Anyone have current info on FFE?

January 12 2011






Hello Group:


I just finished my Second day of the FFE Orientation at the MCM Grande Hotel Fundome in Desoto Texas and I must say that It has been a pleasant experience. I got hired just by paying close attention to the Orientation, interacting with them enough and keeping clean and by passing their open book tests. It was no problem at all for most people.

The Hotel is nice, the Hotel food buffet is optional and may be eaten in addition to the ordinary casseroles and beans and rice that FFE provides to You in the Confrence room. I kind of thought that the FFE food was salty and more of a meaty menu with some mashed potatos and dried beef or pork and It needed more Salad and cheesy mexican selections that they sold next door.

The Rooms are nice and they can be upgraded to private rooms for $24.00 per day and the Orientation is usually only 3 to 4 days at the most. The WiFi was a little bit slow on the channel that I locked onto but who knows, It may be better on some of their other WiFi channels. The people running the Orientation are nice and the Drivers that come to the Orientation are very nice people. Hard working and intelligent and Country in background by and large.

Everybody there had to get up early and to go to the Hill confrence room, for lectures on the topics of Refrigerated freight, maintenance, lift trucks and Insurance and this was right off of the main floor flag lobby, the one with the pool and the fitness center and right next to the restaurant. The whole place looks like a University Student Union Center.

We had approximately one hour lectures by 6 different speakers and then we had half hour breaks between each of the lectures and we recieved a ton of books and materials about the company, qualcom and comdata and a few other communication techniques that FFE uses in the field to communicate with the drivers, but mainly the maintenance centers and the shippers like the railroads. We learned about how to fill out damage reports and send them to FFE. The company is very Family-like and the people in management at FFE have a special day when all of the new Drivers can meet the dispatchers or Driver Managers. The maintenance and repair people and the Safety managers came to the Orientation and introduced themselves and treated us like family.

We had some practical lessons by the trainers on how to operate Refrigeration units and observing and monitoring the performance of the Refrigerated trailers, and what would be expected of a driver in the field doing pretrip inspections on the Refrigerated Trailers, then how to work with the Safety and Road departments on doing the required paperwork for all repairs and then writing up reports about damage to Trailers and broken equipment.

There was also a long class on what to do in the case of Accidents and how to report one and also how to defend FFE and Yourself in the event of an Accident. There was a lot of emphasis on terminatable offenses in this class.

We had a class on Incidents in the Yards and accidents that happen at the railroad yards etc. and breakdowns of the Trucks and on who to call if the Driver managers don't do their job and request more fuel for the drivers if requested and repairs and upon how to get repairs finished at certain places.

Everybody had a few quizzes to fill out and then we also had to fill out a lot of forms for the Job interviewers who were there to process the Online FFE Applications and going over these with a comparable written application to FFE. They had both Your Online Job application and Your rewritten Job application there on the first day of the Orientation. If You were on Unemployment Compensation, like I was before I came to FFE they need to get a document on how many weeks that You collected Unemployment Compensation. It also helps to have documentation about Not at Fault accidents of a recent nature. There was not much interviewing being done about the importance or description or of Your previous job duty's but just collecting the descriptions of these and also collecting a few references.

One thing that I would reccomend to You is to be vauge about any suspensions or points offenses over the Years that You cannot remember, or are trying to put behind You. I myself had at least 3 suspensions in the 1980's and early 1990's on my Class M and my Class C licenses but I listed them, and we negotiated the meaning of these offenses and the age of these suspensions right at the table.

The Interviewers really do have a 25 to 30 Year DMV record of whatever is on Your licence so You cannot hide anything from them. If It is older than 10 Years it is something that the Interviewers do not place a lot of weight on. They have a separate form to fill out outside of the main Job application to list any Moving violations within the past 3 Years and another form to fill out about listing any Moving violations within the past 12 Months.

There are 3 Main points to the Hiring process at the FFE Orientation.

The first is the drug screening and the urinanalysis done at the MGM Grand Hotel and then the Concentra Medical clinic where the same thing is done in addition to checking Your blood pressure, weight and neck width and BMI as well as checking for hernias and Your medical history.

The Second Point is You basic honesty test in listing Your DMV history and Your Legal background or Your basic crimminal history or Your lack of One.
Then whatever else may be connected to habits like alcohol and drugs that You can't have in Your recent history in order to be considered qualified for the job.

The Third Point is the Semi Driving test. I have heard it described as "straightline backing" "turning Right and turning Left" and "shifting gears".
FFE has a refresher course available, I don't know how much It costs or whether or not they have lodging available with the refresher course or You can go back to Your home School and get one and then return to FFE for the Driving test again.

