Company Overview
Number of trucks: 3200
Number of terminals: 20
Specialty: just-in-time, expedited, hazmat, constant security, deferred ground, retail, food and beverage
Labor status: Non-union
For detailed reviews, see Comments.
Truck Drivers Review Covenant Transport
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I have spent my fair share of time on the phone with company recruiters. Mostly they want to do all the talking, but don’t really want you to ask any questions. Then they want you to hurry up and sign on so they can get their commission. Not with these guys, or at the very least not with Chris Bumpus with Covenant Transport. I spent almost an hour on the phone with him, qwustion after question. Gee never wavered, just kept answering. It was enough to give me a perspective on the company. He never tried to tell me what i wanted to hear just to get me to sign on. He was straight forward, no bowing of smoke up my you-know-what. I asked questions, and u got quick, straight up answers. Enough so that i do believe i will sign on with these guys.
I’ve been looking for a lease/purchase option for quite some time, but never really finding anything that peeked my interest. The main kicker with Covenant is the fact that as an independent i have access to medical benefits from day one, and for a lot less than what it would be getting a package directly for the insurance group.
Later on, after I’ve been on for a period of time I will follow up, and give you the skinny onthe company. Maybe you need to be here too?
Road Dawg
My experience with this carrier is limited to being a trainer for other carriers, and having more than a few come from Covenant that required total retraining, and with good reason. Nearly all had been with Covenant for more than 12 months, none for less than 6 months. None of the dozen or so trainees I inherited from Covenant could safely operate a commercial vehicle within the terminals, let alone on the roadways. None were able to complete training, despite multiple trainers (we really did try to train them right).
This tends to be significantly different from what I have seen of their experienced drivers, who for the most part appear to be safe and professional. I have to assume there is (or was until 2011) a significant problem with their training department. Nearly all I tried to train that came from Covenant said their trainers told them they were “an extra log book” for their trainer to work under. A few were simply unable to catch on to the basic skills, none had a realistic expectation of trucking, and one was even so blind at night she could only drive 25 mph on the freeway (they need to test for this on DOT physicals). After the blind trainee, I quit training for good.
I would say if you are experienced, go for it, but if you need realistic training that will allow you to stay safe while earning a living, look elsewhere.
I was employed by Covenant Transport in the year Sept 2013 and enroll in there pre~legal .program( what a joke ) The pre~legal program helps you aquire lawyer to help you with tickets r personal.Well to make a long story short Covenant has complete access to anything you submit pre~legal. So basicilly you pay a Covenant Transport to monitor you. GOOD LUCK
I was an O/O for 10 years, before that , a shop foreman. I live in Chattanooga , and thought living close to the terminal , as well as the benefits ,would be a big advantage . I sold my truck, and hired on at Covenant This WAS several years ago, and things may be better now, but a bunch of kids for dispatchers, with no authority to make any decisions, without asking someone else. The experience I had was low miles, low pay, sitting too much, never got loaded back the same day, being treated like an idiot, that had no ability to keep a truck running , and going down the road. The truck I was issued was filthy it smelled like a dog, and the air didn’t work properly. I soon realized that trying to get ANYTHING repaired on the truck, meant you would be penalized , and sit at a terminal for days, even on the most minor issues. If you are learning, and not accustomed to a fast paced trucking job, Covenant my be just the ticket for you, but I was on the road to make a living, all the money I could. Sitting all weekend on the back row of a truckstop is not a job, your their slave.
