Halvor Lines, Superior, WI: No longer worth it

Sounds like you are an older guy trying to give trucking a try. Fact is, you are going to be used and taken advantage of the first 2 years or so. And probably get your pay stolen. It will probably come to the point where you will ask yourself 'why am I doing this?' 'is this worth it?'.

There is a reason why only 2 out of 100 drivers remain in the industry after 5 years. 100 CDL grads, 2 left after 5 years. Fact.

Halvor itself has something like s 90% turnover rate. The only guys staying there year after year are the snitches- ones that spy on new drivers, tamper with their trucks/trailers, etc...

These old timers are the laziest ones in the company. If they do any work besides spy, or get info, it will be an easy route or maybe move an empty from Superior down to Rosemount then drive one back up.

They will spend 5-6 hours between moves in the Rosemount drivers lounge listening to what's going on then reporting it to Management.

These drivers are the ones staying year after year. Oh yeah, they take winters off. New hires are expected to drive in snow and ice not the ones with years of experience.

Do you know that Halvor does not have APUs? You can run the truck 24/7 if you want, but you will end up paying for it by not receiving the fuel bonus. A lot of their trucks get 5.3 mpg per quarter, which is extremely low.

Also, any of their trucks older than 2 years most likely have emissions issues. Check engine light is on, always something with the aftertreatment. You can take it to their shop, where they will do a quick fix, but after 3k miles or so the check engine light will be back on along with several messages about aftertreatment and the transmission. Eventually it will have to go to the dealer.

If you hear their equipment is top notch, that's not true. Another reason to avoid Halvor. Bottom line: STAY AWAY!

 

I sincerely appreciate all of the valuable information and much of it confirms my suspicions.

I just turned 51 and that was a joy, dmv and real id drivers license renewal time. I figured living in the upper midwest i could plan on needing to enter Canada if trucking. The hospital copy of your birth certificate that you have used your whole life is not good enough for this new real id. You need a raised stamp/seal on your official government birth certificate which i didn't even know existed.

No APU's as an OTR driver sounds asinine. The devil is ALWAYS in the details. Ex-Army, ex-Union so i'm used to hazing. Newbies do need to pay their dues but within reason. I don't expect to make what an experienced driver does however there reaches a point where you're experienced. To me, considering the mileage requirement of these driving programs, a year/110k miles of safe incident free driving seems reasonable. While you may not have all of the experience of a driver who has safely done the job with the litany of truck, trailer and route varieties, you demonstrated in that first year a capability to perform the essential function of the occupation.

How many unhappy drivers then, after fulfilling that 1st year obligation, attempt to sit down and renegotiate their driving contracts? Very few i imagine. What life has taught me having NO OCCUPATION is always be prepared to move, set your own narrative/never trust large companies and advocate for yourself because no one else will. I have lied and been lied to. Religious or not, it's the human condition. We justify it in our own minds but in the end it's wrong and a large part of whats wrong with society.

My exit plan then after a year if i couldn't get lucky and land a good OTR company to start with is ditch said OTR company then and take a small local carrier or government job. Plenty of those i see and while you might not be making the big money, i'm positive you'll have a lot less headaches, sleep in a nicer bed and eat healthier being home more.

Several questions any of you old salty dogs can answer i'm sure:

1: How bad are those mattresses in trucks? If it isn't at least a twin are they custom? I ask because i know first hand the dangers of a sleep deficit. I locked the brakes up in a 2 1/2 ton once in the middle east swearing there were camels in the road. 3 days no sleep will do that, cant imagine driving 80k pounds no sleep and those purdy snowflakes start kissing the windshield.

