Averitt Pods Account

Yes, they're called Pozillas, lol. Most of the places we go are pull through warehouses that are two turns off a major highway. Maybe 10% are slightly more complicated, usually backing off a fairly quiet street. We usually load at the same place we unload, too.

 

Well, I don't see my reply, so I may be replying twice.

Yes, Podzilla trucks go pick the pods up and take them to a warehouse. Most of the warehouses are pull throughs and are usually two or 3 turns off an interstate. There are maybe 10% that are slightly complicated, such as backing off a street, but they're usually fairly quiet streets. Aim the tires for the corner of the drive way and ease it in. Easy peasy. We load where we drop a lot, too.

 

I like the sound of that. How is the equipment at Blackhawk? Are the trucks fairly new and spec'd nice?

 

All Stop!!!

Here are very real numbers and figures. I am now a former Blackhawk driver. Here's me last trip, which is a typical trip with the PODS account:

Pickup on Friday morning in New Jersey, which means driving through Philadelphia during heavy traffic (and a 4 car pile-up). The NJ hub is one of the main hubs for PODS and is across the river from Philly.

From there, race to Maryland for three stops scheduled that same day. That means back through Philly traffic. Blackhawk trucks are neutered at 65. However, through most of that area the speed limit is 55. Blackhawk's safety manager prides himself on writing up drivers for going 1 mile over the limit. Yep, no exageration. He brags about it in orientation.

Arive to the first stop in MD. "Oops, your POD isn't even here yet. Try tomorrow." This happens a lot with PODS. They plan the load without actually having the container in hand. Many, many, many hours spent waiting on the containers. By the way, this stop in MD is not paid. No stop pay in the PODS world. That means you lose 1-2 hours of pay per stop....and the stops are many.

So, reschedule the other two stops in MD, which now means you're a day behind on delivery, and lost a day's pay.

Next morning, 31 miles to the next stop in MD. Again, unpaid. Down the road 31 miles to the last stop in MD. Again, unpaid. Now, get moving. Off to Colorado.

Arrive in Colorado at stop 1. Unload, reload. Again, unpaid. Drive 1.1 miles to the next stop, because apparently you are their personal shuttle service. Again, unpaid. Unload, reload.

Head north to stop 3 in CO. 45 miles. Again, unpaid. Unload, load.

Drive like a madman south to Colorado Springs for stop 4 in CO. Oh, hurry up, we close early today. Load the last container. Again, unpaid.


Delivery in Chino, CA. You can't park on the street anymore and the police have posted themselves at the entrance. Drive circles around the block until a spot opens up. Very unfriendly crowd in Chino, and they aren't in a hurry.

Let's do some math: let's call it an average of 50 mph accumulated when driving through the craters we call our interstates. At Blackhawk pay, that equals about $25 per hour. Three stops in MD, and three more in CO that are unpaid. At an average of 1-2 hours per stop, let's call it 1.5 hours. That equals 9 hours, or $175 of your time you don't get compensated for on this trip.

If you want to do LTL shuttle work, sign up for PODS. If you want to be paid for your time, go somewhere else. BTW, the cross country trip was a rarity to turn-in my truck. Usually, count on an average of 300 miles per day when actually rolling.

Yes, throwing straps is easy, but the risk on the road isn't any less. You deserve fair compensation for your time, and this isn't it.

 

Oops, I was in a hurry. Forgive the math error. Here's some salt for the wound. It's $225 out of your pocket, not $175.

 

Many companies run pods. Pods are pretty good and the pay is more based on companies, I average 1200 take home with pods

 

Mike I work for Blackhawk and I was informed that at the end of the month you get your stop pay. I have experienced full pay for miles. Loaded and uploaded. I find Blackhawk to be a fairly good company to drive for, and yes there are odd things that do not make sense to me usually stemming from office jobs. But the scale is in your favor all and I do write and say all driving jobs as a company driver are slightly abusive at any company, but so far Blackhawk is a decent company to work for in my experience.

 

What’s the weekly pay/miles for the pods account if you don’t mind sharing?