Company Tainers VS. Lease to Own Operators.

here is the best answer i can give you latley we dont choose our loads they are sent by dispatch company trucks are ordered to do 56 mph for fuel savings no you dont need your hazmat amd lease paments range from 711 to 944 a week just for the truck plus other costs

 

Chains are required on all Company trucks, and Company Drivers dont pay for them... Although there are quite a few things you are expected to have that you pay for yourself.

No one tells me how fast I can drive as long as I get good Fuel MPG... That being said, I usually drive 55-58... but my truck hasnt been turned down and I can go up to 62-63 if need be.

As far as getting home for Christmas or Thanksgiving... I would count on one or the other and not both. Thats not to say that its impossibile. As a company driver I gaurentee you will not get both Christmas and New Years.

As a Lease guy, you will not be able to pick your loads per say, you will have the ability to turn down a load... There is no system of being able to choose from a list of available loads.

As for the re-power situation you describe, I have done that once... and Prime left it for me to decide. On subsequent re-powers I have told dispatch to make sure these guys have their crap together.

Hazmat is not required at the moment... TWIC and Passports are... for company drivers.

 

Yes, if said trainer knows how to make money, and is not just training for cheap labor on the truck. Like they said... you don't get to pick from a list, but there is a strategy about when to turn down a load.

You have to have them onboard, but using them is up to you. Driver is captain of the ship, and decides when to shut down. My opinion - if it's bad enough to need chains, it's time to shut down. Only use them when I need to get out of trouble I'm already in, and I don't use them! That being said, most of our loads are very heavy... GVW at 74k+. At those weights you usually don't need chains anyway... highways are usually closed at that point if you'd have to chain up.

You don't "need" a hazmat endorsement, but it allows you to access more loads. As a lease op, hm loads can pay very well. It's a good investment.

Company drivers can opt for one or the other. I drive company, and lucked out to be home for both... was deadheaded 250 miles from last empty to home for Turkey Day. Prime will pay a certain dollar amount for a holiday meal if you are on the road those days. Lease ops do whatever the heck they want to.

Depends. If I can get the load to the receiver without running over a DOT scale, I'd probably take it. My choice... it's never been forced on me. I had one repower load at Salt Lake City for CA reworked by the company at our yard there because of an overweight condition... can't avoid scales on that run over I80. Always have to be careful with repowers, because that's one strategy a bad driver can use to dump a damaged load onto someone else.