2: No APU's as an OTR driver is that really still a thing or an anomaly? I worked for AT&T for several years and had to replace my own inverter but hell, at least it was there. Along with the previous drivers piss bottles which I'm sure some of you drivers can relate? :O)

3: Hourly Wage? Or how many hours per year/salary? Have any of you kept semi accurate records and attempted to figure it out? I appreciate it's probably an alien concept for professional drivers but the rest of the world largely bases their choices on wage and hour commitment. On top of this it seems particularly challenging attempting to figure out OTR pay then since there is no other industry with the same challenges as trucking. You have no other mode of transportation, sleeping arrangements or dining choices. You're largely at the mercy of where the winds of fate takes you. If Dolly's Greasy Spoon in Witchita wants $18 for a grilled cheese and some sad vegetable you really don't have a choice when that tiny fridge is empty.

Lastly, if you were some poor schmuck like me just starting out at 51 wanting to do company paid/sponsored or vocational if need be, what 3 companies would you want to drive for?

Sad side story as i've seen the Federal WIOA program mentioned in these forums. I was turned down for training because I'm too smart to be a truck driver. They make you take a personality test and as a conceptual individual the program would be wasted on me. I even attempted to use some of that there college edumecation the gubment gave me in their TRA program when the factory closed in making a persuasive argument based on facts. "I have spoken with plenty of truck drivers family and otherwise over the years and i don't find them to be nearly as stupid as you idiots imply (program is ran by Manpower in WI). Furthermore it would be my 1st job with a corner office w/windows and a climate that i can control. Whats not to like?" I don't think they were amused. I certainly was.

 

Crap, i realize i just "hijacked" the Halvor lines sucks thread. Could a mod please move this post to new driver questions? My apologies everyone!

 

Here is my experience with this company. My recruiter was Tobin who at the time told me that I was being hired as a OTR driver and that I would be going to all lower 48 states. So far it's been from Minnesota to New Jersey only with the exception of home time which is Florida. I was also told that I would be getting .48 cents a mile and that there would be a safety bonus pay which works out to .58 cents a mile. I haven't seen the extra .10 cents because the company micromanages your every move through the Driveri camera so your chances of a safety bonus are slim to none no matter how hard you try to be a boy scout.

Their CDL school is Halvor's school, not a third party school. It is ran by Halvor employees and the trainers are very nice and will work with you one on one if needed later on. During their CDL training, they put you up at a hotel, a very nice hotel in my opinion. The hotel has a complimentary breakfast, not much of one but after all, it's complimentary. The school provides lunch which are really nice lunches. There's no dinner provided so you have to pay for that. The hotel has a restaurant which is on the pricey side and a full bar.

The hotel is on an island with a marina and has one road going in and out. There's no stores or other restaurants close by but the hotel does have a fridge and microwave so when you do get to a store then you can get groceries for the room. Once you finish with schooling, you head back to your home state to get your CDL. All transportation is provided by Halvor and there's also a shuttle to take you back and forth to the school.

After you get your CDL hard copy, Halvor will assign you a driver trainer for the next 4 weeks. My driver trainer was super nice, nothing what I had expected after hearing all the horror stories. I was hired on in April of this year. I went through their CDL school which is 4 weeks long. During orientation they tell you the same thing... as a driver you actually get to pick which states you would like to run in. You're also told that you get to pick what truck you want of what's available at the time. You're also told that if you're showing great progress during the 4 weeks of your driver training period, your training period can be reduced to less.

So let's get down to the the facts. Like I said, you're told that your mileage could be as much as .58 cents per mile, you'll never see that, .48 cents starting out is it. They pay zip code to zip code miles, not hub miles. You don't get to pick what lanes you run. I am in the refer division and I have been running the same highway for awhile now. My dispatcher asked me, "where do you like to run mostly?" Meaning west, north, east, south... I have no idea why she asked me this because after running the same lane for awhile, I asked about other lanes. This is where you'll find that they will tell you one thing, but do another.

My dispatcher tells me that all the lanes out west are mostly for teams and that anything going south is rare. So why do they make statements saying one thing while not backing them up? Driver training can be reduced to less then 4 weeks if you're showing good progress. So here's my experience with that... I have 5 years of OTR experience but that was 13 years prior to getting hired on with Halvor. After 2 weeks with my trainer, my trainer called the training department and told them that I really didn't need any further training and that I should be released to go on my own.