All trucking companies are the same
Im an 18 year trucking veteran and just recently finished Covenant orientation. I attended orientation at the Chattanooga, TN. facility. Most other companies will house their prospective new hires in a hotel that offers a continental breakfast, and then will be transported to the company yard for classroom instruction. My recruiter told me that I will be staying in the hotel that Covenant owns. And physicals, blood pressure test, drug tests, and orientation will be held in the building right next door to the hotel. Your 3 meals a day are in the same building as the lobby. Lower your expectations. Yes it is a hotel, but not run as you might expect. There is no house keeping changing your linens every morning. If you want clean sheets you will need to wash them yourself. Laundry facilities are free to use. They take the blood pressure test VERY seriously. If your blood pressure is too high they will send you home to consult with your doctor. Once under control they will bring you back to try again. With that said, the breakfast they serve is the same thing 6 days a week. Scrambled eggs, sausage, english muffin or toast. And oatmeal is an option. And you may have an apple or orange. Coffee, soda, and water for beverages. Soda is not available on Monday and Wednesday mornings. The mornings that the blood pressure tests are taken. Breakfast is designed to be low sodium. Enjoy your meal, but dont add salt and dont drink coffee the morning of your test. Orientation is conducted via video. You will watch about 50 videos ranging between 1 minute and 25 minutes. Videos will be watched in between taking care of other business, paperwork, road test, backing test, (for experienced drivers), etc. Contrary to what you may have heard or read, orientation and everything else is Not faith based. Religion never came up, so you don’t need to worry about being “preached at!” All incentives offered are centered around “Hazmat teams.” They will pay to add hazmat and tankers to your license. Trust me, its worth the frustration and headaches at your local DMV to add the endorsements. I already have hazmaz and tankers, but my partner does not. So, we are not considered a “hazmat team” and it costs me around $200.00 a week untill he adds the endorsements. So far we have been running New Jersey to California and back. Plenty of miles and freight for all of us work-a-holics out there! I will post more a little later on down the road when I acquire more experiences with Covenant. Just remember, upon your arrival to the Chattanooga facility lower your expectations and you will be just fine.
Thanks for being very detailed, My husbnd and i will be coming next week and im glad that i saw your post. Good luck out there and be safe
A three day orientation has turned into my husband being there for eight days and still nothing……How can they play with people like that we have bills to pay and aren’t getting any money!!!!!! Don’t waste your time here….
10/4 this is so true talked to a few drivers they said they lost their homes working for Covenant to many chiefs teams get 1800 miles to 3200 your there cheap
Don’t go to covanant transport its a waste of time there are no miles and they seam not to care if you have a load or not. We are team driving and only getting around 3000 miles a week its not worth it at all.
Been there to long so their trying to make us quit taking away anyour benefits
After being here at Covenant for about 2 months. My then partner and I only received about 3000 miles a week. We would receive a load only to have it cancelled. We would wait all day for another load while one of us would burn all our on duty hours. Then eventually without any notice at all my partner went to HR to say very derogative things about me. Im a very easy going laid back person that gets along with anyone. I was warned to avoid him while on Covenant property while the “investigation” continues. (rest assured I will confront him about this thee next time I see him off Covenant property) After losing 3 days of work due to this child like behavior I finally get rolling again as a solo driver. Nothing has really changed. I usually get a 34 re-start every other day. I’m horribly behind on all my bills and seriously considering going somewhere else. Qualcomm messages keep reading about how incredibly busy we are during this peak season, that “all hands on deck” are needed, that “we have way more work than we know what to do with.” But all I run is about 1500 miles a week.
I am heading back to Covenant on Saturday for orientation on Monday. I previously drove for them for 5 months, I can honestly say that yes there was some miscommunication and misunderstanding but they always fixed the issue, most times in my favor. I drove team and we averaged 6500+ a week, it can be done if you drive. I will say that I am happy to be going back. I believe it is a good company. Attitude makes positive results. If you walk and talk like you are Mr or Mrs Trucker then you will probably not have a good reception. But if you stay professional act like a team player and work through issues I believe you will enjoy this company.
Been driving with them for a little over a year and yes during peak you might have things change on you in an instant. But its peak, be realistic. Customers get charged the same for partial and full loads so yes they will cancle loads forcing covenant to find us other loads. Overall if youre not a total ass and willing to work through whatever issue your having to get it worked out, you’ll have pleanty of miles a week. The wife and i are running about 5k a week and when i was solo 2500-3000 was normal. Do your job well and get on a dedicated team. (Amazon delta gap etc) and youll be getting guaranteed miles even if you sit for a week. (Amazon is 4200 miles) and now they have this guaranteed to pay thing if youve been with them a year and have hazmat (which they pay for you to get) and thats at a $1000 last i saw. So even a slow week you know youll have an ok paycheck.
