Glad I moved over to Poly Trucking

Talked to another Poly driver who said we are in the top 5% of driver pay. That made me post the above comment. We are NOT. Ltl to union and smaller companies pay more. Walmart has company drivers home on weekends with mostly peterbilts making 80k at the least. Let alone ltl up north union pay scale.

 

not to argue your point, but, to work at Walmart you have to have a 100% perfect driving record. No accidents, no tickets, no on-road complaints from other people we share the road with...that and still not get hired...plus openings at Walmart are almost as hard to find as Packer season tickets. I know a driver over at Crete with 2 million+ accident free miles, no tickets and has pulled Crete's Walmart popup fleet freight every time it was offered, and still didn't get hired when they had openings at the d/c near his house. Plus you don't start out making good money. I've talked to many drivers there that said, like the LTL companies, you have to be there a while to get the cheesecake runs that make the big bucks. When you 1st start there it's almost like part time fill in, when they need you, type loads. On the other hand, working for Fudex or UPS takes a quality that even I don't qualify for...you have to be a self centered outright Class A #1 'A-hole'. I haven't met one of their drivers yet that wouldn't hesitate to run you off the road if you got in their way. Either their company puts tight time lines on their loads, or else they don't know how to plan...either way, Fudex, UPS and bulk mail carriers are the top 3 most unprofessional drivers on the road...the stress level with them must be unbareable...here on the other hand is truly one of the least stressful trucking jobs I have ever had most of the time. I can live without layover and drop/hook pay...since most loads have at least 1 or 2 extra paid stops...but breakdown pay is one area they really should cough up some bucks for...we didn't pick the truck, they did, they should compensate us for our down time, at least when it breaks down away from GP when the option of a loaner truck isn't possible.

 

Don't forget to factor in the union dues, and strikes. you are Comparing LTL and regular route to over the road irregular route. Poly is in the top 5% pay for irregular route companies. And then the cost of working your way UP the union scale, and surviving on part time wages for years before the high paying runs become available due to a person retiring.

So yes they are other options besides poly, but they ALL have their own up and down sides that one must investigate.

 

Personally I did not start driving until I was over 50 and I actually enjoyed driving OTR and seeing things I hadn't seen before. I was not looking to start at the bottom of a company using seniority for assignments. Plus I started in SoCal and there was no way I wanted a local job driving around Lost Angeles. I still do my best to stay out of Kommiefornia.

 

Well a surprise backhaul picking up in San Antonio heading to Las Vegas. Should put me in the high 13000's for January. Not too shabby considering I have had to do 3 resets this month.

On the shop side those guys really do suck. Traded over to a loaner while they were fixing a differential leak, doing a DOT and supposedly doing my PM. Well I get back to GP on Monday to find out no one did the PM, one of my head lights is not functioning and my driver side door is not shutting properly. Hopefully it will work out that I will be able to go to a Quick Lube as this western trip will put me way over the 15K and I won't have to deal with those clowns for a while.

Well HEB here in San Antonio at least has free wifi and as slow as these ####### are something to pass the time by with

 

Hope HR calls me soon to schedule me for the face to face. The lady I talked to said they would. Hmm wonder how long it will be. Guess I will check back with her if I don't hear anything by Friday.

 

Comparing Poly to a LTL union company is apples to oranges. Just like comparing other OTR companies to poly since Poly is a private carrier. To say Poly is in the top 5% of private carriers could be true considering most private carriers are extremely hush, hush about their pay.

As mentioned previously in this thread, Poly is not perfect and therefore not for everyone. Then again, if anyone thinks there is such a thing as a perfect company they need not apply. There is no such thing as the perfect driver, and if said driver went to work for said perfect company that driver would just screw it up for everyone else. The biggest area of concern, when it comes to pay at Poly, is indeed the non-existent breakdown pay. Especially when away from GP.

That being said, there aren't many companies that can offer the consistent miles, due to the available long trips, that Poly can. And these long trips can usually help make up for lost time due to breakdown.

I've talked with numerous Wal-Mart drivers over the years and ex-Wal-Mart drivers too. Wal-Mart does indeed pay it's drivers well, but consider what they must put up with to stay employed.....very stringent safety polices, very tight work schedules, and quirky company policies. Violate a company or safety policy just once and you may very well find yourself on the outside looking in. At Poly a driver can violate most policies with just a hand slap as long as it doesn't become a habit. So it really comes down to a matter of personal preference as to what job may be the right fit for a driver.

As for some of the management at Poly thinking drivers should feel lucky to work here.....consider the number of applicants they get and the number that are hired....yeah I think I blessed/lucky to work here. But I will also say that I'm treated with respect and like a person and not a number holding a steering wheel.

It's true there are other options for employment besides Poly, and that is why this thread was created. To inform others so they could make an informed decision.

 

That is one of the things I enjoy about Poly,,,I walk in the door, step up to the window and ask for my mail, and the only reason Carla asks me for my driver number is because she doesn't see me often enough to associate my name with my number, at least not yet, When Tony or Pat see me, they call me by name...not by truck or driver number, Thankfully Alan and his superiors don't have to see me often enough to remember my name(if you need them, there's a problem or you really screwed up bad). When you hear drivers chatting in the drivers lounge...they use drivers first names...not 'the driver in truck ####'. Our division of Poly is small enough to be personal, but since we're part of this huge corporation, we don't have to worry about it going under if the economy tanks again.

Also the length of haul average is unbelievable compared to everywhere else I've worked. I can't remember seeing this many 1000+ mile loads in all my years at Crete, here it's a regular thing to get one.

 

Sounds like your driving my truck. Over the past month I've had to replace both headlights...and after that wind storms through both WY and at GP when my truck was gettiing it's DOT inspection...my door latch is also having issues. I think the combo of these aero doors catching cross wind and someone in the shop letting the wind catch the door and whip it open against the hinge warped it a bit because it isn't an up-n-down adjustment...it's as if the door is moved forward a bit and the latch is hitting the front of the body striker

 

"What do you mean I'm getting a ticket!!!!!...I did what the sign told me to do. I can't see which lane is treated, so I picked them all"