Averitt Express

In my experience they like to hire drivers and they like to hire new college grads for any office position. The office types out of college don't have any bad habits. They learn the Averitt way from day 1.

 

@tscottme Thank you for you for being so open. It's comments like yours that are very helpful when it comes to us new guys trying to choose a company.

I've made less than $30,000 a year for the last 6 years so averitt will be a huge pay increase for me.

My main reason for going there is the benefits. I've got a rare blood condition that requires very frequent treatment, I need good health insurance.

 

Urine only, i did it in July!

 

Yes

 

For years our health insurance was Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Maybe 5-6 years ago they switched to Cigna. I was paying something around $100/mo single. When I used it, I was happy with it. Mostly I just tried to stay away from doctors. The only guy senior to me on my account that was there when I left had 2 or more heart attacks over the years. I think he was staying because who is going to hire a 50 year old with multiple heart attacks. Averitt isn't like many companies that will fire employees if they use their insurance.

Everything I saw and experienced at the company showed me they really try very hard to be a good place to work and a ruthlessly competitive trucking company. They don't compete on cheap rates. They usually charge a little extra but provide what you pay them for. I usually made $42-$48k. The higher amount was working 6 day weeks EVERY week of the year that wasn't a holiday. And at the same time I was making the higher amount I was putting 13% in my 401k. So the $48k might have been take home pay while making $18.50-19.00 per hour. I also used my seniority to get a schedule that was 8-10 hours, not 10-12 hours per day like many drivers wanted. I would have been happy just working the 4 day weeks as they did when I first started in '99. Our account was lower pay than most other dedicated accounts and hopefully what OTR/Regional would make. The management is positive and concerned about how employees are doing. I might have stayed if I could have worked less, but the truth is I probably needed a change no matter what. Every driver I worked with could complain like a real truck driver, but 50% of the drivers on the account had been with Avrt Nissan for 5 years or more. Some people, like me, are happy to complain about ways it could be better. Not REALLY complaining, if you know what I mean.

The one thing I hear from OTR types is you empty as early as customer opens, then sit around for hours waiting for a backhaul, THEN start driving again. That is 1 reason why I'm not recommending them for OTR drivers, and my nearest terminal (Nashville) doesn't seem to be able to get drivers more than 1500 miles per week. I don't even know OTR pay, it never ever interested me. I wish EVERY company was like Avrt, very well organized, IMO. YOU BETTER FOLLOW THE RULES. They'll warn you if you don't and you will change or leave. I always saw the rules as my shield from second-guessing.

 

I've got no problem following the rules, I'm married and use to it I'm also a Marine so I'm very good at doing what I'm told.

I'm taking a flex driver position, not the greatest job in the world but I don't mind working so it's not a big issue to me. The benefit to it is things are constantly changing (even my paycheck unfortunately) and I will always have something to haul.

From what the terminal manager told me the Colfax hub is the only hub with flex drivers for 3 or 4 states and all flex needs are filled from that hub. He said one week you might be working for Norfolk and the next week for somewhere out of Georgia (forget what city).

It will also allow me to get educated on many of the companies routes so later down the road if I want something more consistent I will have experience on a handful of accounts and can better choose where I want to be.

Could you answer a question for me that I haven't gotten a direct answer to yet? They advertise up to 8 weeks PTO. Is that legit and how long do you have to work there to get 8 weeks PTO?

 

Many locations in company have flex drivers. Flex is a good way to see more aspects of that terminal. Terminals are Service Centers inside the company.

PTO/vacation is usually handed at with everybody gets 1 week during their first year. I think you get 2 weeks/yr starting in your 3rd year. I may be wrong but I believe after that you get one more week on your 10th, 20th, 30th year and so on.

When I started in 1999 it was called vacation. Then some time ago they consolidated vacation & sick days into PTO. I don't know if they also changed the schedule for additional PTO when they did that. They do offer short-term & long-term disability benefits which you can add to your benefits during open-enrollment which is during the fall. They may have special rules about PTO if it's health related. I don't know. I learned from my flying days to stay away from doctors. It's not an adult attitude, but that's where you are most likely to have your license taken away.

If you are a former Marine you & the company are a good match. The company rules are reasonable & for everybody's benefit. Not everybody who has worked at Avrt was happy. But the company is big enough they probably have experience & procedures to cover anything that might happen. I liked the big company aspects. I saw the rules as my protection, not a leash.

The few things that will sink a driver at Avrt is any ticket or accident for following too close or hitting someone in the rear. They'll confirm it was you and you'll be gone immediately. That's reasonable.

Just get through the first few weeks or months when you don't know their system and they don't know you and I think you'll be happy. If you aren't making the money you hoped speak up and ask your boss about how to work more. If He can't help you the company has a jobline website with open positions. Use that and insist they put you in contact with drivers where you might move to get real info on pay & conditions. They don't coddle you but they do want to keep you.

 

I would hold off on averitt. They are really slow right now on freight and it’s not picking back up like it should. Lots of OTR guys sitting and local guys sitting at the house with no hours. Lots of drivers looking to jump ship. They recently did a price increase on LTL freight and the bottom has fallen out. They are charging too much on top of tearing freight all to hell for people to use us.