Great Plains Transport - A company that cares about drivers... NO BS.

Sounds like helwig got the "big company" mentality. I can say despite a lot of things I went through when this company split from holland it's gotten way better, the more time the people in the company get to know me and I get to know them it's still getting better. My only regret right now is I didn't check out this company a few years earlier than I did. I also had a tough time choose between this one and holland since at the time both companies were tied together. Ultimately I chose this one due to its being a smaller more personable place, and a bit more laid back. No cameras here(although if a driver chooses they can run their own), if something needs to be fixed on the truck or trailer it gets fixed whether it's on the road or in the shop, and if i need to get a hold of the office it's only a phone call away. We do have one night guy who handles emergency and OS&D issues and he gets right on it, though I do advise calling him only if it's urgent. Or if I message him on the QC (I recommend that method better) he gets right back. And there's none if the opti-stop micromanaging. They do give you a route to follow but the pay miles get really close to it. Other than that you get to choose where and when to fuel as long as it's a loves first or TA second. There's no hand holding. As far as I know it's not forced chain-up here but if you have experience and can do it without tearing something up then it's more of an advantage. When I came on i had no chaining experience at all and still haven't so far(except for a failed "practice-chaining" last winter)", though I was told if you want and there is time the guy running in the shop will give you a quick crash-course(no pun intended) in it.

I have a feeling Donner is going to be a bit of an obstacle on this run,,,it's supposed to get bad up there this Saturday night through Sunday morning, and with holiday traffic? Buhhhhhhh... Fortunately they gave me until Monday afternoon to get into my delivery near SF.

 

Sometimes I do that...just depends on what load or route I'm running.

 

I spoke with Kevin/recruiter and he answered all my questions and told me he'd rent me a car to get to orientation from Pennsylvania so I could bring all I needed to have in truck. I never thought that would be an option,I can't stand a bus ride and this would be the best way to eliminate alot of hassle for sure!

 

yep the last 6 months barely 2100-2400 miles a week

 

Jeez I have never had a week that low on miles excluding coming off of home time. I am always getting paid for between 3 and 4 thousand each week. I had a 4600 mile week once but that cut the next week down to 3000 on the low end for me.

P.s. my English is horrible

 

Just to be clear you are talking about JS Helwig, I was there 3 years and in the top 5% of drivers till I tinkled in someones cherios, and the most miles I ever got in a 7 day period was 4350 because you can only log 4375 in a 65 by time got back to yard had 6mins on 70 and only picked up 2.5....Mr Whiteside told me time for 34......Are you at Helwig or Holland....

 

Great plains. The extra miles usually comes from a different week. Or a carry over trip from previous week. Just saying i seem to be getting good miles here at gpt. I am not talking about 7 day period. I am talking about trips paying each week. Sometimes a trip doesn't get turned in.

 

I didn't see anything with that kind of miles beenout here awhile I know how the trips can fall sometimes, just want a company that does not babysit you everyday and either Holland or GPT are sounding better and better

 

No babysitting here at gpt. I hammered out around 14,000 miles last month, it'll be a bit less this month because of my vacation. They've been running me good so far.

Donner Pass almost threw me for a loop on this load. I got as far as imlay nv last night , shut down and checked the caltrans site for any info on conditions through Donner. It was closed at the state line and again twice this morning. I headed out towards Reno and that area was a slushy mess, and jumped into the petro figuring if I got stuck there for the night it would still only be a 6 hour drive into Santa Cruz. So I went in, got cleaned up and checked caltrans again...Donner was cleaned up and open!! Pretty surprising considingbthe pounding that place got last night and today. I hammered out of Reno and fought holiday traffic into an old place in Sacramento.... managing to find few spots still open....what a deal. Now it's a shorter drive and I put the mountains behind me.

 

One other nice thing here a Great Plains,,, if you are out on the road on thanksgiving, the turkey dinner is on them....