Eastern Freightways North Brunswick NJ (Better Than Average)

First I have heard of it. If that is true then Mitch was probably hired to replace him.

 

A couple of updates since my last post;

My younger brother Jarrett has rejoined Eastern. Management has really stepped up by rehiring him after he quit twice in the past. Jarrett is a good driver but has had some family issues that have made it difficult for him to adapt to this lifestyle. Being home with his kids is very important to him but he has decided he also needs to earn some money to support those kids. Living in Maine makes it pretty tough to find a job let alone keep one with benefits. I hope he sticks it out this time.

One of the things I like about Eastern; management listens to the drivers and will try to help them when possible. That even goes for former drivers who quit, thinking they have found a better job (the grass is greener mentality) but then realize they blew it a few weeks/months later. Many drivers have left and came back over the 9 plus years I have been here. Normally the rehire is brought back into the fold at the same pay rate they left at. The company is not perfect but they do work with their drivers.

Kim and I have been switched from truck 40527 into truck 9965 (one of the new 2007 Volvo auto shift trucks [they have been parked for the past 3 years but have recently been rotated into the fleet]). The company installed a top bunk to make 9965 into a team truck specifically for us. Kim had made it pretty clear to me and management that she was not happy driving 40527 due to the manual shift. One more example of how the company listens to their drivers and tries to accommodate them.

The down side to the new truck was it had some plugged fuel vents hoses due to sitting so long. Apparently some insects had packed the fitting and rubber vent tube while it had been parked and caused us to break down on the side of the road. After checking both fuel tanks I found 1 tank almost full and the other completely empty. I checked the cross over valves and found them to be open. After thinking about the problem for a few minutes (and sweating in 90 degree plus temps in Georgia) I took out my 50' air hose, cut a section of the air hose out and made a siphon hose. I then manually transferred fuel from the full tank to the empty tank using 3 empty gallon water jugs and a funnel, primed the fuel filter and fired it back up. Took a while to get it going again but we were able to save the company a road service call. The company has agreed to replace my air hose so I will not have lost anything in the deal.

The company has purchased 25 used white Internationals (I believe they are former Heartland trucks) to add to the fleet. I believe they are being used for the new flatbed division recently started here.

 

Its been a while since I posted here so I figured it was time to give everyone an update.

I still work at Eastern and will have put in 10 years with this outfit as of June 4th. Kind of nice getting 3 weeks paid vacation, 6 paid holidays, 5 paid personal/sick days, an assigned truck and home every weekend. Pretty rare to get these perks at a non-union truckload carrier.

Eastern is attempting to expand into new areas such as flat beds and reefers. As I understand it we are running reefers out to California and returning to the east coast. This is a definite plus for the teams here.

On a personal note Kim (my wife) has been released by her surgeon to return to work. Of course Eastern management wants a signed statement from her primary care physician stating she can perform all the duties required of a truck driver before they will let her return. We will not know for sure until she can get in to see her PCP.

The older (mini bunk trucks are steadily being rotated out of the fleet). I have seen more of them parked at the Pennsauken terminal being readied for sale. I for one am happy to see that the company is finally retiring those tired worn out trucks.

Other changes at Eastern are; we have some new office personnel and a new general manager named Tony Campo who joined Eastern in October 2010.

Since Mr Campo joined Eastern he has implemented a new rule regarding reimbursement of receipts. Scale tickets will be paid for using the company fuel card now rather than pay cash Any other cash receipts will be added to to the drivers pay check the following week rather than sitting in a folder until the driver specifically asks for it. Welcome changes for sure.

 

Yes. Eastern Freightways is owned by Shevell. Nemf is the parent company which is a unionized company. Machinist union not Teamster. Nemf owns all the equipment and our paychecks come directly from NEMF as well.

Nemf uses older equipment (so does Eastern) and runs it for a very long time. It is a privately owned company and has survived due to the cost cutting measures and utilizing paid for equipment.

The 2 divisions really do not get along due to competition for equipment (trailers mostly) and Eastern drivers are used to cover alot of NEMF line haul type freight.

Eastern focuses on truckload while NEMF is LTL freight.

Some people love the company while others hate it. I do know it is one of the better paying companies based on the east coast especially if you want to be home weekly.

 

Welcome aboard. I hope things continue going well for you.