EPES TRANSPORT-Greensboro, NC

do they deal a lot with lowes i have one down the road from me to. do yall have to unload yall own trucks thanks for any info

 

I can't give you much info except of what i've read and been told. 80% of the frieght is drop and hook and the other 20% is no touch frieght. They do have a website that shows areas of hire. And Lowes has named them Carrier of the Year 3 years running. I personnally haven't been hired yet. But with the research I have done and with what I have read on this Forum this is where I would like to be. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have an answer. Good Luck

 

EPES hauls freight for Lowe's every day. While I was with EPES though, I never picked up at a Lowe's DC anywhere close to where I live. So there is no guarantee you'll ever pick up at the DC near your home. Good place to work and they treat you good. Good miles one week and some weeks, not so much. You get home for a re-start every weekend, but that's about it. I read a post on here saying they ask you on the weekend when you want to go back out, but I can tell you I was never asked when I wanted to go back out. You'll like working there, just don't expect to get rich.

 

I haven't loaded/unloaded anything myself yet....but i sure have sat quite awhile waiting for it to be done and would just as soon do it myself as long as it takes some of these idiots to get with the program.

lowes loads are drop and hook, but like sellers said, just having one close to your house isn't going to mean anything.....except that you might get to wave at your house as you go by coming in or going out.

i do usually have something lined up to go out when i come in and they do ask when i'm going back out....i guess alot of that depends on where you live and if you can drive home from the yard for the weekend as opposed to having to go home under load if you live far away.

miles have been hit or miss the last 2-3 weeks.....i had a good week, a great week, and this one sucks so far......i think strictly as a function of the elog, i'm only getting a 34 and then back out....and that's 34 from the time i hit the yard until i roll off the yard so the actual time at home is running about 30-31 hours after you factor in unloading the clothes and things from the truck and then stocking it back up, fueling and getting off the yard. no surprise everyone i know on paper logs is able to get in for a full weekend.

still, i the complaints i'm finding are minor compared to alot of other companies on here...the load i'm on is an example.....i picked up one wednesday morning from henderson nc bound for tampa, thinking i'm going to get a really good run in, but i was 2 hours short of being able to make it so i had to take it to sc and hand it off to another guy (on paper logs) who got the bulk of those miles.....i picked up 20 miles away with a load for Pa wednesday afternoon, but it doesn't deliver until mid-morning on friday and it's a pretty firm appointment. not exactly my idea of a good tradeoff considering i'm sitting here 60 miles away at 3pm waiting on 730am tomorrow morning so i can leave to make the delivery.

but, you have to take the good with the bad i guess.......you'll get runs like that from time to time, but it also means (as I already knew) that i won't get in until midday or later saturday and then i'll be back out by sunday afternoon or evening, as soon as the 34 is up.

that elog definately was NOT someone's better idea. i'd love to meet the person who mandated it.

but, the week before was good, alot of miles, very little sitting between loads and generally preplanned most of the time before i was done with the load i was on.....but it isn't consistent and you'll have good weeks and not so good weeks.....but i guess it's that way anywhere you'll go and the good weeks far outweigh the bad ones.

 

thanks for info flying

 

Any one looking at Epes I have been there 7.5 years. Its a great place to work for ! Pm me if you want more info. Best of luck to every one out there!

 

been pretty busy so not alot of time to post but things still going fairly well......the few times i've had a little downtime has usually been in areas where my internet converage isn't good or non-existent.......same with the tv signals lol figures you get a little downtime and then you can't get tv or internet.

had a pretty good week last week.....miles were a little short but I ran out my 70 down to 10 hours by the time I got in friday and actually got in on friday this week......but preplanned out on a run to NJ for monday morning delivery so that will even out the miles a little by the time I get it scanned and get me around 2200 for the week......better than i've been doing the last few weeks but still not like what I was doing initially.

