Owner operator looking for new home

I saw you replied to this thread already and it was removed. Any idea why?

 

Owner Operator Program at JRV LOGISTICS INC — JRV LOGISTICS, INC.

 

Talked to a recruiter at Freymiller and they are definitely a no go for me as an owner operator. They offer about the same pay you get from the bigger dry van companies and only promise 2500 miles per week. They might be a good company to work for as a company driver, I don't know. All I know is $1.17+fsc is not enough for me to deal with reefer stuff.

 

I'm really leaning towards JS Helwig out of Terrell, TX. They pay $1.50 plus the fuel surcharge which is currently $0.61 for a total of $2.11 per mile. I can't seem to really find anything bad about them on the internet and there are no red flags that I can tell from my research and talking to the recruiter. Obviously recruiters are known to tell you what they think you want to hear, so who knows.

Here's what they've told me so far:

• No forced dispatch, you can run as hard as you want or not run hard if you don't want to run hard.
• 2800-3000 miles per week.
• 60% drop and hook
• Plates and permits are completely covered by Helwig
• Reefer fuel covered by Helwig
• Wex fuel card with discounts
• All tolls covered by Helwig
• No fuel surcharge on empty miles and you only get $1.10 on empty miles.

The only thing I will say is that they could not give me an average discount for their fuel card. I don't think they have many O/O at Helwig so it's possible they weren't prepared for that question. The recruiter did say she'll try to find out for me.

 

Check with Dot Foods. They have a DC in Ardmore and drop lots in Tulsa and OKC.

Mt Sterling, IL (HQ), runs to all their other DC’s and drop lots/terminals, including trailer swaps throughout the USA. You might be able to run dedicated between one of the OK locations and MTS and just do turns.

They have 14 DC’s, nearly 30 drop lots/terminals, and countless trailer swap locations. They run to Canada, as well. Also, they run turnpike doubles out east. There are plenty of options, depending what you want to do.

Plenty of work with them, as they hire outside carriers to move loads for them, because they don’t have enough company drivers.

I don’t know what kind of O/O rates, though. You’d have to call their HQ in Mt Sterling to find out solid info. There used to be a guy named Dave who ran the recruiting dept, who’s been there like 40yrs. He’d be the one to talk to, if he hasn’t retired, yet.

 

@Cobrawastaken you could try R.E Garrison. They’re out of Alabama but they cover a lot of lanes

 

On their site

 

Thank you guys for the suggestions. I tried to call dot foods twice with no answer. They had an option to leave name and number, so I did that. I did look at the positions available on their website and the only position in Oklahoma (Ardmore) requires hazmat. I don't really have time right now to go through the process of getting hazmat so if they call me back I'll talk to them but I'm probably not going to pursue that any further.

Still leaning towards Helwig but I'll probably make a decision by the end of the week since orientation is typically on Mondays.

Edit to add: Helwig updated me and they're (apparently) running the numbers for me to get an average on their fuel discount.

 

Company drivers are required, because of very specific backhauls. But, I don’t believe an O/O would ever be in a position to ever pull one. O/O’s are kinda’ their own deal, within the transportation dept, and aren’t dealt with the same way as the company drivers.

I no longer have direct numbers and don’t know who the O/O mgr is. Hopefully, they’ll get back with you, though.

 

Anecdotal, but I hired a company driver away from Helwig earlier this year. His reason for leaving? They couldn't keep him moving enough. If they can't keep the company trucks that they are paying for moving, I wonder what the true story is for the O/O side.