Which carrier(s) has had the best reputation for the longest time? WHY?

UPS has a outstanding history of 102 years,......And one of the best safety records in the industry,..

 

The best carriers are easy to find hard to get in. Most of them will require a min 3 years OTR a spotless MVR, and a connection as you know someone that has high seniority. Companies like Walmart, Tyson, UPS, FEDEX to name a few are next to impossible to get in with, because nobody quits and everyone is happy. You need to get experience with a carrier, build your experience keep your record perfect, then you can try them. 95% of major carriers hire daily, weekly have a more than 100% turn over rate, pay low rates and have miles just enough to pay you a little more than McDonalds. You need experience for the more Driver Friendly Companies.

Most Major Carriers has their long time favorites they always load up on miles, and have a non-seniority driver base. Driving jobs have changed. There is a 65% most new drivers quit or get canned in the first 6 months due to pay.

Carriers average from 1.75 to 2.90 per mile on loads, they pay from company drivers .28 to .40 and lease drivers .84 to .93, you are being used with most carriers as a body to make them get wealthy, with no respect for you, the other carriers like Walmart, and Tyson transport their own frieght to their customers only thats why you are treated better.

Alls I can say is good luck.

 

Interesting facts, any links or info on these facts ??

 

The best jobs usually are private carriers like WalMart.The very best never advertise for drivers and choose their drivers from a waiting list.

 

I don't know - Wal*Mart has very strict hiring requirements but you also mentioned USP and FedEx which I know do not have set in stone strict hiring requirements. A 21 year old on the forum here just got his first driving job - UPS Freight.. I had a clean record but only 1 1/2 years of OTR and started here at 22. We have a few new guys here in their early 20's now and this is their first driving job. Have a buddy at FedEx Freight who got that as his first driving job. A lot of the good jobs really don't have strict experience requirements from what I've seen - they will weed you out early though if they don't like your performance.

I would say the best way to evaluate a carrier is the length of time most drivers have there. The ones with a lot of 10 plus year guys usually have good retirement plans, good insurance, good pay, and are all around good places to work. I don't personally believe most of these jobs are as hard to land as many make them out to be - the downside to them is you do not hire right into a gravy position. You generally have to pay your dues but once you do it's a good place to be.

 

Ashley Furniture is same way, semi-private carrier, very difficult to get on with, but the guys who work for them all make good money and seem to stick around. I talked to one last year at a place, he and I were loading wood pellets. He'd been with them 15 yrs, had 1.8 million miles, and was super pleased with the company. He didn't go into his pay and such, but he seemed definetly happy.

 

Oldnewbie, I gotta say you ask great questions - regardless of where you end up working I'm pretty confident you'll do fine.

As always, best of luck.

 

Ashley is a pretty good company to driver for, have a buddy who drives for them in the winter and they treated him well. An they got very good and well maintained equipment. You should see some of the million mile accident free drivers trucks they get. They are always in our steamboat days parade here in town with a nice chromed out volvo and nice trailer with chrome wheels. They pretty much own arcadia wisconsin, and are well known in this area.

 

Seems like another good example of putting your time in at a quality company leading to good things. I firmly believe the longevity of drivers at a given company tells you more than anything else about the carrier. I used to run into a lot of Ashley drivers and they always struck me as top-notch.