Well, I’ve been here for two months. I came in as an experienced driver w/hazmat and a co-driver. In orientation they made big promises the only thing that I have received is the weekly minimum pay. Which isn’t bad if that’s what you want and you don’t know any better. But I came because people said they had milles and they have an OK pay package. My codriver and I started out for weeks and average 3500-4100 miles a week. That’s terrible for a team. I have a great attitude, I don’t curse people out, I talk to everyone as I want to be spoken. I have worked with my team, I’ve spoken to their mangers, and I’ve spoken to the VP. Still haven’t been put on a dedicated fleet. We don’t have any service failures or accidents/incidents. No safety violations. There’s no accuse for the low mileage besides they done have the freight!!!! But I’m not sure… I’m giving them another week.
I have been with Covenant for several weeks and I have had two terrible experiences with immature and unprofessional trainers. The company has delt with the situation in a very efficient and effective manner. The trucks are high quality the trailers and well maintained and the couple small issues like mud flaps a sticker on one trailer was missing ect was not only fixed but getting the maintenance preformed bout at the terminal and in the road was actually pretty ez and fast. The Qualcomm is a bit lengthy on data entry and it’s a lot to manage and remember however there is plenty help available. Communication is a bit of a hassle after hours and weekends but that’s expected at any large company. If you have a attitude of this is my job to do. Then you can excel at Covenant. If you have a attitude of they owe me or wanna be a cry baby about little issues you won’t do well at ANY company. With the get the job done attitude and willingness to work and understanding that stuff takes time. You’ll be able to get a long way here.. sure your gonna get occasional lay over your gonna get short load here and there and there is a delay in communication with planning dispatch. But after one short load and had 4 attempts to find a trailer. We got two trips over 4 days in 15 minutes. And the hassle finding a trailer was actually due to shippers not releasing them. So yah there some bs and yeah the trainer wigged out under the stress but I got the load there on time safely and am currently waiting for a new trainer. Was offered a hotel room but was close enough to home I just went home and due to the fact I’m ready willing and able to work right now I’m still getting my guaranteed pay. So I went fishing and had great evening with my wife. Looking forward to having a long career at Covenant. And truth is I have read a ton about other companies…. The complaints I’ve heard about Covenant is very little compared. As a new driver I highly recommend Covenant. Do not expect perfection anywhere. Look for good equipment and good problem solving. Is my recommendation. Also it is a job. Get it done. There are obstacles anywhere you go it’s the nature of the business. At least at Covenant transport you really do have someone on your side. That’s rare in a big company. In trucking it’s almost unheard-of. Long hours stress trials of being away from home and bring home about half what the recruiter promises is what you find at ALL companies. Good trucks plenty of loads some long some short and availability of services needed to be a trucker is what you can expect from what I have experienced.
My husband started working for Covenant 4 weeks ago. He was told by human resources it would be a 3 day training but it wound up being 8 days. He was also told if he spent his own money to get to the training he would be reimbursed up to $250.00 of it as soon as his class was over. He spent $270.00 of his own money rather than ride Greyhound. When class was over he was not reimbursed but was told he would get his $250.00 at the end of the week with his first paycheck. That left him broke. Covenant had promised to cover $100.00 of the drivers expenses with a card given each driver when the class was over. The card didn’t work for my husband or his driving partner. It took a couple of hours to get that straight as they were trying to leave. Finally my husband & his partner went out on the road. Miles were ok. Not great. He has a hazmat, his partner didn’t which cut his mile pay by .6ct/mi. He didn’t get his promised pay by the Friday after his first week of driving. They said the trainer said the wrong day for pay. They wanted to keep giving him small draws rather than his check. He didn’t get reimbursed his $250.00 again either. The next Friday came. Two weeks into it and again no pay & a 5 day layover. Numerous managers & people within Covenant promised pay (not the full amount owed) by the next Monday after pay was due. Once again, no pay but was offered from $75.00 to $25.00 draw while we have no money to pay bills.( They must charge a fee for draws.) My husband told Covenant he would go out after he got paid. They refused, promised pay then refused again. He refused to go out leaving me broke with no bill money. They said they were going to charge him $500.00 & his partner $500.00 for them to retrieve the truck . His partner didn’t quit but was on layover working on getting his hazmat. Covenant knew exactly where the truck was. They arranged for the truck to be there. My husband confirmed that his partner drove it to his own place but because my husband refuses to go out with no pay once again Covenant says they are going to charge a truck retrieval fee. I highly don’t recommend. Not very Christian as far as I can see. It’s all smoke and lies. Low miles, late or no paycheck.
