Questions on shaffer..

1: you are correct. when i left them in late July, that was the average.

2: they (Crete/Shaffer) have one of the best pay scales out there today. the thing that sucks that i did not like was here is how they work the trucks: you are in Mo. i am unsure where a terminal is in relation to you, so we will pretend it is st louis. you are dispatched to pick up a load in lexington KY. you pick you load up in St louis, then deliver in Ky. during the trip to KY, you stay under the MO dispatch. after the load is delivered, you switch to KY dispatch for your next assignment and so on and so forth.

i did not like that setup because if you got trapped due to no freight, they dont give a flying you know what about where you are and where you live. i did 2 forced 34 hour resets due to no freight 1200 miles from home in 120+ heat index with them screaming about the idle percentage. my reply was screw off, turn your AC off in your office and work all day with no break. it was so hot in oklahoma that with the privacy curtain pulled and front and rear air running, the truck stayed about 80 degrees. what BS.

3: 62 yes. the qualcomm records everything. overspeed percentage, idle, fuel consumed etc. your allowed 70 miles an hour downhill and that is all. NO INVERTERS unless you have sleep apnea or you are a diabetic, then it has to be installed at the shop. 300 watt max i believe. the trick to that is have a small one or several small ones and use them in the cig lighters and take them out when at terminals and you expect to have work done on the truck.

the inverter issues and APU depends on the truck you get. some of the older century class freightliners have the APUs. the new cascadias (usually the trainers are the only ones with these trucks) have the batterypack heat and air for the rear. about the size of the APU inverters, i cant answer that. i do not know. i do know that the trainers have APUs as they never know when they will have a student that is a diabetic or has sleep apnea.

shaffer was using the international prostars but quickly found out that the prostar weights 1500 pounds more than the freightliners. with the reefers, that is a big concern as some drivers were unable to fully fuel. and i mean stopping to get 50 gallons at a time. i have seen that. the cascadias have the sliding 5th wheel and the air ride drop button when coupling. im not sure about the prostars, i rode in one once. never drove one. the prostars have the aluminum wheels, the cascadias have them on the steers, but i cant remember about the drives. i think they were painted.

4: i am a big guy too. 6'1 325 pounds and nothing was said to me. i will say that if you think you have apnea problems, they do not bat an eye at all about getting you help. but then again each terminal might be different, but noting was said to me.

they do make you take the workwell fitness test before you do anything. and that was a breeze. for those who are thinking about Crete/Shaffer, here is the test in a nutshell.

one wall was set up with shelves. i had to take a milk crate and do 5 reps with 25 pounds from floor to waist, then 5 reps with 50 pounds then 3 reps with 75 pounds.

then you go from waist high to over your head with the same weights in the same order. then you have to take the same weights from the waist high shelf and walk the length of the room and turn around and come back. 3 times for the 25 and 50 then twice with the 75 pounds.

then it was to the push/pull force test. you have the handlebar device equipped with a PSI gauge. you have to apply a certain amount of force using the proper stance that they will demonstrate to you.

then after that, i had to climb a ladder up 3 steps, then climb back down to the floor three times.

they have you wear a pulse monitor and they will take your BP. my BP was taken before the test and she checked my resting heart rate. she asked for my heart rate after the first set of lifting and then checked it at the end.

the formula to determine your max safe heart rate is as follows: 200 - your age multiplied by .9 and that will give you the target number to avoid. you said you are 24, so yours should not be over 159 beats per min.

anymore questions............ask away.

Rob


if you can't find it, grind it. they will make them out of rubber next year.

 

from what i understand, someone installed an inverter and failed to secure the wiring and it caught fire and burnt a tractor to the axles. i would go for shaffer myself. crete does have a flatbed division........hunt transportation.

they run national. i was based out of knoxville and i ran from nebraska to colorado to georgia to maryland to wisconsin and everywhere in that area. had a few cali runs but i declined and asked for something close around my current location as that would be far more productive for me. shaffer doesn't do much out west and if you do go out there, you run the risk of sitting for 2 or 3 days to get a load back.

there is no "idle system" per say. they used to have that, but the tractors were shutting off after 5 minutes while you were sitting in traffic. the 2 days i was stranded in oklahoma, the truck ran all day to stay cool then used the batteries at night. they raised hell about the idle, but its like i replied, the idle requirements for the trucks with the batteries was 30 percent, and that is calculated on a yearly basis. they will gripe about that. tell them to keep you loaded with freight and you wont be sitting.

check with your local terminal. they might let you have one 300w inverter. but like i said, what they dont know wont hurt them.

 

i was told 37000 different things about the hazmat as well. all you have to do is go to the DMV and take the test. when you are done with that, they will give you a paper that has a number for you to call. it will give you a number, so write it down. you will need that number and the money order when you go get fingerprinted.

it will take about 2 months. that is how long mine took. make sure your information is entered in to the computer correctly. the TSA had my name correctly, but the TBI (tenn bureau of inves.) had my name backwards and that slowed everything down. i had to call them to see what was taking so long, then that problem showed. 2 days later i got t he phone call that i was clear to go to the DMV for my new license.

the letter from the TSA came 21 days later.

i pulled budweiser, chocolate (most of my loads were chocolate. and people wonder why america is so obese) and frozen pies for mickey D's, turkeys for tyson several times, and yes in the middle US you will most likely end up at a walmart distributor.

whats funny is in oklahoma, Crete has the walmart acct not shaffer. walmart has their own reefer trailers that the crete drivers pull. they do so much walmart business that the terminal outside of Tulsa (Ochelata) is on the walmart distributors property.

 

crete pays for everything. pee test results take about 2 days. you will report to your terminal, do a little paperwork, sign the sheet, get handed the keys to the terminal car (usually a beat up lumina) and take the paper directions and head off for the workwell physical. when you pass that, you will be sent off for the DOT physical and drug test. the drug test was administered at the terminal i was at (knoxville). then you will meet with the terminal manager and your fleet manager.

you will do the road test monday if there is time, or it will be on tuesday. as soon as the drug test results are in, then will assign you a truck if one is ready. if not, they may team you up with another driver to go pick one up from god knows where. i have been to the KC MO terminal. it is nice. you will do all your paperwork and road test there.

99% of cretes terminals have free laundry facilities and showers for the drivers. that is a good thing so when your doing your trip planning, you can plan a stop at a terminal if you need to wash clothes. all you need to bring is the detergent. two of the nicer facilities are the lincoln ne terminal and the KC terminal. knoxville is putting the finishing touches on a 10 million dollar terminal. it may be open now. when i left in july, all they had to do was finish the lot and move everything over.