ESTES Express (5 Year Review)

Hey guys, new to the forum but I've been reading it for the last couple of years. I was hoping you guys wouldn't mind answering a few questions that I had as someone with almost 2 years OTR dry van and reefer experience (all with the same company started as a new CDL holder) thinking of joining the LTL world. I want to find a "forever" company, as I do not like changing jobs and I'de rather stay somewhere good, build seniority, vacation time, etc. I have my tankers/doubles & triples and I know I'll need a hazmat should I go the LTL route. I live around the Charlotte, NC metro area.

1. Are dedicated runs the only runs where you are home every night? And regional OTR/extraboard positions (at Estes) are staying in a hotel 5 nights a week then home for a 34? Or no? Is there even a difference between regional OTR and extraboard positions or are they basically the same?

2. For OTR/extraboard positions - In the LTL world do you have the option of staying out for a month at a time like I'm doing now with my OTR company? If so, how does hometime work? Let's say I stay out 4 weeks with a regional or extra board position at Estes, does that mean when I come home that I could take 5-7 days off in a row? Or does LTL not work like that where you "build" your days off by staying out OTR?

3. Does Estes pay per diem if you go OTR or regional and are away from home?

4. I see on this thread that drivers are accepting and rejecting loads or will straight up tell dispatch to send them home if they don't like a load and would rather go home - So is Estes not forced dispatch? You get to choose your own loads and can choose to go home whenever you want? How does that work, do you look at an Estes Load board App or something like that? And get to choose between say 3 or 4 loads each day you work?

5. I got my CDL testing in a manual. However, I've only driven an automatic in the (almost) 2 years I've been driving and I never knew how to drive a manual in a car before I got my CDL either. So needless to say, at this point even though I don't have a restriction on my license I don't think I could safely operate a CMV in a manual unless I had a refresher course. Does Estes offer refresher courses or would I have to look into local trucking schools around my area for that?

6. Has anyone ever gotten rejected from Estes for failing a pre trip inspection? I guess I'm asking are we supposed to memorize the whole thing like a script, like I did for my state CDL test and say the key words for each thing, or just do a normal pre trip? For example do I need to say "Not Bent, Broken or Cracked" and other similar phrases a thousand different times, or no?

7. I've never driven doubles before. How long is training with Estes and if you sign up for a regional or extra board position where you're away from home at least 5 days a week, will I have to sleep in the truck with my trainer like I did with my current OTR company or do they put us in separate hotel rooms?

8. Finally, from what I've read it seems you can make the most money with extra board. If I worked hard, what could I realistically expect to gross in a year my first year at Estes? Is hitting $70,000 gross possible? If I ran at Estes like I do OTR and ran 5-6 weeks OTR and then came home for 1 week or so, could I potentially make even more than $70,000?

Sorry for my long questions. Again, if nobody has time to answer it's ok I understand. I also want to say thank you guys for posting in this thread, I have enjoyed reading this thread (and many others on this forum). Estes seems like a great company to work for.

 

Question, if you wanted to, could you run the extra board until your meet guy is running again or do they want you ready the minute the storm passes?

 

Man, you'll make a lot more than $70,000 and still be home every weekend. Two completely different worlds, otr and linehaul.

 

@KaoMinerva great news him being in charlotte they added that 33rd terminal in the northeast. Plenty of freight now.