McElroy Truck Lines - Cuba, Al.

notarps4me, I appreciate the reply. I don't believe i will need to go into a training program. I have been running flats for quite a few years although, a lot of that would not be considered otr. But I will check and see. I will keep your friend in mind if training is in the future. I have owned trucks in the past but went local to raise my family. After all these years I still have that craving to be on the road. Hopefully things will work out. Thanks, joe.

 

McElroy is still taking students, thank God. I spoke with Wendy today and she needed my university numbers to verify "work" history. Said she couldn't tell me for sure but that Diane had put Feb 2nd as my orientation date and the app looked good!

I'm sweating bullets. This would be SO much better than Werner even at its worst.

Is overheard still around or with them?

 

No problem. I called overheard the other day. He said they were doing orientations again, so they must be hiring again.

 

Whatever the miles say on the Qualcomm is what McElroy agrees to pay you for the load. Not many Bills of Lading state paid miles although some do, of course. While I admit that I have had a few runs that do take a few more miles to complete than what they say they will pay me for, generally speaking it is pretty darn close, and no where near the 600 or so miles difference of which you refer.

Usually when I get a load (to pick up or deliver) to someplace I have never been, I do a combination of three things:

#1)Check the routing/directions McElroy provides (if any)
#2)See what routes the GPS unit says to take ("fastest" NOT "shortest")
#3)Then pull out the handy dandy Rand McNally to see the route.

Between those three things I can usually stay fairly close (miles wise) to what I am being paid. One thing I appreciate is that McElroy has never given me any grief about "out of route miles" ever. Remember, you have the choice to stay on the "big roads" for safety sake and then you end up driving more than the paid miles. Also, you will almost always end up driving over the paid miles because we can only fuel at Pilot now, and there is only one in WV (for example) and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to find a place to park for the night.

As for Proctor runs, I know for a fact that a lot of guys absolutely HATE I-68 and I-79 so they will run I-70 all the way across and that is going to put you over every time.

Anyway, I assume you too work and sleep in the "red roof inn", so if you think you are being "shorted" on some runs, call your dispatcher and see what they say. I have done it once when I found a seriously wrong number and it was fixed immediately.

Best wishes!

 

FNLOU88 are they keeping you moving or are you getting a lot of 'me' time lately?

Would you rate your job satisfaction pretty high, at least for the things that can be controlled right now?

 

I did a little bit of sitting Monday morning and I came home empty this afternoon (Friday) after dropping my load at Pleasant Hill. Other than that, they kept me running all week.

I think it's pretty clear from my previous posts that I am generally happy working at McElroy. It's not a "bed of roses" and I am NOT a "recruiter" by any means. I have had my fair share of "sitting" and I will not lie to you at all - November and December SUCKED! But that wasn't McElroy's fault, ALL freight has been down in this economy. Here is one tidbit that I think speaks volumes about McElroy - when freight got really bad, they instituted a "minimum pay" for us. They guranteed that no matter what - whether you had no runs, one run or anything else - you would get paid at least $200 bucks a week. Now that doesn't pay a mortgage or anything, but think about it like this:

#1)They were under NO OBLIGATION to pay drivers to sit at home due to lack of freight and
#2)It allowed those of us with families to be able to keep our group insurance in force while we weathered the storm.

They even sent out Christmas Cards with gift cards in them while many other companies in America were closing down and laying people off!

So, if you want to work your ### off, freeze to death in the winter, sweat to death in the summer, and generally put in 14 hour days for five days a week - become a flat bed trucker LOL!

Seriously though, in this economy, I'm just glad to have a job and insurance man. In my opinion, you could do a WHOLE LOT WORSE than McElroy, but there will always be those who differ. Welcome to the internet

 

Thanks for the answer. That sounds about right. I'm hoping to start with them very soon.

Do they actually have any weekend work if you were to opt to work on some weekends? Or are all their customers closed on weekends?

Thanks man.

 

....one thing you should know about McElroy man, they are SERIOUSLY NOT into "weekend work". Mr. McElroy and his boys own the company and they are "Seventh Day Adventists". Do a google search if you want to know more about that, but suffice to say that "Saturday" is their "Sabbath Day". Mr McElroy does NOT want his trucks or his drivers runnng on the "day of rest" if you get my meaning.

Weekends are for your 34 hour restart unless circumstances deem utherwise. I have been with them now almost a year and a half and the ONLY weekend I was away from home was my first week in the truck down in Cuba AL and they didn't have freight to get me home from there.

If you are away from home on ANY weekend you get $100, and trust me, they DON'T want to pay you that $100 if you are just sitting away from home.

Best Wishes!

 

mcelroy is a great company

 

Yeah I know all about it. I remember when I was about 10, I lived with my father but my mother went through a brief 2-year stint as one of those. Very creepy time from the outside looking in.

I was just hoping he was like a lot of other Christians or Jews that make convenient alterations to the intent of certain messages in order to profit lol. Thanks for the heads up.

Do they keep a reasonable separation otherwise or do they make attempts to convert you or scope out your belief system?