Northern Refrigerated Vs. System/twt

I'd pick Northern Refrigerated since you live in CA.

They have a good pension plan also; Profit Sharing and 401K. Those two combined can add up to a huge nest egg someday if you are disciplined and don't touch it.

Lumper service provided. Decent vacation time with pay averaging.
Overall, looks like a good outfit.

 

Good company to work for. Make sure you always keep safety first, dont wanna lose a good job because of lapse in judgment. Never doing anything you know you aren't capable of. Good stuff tho man im excited for ya!

 

I know a guy who works for Northern Refrigerated and he makes really good money but they also do a ton of LTL stuff. He sometimes gets stuck on a 12- drop load. I used to work for System and the TWT guys were pretty happy. they don't do a lot of multi-stop stuff and make decent money. You will probably get a long hood truck with Northern and you will be in a T660 with TWT but TWT also has inverters and APU's. Their trucks are set up nicely. But their trucks are also governed at 62

 

Those LTL with lots of stops can add up to some serious $$ specialy if they pay stop pay and if they will pay your what the lumper service would charge. If your interested in unloading to make extra $$. I use to be a lumper and had few drivers who came in every wk on there set routes they would make more on stops n unload pay then actually driving the truck! Think about it if your doing 10+ stop most places only getting 1-5pallets or so that's a quick 50-100$$ depending where u deliver and take u 5-15mins

 

Having done research on both, it would be hard to pick as both offer great benefits, equipment, etc... I would take the time to talk to both and gather as much information as you can before making a decision.

KH

 

Sir I interviewed with bill wall and Jeff smith at northern refrigerated. If you can pass a road test you are good to go. Here's a tip. On the road test , you might be taken into the city of turlock for some city driving. Make sure you stop at the no truck sign and ask bill where to go from there. He's testing you to see if you are paying attention, because he's like mr miyagi from the karate kid. This no truck sign is right by the gas station after you get off the freeway. This can and will make or break you. I saw the driver payroll and highest driver grossed 7k a month. Good luck and hope to see you out there soon.

 

Also be persistent but don't stalk them. If you want this job and have a reputable truck school cert you will get priority. Make sure you know how to drop and hook a trailer, and do it very carefully and slowly because the reefer is delicate. DO a tug test!!! you will get your arse chewed so hard if you don't. When exiting the turlock yard, go SLOWLY over the speed bump and do not let the trailer tandems bump up and down really hard at this point. If you do that, you will fail the road test. Also , "walk your turns out". Don't swing into the far left lane and then immediately get into the right lane. Cars try to pass you and you can hit them. In fact , tell mr wall you are "walking out the turns " and he will be most pleased with you. Check your MIRRORS as you make your turns and make sure he sees you do it.

Downshift before you get on the freeway off ramp. If there's a car on the freeway shoulder with its flashers on, merge to the center lane and pass them, and get back to the right.

I dont know what truck school you are coming from but make sure those fools show you the basics: hook up an air brake, listen for air leaks on said air line. Then learn to do a tug test, and you need to exit the yard slowly, check your mirrors while turning, look out for the no truck sign in turlock, walk your turns out,

l know that's a little choppy, sorry that's just my "smart phone"

 

Here's the deal with TWT. Great equipment. They are getting away from APUs with the new T680 tractors. The pay is really low, and the miles for solos are only about 2200-2500 a week (this was what they told me). 13 years and they offered me .33/mile. Not sure what they are paying new drivers however.