I Start With Averitt in January 2012

Volvos are terrible if you're taller than 5'9".

 

Certainly for sleeping in the top bunk.

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ProStars are the best for interior design and room. Never been in a Pete or KW though.

 

That's weird, because I talk to many Heartland Express drivers that all say Prostars are small inside with no room.

"Do what thou wilt."

 

There are 2 different size PROSTARs just like the VOLVOs

 

Anything will be spacious after being doubled up for five weeks.

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That's true. That's my main reason of not teaming up.

"Do what thou wilt."

 

im 6'3" so i know what u mean

 

Whew, just finished reading this entire thread! BigMike's "Averitt Blog" made for some interesting reading! Appreciate all the "inside info"!

First, some background:

I'm 63 years old and have over 30 years driving experience mostly as a Gas Hauler in North and South Carolina. I worked docks and did some fill-in P&D briefly for Carolina Freight years ago and pulled containers to Port Everglades/Miami during the Summer of 2003. The container job is the only OTR i have ever done and it was 75% drop and hook/100% no-touch freight. I usually ran 3,200 miles/week, broke every HOS law in the books, and only made about 28cpm. So i quit and went back to hauling gas and going home every night and weekends off. I planned to retire with the family-owned petroleum company i was with but alas, after 60 years in business, they folded their doors in March, 2012. They couldn't compete with the mega-gas haulers like Eagle and Kenan.

Believe me, it is a tough situation to be suddenly out of a job at my age. No, i won't say "i'm not bitter" because i was very bitter as every single company i have ever worked for over the last 40 + years is no longer in business. All the seniority, pay raises, retirement benefits, etc. i have ever earned are all lost forever time and time again. In the NC county where i live there was once 6 petroleum distributors, now they are all gone. If i want to stay in the gas hauling business i will have to commute 40 miles each way to work which is tough with fuel prices being what they are and after driving all day or night it's a no-go. What to do?

I have been blitzing the internet the last few weeks with job apps, researching forums, and general networking. I have several irons in the fire but nothing definite.

So, today a nice sounding recruiter from Averitt called me and said he liked my application and he talked about some openings:

#1 Part Time Dock/P&D Driver - 35 miles from my house and home every night.

#2 Regional Truckload Driver

#3 Flat Bed Driver

#4 Domiciled in Charlotte or Newton NC

I rejected the flat bed job outright as at my age i aint fooling around with tarps, bungees, and chain binders. Besides, daddy always said don't pull anything that can fall off your trailer!
Then the Averitt recruiter said Orientation is in Cookville, TN which is over 300 miles from my home but that Averitt would pay me 26cpm for the drive. I told the recruiter i would need a few days to think about the Part Time vs. Full Time thing plus wanted to do a bit more research on Averitt. Because i KNOW how bad the life of a truck driver can be and i just cannot afford to make a poor choice of companies to drive for. As much driving experience as i have, as i said before relatively little of it is OTR. What i want, what i feel i deserve, is a Dedicated route of No-Touch freight in the Southeast which of course hardly anyone offers a new hire. And as of today, the only company offering me anything like that is Schneider Tanker and/or Intermodal believe it or not. But BigMike and some of you other Averitt hands about have me sold on Averitt. I don't need bazillions of miles anymore so if anything would make me quit it would be being run to death rather than a lack of miles. In any case, i appreciated the call from Averitt and am impressed with BigMike and the rest of you Averitt hands who have posted here. You do your company proud.

I have to say though, that idea of running all over the place hunting customer locations every day like you Regional drivers do seems kind of stressful to me. I've always been a route driver with a set starting time, day or night, at least and the same customers. Maybe its not so bad once you get to used to it but i have my doubts. Anyway, BigMike and you other Averitt hands go ahead and chime in on what the Part Time job is like and what it could lead to?

Thanks for listening,

CB

 

Hey Cabby, Im glad you found this thread useful. Part-Time dock is something that could grow into something big in the LTL. I started out as a part-time dock worker and I worked up to full-time driver and dispatcher at my local terminal. Part-time isn't bad during the summer because you will always get close to 40 or more hours a week but No benefits and no vacation pay. At your age I figure that is very important! Also, in the winter freight will slow and you may only work 15 hours or you may not work at all. If you really have any more questions on the LTL side I think im the only one on here that has actually work in LTL and corporate side... just let me know!