Is it true about Saia and OD?

You can't judge how well a company pays by the car people drive to work. The smartest people I know drive older cheap cars to work.

 

Of course they are ... It couldn't possibly be that some drivers choose to driver older vehicles and put more away for retirement, or that some company decisions aren't made on how pretty the building looks. Unfortunately some places where service centers are located are actually where logistics can be carried out - this includes sometimes being in major cities where ... sometimes bad people congregate.

 

i can relate. i park my 20 year old jeep cherokee between new trucks all the time - ford duallys, nissan titans, new silverados etc. most diesels of course, because who doesn’t need a $70k diesel truck that makes 500hp/900ft lb to drive back and forth to work. what’s funny is my jeep is lifted 2” sitting on 30” tires and is impossible to see from any angle except straight on. trucks are huge now.

 

Well, if one is pushing their 14 each night and actually getting compensated properly for it, then I don't see anything wrong with that. Those high, $100k/year numbers seem quite enticing for those of us trying to make short work of current bills that need to be paid off. Throttle down to something less tedious later once that task has been completed.
I'm out here pushing my 14 every night/day with the current outfit and I'm back down to what some long-haul/irregular route otr guy makes in a good week. Got to make that change soon before it all goes.....POOP.

 

Only bad thing I keep hearing about as far as ODFL goes is the disciplinary actions taken for the slightest mistake made. Sounds harsh to others, but for the pay everyone is supposedly making over there, it doesn't sound too different from my experiences with Ruan.
I was gunning for a position in Albuquerque for awhile, but after a couple of drives back and forth to there, it seems to have lost steam ever since they decided to bring on some transfers from another terminal as opposed to someone off the street. I even turned down a relocation to a further linehaul position with ODFL in Commerce City for a possible hire in Albuquerque.
After several months, it appear a far flung, relocation is no longer avoidable if I want to get things paid off.
Sleep in the pickup truck when I'm not working perhaps? Those 303 area sticker shocks with the rents are no joke.

 

best way is to rent a room up here in California east (colorado). Hell, you're a truck driver, you aren't home anyway. Lots of people renting rooms (for what an entire apartment should rent for, but still) that's a much better deal than a whole place.

Ping me if you get closer to relo'ing here and I"ll tell you if an area is rich and vibrant or worth living in. (and some places are just very difficult to commute from/to)

 

Honestly, I've never seen any of this harsh discipline that some people talk about. No doubt management styles vary from one terminal to another, but I haven't personally witnessed anything excessive.

From what little I've seen, the folks that get called onto the carpet bring their troubles upon themselves. Once in a while someone needs an attitude check or tries to cover up a minor incident, which makes it much worse for them in the long run.

Expectations are generally about the same as any other company I've worked for, and working conditions are better than most. I came over from one of Ruan's flatbed accounts (thumbs down, fart noise). I won't do 3rd party logistics ever again. That was a special kind of nightmare I don't intend to repeat.

 

Yeah, as Naptown mentioned, it really seems to depend on who's sitting in the linehaul manager's seat. I will say that I know of 5 drivers who were canned in the past 6 months because of accidents, all of which appealed, and got their jobs back. All of the accidents were reactions to other drivers who were at fault. What I don't understand is why management / corporate is willing to terminate, only to hire again after an appeal process. It's not like the facts of each particular incident changed. Not sure if this is an insurance thing or what, but in the meantime drivers are out of a paycheck until they get their jobs back. If you're willing to hire a driver back, why terminate to begin with? I know all 5 drivers personally - this isn't rumor mill.

 

But then again, you got companies like mine. 80 hours a week is quite achievable