Boyd Bros Transportation, Inc. - Clayton, Al.?

I drive for much longer than I would have liked > 5 years. Work for Boyd for almost 2 years, do flatbed for 4 years. Are those sufficient credentials to have an opinion? Sure, it's not a crime to work "a little" for money, it's delightful & the most satisfying to put 14+ hrs every work day, people working for 9hrs/day just don't understand all the pleasure. To preempt a a "suggestion" - I do flatbed only because I can do van/reefer for 6 months max and then my health goes down the drain.

Short loads pay percentage, if load pays well you'll get 27%?, if it pays #### you are paid per mile peanuts. Many of the Boyd customers are not famous for speedy loading/unloading. Detention (no) pay is a joke. It's one thing to wait 6 hrs on 1200 miles load, it's quite another thing to wait 6 hrs at shipper for a 300 miles load then wait at consignee for 4 hours more and then do it again & again. Needless to say that if you do things by the book, you can't make many short loads like that and your home time will be less than frequent. You have quite a dilemma, and not it's not to shower/not to shower, to eat meal/not to eat meal (those are the luxuries few flat bedder can afford), the dilemma is to cook or not to cook, to sleep or not to sleep. As I said, some short load weeks are great - fast load/unload, good paying loads. Unfortunately, many more short load weeks present you with many "dilemmas". Very rarely I get home for more than 24 hrs/week. Last week it was 12 hrs.

It's really nice to see a bleeding company man on this forum, but, please, I had more than enough of inspections not to buy into "Do your Pretrip and you'll be fine". As a perk, DOT man/cop is given power of "discretion" what to (not to) consider a proper securement, logging, frayed strap and so on. Quite a few DOT men are "little" bit shaky (and ####y) on the regulations themselves. The point is - flatbedding offers many more opportunities to a DOT man to apply power of his discretion regardless of your Pretrip, likability & arse kissing skills.

Boyd straps, that's a true pain in the butt. First, Boyd trailers are not designed for straps to be hooked the way Boyd wants them to be hooked. Boyd way damages straps and it turns strapping a load into anger management exercise Boyd wants all the straps left on a trailer, so you don't have your "personal" straps. Most drivers don't give a dime to take care of straps. I keep straps on my trailers in good condition (and it's not easy, you got to beg for straps at terminals). Every time I pick a preloaded, straps on a trailer are junk, sometimes scary junk. If I have time I spend a good hour replacing straps on a trailer I pick up. What if I don't have time because of the dilemmas like: to replace straps or to cook the book, to replace straps or to sleep? It's not always easy to make a choice, and here goes my good straps. I'm absolutely amazed by this lack of "reciprocity", in my almost 2 years with Boyd I never, never picked a trailer with straps as good as those on the trailers I drop.

Some people are born to be work mules, even if you work them for 20 hrs/day they can't get enough. Again, if you want work much more for less, think flatbed As you can see some people like it.

 

Well first of all ur to b guaranteed 24-36 hours every weekend. If u not gettin that u need to take it up with fleet manager. If u have been here two years u should know that. I've had my problems yes. Straps on dropped trailers is my biggest. But u gotta do what u need to do. I make decisions like that everyday I'm on the road, who doesn't?? Have I fixed my book, well yeah. Have I missed a shower, yeah. Have I gone without eating, no. I'm a big boy n I love my food. Just cause I can't eat at truck stop doesn't mean I go without. I have food in my truck. Have I run truly legal n made money, yes. Have I run illegally n made more money, some weeks. All depends. I have nothin to hide. I've had run ins with these DOT guys u talk about. Thing is when they look at my log book n c that I'm organized they tend to let me roll. Flatbeddin isn't a tickin time bomb no more than a tanker, van, low-boy, etc..... It's all on the driver. U want it easy with long miles I hear swift is still hiring. Me, I like good checks, my hometime, n time off when I need it.

I'm not a company man. In my life God n my family come waaaay before Boyd. Trust me on that note. I will however take up for a company who has done the same for me. Do for boyd n they do for u. Honest truth there driver. If ur having problems mayb u should.check ur dispatcher. I did bout three months ago. Made a change n things couldn't b better. So that bein said, can u make money here yes. Will u have to sacrifice, at times. I do every week when I leave on Sundays. Will u have to "cook ur book", mayb. It's decisions we all make out here on these roads. Ask anyone, I'm sure 9 out of 10 have.

 

hey hytek, you still at boyd?? i start orientation there, later this month...

 

So I see Boyd is offering 'online load selection' for owner operators. Is it a good or bad system? Whats the lowdown. Also, how much can an owner operator gross at Boyd???

 

I know this is an old topic , but 4 anybody in the future they can use this !! I trained at Boyd !! I was there a month ! All their drivers are nice , my trainer never had anything bad to say! And they are !! Home every weekend !! I was not because of training. Judging from what I have saw is sometimes even though he said that my dispatcher is cool, there is times I would like to load secure her ### all the way down to the Mexican boarder. ( not a bad company at all for work ) , and they would rather you lease purchas !! ( and they don't push that hard on you todoso ) I want Togo back !!! I had family problems ! I was new at it ! Missed home !! Dad had a heart attack !! And my trainer had no patients when I missed a gear !!!! ( made me feel real uncomfy )!! Spool 2 whom it may concern go 4 it

 

I worked for them a short time , Home every weekend !! Most of the time !! He'll YEAH !! Great company ! I had family issues I had to come home ! I would go back in a skin~it ! If they would have me !!!! FYI their terminals are so so ! Birmingham is the best one I've seen. Only thing is 62MPH !! And can't drop your trailer at anytime ??? Sucks when you don't have anywhere to park at home ! I drove 3,400 mi my first week , 2,900 2nd 1,800 3rd and 2,100 4th. And thats all folks !!

 

Good company, granted some dispatchers are total idiots(S. Bittner...)
Any Q's drop me a PM.

 

I have posted about Boyd in the past and said good things, but I have to retract everything I previously said. I've worked for them for 8 years now. The trucks are now slowed down to 60 MPH, SLOWER THAN JB HUNT! They are going to 100% elogs soon, and the new trucks have security cameras looking at the drivers. when I started there, they were a good company to work for, but it's become obvious this company is circling the drain. Boyd used to be a good deal, but the industry is changing.
From what I'm hearing, it seems a large number of companies are doing this crap. After 20 years on the road, I think it may be time to end my trucking career. This seems to be the direction the industry is going. I got into the trucking business in order to be self-directed with no supervisor looking over my shoulder all the time. It's become obvious that that way of life is coming to an end.