I would Love to be able to tell You Today that I have qualified for the FFE Job that I have been Offered and even approved for but I will have to tell You that I have failed one of these Points so far, and that was at the Physical Examination at the Concentra clinic where they send everyone to renew their medical cards and to pass their FFE company medical.

My blood pressure tested out at 152/100 for the first time in my life there and I had it rechecked by the Doctor at 158/100 so he told me that FFE would'nt allow him to issue me a medical card that was any less than one Year, and my Blood Pressure was directly related to my weight although my weight was 6 pounds lighter because I had been fasting on some salted Oatbran and Sesame sticks for most of the past 5 days.
I also started taking some Metformin for my Type II diabetes which they did'nt check very much except for the urinalysis, but I checked it at 136 after an 8 hour fast in case they asked me.

The Concentra Doctor and the FFE Orientation manager gave me an extra 2 days to rest at the MCM Grande and offered to let me try the BP screening again on Friday, so I am seriously Hoping to see an improvement by that time.

Meanwhile, I am probably going to take the Driving skills test tomorrow and I am Hopefull that I will pass It even though I have not really done much Class A driving since I left the School where I graduated in October then rechecked in November of last Year, or some 2 Months ago.

I have never had such high blood pressure in my life. I think that they said that they could also send me home to get some treatment for this condition and then to try again. God Bless them for this!

 

January 13.2011





Hello Group:


I had another Good long day at the FFE Orientation in Desoto Texas, at the MCM Grande Hotel. The Hotel Food is really Good, with an excellent breakfast and a Salad bar (which was just perfect) with the lunch. For Dinner, the people who stayed in the program and graduated from the Orientation recieved Pizza and Certificates and cards to carry in order to show that they can operate Lift Trucks. We also recieved Comdata debit cards and Drivers numbers and most people shipped out to the nearby Lancaster Texas home Yard.

There was a lot of emphasis on insurance coverage and supplemental insurance coverage for the new FFE employees. Colonial life gave their presentation on the first evening of the Orientation, then Chubb and a few other services like the Open Road legal representative insurance company.

The Grande Hotel which is actually right across the street and about a half Mile away from the Lancaster Texas FFE Home terminal. The Grande is located right on Interstate 35 and about 25 Miles South of the Airports. I can't believe how nice everyone in this part of Texas and at the Grande seems to be to everyone.

FFE is a Family type of company and It seems that everybody is on a first name basis, and approachable in the Offices and readily available to help You out.

I was called out of a presentation in the Hill meeting room by a female Driving Examiner/Instructor along with 2 other men in order to take one of their driving tests. I had the opportunity to ride in the right seat and talk about my rather limited experience with her while she drove us all out to an Industrial Park.

The Driving examiner was a very nice and well mannered Southern woman and she was there to teach us as well as to interview all of us about our Class A driving skills. She said that we could shift anyway that felt comfortable for us, although some people were better about It than others and a lot of people could not do much skilled work at all.

I was the first person to Test because I was the one sitting in the Right seat in the Truck doing most of the talking and I was very suprised to learn how easy It was to operate the 10 speed transmission and the rig fully loaded.

I had asked her if the Truck that she was giving us to test on was loaded or unloaded and she told me that It was indeed fully loaded. I asked her then about what gear that she wanted me to use to start out the truck on, and she said that I could use 3rd if I really felt more used to that particular gear but to watch the clutch and not to pop it out really far, and It was a really worn out clutch anyway, so I told her that if It was fully loaded and I had to "wind it out" anyway I may just as well take her origional advice and use 2nd gear; a gear that I have hardly ever used, but that I decided to use today.

I did and It worked perfectly, except that I thought that I would be getting more resistance from the load, so I began feathering out the clutch until I could feel the clutch loading up and that kind of pissed her off because she said It was really not necessary to use that much clutch to get the truck started. I had no idea about clutching an empty truck so I just took It in stride. I asked her if I was doing "progressive shifting" and she said "Yes sir." and I thanked her for It, and I just said that I was just guessing right that day.

The Road Test was not very hard at all to pass, It was like the other Instructor or Examiner said yesterday, just straightline backing, and really far, something like 200 ft. and then doing the Right hand turns properly, and the Left hand turns properly in reference to the point of view, watching the tandems as they came close to the curbs and of course keeping the Tractor Trailer together as one unit, as straight as possible going into the intersection and button hooking it over as close to the curb as possible. I thought that It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the Examination very much.

There was just one or two points where I got a little bit of criticism, one was for not sounding my horn and turning on the 4 way flashers while I was backing up on the street and the other was for not keeping the whole rig straight during lane changes. She said that I was going Tractor first and then trailer into the lane changes, or a little bit too quickly.

It was just one of those really Good days for me where I passed one of those daily tests with a very minimal amount of criticism and no further training was reccomended and that I could just go ahead into their Driving Academy. The examiners always say for 6 weeks but It could actually be one to 6 weeks.

