Local or LTL 1 year experience... Dallas,TX

If your a fit young guy go for the physical ltl companies such as the drink companies, food delivey or even householld goods they all pay really good but is physical ly hard for older drivers this way you can cut a large percentage of available driv3rs off the list making even easier to find that one perfect job a spotless record and a gung hoo attitude could pay fkr a nice wedding a big house and all the finer things in life..

 

So are you on the extra board your first two to three years with ODFL? Are the ones on that board the grumpy guys I had delivering at the warehouse in my old job? Not all were grumps but more than one. And one of them was always asking my warehouse people to stop what they were doing and unload his truck, lol.

 

Depends on the terminal. City drivers pick up and deliver to warehouses. Linehaul drivers go terminal to terminal, or meet/swap at truckstops. We have a few grumpy drivers. Most of the drivers I know in Little Rock are pretty good. We do try hard to run on schedule. Thats probably why the driver was anxious to get the freight unloaded asap.

 

I think what youre trying to say is go for foodservice over companies like UPSF, OD or YRC because you can make more money in foodservice?? You are wrong by a country mile, I've worked for Sysco and you normally start out doing slightly better then most good LTL companies but you will work for it. Right now at UPSF linehaul senior guys working 55 hours a week probably make 20k a year more then 55 hour a week guys at Sysco all while not breaking there back.

 

If you go to any of the big ltl companies, you will be on the extra board for a while. Could be a month (if your lucky) or several years depending where you're at. I got lucky at Estes and got hired on to a bid run but that is very rare. At my Reddaway yard we have 4 extras including me and the top guy has been waiting for a bid for 2 years. One guy has been on the extra board for 20 years but that's what he likes.

 

I'd take freight any day of the week over Coca-Cola or food delivery. Old D would be a very good co. to get on with - I'd probably work for them over ABF at this point if I were in a position to choose. But, It's all the same crap in different colored trucks really - try to find somebody who will give you a full work week and a steady paycheck. That's the important part. If company "A" only offers $18/hr to start but they work you 45-50 hrs a week, that's much better than getting $20/hr at company "B" and getting put on the extra board.

 

I work for od as well and I'm doing my 34 hr reset in dallas as I reply. It is a good place to work and I made almost 80 my first year here. Worst thing about dallas terminal is duncanville road itself, by the time you get back to 20 bobtailing to the motel you will have knocked all your teeth out, somebody needs to repave that road,it sucks.

 

I run linehaul for Southeastern out of Lafayette, LA. Started here less than a year ago, and through the opening of a new service center, have been able to move up into LH by transferring from Lake Charles, LA service center. I've been at Southeastern only for 11 months now, and only 6 of those months have been in LH. The first 5 months were in P&D. However, that is plenty enough time to figure out what's really going on at a company. Mind you, I spent a little over a year researching the LTL industry, and which company to apply for, as I've never been in LTL before. I've spent all of my adult life working in the towing industry (7 years). I will say this. I am absolutely 100% satisfied with Southeastern. I feel that my research paid off, and I feel that it enabled me to make the right decision. The company culture and integrity have been very evident to me, and apparent in MY circumstances, which obviously not everyone's circumstances are the same. The ONLY thing about Southeastern that I can find to complain about is that I'm afraid the company may be growing too fast. Which one may say is a good thing, but lots of new hires = lower quality. They conducted a mass-hiring in Lafayette to get the terminal up and running. Most of the drivers came from oilfield driving jobs. And it shows. A small terminal like LAF that only has 23 P&D drivers, and 20 of them have never been in the LTL industry before, much less worked for SEFL....well I guess its kinda similar to how I suspect it would be working for other companies. BUT, things are coming around, and the culture is beginning shine through a little.

 

If no luck with the other companies, Central Transport will likely hire so long you have a relatively clean record. They are a good place to build experience until you can get on with a higher tier type carrier.

 

Since your in Dallas I presume your OTR reefer co is Stevens?

If so why not do the tanker division think they have home nightly for locals.