thoughts on Cryogenic Transport

I checked them out in March 2009 and they seem to be a good company,yet they have been advertising for drivers constantly since January of 2009.They have a 5 year contract with Airgas to haul out of the new Airgas plant on Walnut Road in New Carlisle just south of old U.S. 20 on the west side of the steel plant.

The terminal manager seemed like a nice guy and he said they had 13 drivers and were looking for 7 more.They haul liquid oxygen,liquid nitrogen,and argon covering northern Indiana,Chicago area,and all of Michigan lower peninsula out of the New Carlisle terminal

The Chicago area part was one turn-off for me as company drivers get paid by the mile,not sure how the lease part works.The terminal manager said that the Madison,WI terminal use to do Chicago but now it was his area.He also mentioned a terminal in Ohio,can't remember where,I've slept a few times since then.

Pay for company drivers starts at .40 cpm all miles,all out and back runs returning empty,.01 raise per year up to.43.Home daily or nightly,probably daily as it seemed all the day runs were taken.He showed me the schedule and drivers leave about every hour,loading and unloading takes 1-2 hours.All on duty time is paid at 17.50/hr,they pay you 15 minutes for pre and post trips.All drivers are allowed 2 days off per week,if desired,but it might not be on the weekend.

Company drivers load at New Carlisle but the trucks are kept at an outside repair/tire shop in Laporte at the Toll Road and IN-39 (dirt lot with lots of chuckholes).Tractors are 2009 Pete daycabs with Qualcom,newer trailers and they are buying brand new ones,he suprised me when he said one new trailer costs $500,000,it's basically a thermos bottle laid on it's side,and they are baffled,so no surge.I took my road test with a fully loaded(79,000+lbs)load of liquid oxygen on a very windy day and the rig handled great.

It was the first time I had ever pulled a tanker,and I had not driven a big truck in 7 months so I was a tad nervous,but the terminal manager said I did good.Tractors are 10 speed manuals with super singles on tractors and trailers.The road test was about 15 miles(39N-20E-2W-39N)just don't forget to stop for the railroad tracks in Laporte on 2W,they kind of sneak up on you.

They seem to be safety concious as I had to take a personality test (Hogan Test)online during the application process.It's about 100 of the craziest questions you ever want to hear.From(Are you a leader or a follower?)to(How many books do you read a month?)to(Would you do something just because every else does?).It took about an hour to do that,I guess they're trying to weed out the terrorists.

I guess I passed it because they offered me a job,but it was a few days after I took the road test that they made the offer,and I accepted a job with a local LTL gig in that time.I had applied to the LTL company about a week before I applied to Cryogenic Transportation,so I thought I didn't get the LTL job,but it took 2 weeks to get approved by the LTL safety committee.After all that I didn't even have to take a road test to get the LTL job,just a second interview!

Cryogenic Transportation is headquartered in Quaketown,PA,202 trucks,ISS-59,in my opinion you could do a lot worse.I think they require 2 years experience,but it doesn't have to be tanker,as I had no tanker experience.Of course you need Hazmat and Tanker endorsements.

Orientation is 3-5 days in South Bend then you go out with a trainer for a week or two.Training pay is $525/wk,don't quote me on that or any of the other things in my post,but I was shown paychecks for $800 to $1800/wk,and as I'm sure you know,you won't get the gravy runs to start with.

Every now and then I get a thought about calling them,but I like my P/D job with 50 to 55 hours a week,daytime hours,and weekends off,and it keeps the old lady happy.

It's funny how after being laid-off from a great driving job of 4 years that I thought I would retire from(hauling auto parts,unfortunatly)and being picky but putting in at least 3 applications a week to satisfy the unemployement requirements,that I get 2 job offers in 2 days after no offers in 7 months.Such is life.

Oh,insurance is United Health Care,not too expensive,and 401 match is only 5% match on 4% of wages.

Any more questions I'll try to answer.Good luck,Maddad.

 

I don't know this company but most companies in this type of work train you properly to handle the load in a safe and effective way which puts you as a driver in demand. Once a company invests it's time and money to ensure the truck goes down the road in the safest way possible they tend to want to keep you working with them. It's something you should look at. Also you should edit your profile because it shows you've been driving since you were two years old.

 

Had to laugh... thats hardcore driver. 2 yrs old eh?

On a more serious note, GasHauler knows what he's talkin bout. My father retired from Rogers pulling HazMat tankers for over 25 years and he was very well trained and compensated.

 

cryogenic transport has a terminal about fifteen miles from my house,see them around alot. see them loading in river rouge all the time with daycabs. trucks are all new and look to be taken care of. I agree with gashauler and tanker is about the only steady work right now. I would check it out just for the security of the job.

 

Wow,that's a lot of apps for 6 seats,but you should be ahead of 95% of them with your experience,driving record,and attitude.I think the reasons for their constant advertising may be bad driving records(not sure what their requirements are),the Hogan Test,and applicants not knowing what the job entails.Also they are out in the boonies and a lot of people might not want to drive that far,and a lot of drivers don't want to pull tanks,especially hazmat.

About the Hogan Test,if you haven't taken it yet,I seem to remember a few of the questions being asked multiple times(trying to catch you contradicting yourself),that may be another reason for applicants failing.I'm not sure if you can preview it online as I had to get a password to do mine from the recruiter in Quakerstown.

I don't remember it being a timed test,so it might be wise to write your questions and answers down as your doing the test.

As for the recruiter in Quakerstown,they were very nice and helpful,but I couldn't decide what gender they were.He/She just had one of those middle of the road voices and it was kind of scratchy(Jeri or Jerry?),I was leaning toward female but refrained from saying ma'am or sir.Let me know what you think if you talk to them.

I guess I never thought about it,but once they pay for the infrastructure,it's all profit for Airgas as their raw materials are free,because as I understand it,their products are made by converting the air we breathe into liquid oxygen,liquid nitrogen,and argon.But I'm sure the infrastructure is very costly as is the maintenance.Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Hope it works out for ya Maddad.