Central Transport-Columbus, IN

Hey Josh,long time no see.It's good to see you are still trucking it up with Gordon.You've got your golden 1 year in with them and now many doors will open for you.

With your recent experience combined with your past experience I think any LTL company would hire you.Some of them prefer that you have LTL experience,but it may not be mandatory,and they can be persuaded that you can do the job in the interview.

I've been doing LTL P&D for Milan Express since March 2009 and I love it.I was hired with no LTL experience.I start at 9 am and work until 7-9 pm 5 days a week with all weekends off.

I assume Greensburg isn't big enough to have any LTL terminals,but a 30 minute drive to Columbus is reasonable.I would also look into any factories in your town that haul their own products,those can be good jobs.

As for Central,I don't know much about them,but I see their ISS is 91.Coming from Gordon,who is in the low 20's,you will experience a shock equipment-wise.In my area they start at about $17/hr.

Are you willing to drive an old spring-ride day cab with no air conditioning?I'm not saying that will happen,but it's something to be prepared for.How about pulling double or triple pups in winter and windy conditions?It can be a handful from what I've heard.

Central has a terminal in Mishawaka,IN which is right next to South Bend,and they are looking for drivers all the time.I live in Mishawaka and I am about 11 miles from the Milan terminal in South Bend,and about 5 miles from the Central terminal.

I've thought about checking into Central,but they pay about the same as what I'm making,and now that I've got some seniority where I'm at I'll stay here.My first 9 months at Milan I had a 1999 International day cab with spring ride,but at least they fixed the air conditioning when it quit working.

I was talking with a Con-Way driver the other day and he said his first 3 years with the company were in a truck with no air conditioning!

Now I'm in a 2005 Volvo day cab w/air ride and I love it.It has about 500,000 on it because it is used at night for linehaul also.At our terminal we have 9 P&D day drivers and 4 night linehaul drivers who run to Indy,Chicago,Nashville,Cincinnati,or Cleveland depending on the amount and destinations of the freight picked up that day.

The P&D drivers cover Indiana from Ft.Wayne to the Illinois line down to Wabash and Rensallaer.I go to Lake County in the nothwest corner of Indiana and have been doing the same route since I've been at Milan.

We also have terminals in Indy and Evansville,Louisville,KY and Lima,OH that cover parts of Indiana.There has been a recent rumor going around that we are going to combine our South Bend and Lima terminals and cover the area out of Fort Wayne.I hope that doesn't happen because I am not willing to relocate.I don't see that happening because the majority of our outbound freight comes out of the South Bend area and it would be too hard to cover that out of Ft.Wayne and Chicago.We don't service Michigan,except for Niles,and we don't have any terminals in Michigan.

We had a driver at Milan that came from Central and he told tales of the "dolphin",which is a hand-held computer that Central drivers use.Apparently it can be a nightmare working with this device,and from what I've read on this website the drivers are paid according to what this dolphin says.

There are threads on this site about Central, I would recommend reading them.

At Milan I'm paid for every minute I'm on the time clock.I use a hand-held device that has my deliveries loaded into it before I leave the terminal in the morning and then my pickups are put into it by our main dispatch in Milan,TN as they are called in.I also have 2-way walkie-talkie to communicate with TN on this device.

I usually have about 5-10 deliveries a day and about 3-8 pickups a day and drive 175-225 miles a day.It's about 60 miles from South Bend to Lake County.The majority of my stops take from 5-15 minutes and there are times I can do 4-5 stops/hour,and other times it takes 30 minutes or more to get to my next stop because of the heavy traffic and waiting for trains in my area.

Some of our drivers say they wouldn't do my route because of all the traffic,but hey,I'm getting paid while I'm sitting at all those red lights and waiting on those trains.

A couple of our drivers run up to 300 miles a day and others do less than 100,it all depends on the route,which at our company and most others,are chosen by seniority,along with tractor choice.We have drivers that have been doing the same route for many years,and corporate likes it that way,as the driver gets to know the customers and his area well,increasing efficiency.

I'm a bit suprised Central has a Columbus terminal,being only 50 miles from Indy,which I assume has a terminal also.But I guess the larger companies can afford to do this.

When you said you are applying for a local position,I assume you mean P&D,but I suppose they could also mean this is a line-haul position,where you would work at night running Columbus to another terminal and back,home every day,5 days a week.

But,Josh,BEWARE!!!Some of the LTL companies will keep you out all week,bouncing around from one terminal to another 500-1,000 miles from home or more.It all depends on the destinations of the freight and driver availability,seniority,etc.And the freight varies daily.

And just because they offer you a home daily run doesn't mean that won't change the first day you are there.They've got you by the jewels then and can tell you take it or hit the bricks.

