USF Reddaway Hiring Frenzy

My previous job was ltl deliveries in the east coast. I made about half the pay and had junk equipment. Its decent here.. not perfect but decent- the people that cant handle ltl for the yrc group are just lazy imo- Its not physically hard

 

I have. P&D can be a difficult job, but not all LTLs are created equal. Some have no problem hiring and retaining drivers. Pay has a lot to do with it. Atmosphere and morale as well. That's what I was getting at--pay and morale at YRC is below the rest of the LTL industry generally speaking.

 

That's what I like about where I'm at. There's really only one neck bone in the entire office. I'm under paid, but I get 60+ a week, and no one F's with me. 3 to 4 days a week I have to get after it pretty good, but usually there's a day or two when it's pretty easy as well. My tractor runs awesome, but it has 1.2 million on it, and looks like something the cat drug in. I call it " The Thing."

But yea when I have 4 or more P/U's at our one customer, that's 4 or more trailers that have to be spotless. I'm the washer, and your in and out, up and down, all around. I like it. The exercise. It's certainly not overwhelming, and I guarantee 95 out 100 drivers would go " Oh hell no."

When the old man passes, I'll either get hired by YRC, ABF, USR, or bet arrested for trespassing for hanging out there.

 

It's gonna be a place for new grads or drivers that want their foot in the door for Linehaul so they can get some exp and move to the other companies.

Company has expressed they want us talking to mega carrier drivers to come over. Werner, Swifts and etc. They know that's what drivers we can get now.

Not hating on those guys cause I started with Swift 11 yrs ago no accidents. We just had a driver who's going to Walmart private fleet got his start at Swift. Just went through the trucking boot camp hiring process. He wouldn't leave if we were paying what we're suppose to pay.

 

Reddaway has been on the decline since YRC bought us up. Any driver that has been there prior to the buyout will tell you this.

The main issue is that YRC is an unbelievably stupid and mismanaged company. Their debt is literally more than the next top seven or eight LTL companies combined. Their financial burdens has created a corporate culture of "retightening the belt" at the expense of their employees.

This chaotic culture is spilling into the regionals like Reddaway and it is painfully noticeable. Since being bought up, we lost 15% pay, our 401k plan was all but gutted, terminals have been shut down left and right and nearby barns have been tasked to service those areas. Then in 2013 or so YRC dealt another blow by cutting a week of vacation to anyone that has been there longer than 12 years, but shorter than 20 years.

As mentioned by others, larger terminals are always down drivers... Not one or two, but usually large portions of seats are not filled. Our barn also volunteers our guys to backfill places like Seattle or Denver. This causes additional strain on the rest of us that now have to pick up the slack. Some weeks on the P&D side are unreasonably chaotic and a mess.

Just on Monday I was pulled out of my usual area cause another area was down a driver. They held all of my freight for the next day. The following day I ran 30 stops in 5 hours. They refused to let me get an early start cause they want to keep a lid on my hours. Not even making this up. Last week was the closest I've gotten to walking out on the job.

Right now we are doing the work of 9 drivers by using 7. It is an insane amount of pressure on everyone. Our staffing makes it almost impossible to call in sick or take care of personal stuff. Last year I took my truck to the dentist to do a cleaning/exam in the middle of my shift. They would not let me take a full day off.

Our manager stopped advertising the empty slots since we have not hired anyone in three years that wants to stick around longer than six months.... Plus the additional labor costs he is saving also helps him buy into YRCs idiotic belt tightening culture.

Maybe its just me and I am complaining too much. No.. actually I am not. It is not just me. Our barn of 7 people has cycled through 25 employees since I was picked up five years ago. Three dock workers and the rest were drivers. Sad thing is there is only one person under me that we picked up half a year ago. Our sister terminal a few hundred miles away lost their operations manager two weeks ago. It was a job related suicide.

The OP and I have chatted and I know he wants to do linehaul and is out of the left coast. He may fare better doing line.

Bottom line is this... Reddaway has me by the balls with their healthcare plan. Last year I received $18k in benefits alone. Add that to the $57k I am making, and I am sitting reasonably good financially without having a college degree.

1-10, we rank around 5-6. There is a reason we are always hiring and the others aren't. If you can avoid Reddaway, I would. If you absolutely need a job, come on in... We are self insured and it's almost impossible to not get a job.

 

After that truth bomb, maybe I'll stay otr...

And Saia called me the other day but the driver-facing camera is a deal breaker for me. Same with Fed Ex solo runs.

The operations manager committed suicide...? Seriously???

 

Those aren't your only options. Where are you from? I'd take an LTL gig with a driver-facing camera at over 60 cents per mile or over $25 per hour P&D before I'd ever choose to sleep in a truck again, but that's just me. Don't get me wrong--I'm glad my company doesn't use them.

Luckily there are more LTLs without driver-facing cameras than there are with them. Is Old Dominion, ABF, or Estes in your area?

 

I looked into OD and Estes.

Estes, based on my research, will sooner or later stick cameras in drivers' faces.

OD does not, but after speaking with several of their line haul guys, I decided against it. There's one story in particular about a senior driver out of the Fontana, Ca yard that gives me pause.

ABF, maybe...although the extra board work can be feast or famine based on my research.

I got a good gig now. Fast truck driving for an old school o/o who doesn't micromanage because I get things done without drama. He gives me an assignment and he can go to bed easy. And just enough down time that I can occasionally enjoy my stays in different parts of the country.

But I also know the bottom can drop out from ANY job on any given day. So I take it upon myself to build a strong network with others in the industry. If I leave this current job, I can take a week vacation and be inside another truck the following Monday. Of course, the downside is there are days when recruiters, headhunters, and ops managers from various outfits blow up my phone.