Michigan carriers - Who are the good ones to work for?

I'm Looking for suggestions for good Michigan carriers to apply with. I'm particularly looking for suggestions of good smaller companies on the west side of the state to look into. Any info at all. Weather you worked for them or just heard about them. I'd love to hear it all!

My experience is 3 years 48 state otr + 1 year local. Mostly dry van and reefer. 2 points on MVR for speed in CA. Will be 3 years old in May.

Looking for very good pay OR very good home time. I've given up on finding both! I live near Grand Rapids, MI.

 

I've been interviewing companies off craigslist and indeed for the past week. Tons of them. Finding lots of companies that are 1099 jobs with less than stellar wages + poor sms scores and a language barrier. I have no issue with being paid 1099 but I expect a premium pay for it and I'm not finding it. I wouldn't touch a 1099 job for anything less than .38 cpm and then only if they were right in every other way.

Tomorrow I'm interviewing with MC VanKampen and Van Eerden. They obviously have nice equipment but I don't know much about them beyond that.

 

Anybody know anything about Arko Express? They're offering dedicated runs MI - TX - MI that is just about my dream dedicated run. They have been pretty tight lipped about there operation and are only talking to me via e-mail. They want me to fill out an application and apparently won't talk until I do. Kind of a red flag to me!

I don't want to waste my time if they aren't up to snuff. Their sms report is not good at all and in the back of my mind I swear I've heard negative stuff about them but I can't recall what if anything.

 

Critters:

You're the second person in the past few days who mentioned February 14th. I've never seen their trucks around before. I'll check them out. Guessing they haul flowers?