My time at saia so far

Are the trucks at SAIA manuals or automatics? I haven’t driven a manual since school 7/8 years ago! That road test probably wouldn’t go very well. Lol any information from you guys would be a big help.

 

Manual trans are pretty rare at saia.. all tractors 2013 and newer are automatic

 

Would it be worth applying or would you wait a few more years? I know it sounds ridiculous but I’m not trying to put myself or the employer in a bad spot.

 

Why you want to wait few more years for? Apply right now and also give a shot to other ltl companies.

 

It wouldnt hurt to apply and be honest with the guy.

 

I just got on with Saia about six months ago, you obviously have the sufficient amount of years and experience they are looking for, I would apply and just be honest with them, if they are interested in you, you should get a phone interview first, then a in person interview with either a terminal manager or operations manager, if they like what they see, you will fill out paperwork and authorize them to run a background on you, they will then schedule you for a road test, road test will be done by the P&D trainer most likely, trainers vary but the guy that did mine was mainly concerned with the fact that I could drive, I did have to take the test in a manual transmission however, but depending on the terminal you are applying with maybe they won't have manual trucks, just be prepared if they do, if you pass the road test then they will send you down for drug test and physical (they won't accept your current physical, they want you to have a new one done), after that it's just a waiting game, you will also sign a offer letter from them (the pay rate you are accepting) I can't remember though if I signed that before I passed background or after, hope this helps, and yeah don't wait, apply and see what happens.

 

just curious about a few things about SAIA. Do you get an assigned tractor? I don't 'smoke', per se, but I vape ALOT when I drive...would that be allowed? Also, do you always stay in a hotel or do you have to stay at a terminal's 'bunk house'? Thank you.

 

As stated in page 27 of the Saia employee manual, use of tobacco products in all company owned or leased vehicles is prohibited, there is nothing about vaping, but I am not about to say vaping is green lighted there either, I can only use the terminal I am at as a example, trucks are assigned to runs, so I guess you can say the driver assigned to that run makes that truck their assigned truck, for the most part us couple of systems drivers have our own assigned trucks too, but it's a small terminal with enough trucks to allow that, bigger terminals might be a different story, I have only gone to one terminal with bunk rooms on a regular basis and they have never pushed the bunk rooms, I always go to the hotel, hope this helps.

 

I too am a CPAP user. One thing I would like to mention. Now that it's on your record it is extremely important that you use it. As you have found out, you will now have to get a new DOT Medical Card every 12 months. When you go in for that physical, you will need to show your CPAP compliance. They are usually looking for your compliance record for the past 30 days. There is a SIM card in the back of most modern CPAP machines...you can remove it and download the compliance report online to take with you to the doctor. Good luck driver and I'm glad you got the CPAP since you obviously needed one.

 

yeah it does! Thank you...I didn't have time to read this whole thread....I know most companies are getting away from tobacco use(burns in seat/stains on seat/etc), which makes perfect sense to me. I don't mind using a bunk house, but I'd prefer(just me) a hotel. If a camera is on my doing my job, so be it(I've worked at warehouses where cameras were on you and never bothered me), I just don't want to 'live' in a truck and have one on me, since when I go 'off duty/sleeper' I like my privacy! Being in a hotel, I can have that. As far as 'assigned trucks go' I had a brief stint in LTL and most scheduled runs had their own trucks! I was meaning more the 'system guys' or 'OTR', if you will. OD does slip-seat on all those guys, which I think kind of sucks, moving in and out every week, which is why I want to work my way to schedule and be home way more often and get a truck I KNOW, has been taken care of. Thank you for responding, quickly!