The training department's two managers agreed and called me to go over the details. The following week I was to be dropped off at the terminal and start the process of getting into my own truck. My trainer and I both had these conversations with the department, but when the following week approached and my trainer called to schedule everything, the two knuckleheads in the department acted as if we never had this conversation. When asked knucklehead #1 what was going on, his reply was this. "Umm, yeah, well I don't know, hmmm, ok." Knucklehead #2 came up with excuses and additional rules that were never mentioned before.

According to the training department, I needed at least 3 weeks of training and at least one trip going out east but didn't have it because my trainer had scheduled home time during my training period. So now I have to go out with another trainer to at least get my run out east. My new trainer shows up, I head out to his truck with my stuff and there's no room for me as a trainee. The bottom bunk area is set up with the dinette table and cooking stuff. Each night this has to be torn down, put into the passenger's seat so I have a place to sleep at night.

That morning we had a full day of driving and he slept in late... after 8:am. He heads to the bathroom while still at the terminal and doesn't come out for another hour. Everything in the truck is still unorganized. I packed my bags and went back into the terminal and refused to go with this so called trainer who wasn't set up to train anyone. I'm sent back to the hotel and I am now scheduled to run with a day cab for the next two days until they can find me a OTR trainer. After a day with the day cab, this guy calls the training department and tells them the same thing. "This guy doesn't need training, let him go on his own already!"

This falls on deaf ears and now I'm scheduled to go with a regional driver for the next day until my original trainer can come off of home time and finish with me. The regional driver calls the training department and repeats what all the other trainers had been saying. The responses from these people is mind boggling, "yeah, uh huh, ok, sure". It's as if they have all been brain washed. I have been told by other trainers that they do have a fast track proram for those showing progress and some trainees have done as little as 2 weeks. These people have went on to be trainers... yikes!

As far as getting my own pick of trucks of what's available??? There were 8 trucks available, all volvos that according to the shop were all ready to go. I went out to look at each one and was told to pick the one I wanted and they would have it detailed for me. Each one smelled like human waste, urin, pet hair and cigarette smoke residue so strong it would make you gag. Each one had at least 600,000 miles on it. When I finally picked one they started the detailing process. During this process I go out to the truck and the guy detailing it was wiping the floor out with his hand and spraying some deodorant crap all over.

I got in touch with the head of the company and spoke with the secretary. She says, "what can we do to make it up to you?" Well crap, I thought I hit the jackpot. Same response as everyone else, "uh huh, ok, yup, sure, I understand." Another truck had just came in, it had 450,000 miles on it without any outside damage unlike all the others. However, it smelled like cigarettes and the inside had sticky cigarette tar residue all over it. I told them in the beginning when they asked me if I wanted a smoker or non-smoking trainer and I told them that I was allergic to cigarette smell.

I was allowed to take the truck home and detail it right, but by the time I got home I was stuffed up and blowing brown snot out of my nose and had hardly slept. I steamed everything and ran an ozone generator followed by an industrial cleaning spray that rids cigarette smoke. The tar residue on the walls were steamed and you could see the brown crap drip off the walls. The seat belt had to be taken apart, soaked and the seat belt bendulum mechanism cleaned from all the crap built up inside.

I have a one year contract with this outfit, after that I will get out and not a day later. People here are encouraged to say only nice things about the company, no bad mouthing. Drivers are told that if you have an issue to bring it to their attention. When you do, this is what you'll hear, "um, uh huh, ok, I see, I understand."

I know they monitor these forums and will probably see this post... so? Did I state something that wasn't true, did I lie or exaggerate about something? Feel free to call me on it and we'll disguss it. I doubt that's going to accomplish anything because I'll get the same lip service as before... "yup, uh huh, I see, ok, you betcha."

 

The trips out West and South are for either drivers that pay for them, or the long timers (snitches, the ones that spy on drivers). Yes, dispatchers take bribes and gifts in exchange for West Coast runs- out to Seattle, Oregon etc...

