celadon

Boy. That is a real indepth review of a company. You didn't pull any punches.

 

:smt102:smt117:smt051:smt021:smt084:smt062

 

I'm really confused


Sent from my iPhone 4

 

wow no info they must have been a great company cause you can't say anything bad about them.... ummm yeah

 

Well, I will start off with the good about Celadon... Celadon' s Canadian division that is!

-they do have the freight ;
-they do have decent equipment ;
-Qualcomm keyboard can be disconnected and silenced ;
-the Canadian terminal is very supportive ;
-the cash advance requires nobody's permission ;
-they finally got EZ-Pass ;
-paid weekly, and you can use TripPak or Transflo express to scan your paperwork in ;
-they are very keen on safety.

But...

- don't break down or it will take you 3 hours or more once you're in the motel room to get an authorization. You're better off to do an arrangement with the motel/hotel to pay cash, and when they get the credit card authorization, then get a refund of your said cash ;

- expect miles to be paid using the shortest distance. That is said during orientation. That means, you will be running the US-219 a lot!

- serious lack of preplan organization. Don't blame the Canadian division, rather the preplanners in Indianapolis!

-trucks don't idle unless it's super warm or super cold outside. It's the way they are programmed.

- you have to pay 150$ in an Escrow account to get Ez-Pass. In addition, if you are dead-heading or running empty miles, you have to get prior authorization for tolls, prior to going to the state as said in your fuel-routing. So you're kinda better off paying cash for those tolls but... that one is a judgement call.

-fuel routing is computerized. While at times it does work out okay, I've been routed to ######-### Pilots in shady areas. The Canadian division will gladly reroute you if you send a freeform.

-you refuse a load, in the long run you'll get shortchanged.

-they will give you good loads when you don't have the legal hours to do so.

-annoying too is 'important messages' thru the text-to-speech voice on the qualcomm and hearing that all the time just wants to make you go insane!

- the following events must be logged as line 4 (on duty/not driving): post trips (min 5 mins), trailer switch (30 mins), c-tpat checks (5 mins), faxing, taking cash advances.

- you must log ' sleeping at the dock' as on-duty/not driving. But that' s the Canadian division rules.

- they do interstate a lot. I almost got deported by a border guard in Pembina ND as Celadon is on a watch by DHS and the IRS for interstating. That is , they used to get me loads that picked up in the US and were bound to Mexico. While this is a grey area, I' ve repeatedly asked for some written assurance that Celadon would cover my ###, and they wouldn't stating ' it' s my responsibility' . So keep that in mind.

I personally quit Celadon on this: low miles due to lack of good pre planning, the perceived constant bickering between Canadian and Indy operations, and two breakdown events that were grossly mishandled by Indy. Also, some of their facilities, like Greensboro, was a slap in my face insult. I used to go out for 4 weeks out at a time, and be off for 5 days, and drive from/to work and home was a 300 mile trek. However, those breakdowns and lack of organization, that could have been just a series of bad luck too tho. But, I just can' t live on expectations of 'luck changing' either.

I've already applied to a new company, since my first breakdown as enough is enough. The dispatchers and staff in Kitchener, are all great people, and nothing but good things to say about them. However, I am afraid with their new expansion plans into Canada, and Indy adding more staff to their Indy operations, Celadon Canada will become nothing more than just a skeleton crew.

In my opinion, their ambitious plans about Celadon can backfire on them. I'm glad I'm out of the general freight trucking business.

However, Celadon' s US operations, from what I've seen... I'll let others be the spokemen/spokeswomen.

 

Kinda desperate,,,ive heard that they hire drivers with rollovers. Is this true?

 

I would imagine that's all who would apply there because they don't hire trainees and who in they're right state of mind would work for an outfit that only pays .32 a mile for experienced drivers.

 

Well said !!!!

 

i worked for celadon for 5 months.they're the second worst company i've been to.drivers are expendable and unimportant.that's why they need 2 orientation classes a week of 50 drivers each to handle their turnover rate.if respect is what you're looking for,then celadon isn't.also the 2000 miles a week average ain't that hot either.