Any info on N & M Expedited?

First let me say that i drive for N&M out of neenah. I am not in their Expedited division. I am an LTLer and have driven for them for 14 years. What i can tell you is that All of their equipment is New (expedited trucks) and well maintained. the work atmosphere is very close to Excellent. all driving jobs have quirks about them.they provide all drivers and expect them to wear uniforms. they provide all drivers with Nextel phone service. i know that most expedited drivers are on call but there are regular drivers that i see at the terminal everymorning. i could not tell you about the pay because the N&M drivers are paid differently. i am on miles and stop and inside delivery pay and considering i work local, i do rather well. (real well!) you can pm me if you need some specific info. when it comes to jobs, im know for moving around so the fact that ive been here for 14 years means something. there is not much of a turnover here. it takes years to get on a Bid run.

 

I am a former N&M transfer driver (their original LTL company) and I also switched over and drove for their expedited division for a while after it started (I believe it started in 06 but not 100% on that). I left the company 1 year ago so my information is not completely up to date however I can tell you both sides of the story with N&M. I can tell you transfer drivers are paid different than expedited, transfer makes quite a bit more however if you play your cards right expedited can make a decent living (I put myself through college on their expedited wages). It may have changed recently but starting out expedited drivers made .30 per mile while transfer drivers made .35 per mile. Expedited was paid a flat $7 per stop (drop and hook is counted as 2 stops for $14) transfer drivers made more, I forget the exact amount now. The benefit of being an expedited driver; if the transfer company is busy they will call you in to cover transfer loads, or especially when driving a semi you could usually get a back haul which meant extra stop pay by picking up a transfer load. When I was doing it if expedited didn't have any loads for me I would call the transfer dispatcher for whatever area I was in and let them know how many pallet spots I had available on the trailer, often it was an easy way to pick up an extra 5-6 stops (you do the math with pay per stop). They seemed to be heavy in the long hauls during the summer months and slower during the winter, transfer division had the same cycle really being busy during summer and slow during winter. Exception being a slight freight increase around holidays. N&M is the only company I have driven for so I can't rate them compared to other companies however I would say they are fairly true in what they state they will do for you. Only real recommendations I have; unless you really need the benefits go part time for expedited. I got just as many hours working part time as the full timers got but full timers are victim of forced dispatch; as a part timer I could decline a load because I didn't feel like getting out of bed (not saying that's what you will do but being able to pick and choose for your own reasons is a big key). Full time expediters really are on call 24/7 which really ruins any life you might hope to have. The $700-900 per week they quoted you sounds a touch on the high side from when I was there but it is possible (not likely due to the economy) that they are busier than they were when I was there.

I have absolutely nothing against N&M, the only reason I left is that I went into a completely unrelated line of work (now thinking about getting back into a truck), however in the NE Wisconsin area there are other companies that are worth looking into. Years ago people chose to work for N&M even though they paid less than other LTL companies because the benefits were second to none, when the economy started it's downward spiral the first thing to get cut at N&M was some of the benefits. They still have fairly decent ones from what I recall however they are not what they used to be. As far as I know N&M is the only non-union LTL carrier in the valley. Union shops pay more per hour but also have their downfalls. A majority of N&M drivers are paid based on miles & stops which is good and bad; when you're busy and if you work hard your hourly rate can be sky high, the downside is that its much harder to plan as there's no steady paycheck. I truly enjoyed my time at N&M and to be completely honest I do not remember what it was that made my decision to change careers. You can't go wrong working for them, just thought I would make sure you knew the ups and the downs. If hubby is an experienced class A driver he can probably eventually switch over to the transfer division which is much more lucrative on all levels and still be home every night.

One last note about N&M; the owner(s) Tom (the true owner) and Kevin (his son that really runs the company) seem to rule with an iron fist and refuse to spend any unnecessary money however drivers from many companies agree that because of how tight they are with their money if/when the economy really gets bad N&M drivers will be the last in the midwest still on the road. They will do what it takes to keep the wheels turning.