Is Deboer a Bottom Feeder Company?

Not sure. I would go to their website or call them.

 

You'll hear lots of different things from different drivers. Are you hearing this from current drivers or former drivers? That could make a difference. I would ask a lot of questions from the company and if they don't give you straight forward answers than something is probably wrong.

 

I knew of only one person that worked for them. He was a guy i worked with once for another company. He said he sat as much as he drove and couldn't get a good paycheck out of the company. That's just one person's view though.

The best thing to do when looking for a company is to narrow it down to what YOU want. Then ask people that work for the company and get their opinions.

Typical questions should be Hometime? Number of miles per week average? Speed of trucks? Year of trucks? Auto or manual shift? Qualcomm or phone communications? Does the trucks have a APU or can I idle the truck? ETC......

Rate of pay and miles driven and the "type" of driver YOU are will all effect how much you get paid per week.

Example: If you want to sit at home 4 days a week and then sit in truckstops while you are out on the road then only want to drive 4 to 5 hours a day then don't blame it on the company that you don't get paid much. It's no companies fault that the driver doesn't want to work.

It's my opinion but if your going to work for a major corporate trucking company, then just pick one because they are all basically the same. Some are different. Most corporate companies use Qualcomm's to make sure the drivers are not getting too many miles or working too many hours per day. They don't want to risk getting a ticket because of drivers running over their daily or weekly hours. Just a handful of companies use the Qualcomm's for logistics of freight.

If you want to be home on the weekends and want steady miles or something like a dedicated account. Then look for a smaller company that has a contract with 5 or less shippers. There's plenty of these type of companies out there but you won't find them advertising in all those books at the truckstop because they don't have the turnover like the major corporate companies do. There's a reason the corporate companies have the excessive turnover. They look at their bottom line profit margin and that is their highest priority. A driver is nothing more than that. Just a driver. In some cases a liability as well. So they are "against" the driver from the start. They have the " We can always get another if he doesn't do what we want him to do" mentality.

It's also my opinion to pick a LOCAL company to work for. Why would you get on a greyhound and ride 15 hrs cross country to work for a company, then get confused when they say they can't get you home much. Just because they advertise that they hire in your area doesn't mean that they have freight in your area. Most if not all corporate companies have a HUGE advertising budget to try to compensate for their driver turnover rate.

Most if not all trucking companies started out in the city and/or state they are positioned in. Therefore if you live in the Chicago area then you shouldn't want to work for a company located in California if you are wanting to get home every weekend.

I talk to drivers all the time that live in an area that has a lot of trucking companies located there, but work for a company that is 500 miles away and doesn't have a terminal anywhere close to where they live. Most of these drivers are very unsatisfied with the company they work for. It should not be a bad mark on the company because you make bad decisions.

If you think I'm wrong about anything I've said, then ask the next large corporate company requiter to fax you their turnover percentage sheet for the last 5 years. Trust me every company out there knows what their turnover rate is and they do keep track of it. Most will say they have nothing to fax to you. This is because they want to keep that information to themselves. Hopefully CSA 2010 will give a lot of transparancy to the misleading concepts that a lot of these corportate company's put out. I know Transport America is strickly against CSA 2010 and there's a good reason why they are. I'm sure most of their trucks will have the "black boxes" installed if CSA 2010 ever gets fully activated. This company probably has the highest turnover rate of any trucking company in the U.S. I've heard it's basically impossible to work for that company.

Just food for thought here. If you see a corporate company that advertises in every single magazine out there and on craigslist and the local papers and every truckstop. Then there's a reason. They can't keep drivers.

Example: How many ad's do you see for Wal-Mart company drivers? Wal-Mart drivers are some of the best paid drivers in the country. I've talked to more than one that have 10 or more years driving experience and that's all with Wal-Mart. How many drivers that work for Swift or C.R. England do you think can say the same?


Sorry for the rant but just a little research and your own personal standards will land you a job in the trucking industry. I've had way too many jobs myself as a company driver. I'm hoping being an O/O will fit me better. So far it's not been a great experience but who knows what the future will hold.

 

I don't know how much experience you have or what type of company your looking for. I see your from Memphis.

Here would be MY choices of companies in the Memphis area that I would suggest. For training my FIRST choice would be Swift. They have a local terminal in Memphis and they are not too hard to work with out of Memphis. The do have some dedicated and regional options that would be really good.

Experienced I would go with Mid-South Transport. They get you home almost every weekend and you will get a brand new truck every couple of months. It's kinda hard working for them. They have a lot of overnight freight but expect you to be up and ready to go at 7 am.

Others would be USA Truck, JNJ Express, Cooper Freight, Schneider (they have a terminal in West Memphis)

One's I would stay away from would be Ozark, Empire Express, Transcarriers and J.B. Hunt.

 

Well, their safety rating sux a big one.

What's that tell you ??

If they aren't a bottom feeder, they soon will be !!

 

I wouldn't recommend them, bad trucks = no money for you. I worked for them, or I should say broke down with them for 2 1/2 months in 2010.

 

They are good for a second chance. They are good to get your feet wet and then move on at your earliest opportunity. You will NOT make any money there. If you get Kristie as your FM you will starve to death, she's an idiot. Do what you must, and then move on fast.