Tyson Foods has made it impossible to leave

Hey, sorry I'm just seeing your post.

1) I'm not sure, it's been awhile since I first started with Tyson
2) With regional - you also get $35 for every drop - which is every delivery whether live or dnh.
*** detention is $115 if you haven't moved more than 200 miles in an eighteen hour period
***The other thing, when things have been slow, dispatch will bump your pay to get you to $1250.

3) again, it's been awhile since I was an OTR driver.

4) I believe it's still a day off for every six out. Or every other weekend.

5) it can fluctuate from 60/40 to 40/60. It really depends on what part of the country you're in.

6) No. We've got a tortilla plant in Sanford NC, there you have to get a washout before arrival, but most of our beef plants have automatic washouts. If you've never seen one, you back up, and this big machine goes into the trailer and washes it.

7) I'm on my third new truck. I got two new KWs, and just got a new Freightliner. I've never had to slip seat, and trucks can be driven home now. I live in a neighborhood with a HOA so I can't park it out front anymore, but it's right down the road. At my old place, I parked it out front.

9) Tyson is all about safety first. I've always gotten the impression they'd prefer you to park before chaining. In all of my time with Tyson, I've never chained.

9) OTR and Regional trucks all Automatic. Live haul and feed mill trucks are manual.

10) it's strange, my experience with Tyson has been that I make the most running shuttle, then a little less regional, and then otr. Technically you could run regional like OTR, and not go home, and make even more.

11) yes

12) I'll exceed 70k. You'll be able to average that if you're good about communicating with dispatch. Early on I made it a habit of updating dispatch with my pta, how many hours id have after delivery, and once they saw I knew where I was gonna be, and when, they'd snag me a load earlier than normal, and I'd get a good load, instead of getting a load that's left out of the scraps. Hope that makes sense.

13) when I ran regional, 99% of the time id be home before 10am on Friday, and not leave out until late Sunday - picking up for a Monday am delivery.

14) it's hard to say, it's always changing from week to week. One week you might deliver plant to plant loads and drop and hook, and all customer loads the next. I never found the windows to be strenuous. Dispatch knew I could run hard, so if they were in a bind, they call asking for a favor asking if I could get a load delivered in a tight window. In return, if I ever wanted to get to a certain area, or an extra day at home, or a new truck, they'd return the favor. In other words, hard work is rewarded by your dispatcher. If they know when they come in, they don't have to watch your truck , and know it'll be where it needs to be when, you'll have an easy time.

15) Night. Now I work mostly days, but that's so I can work around my kids schedule. But regional and OTR - Nights. 1900-7am roughly.

16) I started out with Western Express where I spent a ton of miles up in the northeast. When I left, I didn't wanna see Brooklyn or Queens ever again. At Tyson, you'll only go as far as New Holland PA. Our regional and shuttle drivers up there haul the loads up into the NE. Other than that, you'll go everywhere.

17) You can fuel anywhere, Loves, TA, Petrol, Pilot. A lot of plants also have fuel, which you'd have access to.

Other info... In my time at Tyson, I've ran OTR, regional, shuttle, and even a few weeks running live haul - chickens from the farm to the plant - and feed mill. There are always openings for new gigs at Tyson. Every so often they'll send out an email or message asking if anyone wants to work as a driver trainer, which is an office job in Springdale Arkansas. I like that you may start as a driver, but have options to eventually move out of a truck.

If you want any more details or wanna talk, feel free to shoot me a PM

 

You must have ran out of Arkansas? They've really relaxed the parking at terminals nowadays. Luckily I haven't had to slip seat.

They've expanded their regional fleets a lot. I know in the Southeast the wait hasn't been that long. I hear they are trying to expand all of their regional fleets, as it's better for everyone, customers, drivers, and Tyson.