McFarland Truck Lines, Inc., Austin, MN

On occasion. Most of the loads we haul out that way are inbound for Fremont... it has to do with how Hormel is broken down by region and where the freight is going. We don't go out west, nor the deep south. Our drivers are rarely more than a day away from their home, and we intend to keep it that way.

We do a LOT of in/out for Austin, Algona, Knoxville (IA), Rochelle, Beloit, and Dayton, along with Dold Foods in Wichita. Mostly inbound for Fremont and Tucker. We have good return contracts from other customers in GA/AL, but not so much out of NE, hence the dispatcher and ops guy's (invalid) complaint.

 

Dang near everywhere in our footprint. Possibly the most in/out freight of anywhere we go is Osceola.

I got a first-hand account as to the issue with Fremont. They were actually whining that the drivers being hired were coming from Omaha and Bellevue, so the complaint was that they would drive 45 miles home, only to turn around 2 days later and drive 45 miles back those 90 miles were all they had issue with, because its within the 50 mile guidance, but there was nothing closer for them to grab and go after home time.. They currently run eastbound and southbound out of Fremont.

 

We'll start with the compensation package. As I said, its an odd duck and looks cheap, but the totality of everything else makes up for the initial low mileage rates.

<1800 miles = 1.10 for all miles that week
1800-2399 = 1.12 for all miles
>2400 = 1.16 for all miles
In addition:
0.01/mile safety per qtr
$30/hr detention
Additional stops are $46
100% FSC passed on to O/O
Cell Phone reimbursement of $25/mo
$1250 signing bonus
$2000 referral bonus
License refund program... Year 1=0, 2=25%, 3=50%, 4=75%, 5 and beyond 100% of your base plate costs
$200 per clean DOT inspection (we have one guy with a purposely ratty-looking truck that lives off these bonuses, as "the man" thinks he's found one every time he enters the coops, but his truck is actually in tip-top shape)
100% paid scales, tolls, reefer fuel, lumpers, and trailer/load insurance
Rider program
Fuel Discounts
PM discounts
Discounted bobtail, PD rates
We calculate your IFTA

As I said, the base rate looks horrible, but most of your expenses are handled or reduced by the company on the back side.

Still sound like its worth looking in to?