For example,we had a driver come to Milan from Con-Way(where he was treated like a dog...his words).He went from South Bend to Cleveland on the assumption he would return to South Bend.When he got to Cleveland he was told to go to Charlotte,NC.

It was winter and he told dispatch he wasn't comfortable running mountains in winter and refused.He was fired and told to find his own way back to South Bend.

I heard the dispatcher was reprimanded for stranding him like that,as that is not our companies policy to do that to a driver.I guess you could call that a combination of a bad driver and a dispatcher under the gun.

At our terminal our top 2 linehaul drivers are home everyday because Indy always has at least 2 loads coming up to South Bend.Since it's only a 3 hour drive each way,they work the dock in Indy.This includes driving forklift,lumping floor loaded freight(yes,some shippers still do not skid their freight to save space,usually it's light boxes)I'm not sure if they even have a slip-sheet forklift in Indy,I keep forgetting to ask the drivers.

We don't have a slip-sheet forklift in South Bend,so any floor load freight I pickup I try to get in the nose of the trailer so our dock guys don't have to touch it.Which means I may have to empty my trailer with my hand-jack when I do these pickups,and then reload my trailer by hand after the shipper puts their floor load stuff on.

Some shippers will do this for me,some won't.This is the worst part of my job.So be aware there can be some manual labor involved in LTL P&D or linehaul.Nothing a guy in his 20's can't handle,heck it doesn't bother me too much.

Back to linehaul,our 2 lower drivers do get laid over a lot.Just this last week one guy left monday night and got back friday morning after going to Nashville,TN and Charlotte,NC among other places.We don't have any sleepers in South Bend,so they take their 10 in a company paid motel.

I got a new account on my route a couple months ago where I deliver to a company that is leasing space in the Central terminal in Hammond,IN.I go there almost every day so I see the equipment Central is running,and like a lot of other companies they are running some older stuff.

The only way for me to get to my dock there is to go through the dreaded safety lane for Central,where every Central truck is inspected before admission.The mechanic in there will check lights,tires,brakes,etc.,greasing slack adjusters along the way.So their maintenance seems good.

There is no way for me to get around this so I have to wait 15-30 minutes if I'm behind 2 or 3 trucks pulling doubles or triples.Most of the time I don't have to wait at all,and he doesn't inspect my truck.But again,I don't mind waiting,I'm on the clock.More overtime for me!

It's not uncommon for LTL companies to put well over a million miles on their equipment.Many tractors are used for P&D and line-haul,so they are rolling up to 20 hours a day 5 days a week.

Call me crazy,but I like sleeping at night,so a daytime peddle run has been my dream job for many years and I finally found one that fits my needs,and it keeps the old lady happy because she works days also.

In my short time in the LTL sector,it seems to be a penny-pinching business,but who isn't these days.But a decent wage and good working hours are worth it to me.I not much of a morning person so the 9am starts work for me.

The drivers don't work the dock at my terminal,so I punch in at 9 and sometimes don't leave until 10 or 11,depending on how late our inbound is running.To pass the time,we go out and pre-trip,shoot the bull,clean the tractor,etc.

I often say this is the only job I ever had where I punch in in the morning and immediately go on my lunch break.Because once we are loaded it's balls to the wall,and I always bring my own food in to get me through the day,inhaling a sandwich when I get a few minutes.

I take pride in servicing my customers and try my best to get their stuff delivered and picked up before they close for the day.LTL is a very customer service oriented industry,and you need an attitude that the customer is always right.

Accounts are won and lost on the attitude of the driver.Sometimes you have to eat some shi* when dealing with an irate customer,but I apologize and try to smooth it over.

I've heard from many drivers from mine and other companies that in LTL you don't miss any pickups,the deliveries are already paid for.I've hauled deliveries around for a week before I can get time to deliver them.

With the downturn in the economy,many customers have cut shifts and hours making my job harder to get everything done.

All in all,I think LTL is a good gig,Josh.I would recommend Central,but don't burn your bridge at Gordon.If Central doesn't work out,you could go back to Gordon and regroup....POSSIBLY.Once Gordon knows you want a home daily gig they might not want you back.But there are other good companies that would take you with your experience.

Every mans wants and needs are different,but I am happier now then I was OTR.

Sorry for the long post,just want to give you a little taste of LTL from my eyes.I have another post in one of the Sygma food service threads,if I remember right,detailing a day in the life of my P&D experience.

Any more questions,just ask or send a pm.

Good luck fellow Hoosier!

 

The central terminal is just south of SR46 on SR11 on the west end of Columbus. The use old International day cab single axle trucks.