Glad I moved over to Poly Trucking

BB i am currently trying to get on with poly also. I know they do not have an idle policy. I am currently with gordon trucking who is a very good company but poly has a little better pay and the best time off policy in the industry. I would advise you to avoid transport america. I know a couple guys who went there and left quickly with many horror stories. If you do not have the time to wait on poly,gordon is a good backup plan. Like i said, i will go to poly if i get hired but if not i will stay where i am. Been here 4 years and always make good money but hometime is not the best. Just 1 day for every 7 out.
Hope this helps..

 

I'm an ex-driver who never steers anyone away from Poly because the downsides are so minor compared with the upsides, but if we're going to talk about the downsides, you hit the nail on the head.


The shop's weaknesses were a problem, but something you could work around in my opinion. My solution as a Henderson driver was to buy a car to have parked in GP. I figured as long as I have the freedom to get out of there until the shop's finished with the truck, I'm fine, problem solved.


For me Poly's method of getting you home was a tougher nut to crack. In a way this problem fell into a more general category. Poly is sort of like two separate trucking companies in one: backhaul and outbound. This may work out fine on paper, but in the real world of driving, it creates problems.


For example, don't ever let yourself fall into the trap of relying on backhaul to get you home on time. Doing so is like waking up to discover you're driving a Werner truck.


This adds a layer of complexity to getting home. You first have to make sure you get to the right Poly terminal a few days in advance, then, assuming that works out, you have to hope outbound has the right load available. Even outbound doesn't go all that far out of its way to factor in home requests. They do at least work with you on getting home though.


Another thing you have to get used to re the two-companies-in-one situation, is since outbound loads take precedence over backhauls, through no fault of your own you can end up stuck having to do a late backhaul delivery. To make matters worse, some of the people in backhaul might expect you to lie to the customer about what happened with the load (I always refused to).


But with all of that said, overall Poly is a fantastic trucking job, mostly because they pay you so well, but also because you're working with good people. There are so many great things (things that obliterate what I wrote about above), if you ever get the chance to drive there, by all means do!

 

I'd like to say I'm still on-track to apply at Poly, but I'm afraid my plans were crushed this past Friday morning at 5:05.....along with the left rear skirt on my tractor.

In the midst of searching for my loaded trailer at the shipper (where I had spent the night), I paused after failing to find it in the first location. Unfortunately, that pause was taken right next to a dividing wall, about 8" high, between the staging area and the docks. After verifying my trailer wasn't at this location and realizing I had to go to their other lot about a mile away, I headed for the exit.

To the left.

Forgetting about the dang retaining wall.

Pretty well destroyed the panel, along with my ego and pride. Called accidents....gave 'em the lowdown...probably cost me a safety point (I'm at -10 right now, so I've got a few to give). But I'm having a hard time not kicking myself over this. Just stupid, and not even really due to getting in a hurry. I didn't exit the tractor during that pause....that would have helped.

But, it is what it is. Crete is still running me pretty well....did 10,847 in March, and 1667 the last three days. So....at least I'm still employed.

Carry on, friends.

 

What? No idle policy in place at Poly? or you can't idle at all?

 

Ok, so like no one says anything and we want to keep it that way please. I hate to even mention it so let's just kind of move on. No Policy! Idle what you need. Next Question? Lol

 

My outbound load and backhaul last week is an interesting subject on the topic of Poly having a split trucking company.

I needed to be back in GP by Wednesday morning so I could get in my personal vehicle and go home for a very important ceremony. So I took a Monday outbound to Laredo delivering on Tuesday morning with the expectation of reloading Tuesday in Laredo going back to the DFW area for a Wednesday delivery as is the usual course. But noooooo. I get a reload in Laredo going to Kansas City,KS for Thursday. A good run but not what I was expecting.

I told backhaul about my dilemma and asked if I could drop it on the yard and have someone else finish the run. I was told to send in the request via QComm for approval. Before I did that I called someone I thought might help get the ball rolling. A few minutes later outbound calls me to get the details of the delivery and said they would put another driver on it. So my point is that if the situation calls for outbound and backhaul to work together to help a driver they will do it. That being said I will agree that the two do seem to operate independently from each other since the driver is the one who tells either one when he/she will be available for the next load.

Concerning being asked to lie to a customer, never been asked to do so. Nor have any other drivers ever mentioned being asked to do such. Not to say it may never have happened.

I've said it before, but I'll report it, POLY IS NOT A PERFECT COMPANY! There are those for who Ploy will not be a good fit. Especially if you do not live in the DFW area. If you don't live in the DFW area and can be flexible just like with any other OTR company, you will probably do ok.

I will also agree that the positives far out weight the negatives here. At least for me they do. I really enjoy being treated like a professional and not a steering wheel holder that needs to have his/her hand held.

I left GP this morning going to the south of Detroit for Tuesday morning.

 

Well back on the road this afternoon. Picking up in the morning here in Edenton, NC and heading back to Dallas for a Wednesday morning delivery. A nice 1500+ run out of the door but with only 177 of that today got my work cut out for me over the next two days. Had a wonderful 7 or so days off at the house.

 

A really long day today as I awoke early to attempt to get out of the shipper early but to no avail. What a cluster that place was. Didn't finish getting loaded until 1045 EST so that made the next 683 miles a fairly long slog. On a good note I requested a 900 different and actually had it granted so I won't have to deal with delivering this load into the heart of the 7th level of hell on Wednesday morning and will be able to just roll to GP tomorrow night and switch things over to my new ride. Hoping to get a load heading out west to break out of this east coast/central US funk I have been in for the last several weeks.

 

I'll be in GP Thursday afternoon. Anybody else?

 

Another long day with 711 miles in the books Unfortunately no plan yet for tomorrow although I did confirm that I was indeed on the list so perhaps they will give me a ring in the morning. Managed to get all my stuff moved over to the new rig as well. Only 5 digits to the mileage at least until tomorrow as I am at 99944 A little more space as well from the last truck so was able to organize things a little better.