Continental Cartage

The Landtran Group is great if you enjoy fascism and being treated more like a slave than an actual employee.

I drove for their sister company, Valley Roadways, for three months. In that time I had to switch into three different trucks, I was away from home on one period for over 25 days, and was mislead about a great deal many more things. Even though it was super B-train work; one extra trailer, extra work, double the belts & tarps, slower moving, etc, I wasn't netting more money than I did with my previous company which was just basic 53' deck work!

I gave up a brand new Peterbilt, well maintained equipment, and an excellent support system at a place that washes the trucks for the drivers, has a lube bay (so your pre-trip is done for you), and a clean drivers lounge with water and snack machines, for a dusty yard, an atco trailer drivers lounge with no wireless, poorly maintained equipment, longer periods on the road, for an extra net of $250.00 a week (well... almost).

A couple times I made some deliveries to the Continental yard in Edmonton, AB, and I didn't feel very welcome there. I felt like I was imposing actually. On one occasion I was struggling to roll my tarps, with the wind being what it was, and do you think the Bolsheviks came out to help me!? No, they just sat in their trucks and watched on; so don't expect any team work here! Then when I was finished, one of them came out to chat with me, or rather, to whine about how he has to sit around for ninety minutes, watching me roll my tarps whilst he waits for his next dispatch!!? "Seriously!?" I asked him.

On a positive note, the yard workers at both the Continental and Valley terminals are first rate gentlemen. Both experienced veterans knowledgeable at every aspect of the job and who will quickly drop what they're doing, if they can, to give you a hand, adjust the load, bring you a ladder, or whatever. The dispatch at Valley is also quick & efficient (best I ever had actually) and the mechanics are skilled and proficient also.

The paper work drivers are required to publish regularly is extremely time consuming and primitive, five times longer to complete than at any previous place I worked at; it looks like a twelve year old designed it; they don't use trip jackets but a page for every individual item you can imagine; I'm uncertain if Continental's paper work is similar or not?

So my experience was bitter, sweet. I liked the work, the other drivers and the locations where my dispatch took me but (they) demand strict loyalty and offer nothing in return. There was no fridge in any of the trucks so I had to spend more $$ on the road, and it's expensive in the Yukon and N.W.T., the equipment needed constant inspections due to it's ill maintained condition and possible driver abuse from the many previous drivers, and I was working & driving harder for the same pay as I got pulling tridems. So what's my insensitive to submit? More work and less creature comforts for the same pay, and not even a decent truck (sigh).

In this industry, one really doesn't know how good they had it until they go out looking for greener pastures and discover what it's like on the other side of the fence, and then it's gone! Being a trucker is one of the few industries where it actually gets worse instead of better. If this was a trade, I would be making neophyte wages by now!

VR and CC are also switching to automatic transmissions for their company trucks (better practice chaining up future Landtran company slaves). I believe this is because they have given up recruiting skilled professionals. (They) just need bodies to fill the cabs and steer them in the proper direction. I did see a couple slick O/O rigs with Continental on their doors so maybe it's good for the lease ops(?) You should interview a few first would be my suggestion...

Good Luck. Let us know how it goes?