Cargo Transporters Claremont, NC

I like Clayton. He's a good guy. Easy to talk to. I think he'll be pretty good.

 

So last day at Cargo. Got my truck cleaned out and just pulled into Claremont. I never realized how much junk I had in my truck. But it is cleaned out so they shouldn't complain too much. Just gotta wait on the wife to drive the hour and a half to come get me.

 

I know 2 drivers who left last week and 3 this week including one who quit today. It's a mass exodus! To make matters worse, these are long time drivers who have been with Cargo a little while. Myself almost 3 years and three of the others drivers over 5 years.

 

*******MY FINAL THOUGHTS*******

First let me say I'm not a disgruntled employee. I started this thread to give honest insight to my time at Cargo Transporters. I hold no grudge against the company or anyone else. After almost 3 years at the company I have come to know a lot of good people. I have also come to know a lot about the company and the way things are done. You will see drivers here talk up or talk down CT based on less than a year with the company. I feel you need at least a year to really get to know how any company really operates. In my opinion Cargo has a better reputation than it deserves. To be a company who claims to be all about the driver, They put the drivers under a lot of burden. For example making drivers who live FAR from Claremont park the truck at Claremont when taking vacation. In my case it was a 420 mile round trip my wife had to make each time I took a vacation. This places an undue burden on the drivers and their family. They say it is because they may need to loan your truck. I call BS! They have a yard FULL of trucks. there is no reason they need yours.
They hold "Round table" meetings once per month on Wednesday for drivers to voice opinions. They have free lunch for these meetings. Funny thing is very few drivers get to attend these meetings as 95% are on the road in the middle of the week. I attended ONE meeting in almost 3 years. You will see very few drivers at those meetings. It's basically a free monthly lunch for the office staff and the shop guy's. If they want to do something for drivers why not have it on a Friday when lots more drivers could be there? Or simply give out $10 gift cards to drivers for a lunch at a restaurant?
Asking drivers to drop empties without pay. I don't know how many times I've had arguments with other drivers about this. They say "My dispatcher pays me to drop an empty." Look on your check and show me where you were paid for it!
Low miles.... I hear many people say it's the price you pay to be home on the weekend. BS! I know people who are home every weekend and get 2500 to 3000 per week! The lack of a terminal where it's needed most! All the freight that they run to New England there is no good reason they don't have a terminal or at least a drop yard for drivers to rest and stage loads given the parking situation in the north. This is poor foresight on the part of management. Detention pay can be like an act of congress depending on the dispatcher. There are many small things CT could do to make a better experience for the driver. There are also some positive things to say about CT. Pay is accurate. Pay scale is fairly good for a non union carrier. At 39 cpm CT is unbeatable for those looking for a starter company. Trucks are well maintained and the shop is great about fixing anything that goes wrong.
Cargo is not the greatest company in the world like they claim. There is lots of room for improvement. But they are certainly not the bottom of the pit. You can do better than CT if you are an experienced driver. However you could also do much worse.