FirstFleet and MXI Transport

I read on this site that they take $1200 out of your check as a deposit for any damage that might happen to the truck

True or false?

Last time I read an an they had lower to 1 year OTR. If I remember it correctly.

 

Anymore info that you could share LaPurr (good or bad)? I am thinking about joining FF. I live 17 miles from their Portland yard & would be on the Peytons account. I have been driving for 21 years with only 3 different companies, so I like to know as many of the facts as possible before switching. I've never had an accident & I'm very proud of that, but I heard they will terminate you for almost any accident. I don't plan on having one, but anything can happen, lol. I'm looking for a good company to stay with long term & they sound like they would be a good fit for me. They are only 15 minutes from the house too, so that's a BIG plus! Thanks.

 

Not much more info to give really. Each terminal is run individually. What one terminal manager does at one terminal, might not be repeated else where. Also, the St Louis terminal realizes that some times mistakes do happen, and will defend a driver so that he doesnt loose his job. I have personally witnessed him doing this for 4 drivers so far, and they all still work for me/us in St louis. I know some of the other terminals are not run the same way.

I personally think that this company is definetly in the top 4 companys I have ever worked for, and I truely love my job. Are their things I would change? YES! Do these changes need to happen to keep this company a good company? No. Do I need a pay raise? HELL YES! But dont we all!

Peytons account means job security, in every fashion of the word. That is almost a nationwide account, and many of our other terminal do run on that account, and some run it almost exclusively.

I beleive Peytons is a roll up account, but I have seen some of them pulling our swing door trailers as well.

Our trailers, for the most, are newer than 2000. We have more than a few that we deperately need to get rid of, and the company knows that. The company also knows that with a recession going on, spending money on trailers might not be a wise decision. Althou they did buy some nice used trailers from another company that went out of business.

I would say 90% of our fleet is still Volvo. They just retired our 2006 Peterbilts (thank god), and the 2008 Peterbilts stay pretty close to a terminal for reliability problems. The rest are Volvo's 2005 and up, most are 2008 and up thou. Some of them have APU's, others have bunk heaters, but the vast majority are just standard,engine ran, heating and cooling. I would have to say that 95% of them have QUALCOMM's, and the other 5% would be getting them shortly.

With your record, I dont see this company having an issue with hiring you, and out of that region, from what I understand, you wont have problems staying busy when you need to, and enjoying the time off when you need it as well.

If you have any more specific questions, let me know, and I will do my best to answer them!

 

I missed this question, and I do apologize.

1200 bucks as a deposit for damage that might happen to the truck?

First the answer is a straight, flat out, NO.

And I will back that up some in an opinion.. Thinking about a truck, and the cost of operating, maintaining, and repairing a truck. Say a driver had a 1 vehicle accident (just him, no other vehicles involved), hit a guardrail, and only damaged the hood. The hood repair alone would cost 5000 dollars or more. Paint, fiberglass work, fitment, hinge replacement, hook replacement, etc. We still have not gotten into the replacement cost of the guard rail, and it could easily be more. 1200 dollars wouldnt even put a dent in the bill, and, I am fairly certain, it is highly illegal. This company, from the time I have been here, is on the up and up. I have not once been asked to push my fleet of drivers harder than their log book allows. Drivers that arent being pushed, drive safer, and are not pushing the envelope of what they mentally can handle.

They do require at least 1 year of experience, and on some accounts, 2 years.

 

One of my instructors worked for them out of Gallatin TN. He had a steady run into Ft.Worth. He spoke highly of them.

 

@Dave, I have been with FirstFleet, Inc now for 4 years. Although the pay could be better, I am very happy here. I was diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer just before I started with the company. They have gone out of their way to help myself and my family. In my 30 years of driving I have not known of any other company that treats their employees like FirstFleet has myself.

You will hear that FirstFleet is part of Averritt. The true story is that the owner of FirstFleet and the owner of Averritt were close friends and Averritt helped to start FirstFleet. Averritt does not have anything to do with FirstFleet other than helping to start up this company.

If I had found this company 20 years ago I would never even think about leaving. I get anywhere from 2600-3100 miles each week, I get paid a very good wage for what I do (3 runs each week), I am part of a dedicated customer and enjoy the people I am in contact with.

I am treated with respect.

 

I know several of the drivers out of St Joseph, MO and they haul primarily for International paper. Bringing in roll stock to them and shipping out cardboard to different companies. Here, they are home a couple times a week and every weekend. I can't speak for other areas of the country though. Friend of mine brings home mid 50's.

 

I worked out the henderson ip terminal for 2 yrs... They pay cheap... 34cpm.. They pay movers miles which rapes you. And if your on an ip account when ip shuts down or puts #### on intermodels then its slow. Ins is ok. Family with dental was 82week. Layover pay was outstanding... 150$ which i shot for 1 a week and usually got. Trucks are ok you get new one every 450k. Uniforms provided. U can do 50-55yr but i had to work 6 days a week. They are loosing alot of ip acounts. Cleveland tn cedar rapids iowa kc all lost. Pine hill has now lost half of there loads. Henderson has lost many good runs and drivers are sitting home 2 days week. Id stay away from ip but i ran Portland for a few weeks. Its not bad its hub miles but its cheap pay.. 33cpm. It was good but things are changing down there 2. There trying to cut layover and apt times are getting weird. Fleet is cheap. I quit because i got tired of days off for no freight and having to work weekends to make any $. Good luck any? Just ask

 

It's driver "assist" unless the person that's receiving is a high school kid not certified in electric pallet jack. But even unloading it's not hard at all as you are using electric pallet jack. It's mostly 2-3 stops per trip, 3 trips in a day (local). I've done same work with Ruan so I'm speaking from experience. Hope this helps. Easy money btw