Millis Transfer training school

I said that I wouldn't post any more but this is irresistible. Bill has another class starting on August 1st, because it's the first Monday of the month. Today was my orientation. When Millis hires drivers from other companies, they get integrated into the current class's orientation. If you end up here, ask Bill about a dude named Wade. Guaranteed he'll give you a good story. Jesus man, this guy is weird. Signed up for my benefits today, tomorrow is company videos. Talked to Perry today and requested a start date. Almost done here. Hopefully minimal interaction with Wade.

 

I followed you. If you follow me back, I can send you private messages. I'll shoot you my phone number. If I can help you in any way, I surely will

 

So, a little insight into the benefits. Millis has a PPO health plan, not HMO, so that's good. Haven't read into all of the coverages yet but the deductibles are definitely on par with most insurance out there. Actually, a little better. And the cost is unreal. To cover myself, my wife, my daughter, and stepdaughter it's $74 a week. That's really good. Adding dental and vision is another $6. Vision coverage isn't awesome, but not bad. The dental is great. I also signed everyone up for life insurance. Max allowed without underwriting for me is $75k. Max for my wife without underwriting is $25k. Max for kids is $5k. All of that is going to be about $12/week. Not bad at all. I also chose to put $10 per week into the HSA account. Millis automatically gives you $10 per week as well. That will more than cover all of my prescriptions, my contacts, and the 1 or 2 doctor visits I have every year. All told, I'll be paying about $100 a week for all of that. That is absolutely insane. As a comparison, I was working my old job when ObamaCare came into effect. Most guys at my old job are paying double that price for just health dental and vision. No life insurance, no HSA account. Thank you very much, Millis! They also offer short term disability at a reasonable cost. I declined that for now. I might get it next year when my finances have stabilized a bit. And, per my previous posts, I chose straight pay instead of per diem. I have my reasons, not opening that can of worms again. If I was single OR married with no kids OR in a different tax situation I would have chosen the per diem route. It's a pretty good route if it suits your particular financial and tax situation. For me, it does not.

 

In six short hours, I'll be leaving my hotel room for the last time. In sixteen hours, I'll be hoisting a beer with my wife in celebration I learned a couple things that I thought anyone looking at Millis should know, specifically about the trucks. I didn't know this information because it wasn't something I researched. It doesn't affect me, but it may very well affect you. As everyone here knows, there are three types of trucking routes. Dedicated, regional, and OTR. Dedicated can mean different things with different companies. With Millis, a dedicated run is going to land you in a day cab. You will be home a lot, and you'll run hard. But, you'll be in that day cab which to me would feel like a prison. The next is regional. You'll be running 3-5 states, and you'll be home weekends. Now, here's where it gets weird. Regional guys are running in what is called a "pup truck". For those who are unfamiliar, a pup truck is a truck with a bunk, but small inside. Very small. It is possible that the newer trucks are different than what I'll be describing, but this will apply to the trucks I have seen. There is only one bunk, and it is literally right behind the seats. No refrigerator (or room for one). No Directv (or room for a tv). One of the guys who joined me for orientation is going regional, and his truck was ready today. I looked inside it to verify what I just described. Here's another thing about having Millis regional. There is a 4cpm bonus incentive IF you make yourself available to run 11 days on 3 days off (or 14 and 3, something like that). Now, there are always ways to make that work. Under bunk coolers, etc. But why would you do that for 4cpm? I'm already going to be doing that with OTR and I'll have a much larger interior. 4cpm isn't chump change, but #### that. I'll take the bigger truck. With OTR I'll get all of the creature comforts, longer runs, and less city driving. That works just fine for me. Also, the formula for time off is 1.5 days for every week worked. There is a cap for time off, which is 4 days. For me, that's perfect. I'll be running 3.5 weeks on, 4 days off. I have been told that you can play "let's make a deal" with your dispatcher as long as you don't abuse it. If you don't get home exactly when you want, your dispatcher can hook you up with an extra day if you help them out. But again, never abuse it. Don't ever bite the hand that feeds you. Again, none of the truck information affects me at all, but it may affect you. If you want regional so that you can stay close to home, don't let the truck scare you. There are ways to make any truck work. And if you DO want regional, you can still be home weekly, you just won't get the 4cpm incentive. Regardless of the truck you drive, the equipment is stellar. You won't be driving a truck more than three years old. AND...there is no bias as far as seniority. Drivers get a new truck every two years. And by new, I mean NEW. Doesn't matter if you've been there for 2 years or 20. They don't do hand-me-downs. They lease their trucks, so they don't play the same games that some companies do. As a new driver I will obviously be getting an older truck. But when it hits the three year mark, I get a new one. I don't mean "new to me", I mean NEW. I'm going home with a smile on my face and looking forward to my next phase of training. I will be making one more post on this thread so that I can direct folks to the thread I'll be creating to document my time on the road with my trainer. So far, this has been a fantastic experience. Hopefully this thread has been helpful.

 

For some reason the previous post was duplicated and I couldn't delete it without posting something else, so....

 

Just to be clear @FLYMIKEXL you can have that same schedule running OTR. You won't get the 4cpm bonus, but you'll get more miles and a bigger truck. I'm only 5' 10", 135 pounds, and I have no desire to be in that smaller truck. I can't imagine being 6' 1". I won't know what truck I'm getting until my training miles are over.

 

Thanks!