truck is running good and no problems out of it.....still not happy with it being a volvo but i've made friends with it and it does ride pretty good.....a little disappointed that the shop guys told me there are no racks for load locks available for the volvos.....i've had one or two riding around in the cab with me and have to say it's kind of a pain in the ### and something I see as a safety issue on some level.....and I have to call bs on there being 'no load lock racks available for the volvo'.....i mean, it's just a rack for crying out loud....i don't see why they can't take one of the ones for the f/l and just screw it down with some sheet metal screws and let me egt these things out of the cab. shop guy said he'd look into what he could do so i'll give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens. I have to wonder why I got this volvo since i'm on otr and the volvos are supposed to be dedicated to family dollar.....everyone else that came from my class got a f/l.....but we'll see what happens with it

had an idiot this week almost run under the truck.....fuel stop on 77 in rock hill at the 73.....any of you that have been there knows the construction goinig on there....heading out south there is no turn lane and the onramp is only one lane......so i turn onto the ramp and a guy tries to squirt around my left side and tries to make a one lane onramp a 2 lane.....and it didn't work out for him...no shoulder there either so he had nowhere to go and i guess he thought i was just going to stop in the middle of the road and let him come around, flashing his lights and blowing his horn and shaking his fist at me the whole time. not happening. there was already traffic coming on the ramp behind me and he ended up having to stop and wait. there's not really an acceleration lane there either onto the highway and he runs up on the 3 cars behind me, gets to the highway, then blows around them on the right on the shoulder and tries to squeeze me and run me into the left lane as he comes on the highway with traffic coming to my left. at least i kept my eye on him all the way up the ramp and anticipated him trying something stupid. i was already slowing up when he tried to run up under my frontend and force me into the traffic coming from the left. what an idiot. telling me all the way out that i was number one is his book lol.....it's really a wonder there aren't more people killed in cars the way they act around these trucks. you really have to watch and stay on top of things at all times that's for sure. don't know what he was thinking or what kind of hurry he was in but i did nothing wrong and had the right of way. i guess he was just that much more important than me that he thought i should just let him stuff himself around my truck when there wasn't a lane to do so.

just one of the many stupid things i see cars do on a daily basis but fortunately the only one that has happened close to me so far. any of you students that read these posts or new guys coming in please watch these four wheelers.....they have no clue the danger they put themselves in on a daily basis by being stupid and it's gotta be up to us to be diligent, never be complacent and expect them to do something stupid and not take for granted they have a clue.

other than that one thing pretty non-eventful so far and i like it that way lol

 

I just applied to Epes and it sounds really good. I'm a recent grad from a certified CDL school with PDTI certificate also and Epes seems to take grad students. Need more info from you if possible. thxs.

 

well, this weeks adventures could best be summed up in one sentence lol......

why would anyone WANT to live in NJ? haha

I'm sure it is the garden state but I haven't seen any of those gardens yet lol just tight turns, impossible traffic and shippers that have almost NO room to get into or out of.

Elog has been a pain this week.....ran out of hours at the shipper or consignee 3 times this week......one of them in NJ and I go inside to ask about parking so I can get my 10 and he laughs at me and says there's absolutely nowhere to park......and there wasn't.....it was almost impossible just to manuever and get into the dock in this little place, much less with 10 other trucks stuffed in there waiting to do the same thing......finally he gives in and says I can go around to the back of the building and pull alongside the building just inside the fence so that's what I did......and it was even tighter than the front side.....a guy was pulled in there pulling a 48 and didn't even have enough room to get in......i got a pic of the place so at some point i'll get it posted

then got a 13 mile run out of chester lol 13 whole miles.......to hurry up and wait for a live unload and then run out of hours in the dock because they took so long.....if they'd have gotten on it I could have gotten back to chester for my 10 but as it was those 3 hours and 25 minutes ran out as they were halfway into the trailer. fortunately I'd been in there before and knew there was an abandoned warehouse across the street so I creeped over there after unloading and got a 10 there. they really should get rid of the cihick in the office at that place. what a condescending ray of sunshine she is. I won't call any names but you guys know the place i'm talking about on cofer rd......I don't know what went so wrong in her life but i've never been treated like such a piece of #### by anyone, even my ex-wife lol.....I just put on my best fake csr smile and took her abuse and snide comments like a pro and let it roll off and did my job. she's been that way every time i've been in there and the other guys there with me said the same thing about her. 4 of us there that day on elogs and all of us out of hours before we left there.

