Estes Regional OTR out of Knoxville

It depends on the workload when we are busy we are back to back when it slows down it’s a different story you could easily burn 3 to 4 hours every day sitting and waiting for loads which in a five night run So you lose 15 to 20 hours or more every week which could amount to almost 2 full runs and that hurts.
If you run extra board you get one penny per mile more pay which amounts to somewhere in the neighborhood of 750 to 1250 extra a year in my opinion it’s not worth it I think it’s a slap in the face I believe extra board driver should make at least five cents a mile more than scheduled linehaul drivers who do not sit and wait with no pay as much as we do. And They are home every day and can adjust to a regular schedule. That other LTL companies they are paid to feel the trucks and are also paid when they hooked to a 53. Which is only fair I despise working for free and Estes will have you working for free take my word for it. I’ve been here over eight years and I am for the most part done. If you want to go to LTL job and you’re not afraid to work fed ex is your best bet or UPS Old Dominion Dayton. Dayton has really become a great company to work for.
As an extra driver you will be responsible for the maintenance on your vehicle things that breaks things that need fixed and you’ll find yourself going to the shop and waiting for things to be fixed for free.
Now you can say forget it turn it in in the terminal might take it to the shop for you but at that point you’re stuck in a loaner which is usually a pile of crap without pike passes without easy pass without a Kansas Turnpike tag without all the things you need to do a road job efficiently and make good money Without these passes you’ll be pulling into scales and paying for tolls out of pocket and getting reimbursed can be a real hassle. This may all sound very negative but all I’m going to give is the truth The pay is reasonable but still not up to par with other good LTL companies this is hard for some to believe but UPS drivers make $.73 a mile. The pay is reasonable but still not up to par with other good LTL companies this is hard for some to believe but UPS drivers make $.73 a mile this is not a rumor I know two of them personally they are going through union contracts right now for more money. My friend who works for FedEx I believe he said they are at $.69 a mile and we make 66.5 cents a mile

 

When you get home at 0200 on sunday, I would say you have sunday "off", wouldnt you?

When you are off all day monday, I would say you have monday "off" wouldnt you?

When you dont work on tuesday until 10pm, I would say that you COULD count tuesday as being "off", wouldnt you? (thus the "LIKE HAVING" part of my statement)

THATS what the hell I mean by "its like getting 3 days off". When you work a grand total of 4 hours in a 72 hour period, I would count that as "like having 3 days off".

If you are going to subtract "sleep time" from your "off time", then the average worker in the US only has 1.33 "days off" a week. But I guess, if you sleep at any part of the day by your standard, that doesnt count as a "day off", so in THAT regard, Estes is no different than any other job in YOUR world, meaning you get no time off at all, ever.

I guess....

Or you could just say that working 4 hours in a 72 hour period is "like having 3 days off" like I did...

 

UPS also has hair regulations, and uniform standards. And countless other nit picky policies. The 70 some cents a mile is after 5 years also. It just kind of depends on if you feel its worth the BS you have to put up with and the years of service you have to endure before you get that "gravy run" at high pay that you will probably have for 4 or 5 years just before you retire. Personally, I pass on the BS, bought my own truck and went my own way. But thats just me. (and yes, I worked at UPS for a few months).

Bottom line is would you rather have a job that pays .71 a mile but you only get 300 miles a night or one that pays .60 a mile but you get 500 miles a night? Well it depends. Some would rather work the 6 hours and go home with less money. Some just want the money at the end of the line. Others care about other things like truck speed. To some the office people and BS you have to put up with in the barn matters more than anything. Everyone is different. Some want to be home every night, others dont care if they ever go home. So on and so forth.

The only companies I personally have knowledge of getting paid to hook trailers is YRC/USF Holland and Estes (and USF Dugan which was disbanded by YRC). Not saying they are the only ones that do, but the only ones that I have first hand knowledge of. Estes we got (6 years ago) 7.50 for a hook, and 7.50 for a break (no idea if its still the same). Nothing on a 53 (oh, and for the record, we had people to fuel the trucks at our yard, so we didnt have to do that either). I was making over 3k a year just from hook and drops. At Holland (they only run 53s) we got 1/4 hour (5.25 or so) to hook or drop AT A TERMINAL. If you were doing a swap at a meet point, you didnt get paid for that. But rarely had to hook or drop a trailer in a yard anyway (saturday sometimes) and also just as rare had to fuel one, although we got paid to fuel (time spent).

Every company has its pros and cons, and what is a pro and what is a con is different to different people.

 

You can’t read. I guess

 

So if you get off at 1 pm? That’s a full day off? If you sleep 5 hours of a day or more before you go to work ,, that’s a day off?? What world do you live in?? You need a dictionary