Schneider company questions

I"ll give this my perspective as well.



1. Is the dot physical a wellness test lifting weights or a regular physical?
SNI does a test at orientation that includes:
- Blood Pressure
- Height
- Weight
- Stepping up and down a 12" step
- Squatting Down and back up several times
- Lift 30 lbs off the floor to waist height
- Carry 30lbs 30ft and 60lbs 30ft.
- Lift 30lbs of weights in a bag over your head
- Crouching under a shelf attached to the wall simulating a trailer
- Properly stepping onto the ICC bumper and into the trailer
- Push and Pull a bar attached to the wall, force is measured and the goal is to get as close to 100lbs as possible

They will check your heart rate and blood pressure several times throughout the testing.

2. Is the pay by the household movers guide or practical route? What king ofpercentage of miles ran to miles paid is the driver not getting paid for? Iknow the HHG can be up to a 12% variance compared to actual miles drove.

Pay is Household Movers Guide or Zip-Code to Zip-Code. Usually the paid and actual miles are pretty close from my experience. They have been getting even better lately. Every now and then I'll have a load that is about 20 miles short on pay and other times it's 20 miles more pay than actual. Just the other day I had a 102 miles Deadhead and got paid 152 miles for it. Usually it tends to average out. You also don't get paid for traveling from a customer to a truckstop or other parking place for the night. This can suck when you want a shower and the closest place with one is 30+ miles away for the night.

3. It seems from what I read that most drivers start out regional. What is theavg length of a trip? Are there a lot of short runs below 400-500 miles a trip?I live out west and I know it could be different out here, usually longer runs.

I started out running Midwest regional for the first 3 months. My training DBL(Dispatcher) said she liked to do it that way because it allowed me time to figure out what I'm doing without risk of being sent into NYC. I only ran into the northeast one time while I was with her and that was only beause she made them give me a load right back to Ohio right afterwards. Some drivers do start out running OTR right away.

4. I asked earlier about being asked to do local runs, as this is something Idon’t particularly care to do. I was told that a driver can say no, but theymight sit for a while.

As far as I have been told we can not refuse a load unless we can not legally complete it. SNI runs with forced dispatch. For me the local stuff pays better. I don't mind doing the runs under 50 miles because they pay both my CPM rate along with an extra $1 per mile. I can easily make $65 in less than an hour if it's a drop and hook on both ends. I would do those all day long if they wanted me to. It just sucks when you get those with live loads and unloads all over because you don't get payed while waiting for an unload until you've sat for 2 hours at which point detention kicks in.

5. How much time can a driver take off at home? Do they count the day you comehome, hope not.

They do not count the day you come home or the day you leave as part of your home time. I usually get home some time from 1800-2300. Quickly toss a bunch of my crap into my pickup and get the hell out of there for a few days. I then finish my home time around 1200-1300 on the day I'm supposed to come back. I worked second shift for a while before trucking so I prefer running later in the day. I have never had anybody question the times I come back.

I have been told we are allowed 5 days in any 4 week period. I have gotten away with taking 7 and 8 off before but that's a rare thing and is split between a 5 day TAH and a 2-3 day TAH 2 weeks after the first. You can not take more than 5 at a time off unless you use vacation time. If you do take more than 5 off for some reason you will be asked to clean the truck out while you are gone so they can either give it to another driver who needs one or use it as a loaner. It may or may not be there when you come back.

6. Is there very many multiple pu and drops?

I have only had a few of them in the 9 months I've been here. Usually it's Home Depot load from the DC to the Stores. They are few and far between for me.

7. Is there a lot of drop and hook?

Some times I spend several weeks hooked to the same trailer, other times I hook 5 trailers in a single day. It's mostly drop and hook at the big players and the smaller customers are live load/unload.

8. I noticed they have some midroofs. Do you think I would be getting a doublebunk? I need the extra room.

The midroofs are for the guys running dedicated for a specific customer and they go home almost every night. They are always slip seating and may not always have the same truck every day. There are also some guys running condos in dedicated accounts.

