Superior Carriers OTR job~ YES or NO?

All I can say is I drove tankers OTR in the mid-1990s for Matlack, and even back then Superior Carriers was a well-respected outfit.

I've seen some people post here that they tried to go with Superior but got turned down for lack of experience. Your local terminal might be hurting for drivers, which can be good if it means their freight is booming, or bad if it means drivers keep quitting. I'm sure someone with more current knowledge will be along to this board to chime in. In the meantime, you might want to try to talk to some drivers from the terminal you want to hire on to. Good luck.

 

I would go for it. The usual options for a CDL holder with no experience often have a bad rep and don't pay anywhere as much as you were offered. I'm on .36 per mile with no hope of getting anywhere close to that empty rate.

 

Go fer it

 

I am an OO with Superior Carriers. Drove for them 2.5 years as a company driver. I came on as an Entry Level Driver, having attended a Refresher Course (not in a road tractor for approx 6 years previous and then only had completed the training phase with Prime out of Springfield MO) specified by my Terminal Manager. Some terminals may not have Trainers/a training program for Entry Level Drivers. I am not sure about the one in Oregon. I believe that is a very new terminal. I went through the full training process with Superior and as you are referring to, that is the money to be made. After being required to stay local/regional for 6 months (terminals operate somewhat independently and often have differing rules), my first year OTR solo I made $68,502 having driven 106,000 paid miles. Divide the gross pay by paid miles driven and you'll make over $.60 per mile. Some make more per year, some less, depending on willingness to work lots of days or less. All otr company drivers, new to the company and old, make the same exact pay! A huge benefit to the new driver, like you, Fede671! Superior is an excellent company to haul for! Sure, not perfect with frustrations along the way, but top notch overall!

 

What year was your first year?

 

Into 2014 began my first year OTR

 

Wow that's great I'm hoping to start with them soon I knew they made decent money but I was expecting about 10k less than that figure

 

If earning "10k less than that figure" would be satisfactory for you, lagging, that would give you some really decent time off through the course of the year!

 

Superior does not have a policy like possibly some other companies do (Schneider?? - You run so many days out and then get just so many days off)! Sure, they want your tractor active, however, your time off schedule is yours - within reason. If you need more time off than just a few days, I believe most terminals will allow you to take them off. And they're really good about getting drivers home when there is an emergency... at home.

After one year of employment you get 10 days of paid vacation. My parents are elderly, 1000+ miles away from my home terminal and needed me there at times. My Operations Manager said I could take as much time off as I needed (though it wasn't spoken, it was assumed that this was within reason). I took time off beyond my vacation pay which became unpaid time off. This was not a problem! I don't know how other companies work by experience because I'd never been employed by another company beyond the training phase, however, I think that Superior is much more driver friendly than many companies out there!

And regarding your question about APUs on trucks, Fede671, NO company trucks have APUs. Idling tractors is not an issue. Idle as much as you comfortably need. Some guys never turn their trucks off. This I don't like and many others, incl some management personnel don't either, however, there is not a policy statement regarding not idling, that I know of.

The bottom line is this, Fede671, if Superior will accept you as an Entry Level Driver, the hoops you will need to jump through (incl attending a Superior Approved Refresher Course - in your case, I believe. Chances are you did not earn your CDL from an approved training facility. That was my case and Superior required me to go to not just any Refresher Course but to a school approved by them) are worth the price you will pay to become a company otr driver!!