Melton Truck Lines

Wanted to update. Next month I'm approaching 6 months with Melton and I still love it. However, I don't plan on staying permenantely. The decision is that I cannot stay in flatbed. I have a bad back, knee, and shoulder and this company tarps a lot. I know over the period of 10 years or more I can really sustain permenant damage that may be incredilby difficult to recoup from as I get older and into retirement years. I love hiking and going on long trails and multi day hikes. So I plan to keep doing that as long as possible. I still plan on staying for at least 6-12 months. That will be give me 1-1/2 to 2 years of experience total as a CMV driver OTR with a year or more doing it in flatbed. With that said I'll either move to a local job running something like Saia, YRC, or XPO. If that does not pan out I'll probably move to another company doing box, reefer, or tanker.

Sucks though, because I love Melton. These last few weeks have been hard but it's still going good. I have been averaging around 2,500 miles the last few weeks. Last week was slow because I was headed home. I picked up a load on Wed (4/19) that was no tarp and about 12K lbs and took it to Springfield, MO the same day and took off the whopping 5 straps and then got to deadhead home (about 181 miles). Staying home until tomorrow (Mon, 4/25). Still have the 680 and it's been a great truck but I've had some issues with the APU. After a while it was approved to just let me idle until I got home and then they would fix it in Tulsa and finally get to the bottom of the persistant APU issues. As of now I've 2 loads going into Canada and back and they've paid off 3 fold of what it cost me to get the passport ID card ($70). I'm still working towards the HM. As we get into the warmer seasons I know it's going to pick up so I'm looking forward to that. If you show you'll run, they'll get you running. The only problem is that when you are close to your home time they get you close a little prematurely and it will affect your miles. This is the biggest reason I stay out 4-5 weeks. It gives me plenty of time to run hard, and on my 3rd week I'll my DM I'd like a small load for the weekend coming so I can squeeze a 34 in and then run hard the last 2 weeks. My DM is great and works hard for me and is great at communicating too. Anyways, Melton is still great and a great company. I saw that they purchased a few Volvo's they are testing and WOW are they freaking nice on the inside. If they gave me a Volvo I'd probably never leave! HAHA They also purchased a few Freightliners too, but Melton is still predominantley KW.

Just to clarify a few things: hair folicle testing is not that bad. They just snip some hair and its tested. This is an incredibly accurate test and just goes to show how good Melton is and how far they're willing to go to weed the bad from the good.

Anyone have any questions? Stay safe out there drivers! And new drivers looking for a company, best of luck and stay safe too and always watch your mirrors.

 

You'll have to get the CDL on your own. However, once you have it they do train new drivers. I think it is 5-6 weeks with a trainer and then you get a truck.