Thinking Celadon as next company company driver or lease pros and cons of both

Eh, Celadon isn't a bad company if you don't need to earn a living. When I worked there I figured out pretty quick that they're an O/O company. In other words, they work O/Os, and the company drivers get whatever is left. I think they prefer to lease you a truck that you'll probably never own.

 

celadon is the worse company to work for ive been at celadon for 2years and the first year was great but when mr russell sold the company everything became worse get load came with less miles getting paid only 33 cent a mile was ok untill they gave all the loads to the mexicans who drove for 15 a mile and being stuck in indy was like being in jail cause the dorms make you felt like you was doing hard time and the shop to get your truck work on took up to a week before they got to it hands down just dont work for celadon

 

What a load of fish.

 

celadon is a load of fish

 

I'm going to put you on filter now because you're not worth my time. What you've posted is not only illegible but wholesale bullcrap.

 

im not about to lip wrestle with you ive worked for this company id#105834 truck #547217 so dont tell me what i know of this company because you never worked at celadon and i did nor did i ask you for your two cents

 

Well, it's different between company driver and lease-purchase and owner/op at Celadon. As a company driver there, it was about 95% good. But from the moment I signed a lease, I've been treated like dogs$(t. After actually reading their lease and seeing 4 months of "settlements", I can say that their lease is "upside down". It's all profit for them, and red ink for those in the l-p/owner-op ranks. They ignore the fact that you have to be able to pay your own social security (15.5%), Medicare tax (2.9%), as well as your own income taxes (up to around 33%). The SS is based on your total gross for the week. Mine has been averaging around $2550/wk, making SS about $395.25, which sometimes is more than I net for the week. Medicare is 73.95+/-. Income tax gets based on your gross after SS/MediCare is deducted, which works out to be around $686.86. Uncle Sam doesn't care about your business deductions until you file your Form 1040 with a Schedule C attached. Then MAYBE you'll get a refund. Problem is, you can't make it till then. Alot of the time my settlement is only $400 to $500. The trucks you get to choose from, if not on the waiting list for one of the new black ProStars, won't get good mpg unless you slow down to under 60 mph. I can get 7.0 driving 58-60 mph. Celadon expects you to be doing 65 mph all the time. The new leases take the payment out at 20 cpm (cents per mile), and there's a .05 cpm Maintenance Fund which you can't touch unless a repair is over $300. Less than that and they take it out of your settlement. They pay .90 cpm plus Fuel Surcharge (currently at .42 cpm), but in actuality you're only making $1.07/mile. And that is where they start deducting everything else, and I mean EVERYTHING ELSE! And tolls are all on you, as is weighing your loads. And on that subject, expect every load to be over 40,000 pounds. I had to start refusing loads right and left to get 1 load under 20,000 pounds. Then it went right back to the SOS. Don't go lease-purchase with Celadon. It's not worth it!

 

7 months as a company driver, some good and some not so good. I really don't like having to shell out cash all the time for scales, tolls and faxes (when in Canada.) Celadon recently stopped allowing drivers to scale anything under 41k without permission from DM. They do let you know it is your responsibility to make sure truck and trailer are within bridge weight and state spec's. They have also just started to set governor to 62 mph. Mine was done this week. Sucks for anyone following on a 2 lane highway, people tend to push to pass. Only converters that plug into cigarette lighters can be used. Really limits what can be ate in the truck. Gets kinda of expensive eating out all the time. The pay sucks, they start at either .33 or .34 cents per mile, takes forever to get up to anything that would be consider fair. .01 per year per mile, takes along time to get up to snuff.. Everything they pay for from detention to border pay is less then many of the other companies out there. Has to be 5 hours before detention starts. They like to short mileage on every run, every company does it, but Celadon does a couple more miles then others I have worked for. They recently shorted me 200 miles on a 600 mile run. Being an at will employee, not much I can do. Leave if I don't like it. My DM is ok and makes it a bit more bearable here at Celadon. I almost have my debts paid and will be leaving in next couple of months. The trucks are nice and shinny but they only have the bare minimum in them, they do not even have a outdoor temp gauge, anything that would assist the driver is not an option. There is no drive axle pressure gauge to assist with setting tandems, see above about 41k to scale. There is more, but I will leave it here. All companies have their good points and bad points. Just trying to give some of things that really irk me about Celadon. The biggest gripe I have is the cpm and that they use other peoples money when and were they can. Others can pump up the good points and there are some, but they are few..

 

I'm not so sure that I'd believe your buddy, I'm more inclined to call BS on that one. I went there with less experience and took the lesser pay package (for more home time) and got 31 CPM, which was standard, with per diem it only drops to 29 CPM. If they offered your buddy 26 CPM...they didn't want him.

 

I've been home on "medical hold" ever since they found out I was taking a muscle relaxant "as needed", prescribed by my physician for the kind of back spasms you can get after 23 years bumping and banging all over the country in a truck. During that time, I've been working on something. Very soon now, if Celadon doesn't start measuring up to their inflated claims, they can kiss my......goodbye! I don't need the abuse anymore. I'm getting my FFL (Federal Firearms License for the un-informed) and opening my gunsmithing business. Those stooges in Indy don't really believe that we have other marketable skills that can easily put more $$$$ in our pockets, simply because we've chosen to drive a truck for awhile. Enough is enough! My best advice.......pass up their offer before they ruin you.