Any new information on saia trucking?

Got a pal that runs line haul for saia out of Omaha and was absorbed into the system from the buyout of Clark bros.
He consistently knocks down at least 80k a year but due to micro management , cameras, no Cb and no phone use even with a headset he hates his job .
I bailed from Clark bros . When saia bought them and initially regretted it ...but not now !!!

 

Wish you well ...I'll take happiness over money .

 

You can make the same or better money than that at ODFL and Estes and not have to deal with the nonsense rules and driver facing cameras. Their safety department is ultra aggressive. They hand out suspensions for the tiniest infractions, real or perceived. I worked there for a year, ran into a lot of not so pleasant people when it came to TMs and dispatchers. I think there is a lot of pressure in the management side to get good numbers, the pressure seems tot turn people into jerks, and the only people they can take that out on is drivers.

Maybe its changed since i was there, that was several years ago,and they had a real problem with losing drivers once they installed the driver facing cameras and the way they handled discipline. Lot of guys with seniority left, were talking 20+ year guys.

In any case it would still be step up from what you are doing now, if its your only option go for it.

 

That phone can actually be a safety device, though. As a linehaul driver, talking to fellow drivers has helped me to avoid construction and accident delays, know about bad road conditions from snow and ice ahead of time, and maintain consciousness when I was struggling. I didn’t hardly have the time or desire to use it when I was on P&D, but now it can be a godsend out on the road at night. I'm glad I work at a company that doesn't punish me for using it.

 

Oh for petes sake here we go again, oh the no phones, and cameras in the trucks, and you are going to get suspended at the drop of a hat, oh the humanity , you guys are funny, actually OP there is SOME merit to what these guys are saying, but SAIA isn't that bad, sounds like they are paying more back east than out here in the west, .66cpm is our top scale out here soon to be .68cpm according to the inside expert gossip hounds here at SAIA, I don't believe anything till I see it ,one thing I will say is locations vary on how strict they are running things, overall from what I see the goal here is to keep drivers not get rid of them, been here over a year and have yet to have a camera coaching, yes I have been written up, it was deserved and my fault, however they also have had my back on other issues , if you go to work for them the main things are, do your job, be honest, if you ####ed up own it and tell them, they don't like liars, and don't be a ### kiss, they don't like that either, don't complain and try not to turn down any runs if you are on systems, if you can build that kind of reputation with your terminal management and central dispatch, you will be good and they will work you, you may even luck out and start out with bid run and at top scale, such was the case with another member on here, as far as I know he has done well with it, hope this helps.

 

You actually hit on something though, I have only been here little over a year, but I have already been to alot of different terminals, it seems like the terminals that are ran well and are dialed in so to say ,the management is for the most part pleasant ,easy to talk to and work with, but if it's a terminal that is let's say not quite up to par, that's where I come across the jerks, I lucked out as far as my terminal even region for that matter, overall I am happy here.

 

Glad I left Estes for Saia. Went from extraboard to a great bid run at top scale.