Driving for the qualification run was something that got me feeling optimistic and "centered" there and It kind of woke me up about being at the Orientation for something interesting and It seemed to tie together all of the lectures and paperwork and some of the practical demonstrations.

Most people say that the Orientation was sort of boring and dull and It even put some people to sleep and there was so much talk about insurance but everyone was interested in driving Big Trucks so If they did well on the driving test they got centered on everything else and what they were doing there to begin with, especially for the trainee drivers entering into the driving Academy.

I had a really Good time, even though I became really tired at times and I am so glad for this company. If You are patient and kind to them they will be patient and kind to You. I have one more morning to complete my blood pressure check and then according to their policy if I can't pass the minimum, which is 139/90 requirement, they will give me a free bus ticket home to rest and exercise and to loose weight and then all I will have to do to get rehired is to show the administrator 3 Good BP Test results and to get a note from my Doctor about my Blood pressure. I can FAX it down to the corporate offices along with my current Good Medical card from home and they will consider the situation resolved.

The FFE Driving Academy also has an Online component of the Driving School and if I can pass all of their Video lessons and Online quizzes I should be about halfway through their 6 week program, especially if I am able to demonstrate that I can Pretrip a refrigerated trailer and use the communications equipment in the Truck and Safely operate the rig. I am sure that they don't want to waste a lot of time training drivers if the student drivers can demonstrate reasonably well that they can pass the requirements of their specialized criteria.

Once again, It has been a pleasure to start to work with FFE and and It is a nice Family company that really encourages everyone to work productively as well as to work in a stable (food) line of specialized work. The work seems to be there for anyone who is willing to go for It with this company. It is supposed to be a recession proof Industry and that is why a lot of people are going to the FFE Orientations.

 

Sounds like it is going very well. Good luck on the BP tomorrow. I just finished orientation with US Xpress and I was happy for the Ramada Inn, glad I did not read about your hotel until I hit the road. Jealousy does not become me. You certainly have the right attitude and will be a heck of an asset to FFE

 

January 14 2011






Hello Craig and the Group:


I have seen it written by a few Trucking Book Authors that if a company will treat You well right from the very beginning then they are a Good company to work for and will probably always be a Good company. FFE is an enviable company if there ever was one, at least so far. It's so friendly!

I went over to the Concentra clinic in Desoto or Lancaster Texas for my 3rd attempt to pass their physical examination and I passed it with (140)/80 with about 5 inches of mercury for the error factor, on the high side.

I was so pleased with them for letting me do this it was incredible! FFE sent a cab over to the clinic to pick me up afterwards and brought me back to the Lancaster Terminal where I had to sign in officially and I actually was told that I was hired and given a Driver I.D. # and then I proceeded to wait between about 11:00 AM and 2 PM in the drivers lounge, hearing the Truckers telling their stories.

The Driver Acacademy people were supposed to find me a Driver Trainer but no one was available I guess so I just had to wait until one of the managers wrote me up a Motel Voucher for the next 24 hours and a Bus station Voucher for a Bus to San Antonio (300-400) Miles away with the name of my Trainer on the Voucher. They also provided me a breakfast voucher but no lunch or dinner vouchers, so that was halfway cool.

I decided to pay the $24.00 once again for a private room upgrade they call a "Kings room" and then take a 3 Mile walk down two exits on the highway on the side road just to get a Map Atlas. They have a lot of buffets and restaurants just a Mile South of Lancaster. I went in to the Kroger store and bought some fresh food to eat and then went over to the Office Max in order to get a Rand McNally Atlas. I know that these books are simple, but I just got one to compare it to the Truck books that I have to work with in the Academy.

I checked out the computer lessons that they have called MPG's that are Online and the ProTread (questions and answers) that they have in the 3 ring binder that they gave me after they hired me. It looks like 16 pages of questions and answers and multiple choice questions in the FFE Driving Academy Book and about 10-15 Online Videos that have questions with them that have to be completed by the end of the Training program. I don't think that It will be a problem.

I am back at the Grande Hotel right now, next to the cracker barrel and the waffle house and the 7-11 and I am just getting into watching the Videos and going to their Salad bar.

FFE is one Good, friendly and Polite company with me at this point in time and I don't know how long a time that I will stay with It but I will give it my personal best efforts and Hopefully, I can get some kinds of regional jobs up around Philadelphia PA, my nearest home city, after awhile when they have something opening up around there or New Jersey.

 

Congradulations, and wishing you a prosperous experience with FFE!

 

January 19 2011





Hello XLSdraw:


Yes, It's been a lot of fun already. I was out on the Road driving a Prostar on 2 loads in Georgia and South Carolina.

