks but now they do but only for certain people. When I started the P&D trucks didnt have air either but I think they all do now.

Another position to look at is combo which is working the dock and driving when there is an extra load. Or dock half the day then a short run... just whatever they need. Then you get driver pay and dont get all the hassles all the time. That would be another way applying for the dock could be beneficial. move from dock to combo and then to P&D or even line haul when the opportunity comes.

Line haul is the best as far as money to work ratio. say you run houston to dallas and back every day. about 242 miles maybe 4 hrs so a 9 hour day and you make 66k. only problem is you wont start out on that run. you will probably start on wild which is running anywhere and everywhere and out all week. but you will still get home every weekend so not too bad of a deal

I dont know how I missed this thread. I have been at sefl for 3.5 years now, heres my story.

I graduated from highschool a semester early, in january 2008. Went to a community college and got my class A. So June rolls around, ive got my CDL A and Im 18, you guessed it, no one will touch me. A friend of mine has a brother that does P & D at SEFL at the raleigh Nc terminal and he said they were looking for dock help so I applied and believe it or not was offered a full time 'freight handler' job starting at $17.15 an hour, w full bennies and all. Top pay dock and switcher pays $19.15 currently at my terminal. Took it and never looked back. I worked the dock for a few weeks before the outbound switcher drive quit and I asked for that position and landed that. My 1st full year at sefl I made 43k. Stayed in the switcher and worked a few more hours a week and in my second year I made $53k. This past year (2011) I made $53k again. If you are good at what you do, and are flexible and I mean driving city, linehaul, dock, switcher, hooking sets at night you can work as many friggen hours as you want! When I turned 21 (march 2011) I got my hazmat/doublestriples endorsement and kept reminding them that I wanted to drive (over and over again ) and finally got out there on the streets with a trainer. I had a several different trainers ride along with me over a 2.5 month long period everyday. I feel this training was essential because I had no experience on the street and my hat goes off to those guys that led me in the right direction because there is ALOT to learn and there is ALOT of responsibility that went along with this job. So in august 2011 I finished my training period and was let loose on my own. I have had no accidents or incidents (knocks on wood) as of yet and do not ever plan on having one. My usual day starts at 930am and I run a leftover route or a route for someone who is off that day, drive whatever truck may be left over (preferably a tandem) run the route, do the pickups and hopefully get in early enough to get a switchout and come back and work the dock till around 9ish. Every once in a while I get to run linehaul (combo) which is alot easier, less stressful and pays better. I dont see myself doing p & d forver but I have way more cash in my pockets than any of my friends my age by a lonnnng shot.