Anybody Work For Saia?

Discussion in 'LTL and Local Delivery Trucking Forum' started by Lotsa Bellyfat, May 28, 2024.

  1. FLHT

    FLHT Road Train Member

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    Pretty much covers most carriers..
     
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  3. KaoMinerva

    KaoMinerva Transcendent God

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    I believe so but man how are you supposed to stay awake at night without the cb and phone lol
     
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  4. Lotsa Bellyfat

    Lotsa Bellyfat Light Load Member

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    It seems that most of you guys don’t think too highly of Saia. Interesting that a couple of you mentioned Estes as being a better place; given the choice, would Estes really be the better than Saia? I just had interviews at both Saia as well as Estes this week. Both are in the background check stage.
     
  5. MACK E-6

    MACK E-6 Moderator Staff Member

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    Saia may pay better. Saia may have nicer equipment. But I personally couldn’t take the culture there.

    There are a few members who work there and seem to like it. I can’t remember their names though or I’d summon them.
     
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  6. Lotsa Bellyfat

    Lotsa Bellyfat Light Load Member

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    Thanks for that, Mack. Can you be a bit more specific by what you meant as “culture” at Saia? I’m guessing that you mean all the cameras and surviellance and such. When I toured the dock at Saia with the terminal manager during my interview, he made a point of showing me all the cameras everywhere, and I do mean everywhere… every single square inch of that dock was easily viewed from several angles at any given time. There must have been 15 or 20 “eyes in the sky”, ( barn only has 24 doors) and I do believe they are audio capable as well. I’m also reading on some other forums how the drivers are constantly harrangued by all the onboard safety cameras and alarms, as well as the resulting safety reprimands that follow. Is this an accurate description of Saia? Could it be that some terminals are worse (or better) than others?
    I do like the fact that Saia has shifts that work great for me.. 5:30 AM start and home everyday as opposed to overnights and away 5 days a week at Estes.
    My “gut” feeling is that Estes might be the better choice, but I’ve deceived myself more than once in the past when it comes down to making a correct decision.
     
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  7. MACK E-6

    MACK E-6 Moderator Staff Member

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    I would put Saia in about the same league as Walmart. I’m personally too “cowboy” to be able to stand working for either one.

    My other pet peeve is the odious concept of multiple board seniority, the most notorious offender being FedWrex, but most companies do this stupid #### too some degree. I’m just grateful to work for one that doesn’t. The idea of punishing someone for the crime of attempting to improve his lot in life chafes my butt to no end.
     
  8. McUzi

    McUzi Road Train Member

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    That was the way it was when I worked there. At the time if you knew how the camera worked you could pretty reliably get away with it. Although, I think they moved from Lytx to Samsara cameras for the AI capabilities, so if that was the case I wonder how difficult it would have been to fool.
     
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  9. brtecson

    brtecson Medium Load Member

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    I worked for saia for 10+ years and quit because of the micromanagement. The final straw was being told I got a "retraining" writeup for not braking hard enough after getting cut off, nevermind my million miles and ten year safe driving records lol. YmMV though, as some terminals are waaay better than others. And they're more strict when they're overstaffed and less strict when they're understaffed. If you're getting hired into a 530am start time, theyre probably understaffed there.. care to share what terminal you've interviewed at?

    I'm not trying to talk you out of working there, because you can a great living working there. But if you'd get annoyed by having someone look over your shoulder at all times, you wont last long.
     
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  10. jtaran06

    jtaran06 Road Train Member

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    I'm about to try it out for a linehaul spot. It's either that or stay doing what I'm doing until R&L opens the new terminal by me. If I stay doing what I'm doing I don't think I'll make it till next summer. If they suck that bad I just have to tuff it out for a bit.
     
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  11. viper822004

    viper822004 Medium Load Member

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    I used to work there. They micromanage you if you do local P&D. They don’t let you do overtime and call you on your way to work to not come in because you have too many hours. They write you up for every single little thing you don’t do correctly. Had a buddy that left after I did and he said they kept getting worse.

    Linehauls guys can’t get close to other trucks on the road to pass. If you ever see them trying to pass they’re like half a mile away on the left lane hoping you will be courteous and slow down so they can pass. Lol.
     
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