Con-way truckload (aka CFI)

Well sence there really isnt anything real recent on CWTL, I thought I would start one to help those of you out who might be looking at Con-way. First let me say I drove for this company for about 5 months last year and have just returned this week. The only reason I left last year was becasue the Police Dept i was working part time for offered me more hours on the hopes we were getting some grant money.. Never happened!!
Anyway like I said I have just returned to Conway and will finish up orientation tomorrow. Yes if you leave and return and were gone longer then 6 months you have to do orientation all over.

Guess Ill start with orientation. Its held in Joplin Mo at there HQ. Last year when I originaly hired on I went to Columbus Ohio for Orientation. this is one thing that has changed. they closed all 10 Hiring centers and moved it all to Jopmo. In my opinion Orientation sucks. Its a week filled with what I believe to be worthless info. If your gonna keep a driver for a week, then do some training! We did get certified with the "Smith driving system" and that was about it. I wish they would do more Hazmat training or cut the program down to 3 days! Again this is just my opinion. While in Orientation you are given 25 bucks cash every morning. On Friday they load an extra 50 bucks onto your Fuel card. Thats all you will get for your week 175.00
Not great... in fact kinda sucks! the driving test here isnt a joke. Its one of the longest driving test I have done and its a route that covers the city, the back roads, and the I-44. If your a good driver no need to worry.. We did send 5 home who failed the driving test. 4 of which had honestly never driven a stick!! Cant believe there are drivers out there that have never driven a stick!! One person failed the back up test. This was truely the easiest part of the test!!
We have sent another 3 or 4 home because they lied on there apps. A word of advise. If your coming here BE HONEST!!!! They do not research your application with any great effort until you arrive ( dont ask me why cuz I have no idea) Make sure all your dates with past employers are atleast close to the truth. Dont make up jobs you didnt have, be honest about your criminal history.. Do all this and you will be fine.
As far as working for Con-way I will give you my experience from the past, plus tell you what I hear from the con-way drivers forum.
Once you get past orientation this is a great company to work for!! I have driven for a lot of companies and Im very honest when I say this is one of the best!! They will treat you like you treat them and thats the bottom line!!! If you are not a good driver and like to moan about everything then I will tell you they will find a reason to fire you! If you have a good attitude and treat them with respect, they will treat you with the same in return. Right now even with the economy down Solos are averaging about 2300 miles per week. I realize thats not great but I would compare that to any and I mean any trucking co out there right now. Teams are avg 5500-6500 per week. Many teams say they are actually run into the ground and have to ask for a little less work. Teams have priority here. No suprise, most companies that run teams run them as priority.
Ill speak as a solo because thats my experience. There are plenty of long runs and there are plenty of short ones! In the past if I was given say 3 or 4 short runs in a row I would send my FM a messege and advise them my last few have been short, how about throwing me a bone. 9 out of 10 times with just that messege I would soon get something 1000+. I didnt call up and jump all over my FM, I never sent any nasty grams. I just ran what they told me to and asked when I needed something longer to make a good week. HONEST TO GOD IT WAS THAT SIMPLE! talking with some of the current drivers around the lounge I have heard good and I have heard bad. But I will say, the ones who were preaching the bad gospal seemed to be carring some attitude and I could tell they were probably not easy to deal with. There are going to be times when you sit. They cant poop loads from their butts to get you moving. You have to understand there isnt always going to be a load for you when you want one!! thats a fact with any company. My FM was always ok with me calling in and asking where I was on the board. It gave me some idea how long I was going to be sitting so I could plan accordingly. They wont leave you in the dark!! And me... I love knowing!! the worst part about sitting is not knowing when the Qualcomm was going to go off. Here you will have an idea if you just ask.
I believe they start everyone off at .36cpm with one year of exp. Dont hold me too that but I believe thats how it works. A Hazmat load will get you an extra .03 cpm. If you run new england (NE is anything north of Va and East of Ohio) you will get an extra 8cpm!! Not bad.. Run a Hazmat load up to NE and you make .47cpm. We do go to Canada. Thats and extra 50 bucks for crossing the boarder. 25 over and 25 back. If you dont have your passport card they will give you 120days to get one and they will even pay for it. Same thing with the Hazmat endorcement. 120 days to get one and they will pay for it!
There facilities in Joplin are beautiful! they have invested alot of money on driver comforts. While in Joplin you will be put up in a nice hotel. There is a company shuttle bus that will run you around town FREE of charge! should you be out and miss the shuttle for some reason, you can call one of the local cab companies and they will direct bill conway.
Our Eqiupment is some of the best maintained stuff on the roads! We run all KWs. We do have some Freightliners but they didnt workout so well so they will not be ordering anymore. When you come into the yard you go through the inspection bay. Something I really like especially with todays DOT enforcement! If you go to the shop with a list, no matter how many things on the list they will look at and attempt to fix everything!! and I mean EVERYTHING!! not just the stuff they think is important. Our Qualcomm is the latest stuff. We have the system that will read over your speakers incoming messeges so you dont have to stop or read it while going down the road. Man I could go on and on about equipment! Ill just say if its the latest and greatest in equipment, we have it or atleast testing it.
And finaly, the topic that is very near and dear to my heart and thats home time!! Here you have to be out at least 7days and can then "highlight" to go home. Once you highlight for home they have 8 days to get you there.. We do have areas (very few) that are not guarenteed areas. meaning for example if your say up in seattle and live in Miami and want to be home in 8days, they will not guarentee that but will start working you that way! If you are not in these No Guarentee areas then at the end of you 7day after Highlighting they will let you deadhead home and PAY YOU for the miles to get you there!! And yes they will give that to you in writing!!! They give you 1 day for every 7 so basicly you are entitled to 2 days after your 15. But let me tell you, they are very flexible! Last year I would always saty home atleast 3 but usually 4days after my two weeks. I just explained to my FM that I have a baby at home that really needs her daddy.. NO problem!! never recieved a call to get back out before i was ready!!
So over all, there are good and bad things about working for Con-way Truckload. But in my opinion the good out weigh the bad by a big margin!! And it all comes down to: they will treat you like you treat them! I would be willing to bet my next check that on a percapita basis we have more million mile drivers then any other company out there. I would also be willing to bet we have far less turnover as well. If your a good driver, with a good attitude then you will do well here if you can get hired on. If I can answer any questions please feel free to fire them off. I will do my best to keep this thread up and running and tell you all how Im doing.