All Solo OTR drivers have a condo sleeper from what I've seen. Some people use the top bunk for storage others fold it up and just like having more space to stretch out.

9. What are the trucks governed at? Also, is the cruise control set the same asthe governor?

Solo Trucks are goverened at 65MPH. Cruise will do 60 MPH. This can vary by 1-2 MPH more or less. If you get a former team truck that they forgot to fix you will have 65MPH on cruise and 70MPH max. I followed another company driver one day while we were both bob tail and going to the same place. He set his cruise at the max and I could just barely keep up. When he stomped the skinny pedal he started pulling away and I couldn't go any faster.

10. What is there chain up policy? Is it up tothe driver? Or do they say that you have to chain if the road is open whenchain up is required in order to move.

The policy is to follow the local laws for chaining up. If you want to keep rolling and it's safe then chain up. My personal opinion is that if the road is bad enough that I need tire chains I'm not taking my chances. I'll wait until the next day. They will not force you to drive in inclement weather if you do not feel safe doing so. Safety is the biggest thing for SNI. If you are driving and the weather goes bad pull over in a safe place, call them and let them know and they will figure out how to reschedule the load. They will preach this to you at orientation.

11. Does the driver ever have to load or unload the trailer? Hope not.

I have never had to unload a trailer. They will pay for lumpers to unload at any warehouse that has them. If for some reason you do have to unload the trailer they would pay you a flat rate as well. If it was a matter of me getting out of a place 4 hours sooner if I unload the truck with a pallet jack then I would likely do it because I don't get paid enough for detention for it to be worth losing those 4 hours.

The drivers on some of the dedicated accounts do have to hand unload every day. But that's part of their job description.

12. I heard that you can idle the truck, but if the idle is over percentagethen driver will lose the bonus.

You can idle that truck until it runs out of fuel if you want, but you will not get your bonus if it's over 15% for the summer or 5% for the winter. All of the trucks are equipped with auxiliary bunk heaters. If your bunk heater stops working and you can't get it to a shop you just have to keep track of your idle time and let your DBL know about it. They can credit you that time so it doesn't count against you.

13. How many miles per day do many of the trips average?

Most trips are 400-700 miles for me. In the last 2.5 weeks I've had the following:

Empty 17 Loaded 338
Empty 73 Loaded 453
Empty 128 Loaded 1183
Empty 80 Loaded 710
Empty 28 Loaded 730
Empty 152 Loaded 1295
Empty 97 Loaded 321
Empty 47 Loaded 230

Averages:

Empty 78 Loaded 657

This was over the course of 16 days.

I've also had my 2 longest dispatches ever in this period so this is exceptionally high for me. I would say I usually average somewhere in the 450-550 range.

If I can average 400 miles per day that's 2800 in a week. For the 2 weeks before my last TAH I only did about 1500-1800 miles each and the checks at the end showed it.

There really is nothing you can do, some weeks are awesome, others are terrible. The job and paychecks are unpredictable.


14. Is all dispatching done during the day or are loads put on the truck in the evening.

I usually recieve my next assignment withing the last 15 miles of delivery. Some times I get them much before that as well. They have 24 hour dispatching and operations staff in Green Bay. All things relating to pay or TAH have to be handled by your day time DBL. The Night/weekend ops people can't do anything but fix load issues. They will send your assignment to your truck as soon as they have it ready. If you don't have your next one by the time you finish your current you have to call in and ask if there is another one yet. It may be there and it was just in the list of them that had yet to be sent out.

15. Do they try to give loads where you have to drive all night?

If that's what you show yourself available for then yes they will dispatch you accordingly. I personally will never send in a NAT(Next Available Time) showing my self available for dispatch after 2100 or before 0800. I just don't like starting a new assignment between those times. I have had loads that had 3Am pickups and 5 AM deliveries before.