The old timers do those runs in the summer. If you are around in Winter you will get one of those and they will send you out there without chains and maybe s defective trailer. Defective as in no trailer brakes. Yes, believe it or not they not only endanger a drivers life who is working for them and making them money, but if you jacknife you are probably taking other vehicles with you- imagine families being taken off the road due to actions by this company.

East coast runs are the norm. You will see PA more than you want. Also Jersey, Maryland and the snow belt of Western NY- Erie Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester.

The bonus you will never see because they don't have APUs. You will run that truck to keep cool or warm and your bonus is gone. If you are lucky enough to get something, dispatch will have their hands out. Pay up, or you will be blacklisted. True story, happened to me. Brought it up to several people in management and they did NOTHING.

Regarding their pay, it's so so in the beginning but a few months in you will be lucky to gross 1k a week. Too many reasons why to go into here, but ALL DRIVERS at Halvor complain about low pay. I'm talking 6-700,/week after taxes if you are lucky.

Now I see the past 4 months they have a lot of CSA points. Maybe other drivers besides me have complained about them. Possibly they are being watched. That's what happens when numerous drivers complain about stolen pay, faulty equipment, abuse by dispatchers and bait and switch advertising.

 

Thanks, great writeup!

 

Ask yourself this, if Halvor really cares about their drivers as they claim they do, why don't they have APUs so the driver is comfortable in hot and cold weather?

Why would Halvor force the driver to idle, then charge the driver for idling by using up the drivers bonus pay?

Then, in the meantime they are destroying their own equipment. All of the 600,000 mile trucks thr previous poster mentioned most likely have the check engine light on, emissions problems, aftertreatment issues or transmission problems due to idling. That's the 'top of the line equipment' they talk about.

Also they have these ridiculous fuel stops, which are a big inconvenience to a driver. They make you stop at the dirtiest, grimiest, most unsafe places you can imagine to fuel. Some really congested places too, fuel stops where half the pumps aren't working so you spend an hour or more just getting to a pump. And guess what, if you bypass any of these designated fuel stops, they charge you! Yes, it comes out of your pay.

Now if you question this, call them up and ask why is this...it doesn't make sense, they will talk down to you and make you feel like you shouldn't be asking questions.

For the convenience of drivers and yo save money, you would think they would have fuel islands built at their 2 main terminals. In Rosemount, they make a driver go 5 miles down the road to a grimy, dirty pilot which has 4 pumps, 2 of which are most always out of service. Good luck fueling at that busy location in less than an hour.

Making life difficult for drivers here is the norm. More reasons to avoid this shoddy 3rd rate company and choose someone else to work for.

 

9 more months and I'm gone. These outward facing cameras really testing my patients. Whenever a vehicle is on the off ramp getting off the highway, it slows down and my truck will come to a complete stop in the right lane. The vehicle is on the off ramp, not even in front of me. This is supposed to be a safety feature.

The camera monitors your speed and you will get a speeding violation if it shows you're going over the speed limit. Speed limit is 55 mph, everyone is doing 70 mph. You try not to be the cause of a backup so you maintain a safe 60-65 mph in order to not create congestion.

Car pulls out in front of you, truck's camera goes to red allert and slams on the breaks taking control over your truck. Another safety issue. These devices are more dangerous then they realize, computers taking control over human responsibility.

Car comes up on your right side, you wait till it has almost passed. You turn your signal on early and an audible car horn sounds off like it's in the rear seat scaring the crap out of you. Reason for this device is to let you know that this vehicle is in your blind spot... what blind spot? That's what your fender mirrors are for, I can clearly see that there's a car to my right

 

I don't know how you will last 9 months there, but good luck. Don't let them find out you are posting here, or even reading this...they may try to fire you. Freedom of speech and giving suggestions isn't allowed at Halvor .

They say the camera is only outward facing. Well, if that's the case cover up the inner part. If it's only outward facing why would they care.

Guarantee you will get a phone call within 2 days, asking you to uncover the camera. Another true story, happened to me.