Henderson Trucking????

What's up guys? I'm supposed to go up for orientation with Earl Henderson Trucking this weekend and was wondering are there any Henderson drivers on here (past or present) I haven't heard much on the negative side of things but want to do my research before I leave...Thanks alot!

 

Howdy. I worked for Henderson for 1 1/2 years, my dad is still working for them. They are a pretty good company. I worked on a dedicated account. Home every night. I lived in Flora, IL which is about 25-30 miles from Salem.

They run all Freightliner tractors. Last I heard, they are trading a lot of their trucks in for the newer model Cascadia or whatever. They are pretty nice trucks. Some of them have auto shift Eaton 10 speeds, but most of them have Eaton Super 10's (with the automatic top two). I personally didn't like the super 10, but you get used to it after a while. The flat-top trucks are small, small, small. No storage room at all. Most of their OTR drivers get condo's though, unless they are running short. Flat tops have Mercedes motors, condos have Detroits. They keep their trucks and trailers serviced well. ALL their trucks have Carrier APU's. I loved that.

Trailers are all 53' reefers. Most I think have Carrier units, as they are phasing out the Thermo Kings. I think this is because they bought their APU's from Carrier. They have a few dry trailers, but they will say "Hays Trucking" on them.

You will also see a few Hays trucks running around. They are owned by the same person. In fact, they may have you in a Hays truck if they don't have a Henderson truck. All basically the same company. The Hays trucks have more room than a flat top, but they aren't condos either.

If you are OTR, you will haul a lot of Coor's from Denver, and a lot of lettuce for Dole out of Arizona and Cali. They have a big contract with Dole. From what I've heard, Dole treats their guys real good.

I didn't work OTR for them, but I knew several guys from around my house that did. One guy said he had never made so much money as a solo driver. Lots of miles, and they aren't afraid to pay you for layover, etc. He loved it. They do have a pet policy if that interests you.

The trucks are plain-jane. The flat top I had had a power mirror on the passenger side, thats about it. Not many frills at all, but I was home every night, so it didn't bother me. Like I said before, the APU was nice. I could set the temp on it and it would start itself at night so my truck would be warm in the morning. It also had a 120 V outlet when the APU was running. All trucks and reefers have super single tires on them.

They basically run 48 states (no Canada). Lots of East-West coast, but thats OTR for you.

If there is anything else, let me know. I liked the people there. I ended up moving to go back to college, so my dad took my route over for me. We started about the same time with them. I would go back to work for them regional right now (as I need money) but they said in my area it would be hard to get me home at the right time, so I went with Heartland.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks so much man! I really appreciate all the info. I have mostly heard pretty good things about this company...I hope everything is as great as it seems. I will be doing OTR and am DEFINATELY looking forward to making some GOOD money!!

 

Like I said, I never ran OTR, so I can make no promises with them, but the guys I knew who did (and wanted to run OTR) were very, very happy. I'm sure people had their complaints like every other company out there, but these guys liked it.

I'd like to know how many people are at your orientation. When I did mine, there were just two of us. When dad did his it was just him (they squeezed him into one day cause they needed him bad-- long story about the dedicated accounts). I've also seen it where they take 6 or 7 guys through at a time.

Good luck! Keep us posted. I hoped this has helped a little anyway.

 

I live in St Louis and was thinking about calling them about leasing my truck on with them if they had something dedicated or regional. I'm not going back to OTR.

 

I know they have a KC east Fleet were you run East of Kansas City to around Ohio and such. Helps I am still good friends with the Saftey Director and CEO even though I left there in 2K.

 

They've got lots of dedicated stuff coming out of STL, but you have to have some senority to get on there. My dad picks up in Arnold every morning.

You ought to call and ask. I know they have a fleet running out of Crown Point, IN and delivering somewhere south of STL (still in IL I think) a couple times a day.

I don't know much about the regional runs they offer. I know they have some (and probably a lot more dedicated ones, too) that I wasn't aware of. As long as I did my job and turned my paperwork in I never saw them until I took off or had my truck worked on. I was also in Salem everyday delivering not a block from their terminal, but I never felt like going in. Sooner I got done, sooner I got home. They just paid me daily rate, no hourly or milage.

 

Do they hire recent grads? Thanks for any help.

 

Website says they do however for the 1st YEAR you do run TEAM only as second seat. They found out that this way you get the training you need beyond the school and the training that THEY give you. Most of their 1st seats have 3-5 years OTR and they would put you with someone close to were you live.

 

There are 6 other guys in my orientation but some of us are OTR, some are more local, etc. So far so good. I hope that this job works out for me...