Dayton Freight vs Old Dominion

Gomer1969 · Oct 13, 2024

Someguywithquestions said: ↑

OD is kind of weird. Depends a ton on the terminal and the office crowd. Some terminals are very laid back and easy going. Usually the really small ones. The mid sized ones seem to be the worst. Typically the office crowd are "climbers" trying to get into corporate and will treat the place like a cult. Lots of ### kissing, rules, scornful looks, playing favorites, etc. none of this matters if you're linehaul of course. Well, mostly doesn't matter. P&D, Dock, and Combo are where this stuff really matters.

I'm pretty well over the LTL game with our current lineup. I'll be jumping ship to linehaul to get away from the current leadership. It really makes trucking that much more miserable when you have to walk on eggshells, know that everyone is looking for a reason to write you up so they can fire you if they slow down slightly, seniority doesn't mean much for layoffs, and you're scheduled with impossible runs every single day with trailers loaded with 4k lb pallets and a broken cracked wheel having manual pallet jack. There is a ton of things I absolutely hate about OD. I bag out as often as absolutely possible to go to other terminals where it is much more laid back and we're not scraping every last penny to try and have the highest profit margin of any terminal so that the head honcho can get to the C-suite life.

About the only positives I'll give OD is I'm not just blatantly breaking the law multiple times a day like some trucking companies, it pays pretty well, and I have the potential to get into linehaul at some point and be done dealing with the valued customer and management. The P&D drivers are an okay bunch mostly. The linehaul drivers are a bunch of spoiled entitled crybabies for the most part.

I'm making more money than I ever dreamed of, but I'm working 6 days a week and hating life more than I ever have. There is also much less job security. OD was allegedly on/in a hiring freeze right now or the past few months or something. We've slowed a lot and they're looking for reasons to fire people. One linehaul guy got axed for rubbing a pup against another trailer in the yard, scuffed 4 rivers on the rub rail. 14 years seniority gone. 140k/yr job gone. Previous incident was 10 years ago he slid into a ditch during a blizzard at the I think Billings terminal. No accidents since. He was older though so they like to clear out old guys if they can for insurance reasons.

I would recommend not joining OD in a combo role. Those guys get absolutely ####ed. My old buddy from Wyoming who I helped get on at OD runs out of some terminal up in Washington now. He says he runs on call M-F and works weekends, usually line or dock or something. Said the lawyers pulled some kind of loophole and management went and took his lunch breaks from him. Have no idea how that's legal but he's low seniority so he can't rock the boat. Last I heard he was getting 6hr of sleep a night at best working combo. I know Washington is a 40hr OT state. He said their Spokane terminal is moving to Idaho so they don't have to pay OT anymore. I imagine that's gonna upset some drivers.

I'm vaguely combo. I mostly do P&D and then pick up a line run on the weekend. When things get slow I work on the dock sometimes to cut the OT from the dock workers if I'm not at 50.

Not sure about other LTL outfits but OD's insane earnings ratio comes from the breathless micromanaging. If something isn't profitable enough in that very minute you'll know it. Everything is monitored. Beginning yard time, end of day yard time, dock work numbers, how long you idle the truck, how long you spend over RPMs driving, your time at stops, how long the truck idles with the clutch not pushed in while sitting at a light or whatever. Etc. They post all these numbers daily as a ranking in the break room. It was kind of wild when I started. Each ranking shows a dollar amount that you personally "costed" the company. You can be fired for pulling a trailer away from the dock without the door down, no earbuds on the dock, no radio or speaker on the dock or forklift, stopping and talking to guys is discouraged while clocked in, everything that can be racked up in trailers must be racked but don't climb/walk on the racks because you could get hurt but also, everything in racks must be strapped so you have to climb up in them anyways, etc.

Just a bunch of #### like that. Not sure how other LTLs run but I'm pretty sour on OD. Also the time off policy sucks big time. 80hrs a year for sick and vacation time. You're required to use 9hrs at a go and management wants all vacation scheduled in one week chunks and all put in around January so "they can plan around it." I think this is just mostly my terminal because I know other terminals don't follow this but it is just another thorn in the side.

Another thing I'll add, you're gonna get injured doing P&D. It is just gonna happen no matter what. Especially if you live in a place with snow. My terminal has had probably 1/3 of the P&D guys out this year for some injury or another. Some guys were out for months. Some of them are permanently messed up from it. I've put myself down and out a couple times for a couple days from bad muscle strains. It's only a matter of when not if I herniate a disc, tear an ACL, get a hernia, etc.

Linehaul or bust as far as OD goes in my opinion.
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I've been with OD for 11 years and we clearly don't work for the same company.

Someguywithquestions · Oct 13, 2024

Yeah that's my thoughts when I work at different terminals. I take every opportunity to bag out when I can. My home terminals sucks. Plain and simple, and it's not a secret either, most places I know have known our reputation.

Honestly if I didn't want to run line I'd consider moving to another terminal. Doing P&D at some of the terminals I've been at have been pretty sweet gigs.

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