An example is I had a load in southern Indiana that had 5AM live load. The on site parking was actually a tiny truck stop 3/4 of a mile up the road. I got there at 2300. My 14hr clock ran out at 1AM. Technically I shouldn't have been able to pickup the load, but since it was less than 1 Mile I was able to get a few hours of sleep, get up and drive the 3/4 mile to their gate, shut off the engine and then drive the 1/2 mile to the back of their property by the docks and not bring my self out of my break. Yes it was illegal but I also went back to that truck stop afterwards and got another 5 hours of sleep afterwards so I didn't have to drive tired.

16. Are there designated fuel stops? Is there enough fueling being done attruck stops to be able to have enough shower credits to take a shower? Wouldnot want to rely on showers at terminals.

Yes, they tend to prefer using Flying J and Pilot for fuel. Your card will work at almost any Flyin J, Pilot, or Loves in the country. It also works at many T/As and Petro but that is supposedly stopping soon. I usually have more points for showers than I can use and have given several away. There's been plenty of days where I've fueled in the morning and then again before stopping for the night. The showers at some of the OCs are nice while others are junk.

17. When at a terminal, can the driver bobtail to eat or get a motel? Or dothey hold you hostage, meaning you can only leave by shuttle or cab.

If you have a trailer assigned to you and you enter an OC you can not bobtail out. If you enter bobtail and do not pickup a trailer you can do as you please. They don't ask why you're leaving when you go through the gate. All they check is your driver number and if the trailer that is attached is actually assigned to you. If you don't have one assigned you can bobtail out.

If you do have a trailer and want to go someplace that does not allow or have space for a truck most of the OCs have a car available for use by drivers. You have to sign a sheet of rules and you are then allowed to use it for up to 1 hour at a time. During the day it is not uncommon for there to be 3-4 people in line at a time waiting to use it. In the middle of the night you can usually get in and get it any time you want. If you are going some place common like Fast Food or WalMart you can also ask if there's any other drivers going to the same place that don't mind having you ride along. Most people won't mind and will be glad to give you a lift especially if your going to the same place or somewhere close by that's on the way. This way you do not have to wait as long to get your food or shopping done.

18. Do the trucks have ezpass and prepass? Are there any restrictions on takingcertain toll roads?

All of the trucks have Prepass and Ezpass. The Ezpass works on most of the toll roads. There are a few that it doesn't work on but they will reimburse you for those if they route you that way and you have to pay by cash. FYI the Mackinac bridge from the UP to the LP of MI does not use EzPass and it's $25 for a truc kto cross. Also they don't take cards at the booths up there.

19. Will they install at least a 1000 watt inverter for a microwave?

No they will not. They will install a 400 watt inverter if you are diagnosed with Sleep Apnea and have a CPAP Machine. If you get a truck that had a driver with Sleep Apnea before you the inverter will still be there and will be yours to use for whatever you want.

The company policy is 180 watts maximum on any of the 12V plugs. You can get away with a 300-400 watt inverter on the 12V plugs, just make sure to put it away when you put the truck into a company show for maintenance.

20. Is there truck washes allowed on the road, or do they have truck washes atthe terminal that spray the truck and don’t get it clean?

2 washes a year will be reimbursed. Other than that they have their water sprayers at some of the OCs. Some of them can do trailers as well. I personally pay for a Blue Beacon wash out of my own pocket once a month because I have a new truck and I want to keep it looking nice. I will just submit the receipts as a tax deduction at the end of the year.

21. Are most of the loads picked up and delivered during the day or in the eveningby midnight?

I usually only run from 0600 to 2300. I do my best to keep it in that window because I start getting sleepy and can't focus on driving anymore. Every now and then I'll get an odd one that will mess up my schedule but usually it works out the way I want.

I have finished a 10hr break at 2200 before so I could drive 4 hours for an 0300 appointment. Spent 4 hours sleeping at the customer while they unloaded the truck and then went and found a service plaza on the Maine Turnpike to take another 10hr break starting at 0700. Starting running at 1800 and went bed again at 2300 that night. Messed up and fixed my schedule all in one day. All pickups and deliveries in the window were on time and nobody from Green Bay gave me a call to ask my why I was taking a 10hr break in the middle of the day. If they had I simply would've told them I was doing it because I was too tired to drive safely and then hung up the phone to continue sleeping.