miles were alot better this week....by the time i finish the one i'm preplanned on for sunday/monday i'll have 2690 for the week......alot better than the last few weeks......and two in a row like that......seems like feast or famine with the miles lol.....

got a beer run out of baldwinsville all the way down to dalton, ga......they say go in there with full tanks but those loads are soooo heavy that i can only go in with half tanks or i'd be over on the drives in that volvo and no way to get it legal.....as it was 4 tries and the best I could get was 33800 / 33600 with half tanks....only had one load lock but i'd rather use straps anyway so bought two straps at the pilot in syracuse on the way in.....get there and it's one of the old "L" trailers.....so, of course, no slots for the straps to hook into......so off I go again and have to buy another load lock anyway before I can leave.....some days are just like that lol.....anyway, get on down the road and.....

interesting problem and one i'd never expect to happen......and just goes to show the importance of never getting complacent and doing a brake check before exiting the highway or approaching a light or stop sign.....

coming down 40 in knoxville at 2am and getting ready to get off for my fuel stop i touch the brakes approaching the ramp and they feel REALLY weak and spongy.....quick check of the gauges showed full air pressure.....I downshifted, hit the jake full on and got another gear down coming down the ramp and still almost didn't get it stopped by the bottom of the ramp......boy, THAT will wake you up at 2am with 46k in the box lol......pulled into the fuel island and get out and do a walk around and find the bottom flange on the glad hand on that old trailer for the service line had broken off.....the hose, with the bottom half of the flange still hooked into it was laying down between the frame rail....no wonder the brakes felt weak lol.....and it was intact and showed no issues when i pretripped in roanoke after my 10, so somewhere between roanoke and knoxville the thing broke clean off. got it fixed at the pilot and got on with the run but had i not checked the brakes before exiting the highway like I always do, that could have been big if i'd have waited to hit the downhill offramp before I applied the brakes.

anyone who has read my posts know my irritation with the fuel island loungers.....saw another one at that pilot......and one of our guys.....saw him at the pumps from the road as I pulled in, he was still there as I did the walk around, found and checked out the problem with the trailer, pumped and then pulled forward so i wouldnb't be the one blocking the lane for the next guy. went in, hit the bathroom, got some smokes and scanned 2 trips, went back out to the truck, drove around and (actually, at 2am lol) found a spot to park to send in the breakdown call, and he's STILL there, in the lane, blocking the pump. finally he comes out and goes.....I don't care if it is 2am, there were still guys there and trying to fuel. come on guys, not only is it dispectful and just plain unprofessional, it's a pain in the ### for those of us who need to get in and out....guess he's still on paper logs and doesn't know what it's like to be on a clock you can't adjust. makes the company look bad too as far as I'm concerned. one of these days when he grows up and gets an elog truck, he's going to see things ALOT differently. let's don't be part of the problem guy, we're better than that. most of us anyway.

rest of the week went on with no more excitement lol......ran hard, got good miles and starting out the week with a long one so hopefully will run just as hard this week.

 

well I'll say this about E-logs as far as my personal opinion. If you worked for the dumb ##*es I work for you would welcome E-logs with open arms.Example 15 drops in Atl. area started out 04:00 monday morning by 16:00 tuesday I finally finish with not one bit of sleep.then ##### holes turned right around and dispatched me on another run to pick up that same day and be in the Bronx by thurs. morning.It's crap like that,that would make any driver welcome E-logs