Choctaw Express

I drove for PAM Transport for 14 months or so. They are the parent company of Choctaw Express. I had no problems with them. They are essentially the same, the only exception I ever knew is that Choctaw drivers were allowed to have pets. PAM Transport also owns McNeill Express (N. Little Rock), Decker Transport (NJ) and PDS (N. Jackson, OH). I got my start in the industry with PAM and I'm glad I went with them as opposed to ANY other typical rookie company. They treated me very fairly, pay was on par and on time, I got along well with my dispatchers, ran well maintained equiptment, got home when I needed, and ran the miles that I wanted. Hope that helps ya.

 

Hey Gypsy what have you been doing since PAM and why did you leave?

 

oops sorry, all I can say is they are owned by PAM transport that I am going to work for and I have heard more good than bad about PAM. More or less on these boards Choctaw is a lesser known company. But if there are no bad things said about them on these forums than that may be a good sign.

 

Like Gypsy, I too got my start in the industry with PAM, Choctaw's parent company. I was treated very fairly with the company and made a decent living over the two years I worked there. I'm not 100% certain on this, but they used to run teams a lot. I don't think it's a complete team operation as I seemed to run into solos as well. They would be a great company to start off with.

 

I left PAM because I had the job opportunity of a lifetime. That ended up going sour, so I came back to driving full time. I would have gone back to PAM, but I found an equally good company that was willing to pay me more, and I have not regretted my decision. PAM's pay scale is fair for those just getting into the industry, but above and beyond the year that was needed to fufill my contract with them, it didn't make sense to stay long term. Again, I'm not sure if I would have been as successful in the industry had I gone with another carrier starting out. The treatment of these "disposable" rookies is atrocious. At PAM, my dispatcher recognized me by the sound of my voice, I was not a number, and perhaps most importantly, PAM's reputation is not tarnished like so many companies. If I had to go to work for Swift, Werner, JB Hunt, etc. I'd have to keep my radio turned off just so I wouldn't have to listen to all the slammin' going on. My company's reputation is a reflection of me and visa versa. This applies to most any respectable company you work for, but if you go out there, do your job the way you're supposed to, run a pretty logbook, make your deliveries on time, and are easy to get along with, you'll go a long way out here.

 

Oh yeah, I saw in another post k7, that you were stressin' about downshifting - all trucks in PAM/PDS/AFS/Choctaw/Decker fleet are AUTOMATICS!!!!

 

hehe thanks for the info on Auto's.. got the downshifting down though as I passed the Missouri CDL (they are sticklers on perfection btw). So either or works. Thanks for the info on PAM too as I was a bit worried on the kind of company they were as I havent heard alot (not hearing about a company on this forum I find is a good thing). Just waiting the weekend out on my trainer to arrive.