FFE

Good luck to you. Be interested in your updates.

 

I was with FFE until mid to late 2001. We were a team in our later time there.

I hired on as a solo sometime prior to that already as a experienced driver and orientation was in Lancaster Tx for three days. I was out with a tractor in the 4th day.

Spouse on the other hand went to school based on a tuition reimbursement from the GI bill and also from the FFE as well. No contract. She underwent 12 weeks of training with me, however we were essentially a functioning reefer team in 3 weeks. A period of months later we checked on the school repayment and found that they were pending collections. So we paid the 1800 left that was due over the phone outright.

I do not know anything about current FFE operations because they have been bought by KLLM some time ago. So everything I know of is only good until 2001.

We moved on by the fall of that year due to excessive interchanging ( Chasing late solos and sometimes later trainers with intent to capture their loads and deliver asap against a deadline that day somewhere) which made a hash of our mileage pay after training, which we followed up with a written journal of ALL activity ordered by dispatch so that when the payroll was short, we captured the short by comcheck via a DM with that journal record which held the valuable trip numbers under which each trip was supposed to be paid. In those days the paperwork was slow and resulted in several 0.00 checks against upwards of 6000 miles run the previous week. It's silly.

We moved on to a lease fleet running for McKesson in Memphis which we found to be our best work.

In our time we found FFE to be a decent outfit but with a occasional issue that comes up now and then.

If you go to the Highland Location in Chicago, do not rely on the Dennys Restaurant 4 blocks towards the interstate nearby off that street. That restaurant is notorious for refusing to serve in a timely manner. You would be better off seeking food elsewhere.

Remember to meet everyone as you can by name. Eventually at one time or another down the road you will need their help to resolve a variety of problems.

You probably will be going to Canada with this company. Be prepared to be sent there loaded to come out empty. Do not be late. That is the main issue. You cannot ever be late. If you are, call it in to get a new Appt time and date asap before it really becomes a problem before you arrive at the customer with the load.

Another thing. In addition to your ongoing work every day, they track all trucks by 6 am each morning against miles left to customer. If you are running late against a fleet average, you will likely get a call me message over the satellite to resolve this situation as to why the load is late. So don't be late where possible. That's the main thing. If you are late through no fault of your own, you can expect a team to race hard to capture your load and relay it through to get it there.

Company speed is 63. They may show 65 on the truck, but that's not valid. Plan on 63.

 

@TravR1 is relatively new at FFE and maybe give you some information.

 

Everything you said is accurate. The training is decent, it's mostly enough to get you to pass the road test. The safety courses are good. There's a lot of stuff they wont show you. They never showed me how/when to regen a truck. Had to learn it from youtube after we got stranded at a truck stop for a couple hours. Then we did a regen in the middle of the night and took off... as if our reefer wasn't loud enough. LoL.

Backing, also just enough to get past the test, and if you have the same luck I had, once you get on the road... eh so-so on the backing practice. Learn how to properly set yourself up for a back from youtube before you start your training, because they might not teach you.

They have some good accounts and some great ones. They have a Tyson Foods account which I think is regional, but not 100% sure. I knew a girl from my class that went to that account after training, but I didn't get her number.

They have linehaul, which seems to be what most people want to do and most end up doing. Its mostly drop/hook driving between terminals. You'd have a fixed route drive the same route every week, then take your 34-hour reset back at your home terminal. It's really easy. You can solo or team. I have been told most solo linehaul guys average about 800 a week. The team linehaul guys do better. Teams get loads faster and will usually be sent farther.

They have a plasma account that is really good. But I am not sure if its available outside of Dallas or not. I want to say it's just for people whose home terminal is at HQ. The plasma account is team only.

They have ltl which I think is mostly teams, but not sure. You might be able to solo that. That is driving around to grocery DCs picking up loads and driving them to the terminal. You will have 1-3 pick ups at DCs then roll to a terminal to drop it off. Then they might give you a line haul trailer to another terminal in another part of the country to deliver. Then when you get there and drop it off, you do more pickups in that area. They always try to keep your trailer loaded.

 

They will call you even if you are not late asking for your ETA. LoL. I don't understand why if they can ping my location. And I'm the night driver, so I'm always driving when they call. And they ask me why I never answer when they call on the weekends... because I'm driving your truck? 6AM I am always the one driving. They think I'm just sitting on a lawn chair somewhere with a margarita.

 

Yes, I trained with them. They do a pretty good job overall. It's a good company, I have not regretted the decision starting with them. I get good home time and good pay checks.

 

Since you are in Chicago your home terminal would be in Lemont. I go there a lot. It's a busy terminal and the people there are mostly friendly. The guy that sits at the window and takes your paperwork is good people. The overnight guy is nice too. That terminal has free showers you can use. Its bring your own soap and towel. If you shower at around 3-7PM there probably wont be any hot water left. Wait until later in the evening.