22. Do they tend to micromanage, or do they let you do your job and not bother you.

Rarely will they call and see what I'm doing. For the most part as long as I'm on time and everything is going according to the plan I don't hear from anybody in Green Bay. It's not uncommon for me to go several days at a time without having to call in when stuff works the way it's supposed to. I just do my own thing. As long as everything is picked up and delivered on time and legally they don't care what I do.


So there's my short book of answers. It's long and quite the read but I hope it's useful. Feel free to ask any other questions.

 

super answer.....great job and thanks for the detailed response.
Mods oughtta dock this one page on the Schneider thingy

 

Solo trucks are governed at 62 MPH you sign a paper saying u would t go over 60 MPH team trucks go faster

 

A couple of late thoughts:
SNI Van drivers cannot take the 80/90 toll road thru Indiana and Ohio, the Atlantic City turnpike in NJ, or any toll roax in FL. If yoh do it will come out of your check.

We are not on HHMG, zip code to zip code, or prac tical miles. We are on contract miles. The newer the contractthr closer to practical miles you'll see. Slowely but surely we're moving twoards an aproximation of practical miles.

 

Run all the tollroads

 

1) physical is both and held in a classroom, my suggestion: get in the habit of walking and squatting 1 hour each day. 2) dont worry about the mileage pay, figure out your cpm base pay times 2400 miles per week, budget your bills at that rate, anything extra save it and split it monthsss later, any less then tighten your belt. dont go buy the newest model of anything just cause you got a raise 6 months later, etc. 3) dont worry about the miles 4) never turn down a load, but on the third crappy one in a row...say something and leave it at that. 5) count your come home and departure days as half, if your regional youeventually can take 5 days off for every 30 days out, 7 if your a team driver, but if you're hungry for money-never take more than 3 full days of, 6),7),and 8) some days there is a lot of multiple loads, some days theres multiple lives, most days it's a piece of cake - just remember to always go on a 1 hour walk and dont hit anything, grab the best truck you can and deal with it.... 9) solo cruise 59mph, solo foot 62.5 - team cruise 63, team foot 64.5. 10) chain up only so you can get off the road and into a safe place, you just dont get the performance bonus for that quarter. 11) dont be lazy, 1 out of 100 loads is driver unload 12) if you idle more than 56 hours per week, they may ask you to find a different job 13) at least 1800 a week, but you'll never put more than 6,000 per week 14) forget about going to sleep at the same time every single day... unless you dont mind a small paycheck, other wise join the team divish.; 15) sometimes you might have to pull an all nighter, but if you want to wake up at the same time everyday, never do physical work, etc then you can do it..but your paycheck would be worse than that of a ninimum-wage part-time burgerflipper 16)you'll get plenty of showers, maybe not every single day... i suggest round up 3 - 5 showers, then shower every chance you get.17) Dude, you can walk to a restaurant..or by shuttle or cab... if you owned 11,000 trucks would you be happy with stangers driving your vehichles anywhere at anytime for pleasure?. 18) solos few restrictcions - someone said teams have no restrictions, i wouldnt worry ab out tolls, just make sure you always have $135 in your pocket and plenty of quarters. 19) no inverters greater than 180 watt... they will install one for you if you need a ctpat machine.20)you will never get a raise nor receive priority for having a clean truckto , wait for the owner to ask you to wash the truck. 11,000 truck washes is a lot of money. 21)let them know your preferred hours of work, pick up whatever load they ask you to pick up, dont drive if you feel unsafe, deliver the load without incidents. 22) if you wanna do your job and be left alone, that's ok with schni- but your paycheck will be a whole lot more bigger if you communicate with you dbl consistently without overbugging them nor winning too much. Just let them know what the issue is, how you think it should be resolved, and ask them how they want you to resolve it. I highly recommend Sni.

 

HiTandum3 what terminal are you out of ? Are you OTR? Just wondering.