My new adventure with Gordon Trucking

Ok. Total truth, no advertising or kissing butt or anything. Straight up truth of what I think of Gordon after three months. They have one hell of an operation here, mind you, my first "big company", but I'm kind of in awe of how it seems to run somewhat smoothly. I have been in trucking my entire life, I'm third generation, so I've seen a lot.

The trucks: They are a bit better than an average fleet truck. They own the dealership, so obviously they get good deals (especially buying in bulk). They are set up right power wise. I climbed Vail and Eisenhower effortlessly, and didn't touch the brakes once coming down. They are set up for driver comfort, the seats aren't the cheap ones, there is a bit of padding in them, the APU, inverter, and other amenities make it a pleasure to drive. They certainly did not go cheap, the truck is tight and handles well. 62 mph takes a lot to get used to though. I'm used to running 700-720 a day. Not in this, lol.

The terminals: I've been to Lathrop, Rancho, Pacific, Medford, Pontoon and stopped by Boise to learn the gate needed a code that I didn't have. Lathrop is beautiful. It's huge too, lots of room. Rancho is a good one as well, just kinda tight due to space constraints. Pontoon is a mid sized yard, clean, and within walking distance of the J and a small diner. Pacific, so far, is the least "driver friendly", to put it one way. The people are decent, but the driver area could be updated a bit. If that's the first one you see, it's not a good example of the rest. Lathrop is the jewel here.

Freight: some good loads, some bad. It's to be expected. It's trucking. Not every load is a winner or can be. You do some BS work, you'll have something good after. I'll take a crap load (hell I take every one, I don't turn down money) because I know I'll have something good later.

i put my foot down to what I felt was an attitude problem from dispatch. Since then, no problems. There is a message almost every day about the amount of phone calls they get. I don't ever call. It's better that way. I can give the finger to the computer and not get in trouble. Let it go. They'll get to you. There is 2000 other drivers. You want to wait on hold? I sure as hell don't. They call me, that's different. I don't call unless asked to. Besides, they and myself have better things to do than #### chat over the phone.

3 months in and it's not bad, the pay is good, the benefits are excellent for what I've seen. It's not for everyone obviously, and there are days where I wish I could do it like I used to, run like a bat out of hell and do what I wanted. But they've got their system and it works for them, so who am I to question it. It's their $130,000 dollar investment that I'm driving. Not mine. All in all so far, I'm not sorry I came here.

 

I haven't really taken hometime yet. I'm a runner, I stay out and take a bunch of days off. And I haven't been to Indy yet, but if its modeled after Lathrop its all good.

 

I hate Gordon Trucking. How dare they give me these miles. Ha ha. Last week was strong with Washington to Oklahoma to Arkansas to Pennsylvania. Shuffled sone trailers around Hershey and got a load to Edwardsville and waiting at Pontoon Beach was a load to Utah. I was informed of a report on my driving, a good report, so that was nice. Ispent almost 6 years with Lessors and thought I had it good. I like Gordon a hell of a lot more. This is a company I feel is worth it. Benefits, equipment, miles and from what I've seen in 3 months, seem to care about the drivers