Good luck and thanks for taking the time to read my thread!!

Gator

 

Thanks Mustang!! I never worked for the company when it was CFI. I worked here last year and Conway had already taken the rains. Its still CFI managment. Most of the paperwork is still labeled with CFI headings.

But let me just tell you my experience with the past couple of days, Im sure it will prove what a great company this is.

I was sent to our West Memphis AR term to get a truck. I was assigned a very nice truck right out of the gate. However The driver who had this truck last, I swear to god I cant believe he is alive. The steer tires were bald and had belts showing!!! I call the company and inform them, no problem, no fuss, no muss, take it to the Pilot and get tires. Just that easy! However Piolet only had 1 15 ply steer tire ( they wont use the 14) So i call the company and inform them. No problem road service said. Go back to the yard Ill send someone to you. Withen 90 min there was a truck in the yard putting on two brand new steers! After the tires were installed i found a couple other things that needed repaired. NO proroblem take it over to KW in Memphis..
So Im in route to Valpo In out of Memphis, ON 80 94 just inside IN I blow a trl tire!! worse place in the world. Its a super single so no limping to a ramp! Within 1 hour of sending my messege I had roadside repair behind me. This is a great company!!

I have worked for companies were it took an act from congress to get som type of repair.. Not here! They will take care of you and they will take care of the equipment!!

Let me know if you have questions Ill try to answer them or hook you up with a really good recruiter..