I left out of the Lancaster Yard and then went down to San Antonio on the Americana (Greyhound International) bus to get together with my Trainer at the Love's Truckstop near Lackland AFB. We had a brand new International Prostar and It was in outwardly pristine condition.

I just Loved driving the Rig and observing how everything is done in the OTR business within the past two days. We hauled Avacados from Laredo Texas to Forest Park Georgia and some FUJI products from out of Greenwood S.C. to The main wharehouse and Yard in Lancaster Texas, then my Trainer took off on his own.

We had kind of a worn down International Tractor, even though it was farirly new, with only 104,000 Miles on It. I guess other students got to It before I got on It there. I think that he was very disturbed at first about the condition of the nice new Truck, the engine only had 20-30 pounds of oil pressure on It.

My Trainer was very disturbed and pissed off at first, and I could'nt figure out why, until I started driving "his Rig" but then I saw immediately when I started trying to drive It the speed limit, with 42,000 pounds on It. It just kept grumbling and slowing down, and we had to keep hitting 8th gear on the Interstate on hills.
The Truck was ready to go out of service and strand someone. It was beat into the ground.

My Trainer was very nice to me, once he saw how carefull that I was with "his" truck and after the FFE Driving Academy talked to him, about his concerns about letting another student on "his Truck" and he shook my hand and smiled and then just said he has to go solo with "his Truck" for awhile. He told the Supervisors at the Driving Academy that he can't take any more students.

Carlos is an excellent Trucker and a hard running operator, and I think that he needs to stop off more often for Good meals instead of the usual chips and soda and junkfood. He was getting exhausted I think, and that was'nt good for his Co-drivers. Carlos and I still get along, excellently, like friends or family, but he was in a very bad way about the condition of that beautifull Prostar.

 

January 17 2011





Hello Group:


I have been out on the Road two days with my Trainer at FFE, Carlos and we have been been on a nearly cross country trip. Carlos started in Laredo Texas with a load of Avocados and brought them up to San Antonio Texas where he met me at a Truckstop a few miles South of Lackland AFB.
Everything started out very nicely, except that Carlos said that I could only drive the Truck once in awhile which did'nt seem exactly right since he is supposed to be my Trainer and not my Co-driver, so I figured that he would just have to get to know me. In any case, my driver number did'nt activate the people.net electronic logging system in the beginning.
We travelled in a brand new Prostar Tractor and 53 ft. Trailer as far as Gulfport Miss. on Interstate ten and then Carlos asked me to get a few hours of sleep, I really never expected to take the wheel in a few hours, but we did have a "hot" load of avocados to deliver to Forest Park Georgia and It had to get to the Dock by about eight O'clock in the Morning.
I really thought that It was a victory for me to be able to travel for 500 miles without having to get out and to feel the need to use a restroom. I purposely just ate icecream and only wet my mouth with gatorade.
Well, Carlos ran out of hours and then he started getting tense and agressive, and he started talking about how he had a right to throw anyone off of his Truck, and then he ordered me to get out of the right seat and to go to my sleeper berth and to just get some rest.
I sort of ignored all of this because I am new to this occupation and I did'nt want to start anything. The problems began when he logged into Peoplenet with my ID and then started going over his hours and using up my hours and then he became so tired that he woke me up at 3 O'clock in the Morning and asked me to drive a few hours. At that point we were about 35 Miles South of Montgomery AL on Interstate 85.
I was pleased and thrilled to drive such a beautifull new Tractor Trailer and I just told Carl that I would drive it up to Atlanta, Our destination, next to the Fresh point center for temprature controlled foods.
The only problem that I had though was about my strength at the time. I had purposely not eaten anything since breakfast, since I am trying to lose some weight, and Truckstop SUBWAY restaurant where we stopped in Orange Texas was very slow and busy, so I could'nt get what I was looking for along the way.
I started to drive, within 100 Miles South of Atlanta and then I began to feel really thirsty, so I asked Carlos to hand me my Gatorade, and then I drank the whole thing down, but I was feeling kind of worn out, just plain tired, so I told Carlos that I was getting so Tired that I did'nt think that It was Safe to drive, just as we reached Suburban Atlanta and he just got too pissed off to be appropriate, but I still did'nt say anything, until lunch and he was still p.o'd, so I called up the Driving Academy and I told them the problem.
The FFE Driving Academy was very considerate of me. The Administrator called Carlos's Driver Manager and Safety and he had to give back 7 hours and go to a local Truck stop and shut down and then they sent me back to the Lancaster Headquarters for FFE in order to get a new trainer.
Oh Well, sometimes things happen like this. What can we do about these things?

 

Oh geez, here we go. Yet another moron of a trainer.

If this keeps up or gets worse, PLEASE get a new trainer!!! Promise me??

 

Would you guys say FFE is better than CR England?

 

Danny, from what I have heard directly from England drivers, anyone is better than C.R. England.