Estes Express

Years back around 2001 I worked for
US Food Service ... In Paducah Ky

Estes had a small satilite terminal there . From what I understood it is by the hour work with no overtime ... I'm not sure if that was local or line haul

The drivers seemed happy I saw little to no turnover out of that facility
I know that's not much help but best advise I can lend

 

Hi, all. Been at Estes since July of last year. I have to say I'm real happy here as a hub driver after 2 plus years for another LTL carrier that will remain unnammed at least for now. It sounds like they have you slated for an extra board position. I've run into guys that like this and some that don't. It seems to get down to how many miles you're getting and thats completely understandable. They will run you where ever they need you as runs come up and possibly cover regular runs when someone is out for 1 reason or other. The only downside to linehall here is that if you're running meet and swaps, you have to rely on another driver, his equipment, and his terminal getting him out on time. As an extra board guy, you may not have to deal with this all that often though unless you are covering existing regular runs. Most of the guys out of my barn seem to be happy as I haven't heard very much at all I'd consider negative as opposed to my last position where there were quite a few drivers that weren't happy.

 

I'm out of 171 Billerica here in Mass. Crazy as it seems, if you do come to work for Estes, there is an outside chance our paths will cross the way this company works. I've run into one driver from Cincinnati, a husband & wife team from Arizona as well as other drivers from the Carolinas. I actually started as a utility guy, but I happened to hit it just right here. They were intending to reopen the 070 Methuen terminal and every one that went there came out of here and I wound up with a hub position. Like any other company, its not a perfect world, but as I said, most everybody seems to be fairly happy here. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

Just curious, since there's a terminal not too far from where I live....what are the average earnings like, if you don't mind me asking ?

 

You should easily be able to make $55,000 or so to start without trying too hard. If you can get yourself one of the longer regular linehaul runs at top rate you will make somewhere around $90,000 when you hit top rate after 3 years.

edit: One thing I'm not sure about is whether rates vary in different areas of the country. I based those numbers on what we are getting here in the northeast. $90,000 may be a bit on the high side unless you are running 6 days a week occaisionally which our guys do during the busy months, but the guys with those runs tell me its do-able.

 

Wow. I think I'll look into Estes more myself when I get moved back to IN next week. They are always hiring out of Indy it seems.