Lies from the very beginning. It’s a 8 day training not 3. They won’t reimburse your traveling expenses if you spend your own money getting to class. They don’t pay when they say they will leaving you broke. They throw up as much smoke as they can when you ask why you haven’t been paid when your check is due. Not Christian but extremely deceitful!
I totally agree
You won’t be reimbursed if you are not hired.
Been here since may 8th. Did their 5 day orientation. I have a couple years under my belt. Idgaf what the dude in 2015 comment says they sit there and preach at you. If you say any sort of profanity for example to the person next to you the orientation lady will run out of her office and scream at you like you’re in grammar school about how they don’t say things like that here… then the next day you’ll get a good talkin to by a couple other bible thumpers straight outta the choir…. then you’ll finally get your truck after they figure out they can’t fire you for talking to a friend outside of their presentation time. I had a few friends in orientation, all of us were lied to by recruiters. We were told new trucks ( I didn’t expect this but I did expect I would get a decent truck that ran good.) the truck I was issued is a 2015 cascadia, I don’t care about old trucks either, when I get in this truck it smells like someone got piss drunk and pissed in circles around the truck, there was something on the ceiling that resembled projectile vomit or diahhrea. Also had a few minor taillight issues. Three days later it’s finally ready. So me and my wife load up our stuff ready to roll 2 hours after getting the truck back. We send ready to roll message on qc. We sit for a day. They give us a load Nashville to Atlanta(my old lady is a trainee great outta school, the trip was 0100-0900 after a bunch of daytime orientation). We take it get otp and otd. Sit there for 2 days. I drove over to pilot to shower and eat because I had shower power from last company. They call me 5 hours later botching about how I need permission to move the truck( I literally moved perhaps 500 feet across the street.) they restrict my personal conveyance for 30 days. No food no Walmart. Lmfao. Next trip pickup another drivers late load just south of Chattanooga yard. We get it otp, roll out to Texas as we need to get home to get our fridge and inverter and microwave( you know the essentials for Otr) so we drive about 200 miles and they swap us with another truck. We sit for another day. They get us another load pu 150 miles north. 280 loaded miles on this one. now in Kentucky.. opposite direction we need to go…. I’m don’t typing but for any of y’all thinkin about this company, there is a reason driver codes are 157*** the sec guard said when he started 9 months before they were on 147*** THATS TEN THOUSAND EMPLOYEES HIRED IN LESS THAN A YEAR. I just gotta train the wife then I’m out this place is garbage. But to you guys who have to go here tuff it out we all gotta start somewhere. Good luck guys I wish y’all the best!
Oh also!!! Look forward to less than 1k miles a week!
Im being held captive by covenant i tried them out for 6 weeks i am an experienced driver so i know the ropes ive had to fight for miles fight for fuel n have not had no time off so i decided to tell them im done now im being held captive to the truck up to two weeks b4 they can get me back so they say . if i leave the truck i will b charged 1000.oo plus 1.50 a mile wish i got paid wat there going to take my advice to u run as far away as u can!
Kerrie there is a reason you weren’t hired. I can’t tell your story here, but there was definitely a really good reason.
I’m averaging 7000 miles a week and making 56 cpm. I’m doing alright here.