FFE from orientation to solo fleet.

BJ is now at western express I believe....

 

I spoke W/ a recruiter & they were totally understanding of what my situation was & is at this current time. Like all companies there WILL be bumps in the road ! FFE sounds like a good place !!

 

Well this is my first time posting as I am a trucker wanna-be. I have been lurking the boards for about 4 days now, reading and re-reading complaints about different companies. Also, I know 2 drivers from FFE who drive a plasma run. With all this said, I think I'm going to apply to FFE for my paid training and 1st year driving.

I know how companies are in general, so I know that every company screws over their employees a little and some really screw over their employees. But I also see a lot of very negative people who make an undesirable situation into a highly sour bitter experience with their own negative attitude. I'm not concerned with home time or pay scale or none of that for the first year. The first year is all about paying my dues to the company that is training me for a new career. I just hope FFE accepts my application!

 

If you spent any time checking out companies-how did you come up with FFE as 1st choice?? Just curious. They are not considered a top training/trucking company by anyone I know of.

 

Well FFE was not my first choice at first. First I went to a recruiting event for Stevens transport and I almost signed up on the spot! Still I decided to wait and talk to my cousin who is a truck driver. He told me their drivers complain about them a lot. Then I found PAM on craigslist but they advertise almost the same benefits as Stevens. So pretty much every company is painting themselves as 'wonderful' place to start, but FFE has the least serious complaints online. That's all I have to go with! Also, I am taking my cousins word as he said he is satisfied with how they treat him. Anyways, I am just trying to make the best decision.

 

Good luck to you man. FFE didn't work out for me, but they aren't a terrible company. I think you would get better training at one of the other company sponsored programs though.

 

Home time is awesome you must be out 3 weeks but when I get home I never stay less than 5 days and they dont even question it.For x-mass I took 11 days off.

 

Ffe doesnt purposely screw over there drivers but you must ask the right questions that is what your trainer is for also pick a vet to be friends with so he can help you with questions you may have . I myself help 5 guys in my class with there questions and I enjoy helping them..

 

Do you live in TX because they can only hire you with no CDL if you live in TX. If you dont I also know of a way to help you with that.

 

Try to go with prime or stevens.
They treat their drivers about the same as FFE, same load types and such but better equipment.

I drive for FFE and am always seeing stevens and prime at the same facilities I'm at. This is true of course, for CR.England and several other dozen companies.
Don't plan on building a career with any of the above, however. If you have a brain in your head you will stay away from lease purchase programs, get your required amount of time in with your company to alleviate yourself of any outstanding financial obligations you owe to these people and find a smaller fleet with good equipment and more personal staff.

One of the reasons FFE (and by association any company with 1000+ trucks) sucks, is that they're so large, any legitimate complaints you might have are usually ignored. This includes getting stuck on a crappy freight line (North East, anyone?) or a broken idle system on a truck ect ect ect.


Just be prepared to eat crap for a year or two and have a game plan when you get out.