Multiple Mention Thread

I work for Roehl and have no problems with them to speak of. Search around on the forums, and you'll see my comments scattered about on this carrier.

 

He's right about "cleaning up" the incompetence of planning and Dispatchers.

If you run illegal, it's your butt. If you don't then it's short trips with a lot of stops, then nothing for a day, but not enough to pay layover.

If you find a defect that, if inspected by DOT would put you out of service and the company then orders you to drive to a terminal instead of getting it repaired where you are, then the company puts you on probation or even fires you for driving an "unsafe" truck per their instructions. Worse yet, there is nothing you can do about it.

Then they wonder why they can't keep drivers.......

 

I was fired for 'workplace violence', had three months shy of twenty-five years there. but it was a favor, still have nightmares about that place.

 

I work for Werner, and I used to pull the Dollar General. When I did it all the freight was hand unload. Boxes were put onto rollers and sent down to the store employees. As I understand it now, most if not all the Dollar General trailers have lift gates on the back and all the product is preloaded at the dc into carts. When you get to the store you roll the cart onto the lift gate, lower it to the ground, and voila-done. You probably have to reload empty carts to take back to the dc.

My biggest prolem with Dolar General was not getting hometime as promised. I was out of the Ardmor, OK dc, lived in the Dallas Metroplex area, and got home about every 3 weeks. From what I heard, when the holiday shopping season starts, kiss that hometime goodbye. Now, that's just hear-say but I would be cautious were I you.

If you live in North Alabama ask a Werner recruiter about the Jimmy Dean account or the Sara Lee account. Both reefer accounts but reefers are easy to deal wth once you figure them out.

Good luck.

 

Hope it works out .My experience with flatbeds is not to do it again.No fun tarping/untarping in the rain snow,or when it`s 100f.Guess I`m a wimp now at 52.It`s nice to bump the dock,watch them unload,then drive off.But that`s just me.

 

How about it drivers, anyone have any personal experience with either of these companies? They both move a lot of freight here in MI, so they have some decent opportunities available.

Thanks!:smt100

 

I see the Buske guys around, but can't say a word about them, pro or con. Equipment seems to be maintanied well, in that I don't see them broken down enough to register in my mind, but that's about it.

As for the Tandem guys, I have talked to some of them, since I have looked at their tractors carefully and they are prtty close to my own requirements for a truck when I buy one. So I have asked how they run and how they pull, and in doing so have talked to a reasonable number of their drivers. And they are homebased in Michigan City, In, which is my ancestral stomping ground.

They are strictly a flatbed hauler, doing a lot of building materials. Most of the equipment is F/L sleepers, pulling spread axle flats. The equipment is lite weight, so no big engines, instead they lean towards M-11/ISM Cummins. About half of their loads look to be tarped. They have the home terminal in Indiana, a couple of terminals around Mi, including one in the north below the bridge, and I believe they have 2 out of the area terminals, down in the south. A check of their website should answer the exact locations.

The drivers seem happy, and I have not seen any signs of the equipment being unsafe. They must have a fairly decent training for securement, because the loads look to be tied properly, and the one time i saw a tarp really poorly applied and coming loose, I called their 800 number and told them, and a little while later I passed the guy retarping the load. (We had a scale coming up shortly, so i saved him some trouble.)

On occasion, they do tend to pull full weight loads, and they run 2 separate load boards for dispatch, wiht the Mi City board going up to 50k. So you would have to know how to load and balance out your weights.

Not too bad of an outfit. I can;t say anything about hometime or their running patterns, but they are worth taking a look at.

 

I've been searching through the various message boards to try and get any information I can on Southern Refrigerated and Marten. I've been pre-hired by both and am trying to decide which one to go with. My ideal run would be to the west coast or southwest and back and I would prefer to stay south rather than north. I know as a new driver with either company I'll have to put up with some nasty runs before getting settled, but do either of these companies typically run the longer distances? SRT said 1200 miles ave., while Marten said 800-1200 but since most recruiters lie like rugs I'd like to know something firsthand.
Thanks

 

Thanks Burky- your thoughts seem to echo what I knew. Tandem's drivers (the few i have come across) do seem happy- as for hometime, after a two week securement training period (which could last as little as 1 week, depending on how quick I pick it up) then I would be home on weekends.
Pay starts at 38.5 cpm, with bonuses adding an additional 1-4 cpm per annum.