First express????

ed41041972 · Mar 28, 2012

I have been out of the business for a little while and I am looking at First Express. Give me the straight up from my viewpoint. How would they be to work for?

Thanks

allstar said: ↑

These replies are all pretty dated I think. So I thought I'd give an inside driver's report and make a couple corrections.

They do in fact run hard. They do NOT run illegal. They're on Qualcomm electronic logs so toss that out the window. There's a term every driver should know -- utilization. If you get to the end of your week and still have more than a few hours left, you were under utilized -- meaning you finished the week leaving money on the table. Don't forget we get paid by the mile! My paycheck this week had about 3,000 miles on it. Average for me has been closer to 2500. But I always shoot for 3,000. Sure there's time on every load to stop and fill the thermos, pig out at the TA Buffet and show off your butt crack while you buff all your chrome. But that doesn't put money in my pocket. I work hard during the week so I can play hard during the weekend. I stop at truck stops for fuel and showers. I bring my own food from home and maybe catch one or two meals at a Pilot Subway during the week. I'd prefer to shut down in rest areas or scales because you can get in and out quickly, and I always hit the road at 10 hrs to the minute night or day. The sooner I deliver the current load, the sooner I get the next one. More loads is more miles is more money! So I choose to run hard and get paid well for it. Plus operations take notice of work ethic and are quicker to assign more miles to me than the guy that wants to stop every two hours to play the pinball machines.

There are no more Petes in the fleet. It's a pretty even mix of KW, Volvo and International ProStar. I have a ProStar with a Cummins ISX. It's a beast. It chugs right up mountains on cruise control and has no problem holding back all 80,000lbs going down with the jake. All trucks are set at 65 (so you pass a lot of the "big boys"). All trucks have APUs with 1800 watt power inverters and four power sockets. I even have an electronic sliding fifth wheel and power jaw release. Drop trailers like the yard dogs! All new trailers (6 series) have push button release on the tandems. Regular pull levers on the 5 series. Trailers aren't kept more than a few years so they're all in pretty good shape. They have logistic strap posts every 2' inside and provide a grab barrel for all the straps you'll ever need. No load lock bars!

As for a 600-mile run from midnight to 9am, it would never happen on electronic logs unless you pick up in central and deliver in eastern with no stops. But if you shut down at noon and don't move again until midnight, you're just wasting time.

As for routing, every company on Qualcomm provides a route suggestion and fuel optimizer. If you know a faster, shorter way, just call dispatch. They'll pull it up and verify. If you're right they'll change the route. Just be sure you're not heading for a low clearance or truck restrictions when you want to go off route. Most of the guys that think they know a better way find themselves making u-turns. Fuel optimization is critical for profitable companies. Why does it matter to you where you fuel? It's their truck and their fuel and the profitability of the company is your job security. Their primary fuel solution is the Pilot network as its the biggest network with the most locations. Benefit to the driver is you get lots of frequent fielder points, free showers and bonuses. Pilot put $15 cash on my card this week hitting 500 gallons this month. That's cash in my pocket for fuel my company pays for! So fuel stops aren't a issue for me. Not sure why they would be for anyone.

There's no way a driver is going to average 1600-1900 miles a week and last long. First Express pays a guaranteed weekly salary that breaks even at about 2200 miles depending on your endorsements. So if that's all the miles you're running they're losing money on you, and you're either lazy or running inefficiently. That won't last long. When my father died, they moved mountains to get me home, told me to take as long as I needed there. I missed several days that week and new my paycheck would suffer but family is always first in my book. When I came back to work the next week, the first run they gave me was about 2400 miles to Houston and back with multi-stop pay. Not only did they get me home quickly, but made sure I had good long miles to get back on track. Both the VP and Director of Operations shook my hand and expressed their condolences for my family. Meant a lot to me that they took the time to talk to me.

There is a partnership between the owners of Averitt and First Express. It a partnership only on the books and not in any operational capacity. So there's no involvement from Averitt and you won't be pulling any loads for Averitt. We do have access to their terminals, and some are used as drop locations. Some terminals are assigned as your home terminal for parking the truck over the weekend. The Atlanta terminal is really nice and is easy to get in and out. I've seen one or two First Fleet trailers and don't know what the connection is there, but whatever it is, it must be pretty minimal.

There is no rider or pet program. There is only one bed in truck, which I like because it provides more headroom and means you get the back wall wardrobe in the ProStar. It also means no team driving, so when it's time to sleep, you're not bouncing down the road in your bunk wondering if your partner is as alert as he says he is. Unfortunately they do allow smoking, but I asked for a non-smoking truck since I have asthma and they had no problem giving me one.

Can't think of anything else at the moment and that covers all the questions above. Be happy to answer any others. I love my job, love my company, love my weekly paycheck, and definitely love being home every weekend.
Click to expand...

mike91118 · Mar 29, 2012

sleeping bouncing up and down the road trying to sleep is my favorite part

allstar · Mar 29, 2012

ed41041972 said: ↑

I have been out of the business for a little while and I am looking at First Express. Give me the straight up from my viewpoint. How would they be to work for?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I'd been off the road for two years when I started with them. Obviously each driver is unique, and I'd still recommend them. You'll have a quick driving test around the block with the recruiter to make sure you're a safe driver. It's not a point-scale test like you get at training companies or the DOT.

Definitely give Adam a call in recruiting. Nothing he told me has been untrue. The company isn't perfect but they do operate with a higher level of integrity than any other I've ever looked at.

allstar · Mar 29, 2012

mike91118 said: ↑

sleeping bouncing up and down the road trying to sleep is my favorite part
Click to expand...

LOL my first few nights as a trainee at my first company were rough. My trainer had an eye for pot holes. A few times I left the mattress and woke up in a panic grabbing for the cup holders.

Hegemeister · Jun 24, 2012

it's really nice to get resonable, level headed information.

Freight shaker 98 · May 21, 2013

WWhat is First Express minimum pay set at?

FirstExpress · May 29, 2013

Thanks for the kind words AllStar (wish I knew who you were from the username)! We are 100% electronic logs so there is most definitely no illegal running. We do send routes and fuel stops, the only correction is there is no longer any common ownership with Averitt or First Fleet, we simply rent some parking space at Averitt terminals for safety and convenience.

allstar · Jun 1, 2013

Here's the link to their Career page that outlines driver pay.

http://firstexpress.net/careers.html

hot18wheeler · Jun 1, 2013

Do they have lease purchase and every week end off

allstar · Jun 1, 2013

Not sure who you are either by your user name, hah! This is Kane.

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