Company reviews

OK here we go.

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr.../9517-ever-wonder-what-questions-ask-new.html

There is a whole lot of info in this thread.

 

Fireman, your welcome. And I can relate to the wanting the road feelings. I left a good Post Office job in '96 to get my CDL and drive. And no, it wasn't "Something I had always wanted to do" or "I'd been in love/fascinated/etc.. with trucks since I was a kid" or anything like that.

For some (lots) of people, truck driving is looked at (sometimes mistakenly) as a easy way to get a decent income. For others, it's reasons like I quoted above.

For me, it probably was wanderlust, as I've always wanted to see what was over the next hill, or around the next bend.

 

We both know one can't always see metal fatigue but one can see broken parts. Speaking for myself, I have never slid up under a tractor-trailer to inspect the undercarriages as I suspect 99.99999% of drivers don't either. If the damage can't be seen during the 'walk around', then it's 'hidden damage'.

Regarding the driver who never inspects his/her truck; I've never run across one in the 35+ years of driving but 'trucker's stories' always seem to confirm they exist and I feel they're probably a few out there somewhere unfortunately.

 

The facts are TL freight carriers have an average annual employee turnover fluctuating between 60 and 150%, depending on the carrier. I read the figure back around 2005 in a paper publication, don't remember which one. Figures could be very different in 2010. Not a good figure for any industry, except for TL freight carriers who have been operating way under capacity ever since deregulation, meaning poor wages, work rules and working conditions are inevitable. The proverbial 'self fulfilling prophecy'.

A 'good deal' for the carriers who are not under any real pressure to improve conditions. Some carriers treat their employees better than others, no doubt about it. But overall, the TL freight segment is an 'employment trap'.

 

Well the turnover rates for McMega haulers like Swift in the good years...and I'm speaking of 2003-2006 here...were up over 100%.
Now, these were GOOD TIMES...meaning that for the first time in many years...truckload rates/wages began to stabilize and increase.

So in GOOD TIMES, Swift with 15,000 power units had to (on average) replace their entire driving force EVERY YEAR.
That's right...over 15,000 drivers had to be hired.

Now, fast forward to 2010 and the turnover rates have dropped at Swift and other large OTR carriers...but their fleet size has also shrunk.
However, I would estimate (because they are no longer a public corporation) Swift's turnover rates are at around 40-50% per year...I know this because Swift...like alot of the big TL outfits are STILL ADVERTISING FOR DRIVERS.

If this was such a good job, why are these outfits ALWAYS...in GOOD and BAD times...advertising, hiring, and training new drivers?
Why are they still replacing drivers in the worst economy of our generation with so many people out of work?

So you can come on here and say what you want...but the numbers don't lie.

People who are unhappy are going to vote with their feet and leave the company/industry for good... a little embarrassed and a lot poorer having been fleeced by a truck school and everyone else along the way.

 

I would have to agree. Look how many co's had a hiring freeze and of that number that use to train newbies when the freeze lifted they was only taking exp drivers until things smoothed out a little. Some co's hire constantly no matter what is happening because they can not keep drivers.

 

Hell, I only put in a bit over 11 years. And in that eleven, the last three were "local" LTL. In that last three, I knew two different drivers that NEVER even looked over their tractors, much less the trailers they were dragging around. If it would run, the drove it.

Because they were local, the got away with it. One quit on his own, the other was fired over something else. But both of them lasted at their job for 9 months or more. I'd say it was about 8 months and three weeks too long...

 

An experienced driver always checks his/her 5th wheel release handle and trailer tandem slider handle EVERY time they approach their truck, not just during the inspections. Too many ill willed folks around causing mischief...