Driving For A Smaller Carrier vs. Driving For The "Big Conglomerates"

I drive for a smaller"Mega",,ConWay TruckLoad,,have driven for a smaller one,Raven

See all of your points on Small,The only thing i had issue with is in a smaller company seems as that everyone knew all of your business,a little anonymity is what I like,At CWTL they know your name if they need to LOL

Equipment,When we were CFI we were turning them in @ 300,000 and for company trucks they were nice,,they have always paid for XM radio and their maint program i have no beef with(Conway actually has their own trailer build facility and they refurbish all of the rolling stock to as new standards

Pay;I have asked smaller operations(reefer) where i live,for the most part would have to take a near .10CPM paycut just to start(LOL but all the miles i can handle,was a common theme)

They CWTLreimburse you for everything(including showers) and all tolls and parking

I like how we run,im a SE regional now,i can be home every weekend and im ok with $$$ on that

Regulation: hey we are on ELOGS,what can i say,I run basically same as to when i was on paper,once it becomes a problem i will choose to look elsewhere,,they dont "require" us to run a set route(just keep the OOR down)

Happiness: well that I think is the main point,no matter what operation ,it really boils down to are you happy doing what your doing,what works for one wont work more another 100(see Elogs LOL)

 

SMALL!!

I drive for a very small specialized carrier.We have just 2 trucks out of our NC location and about 7 trucks up in Indy.
Loose leaf logs,no tracking crap on the trucks and run like we want.
Get our route info on Thursday for the next week,all dedicated runs that rotate around every 3 weeks.
Get empty come home 99% of the time with no back haul.
New truck and trailer that are assigned and stay in my driveway on time off.
Run about 3000 miles per week and knock it out by Wed. night most weeks and off Thur.Fri. and Sat....
Sleep 2 nights at most in the truck each week.

One of the best trucking jobs i have had in my near 30 years of driving.
All i miss is the chrome and chicken lights but the pay sure makes up for that!

 

I will be honest, for a driver coming into the industry for the first time, it might be worthwhile to be mothered by a big carrier since you don't know your ### from your elbow, lol. God knows my time at Stevens gave me the opportunity to learn the basic ins and outs of truck driving but then I had an excellent trainer who saw me as a student and not a paycheck.

When you get your experience and take your licks, so to speak, then you can get on with a smaller carrier that will give you more freedom to run and the opportunity to learn just what it takes to own a truck and become an owner operator if that's your eventual goal.

Far too many new guys jump into a lease purchase after a few months in the job with NO FRIGGEN CLUE on what it takes to operate a truck as a business when they barely have enough experience to operate it as a driver.

At lot different when you got to, for example, write the check out for a road service call than when as a company driver you simply sign the paperwork that they fax back to the company to get paid.

 

After doing both, I will go with the small truck owner. Leased to a big fleet. Had a brand new truck every two years, fleet help for breakdowns, & Mom & Pop choices on loads. Drop & hook. Texas drivers don't belong in NYC. My truck is too long, and there are people that deliver trailers to places like that. Nothing against NYC My truck just don't fit.

 

Just so ya know, (IM sure someone has said it already) You can haul paper rolls in a reefer..done it many many many times out of Chillicothe, OH.

 

I'm looking to getting into trucking, specifically Stevens Transport Company sponsored training. I realize they are a bigger company and I'll be at their mercy for at least my first year. Just wondering if they are the way to go. If anyone's experience was good or bad and why it was good or bad. I don't really have the money right now to go through private CDL training so company sponsored is really my only option. Stevens is my choice currently but I've also looked into Swift and Drivers Solutions. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!!

 

I drive for a small company, 13 trucks, 9 are occupied at present. I prefer working for a small company:
1. I'm a person, not a number. When I call into dispatch on the phone or the radio, I don't say "this is driver 76856", I call in by name.

2. I can have a little more say in how my day or week goes.

3. Depends on the company, but my truck is well maintained. If something breaks, and it's not a safety issue, sure it might take them longer to get to it, but they will fix it.

4. I feel more like family than an employee.

5. Pay and benefits can be just as good, I've got insurance, 401K, a wage (hourly/percentage) that's comparable to a large company.

 

Small company fan here. I got my Pete 587 on December 31st 2010 brand new from Denton Tx and just turned 147,500 miles this afternoon. My reasons for being happy are not due to the size of the company, 60 trucks, but the fact that they know how to utilize my truck. I turned all of those miles while also being home 2 or 3 nights a week. It can be done but the mega's don't care about you or you life. Not one iota. Good benefits and a shop with three guys that know every truck and trailer in the fleet are pluses too. It's as perfect as OTR trucking gets IMO but we still turn drivers over left and right.....go figure.