Need Info on Melton Truck Lines

I tried Melton their maint. dept is excellent but thats the only good thing I can say for them. They really don't understand the aspect of a preplan and if Melton reads this it means before your empty. don't be surprised if you go to orientation and they have no trucks available as they keep a surplus of body's going thru orientation to keep them filled. as for making plans for your home time don't. the only day they will have you home is Christmas so they say. even with over a weeks notice you'll be lucky if you get there 2 days late. They will move you before you get layover and as for detention pay don't count on it. And pray they dont find something they think you owe them for when you leave because the last check they mail you will be about two weeks late. I wouldn't advise anyone to work for this company the equipment is great but the people they have running it are clueless.

 

Chickenhaller, I read a post like yours and I always wonder: how long did you work for the company? I mean, if you, like most of the people who put a post on here like this one, only worked there for a month or so, then you just don't know what you're talking about. A month, two months, even six months, is not really long enough to know what's going on at a company. And in a case like that, you're just venting your frustrations, and it really doesn't get you anywhere.

Also in reading your post, your utter lack of organization in the writing makes it difficult for anyone to take your seriously. Come on...learn what periods, commas, capitalization are for. Using these devices lends credibility to the message that you're trying to get across. But please, save the return message about how you're not a writer, truck drivers don't need to know how to write, etc., etc. I suppose your lack of ability to use grammatical devices should be expected, though, considering your screenname. "Chickenhaller?" You mean...putting chickens in the hall? If that's not what you intended, maybe you didn't know that it's "hauler"--a person who hauls.

The lack of organization also makes me think that you were probably quite emotional, for some reason. And I wonder if that's how you'd respond to your FM while you were at Melton, and other places. Maybe you talked down to him, yelled at him, cursed at him, or even threatened him; all of which he probably led him to ignore you. No wonder you couldn't get things the way you wanted in your short time there.

I know lots of people who work for Melton. They all tell me that they pay $40 to tarp. And they have no trouble getting home. Which assessment is more credible, do you think? Yours, or the one of a guy who's worked for the company for 10 years?

And I don't know if you've thought about it, but maybe the reason that you didn't get detention pay, or layover pay, or couldn't get home had to do with your own individual factors. Have you? I mean, maybe you thought you should get detention, but you might not have been detained, as the company defines it. Maybe their intention in moving you before you officially met the criteria for a layover REALLY was to get you closer to some freight--and anyone who trucks would rather earn money by hauling freight, rather than by sitting somewhere.

AND have you considered that detention pay is not easy for the company to get generally? It's not a normal charge for their customers, and in tough economic times it's hard to get them to pay it. Asking customers to pay this charge, and if a company pushes too hard leading to a dispute with customers over such things, have been found, quite frequently to put the customer-servant relationship in jeopardy. And I'm pretty sure Melton doesn't want to lose customers at such a time as we're living in now. Or does that even matter to you?

Maybe you should spend some time thinking about these things...and other things like why they don't pre-plan; or why a week might not be enough to get you home; and why you say that the drivers working for Melton are clueless.

Man, your 23 years in the trucking business must've been really stressful, if this is the way you think about companies...

 

Sorry, I thought I was talking to truck drivers, not English majors. is that better?

As for the screen name, yes I know that's the way its spelled, but I thought I'd be creative.

I don't Curse any form of dispatch be it DM, Fm, or otherwise. And FYI I was never late with any loads, and got along with my DM fine.

As for the tarp pay I worked for Melton not taking word from someone else. If you would like to know for sure try going to the source before you spout off I'm quite sue if you call Melton they will tell you.

I'll give you a example for just one load I ran as far as detention, I arrived at : 1220 for pick up, and finally got loaded at: 2300 (thats military time if you didnt know), and had a 1500 appt to del which I was there early but didn't get unloaded till 2000. I was told we get detention pay. Don't you think that qualifys?

Also I never said the drivers were clueless, the office people are the clueless ones.

10 years huh. by the way is his truck some other color than blue? Million milers are, so if his isn't he may not be that great of a driver huh? There are quite a few of those and the Blue Knights that love to tattle about things they can get brownie points for.

Try working for a company before you give advice about them.

 

I noticed you left out the part about how long you worked there, though. Does that mean I was correct that you simply weren't there long enough to REALLY have known what was going on? Maybe it is you who are clueless, because of lack of experience for what you talk about.

My friends who have work there for 10 years, who are million milers, do not have another color of truck, though. They drive blue trucks...because not all the million milers take the other color truck. I know three of them who have done so.

The point I was making about detention time is that there is not only a time factor involved in deciding whether or not you get detention pay. It also has to do with whether or not a customer will pay for it. But I suppose you probably think that Melton should just give it to you, even though they're not going to paid for it, right?

And just to let you know, I know Bob Peterson, personally, because I worked for Melton for two years. He is not an especially wealthy man. And he is VERY committed to the drivers of his company. But he can't just put out money because drivers who are unaware of the totality of the situation think they should receive it. Trucking companies operate on VERY small margins which make it difficult at the least to offer all that they do. I received detention pay many times while I worked there. I think I was only technically laid-over 2 times in those two years, but I definitely received my layover pay. And I was a just a regular blue truck driver.

And my friends who work there...who should I believe? You? Or them, who I've known and trusted, and never been steared wrong by, for years? Why would they lie to me about what tarp pay is? The recruiting literature from Melton says $40. My friends, who work there now, concur.

I'm really sorry that you had such a bad experience at Melton. But there's a lot of variables involved in how things occur in this business. Things don't always work out for you. I would've thought you know that by now, considering your 23 years of experience.

By the way, I was an math and economics major. And I know plenty about military time, because I was an O-4 in the U.S. Navy before becoming a a truck driver. But thanx for your input.

 

Melton pays 30 dollars for Tarp Pay now..Unless they have changed it back in the last couple of months.

 

Can't we all just get along! lol...

 

its 20 to tarp not 30

 

When did they Change it back to 20$ a Tarp? It was 40$ per load then they changed it to 30$ per load last year.

 

I just spoke with Leslie at Melton and their tarp pay is $40.00.

They sent me an email earlier this month (May) so I figured I would give them a call and see what all the fuss was about.

I was told starting pay was between .36 & .40 cpm depending on experience. Orientation in Birmingham starts every Monday and is 4 days long for which you receive a whopping $160.00.

They do have a rider program ($16.30 a month) and while I do not know how much the health insurance costs it seems like a pretty good plan from what I can gather on their website.

They are a typical OTR company in that you have to stay out 14 days and then you get 2 days off. I did not ask but I would imagine that the longer you stay out the more days off you get. They cover all 48 states and Canada.

I asked Leslie about the miles and she said that for the first time in 2 years that they are actually turning down frieght. She stated that most drivers are averaging 2200-2500 miles per week.

She also told me that while they do not require it they offer a $1000 bonus if you get your passport, twic, and hazmat endorsement within the first 6 mos. They also offer $75.00 toward your hazmat. She said that they have alot of freight moving between the US and Canada. She also made it clear that if you have these items it makes you more likely to get miles so you can take that for what its worth.

I've been bouncing back and forth on Boyd & Melton. They both pay about the same but Boyd gets you home more. I guess it's a gamble either way.

I've read about all the posts on both Boyd & Melton but I haven't been able to talk to any current Melton drivers. Any current info on either would be greatly appreciated.

 

I left in mid NOV. and was paying $14.00 a week for inusurance for myself, that incl. dental. All of what you posted sounds acurate to me.