Fresh Meat at GTI

Discussion in 'Gordon' started by Palazon, Jul 20, 2012.

  1. Palazon

    Palazon Road Train Member

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    Feb 5, 2009
    Tacoma, WA
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    Ok I promised that I would post what I found at GTI, so here it comes.

    Orientation was 3.5 days. Day 1 was physicals (never mind that I had a 1 week old driving card). The test included both urine and hair folicle (sp?) drug testing. Make sure you have copies of any prescriptions before you go. Orientation itself was handled in a very personable and professional manner. The briefers were all "real" people, friendly and forthcoming. I can't speak for the hotel accomodations since I'm a local in the area (Pacific, WA), but most my classmates seemed happy with them. Lunch was served daily. Bad parts: Presenters were always in a hurry to move on to the next subject, so they'd forget to allow for smoke or bathroom breaks. Also there was a disconnect between recruiting and payroll on my experience level.

    Yard info: On site trailer repair and mild truck repairs. Wash rack on site. Drivers lounge very small, but comfortable. The yard itself is well laid out and neat, with no garbage to be found. All buildings are in good repair. I had to look hard to find a dirty truck, much less one that was in bad shape. Even the worst one I found was in better shape than the loaners Swift tried to put me in.

    General impressions: All people were dressed nicely for the jobs they did. Everyone addressed you in a friendly fashion. The offices were clean with helpful and friendly staff. So far it's a nice attmosphere with a focus on drivers, safety and maintainance. Even the shop guys were friendly and happy :biggrin_2551:

    Will be going down tomorrow to check out my truck (was in shop when orientation was finished). Paperwork says it's an 05 4 axle freightliner with APU. I hope they are right on the APU.... lol. With all the things that are going right, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. :biggrin_25523:
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2012
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  3. WMGUY

    WMGUY Road Train Member

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    Jan 1, 2011
    Nine Mile Falls, WA
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    glad to hear, with a 4 axle are they putting you on the NW heavy fleet or is that till another truck is ready?

    when i was hauling Maxi's up their all the GTI drivers were friendly and such
     
  4. Palazon

    Palazon Road Train Member

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    Feb 5, 2009
    Tacoma, WA
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    Right into the NW heavy division. Got my 1st 2 loads for Sunday, looks to be just over 650 miles. Starting off with the dreaded Lewiston ID grade. You can down a hill too slow as many times as you want, but you only get to go down too fast once......
     
  5. Palazon

    Palazon Road Train Member

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    Ok, the other shoe DID drop.... The truck doesn't have an APU as advertised :biggrin_2553:. That and the sleeper is tiny... otherwise good rig.
     
  6. WMGUY

    WMGUY Road Train Member

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    Jan 1, 2011
    Nine Mile Falls, WA
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    i thought they all ran columbia's with the standard sleeper maybe something changed or they went smaller for weight reasons... hope it all works well for you
     
  7. stinger6975

    stinger6975 Bobtail Member

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    Jun 22, 2012
    Near Philly
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    Been Talking Bret at the Indy terminal & I'm supposed to fly out for orientation next week.He said 3 maybe 3-1/2 days. Then get my truck, load and head East. Now almost everything I see about GTI is Mid-west to west coast witch makes sense since they are out of Washington. Anyone know about the East coast operation?
     
  8. WMGUY

    WMGUY Road Train Member

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    Nine Mile Falls, WA
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    I seen one of those econo cascadias. The otherday for gordon heavy division looks really cramped
     
  9. Trucker4Life05

    Trucker4Life05 Medium Load Member

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    Dec 19, 2009
    Hesperia Ca
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    I'm out of rancho terminal only thing wrong at ours is the shop some of the slowest people there I have a 3600 series truck with apu only issue with mine is the engine fan constantly kicks on
     
  10. Palazon

    Palazon Road Train Member

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    Feb 5, 2009
    Tacoma, WA
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    Well, all told it's been a pretty good ride so far. I took out the 4 axle which broke down on the 3rd run, so I'm in a loaner (3axle) at the moment. So far its been 2 350 mile runs, 1 950m, 1 570m, and a 1350 m. I did have to take a 34 since I lost 6 hrs to breakdowns (2 flats on a trailer and engine problem on primary truck). Loaner truck runs like a champ and does have APU. Man, those things are nice...

    People have beeen very friendly and helpful. Everyone is in it for the drivers and the loads. The attitude has been awesome. Shop is slow, but very good. Major repairs are handled at the dealership (owned by GTI).
     
  11. relocationspecialist0105

    relocationspecialist0105 Bobtail Member

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    Jun 24, 2012
    Marion, OH
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    The east coast operation on the dry side doesn't go past ohio into the northeast. The reefer drivers are the only ones that go into pa. Now dryside will go southeast into wv, down to nc and south to florida. Reefer ive only go as far northeast as pa. They havent expanded much past there. If you go otr you'll mostly stay out west until you want to go home on the dry side. The reefer guys constantly go back and forth east to west.
     
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