FINALLY!!!

Cannot answer any of your ?'s but good luck! Glad to hear you have light at the end of the tunnel

 

Well good luck to you! As far as refresher course, they want to see if you can still drive(I assume you have a CDL from along time ago) and LTL is Less than Truck Load from what I've been told, so that would be running more or less LOCAL with multiple stops to unload(meaning more pay for all the stops/unloads) Hope that helps!

 

Hey its your foot back in!!! Ltl. MORE STOPS !!&& means more pay !! Also sharpens your driving & backing skills up..( get that dust off u!! Do that for 6 mnts to a yr& wham u hv all your driving tym u hv. Back!! Hey good attude u hv to!! Ots nice to here when a man!! Rather work to suport his family!! To many people willing to sit on there ### & feel sorry for them selfs & let us tax payers pay the bills!! But hey good luck!! & welcome back !!!

 

Eh, Burlington terminal is alright.... it is a tight yard and at night it gets pretty loaded with trailers. Now, the guys at burlington are pretty cool guys... but CHECK YOUR TRAILER... they have a history of loading incorrect loads, and using incorrect bulkheads. Right now... it depends on what runs they have... if they only have local stuff, then be prepared to run around the area (not really something new drivers do). But i have caught word they are really hurting for a driver to run to dallas and back, dundee (florida) and back, and I think Lithonia and back.

Refresher course should be a breeze, unless you are really out of the loop.

As for the trainer, just keep talking, and asking questions... he/she should be cramming info into you as well... but you ultimately are responsible for asking and informing the trainer if you are unsure about anything.

And the last part.... FFE was where i started, i liked the company... but kllm came in (some people really like them eg some company drivers, and alot of the lease operators as they charge less for the trucks than ffe did). Now as an o/o kllm lowered the pay per mile and swapped to a freight agreement i was not ok with. But for the most part ffe and kllm still tend to operate separately with kllm being the guiding hand.

But i would suggest to keep the last sentence down a bit.... remember, people here are giving you input from their experiences with the company... i know your happy they gave you a chance when probably no one else would.... but do keep in mind people have been burned by kllm/ffe and you shouldnt discourage their input, but use it as "things to keep an eye out for".... like this for example watch you pay stubbs like a friggin hawk, you WILL have pay issues. (i spent 2 years @ffe btw, and mabey 3 months with NO pay issues during that time)

 

Yes Industry standard for less than truckload is more local/regional work with alot of stops (pickups and deliveries).... Kllm does truckload and ffe handles "LTL"... and in ffe "ltl" extends to the local drivers that make the pickups and deliveries, to a truck that runs ltl trailers from terminal to terminal (there are possibilities of stops on the way). I did terminal to terminal, as needed to random ffe terminals. My first "ltl" dedicated I did burlington terminal to dallas terminal to salt lake terminal back to burlington. But my last "ltl" gig there was dallas to salt lake, and then do random pickups and deliveries in washington, idaho, and montana as needed, back to salt lake and back to dallas...
In summary ffe is "loose" with the term ltl.

 

Good for you! Now keep your nose clean and stay on the straight and narrow!

 

While I wish the OP the best of luck, LTL is ok if you are getting paid by the hour, but you burn a lot of time going way out of your way for 3 pallets, and usually, they are are still working on the last pallet, unlike full loads, that are staged and ready to go. It's just the same old thing, the reason there's an opening in LTL, is no one else wants to do it for mileage, or even a the meager "stop pay".

 

Agreed...."City" LTL should be an hourly gig. Say you pick up 6 stops, and you deliver 6 drops, minus the first and last stops that is a total of ten. At $15 per that is $150...say you ran 50 miles all day to get those stops, at .34cpm that is an additional $17---total for the day: $167.00.

Now look at OTR average @ same rate---600 miles a day X .34cpm = $204.00 total for the day.

Now look at hourly average @ $15 per hour X 14 hour day = $210.00 total for the day (before over-time).

P.S.- Yes, all you "math haters"...those are just examples based on averages---but it is not difficult to see which method is least productive TO THE DRIVER.
I have driven and have been paid in all examples given above, so I'm not talking out of the wrong orifice.

 

I did something more than give a smart aleck answer? That does not sound like me...

Make friends, or at least acquaintances, with drivers that have been doing the area a while. Ask if you can call them with questions, directions, or just to rant about the trailer the last guy dropped with the brake pads falling off!

Congrats again!

Mikeeee