SPD (Smokey Point Dist.)

I applied for the Wichita local job awhile back was approved and come to find out they pulled a current driver to do it. After I had told the wife... But Kayleigh(sp?) was very very nice and apologized for the situation which was out of her control. I almost went with the salary OTR Driving but still waiting for someone to give up the local job.... Could be awhile because this is a very good company.

 

That’s unfortunate. @catalinaflyer drives a desk in Wichita and I’m still probably classified as a regional Wichita driver. I’m happy here after almost 5 years, it’s not perfect but it’s #### good here.

 

I'll have you know I took an automatic Vulva this morning and went to get a Wellington trailer. You know, because it was 07:00 and the locals can't do it for the same reason we had the phone conversation about the last time when I had to take it down. Stand in my door and brag about your abilities then refuse to do something so trivial.........Never Mind, I'll do it myself!

 

Well to be fair before 7:00 am my abilities aren’t great! Haha

 

HAHA... Some things never change...

 

First, thanks for creating this thread. There has been a ton of good info throughout, and I thank all the contributors.

I've been looking at going back to flatbed after a couple of years hauling reefer, and SPD is hovering near the top of the list, along with Lone Star and possibly COTC. So far, I'm enjoying everything that I've read, have already spoken with a recruiter, etc, but I still have a couple of questions.

I have my passport/TWIC/hazmat endorsement. How often do loads go into Canada? I used to run up there quite a bit and am looking forward to going back.

Also, what are realistic numbers mileage-wise? I usually stay out 4 weeks at a time, going home for 3-4 days a month (get home on Thurs/Fri and leave out Sun/Mon). The numbers run by the recruiter for the SPP annual bonus system were at 130,000/yr, so a 2,500/wk average for all 52 weeks in a year. How feasible is that actually?

Also, what does the general orientation include? I read about the PTI and Road Test, but what else can I expect besides lots of paperwork? Any physical abilities test? Securement knowledge, HOS and routing testing? I'm just curious about what I'll be walking into for those four to five days.

Also, is there a tiered system for OD loads? I've hauled a handful of loads up to 10 feet in width, but nothing over length. I'm not looking to rush into super loads, but would like a general idea of the progression system.

Any information you guys can give would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

We’ve had quite a few drivers come over from COTC because they got tired of hauling lumber 90% of the time.

If you have your passport you can run a decent amount of Canada because most of our drivers can’t or won’t run Canada. My bread and butter has been running Canada since I started here so I’m not sure about a regular system driver.

Our top mileage Solo driver last year was around 135k I believe. In 2015 I ran 149k and 2016 ran 141k. I was an a regional run from Wichita to Ontario and Quebec every week. I’m confident I could do more then 135k if I went back to regular fright.

I’m 5 years removed from orientation but we did a short road test, filled out a bunch of paperwork, went over how everything is done here from dispatching to load paperwork, ect. Tarped and secured a single crate and that was it. No agility test, not securement or trip planning test.

We do have a progression system with oversize with different levels. 10w, 12w, 14w, and 16w/16h and above( what we call our superload drivers). There is a written test of permit knowledge that’s pretty easy to get you started, you may do that in orientation now. Then you must pull a few loads at each level with
No issues before progressing to the next level. I’m not sure how strict they are moving you up one level at a time.

I personally do a lot of stretch work and really enjoy that aspect. I don’t think that’s really factored into the od qualification system, they mainly focus on width.

I’ve been here 5 years now with the last 3 being part of the “special operations team” or the “wing team” also known as the “arrogant ########” by some of our coworkers, most of whom have never actually worked with us. We handle the 16-20 foot wide wings for a few customers, and haul some of the raw materials for those wings. The loads aren’t all oversize but most of them are, we also bounce around to cover some of the more delicate or complicated loads as needed.

Some of what I’ve hauled in the last year.

 

Thanks for the expedient and informative response. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, and I feel even more confident about the company than I already did.

One question I forgot to ask is about the trailers. I worked for a company before that had a bunch of trailers with winches in fixed positions, which made it a pain in the ### to secure certain loads, but the flatbed I see in one of your pictures has sliding winches all the way down. Is that the case for most of the flats and steps, or are there some that have the fixed position winches? It may seem petty to complain about winches, but having flexible equipment is pretty important.

Also, are all the trailers tandems instead of spreads? 48'? 53'?

Sorry for the barrage. I'm just trying to make as informed a decision as possible

Thank you again.

 

They want 9,900/month on miles under the SPP program. Works out to 118,800/year and anything over that is your bonus.

They keep track of the miles month to month but only pay your bonus based on what your miles were for a 12-month set. I did a bit over 124k miles my first year here... got a decent bonus check. Nothing to sing praises over but I was happy with it.



It’s definitely possible to do the miles for the bonus — it is however, a bonus, and many people do not reach the minimum.