Indian River Transport

You're in the wrong forum . Look for posts about them in "Report A Bad Company Here "

 

The IRT west coast run is a busy one. It is apple juice from Yakima/Prosser/Grandview, Wa. areas, to Industry, Ca. (Tropicana) IRT also picks up apple juice in Hood River, Oregon, also to Industry. The wait time to load varies from a couple hours, to a day. Be ready for mountain driving. The unloading in Industry also varies from a couple hours to a day. A lot of time, you will deadhead right back to Wa. for another one. It's steady work. Talk to Wayne in Turlock, Ca. I think it pays .35 but don't quote me.

 

Way to much free time if you know what I am saying but in this economy it is a job

 

Well after 12 years at the river it's time to move on. They have cut out the 401 K match, now life ins is cut in half and on a sliding scale. $20 a week to buy Oil, Antifreeze, windshield washer, but you can still pay for it yourself they say, Gets tiring funding the company. Only 18 of us left with any seniority. It's been hard to watch this once great company decline to what it is today. After tomorrow there will only be two mechanics left, they can't keep dispatchers and let's not even talk about the driver turnover. Used to make up for some benefits with speed / miles but no more. Every time you put the truck in for service they play with the settings.
What a shame. With a 0 PSA score and clear record no shortage of good companies with benefits.

 

I hear you have to pay for your own tolls as well?

 

tolls are paid back the next week. The big money is in Clovis if you can get in the click. East coast has a few older drivers that can make it, otherwise it's a bad area. Running Canada is a pain in the neck and gets lower all the time. You can sit for days and there is no demerge pay to speak of. If you sit for a full 48 hrs they may offer you 48$ wooptydo . This company (IRT) will lie to you and promise you a lot but produce very little. Good luck... Trimak is great.

 

I was with IRT for 8 yrs. By and large I had a good experience and got plenty of miles, but you have to stay out for at least 4 weeks to make money.
I lived in FL at the time, so it was hauling OJ out of Central FL to CA mostly. Then I would be dispatched to Tulare CA to get my milk load.
Had to sit for at least a day and be loaded for milk primarily to WI.
In many cases you would have to sit at the milk plant to get unloaded so yes, you won't get paid, but that's the nature of the food grade business.
One thing I learned as time unfolded was you had to watch some of these milk plants. I insisted that I would want to be live loaded otherwise
you could end up being over weight......a BIG no-no. In many cases you would show up to drop and hook and find the trailer is WAY overweight. It's no fun having to haul excess of 50,000 lbs of milk and you're faced with going over state scales. But I managed to dodge the bullet.
I left after moving to TX just as Johnny Harned implemented a bonus package that didn't make a lot of sense. It was based on a do not idle policy.
IRT was much better when Miss Maggie was in charge but I'm sure she has since retired or passed on.
Now I'm hauling Gasoline and home every night. Making more money but I don't regard IRT as a bad company to work for. They were better than most.
And their equipment was always top notch. Last time I read, their trucks were governed at 70 mph. But their pay scale hasn't improved much in the past 6 yrs.
Good luck