Gordon trucking ~ gti

Thanks Yatista~

My husband will likely be more of the 4-6 weeks out type; that's pretty much how he ran before. It sounds like GTI is pretty much the same company that we remember (very briefly) from '06. If I remember correctly he started out at 32cpm back then.

As a general question, and also specific to GTI, how do drivers keep themselves cool/warm - depending on the weather - without idling? When he was with Arrow they actually paid for some device (I can't remember what it was called) that you connected to at truck stops. It would give you heat or air, and I'm sure all sorts of other stuff. I know idle time is monitored and will surely be even more so due to these hellacious diesel and gas prices.

Keep your wheels turning safely...

 

Driver comfort is now addressed by having an APU. Well over half of the fleet has APU's and they are putting new FreightLiner Cascadias into service daily and taking the older non-APU units out of service. The APU provides power for A/C, battery charging, and an inverter to provide house type current for a microwave. The trucks also have a diesel fired heating system for cold temps.

The company you were thinking about was Idle-Air. They are no longer in business.

Keep me posted on his progress.

 

Thanks again for your reply. Could not for the life of me remember Idle-Air! He's waiting for safety to review his physical, which of course is a non-issue. He should then be in Rancho for orientation on the 12th...still can't find out for how many days until safety checks him off.

Keep your wheels turning safely...

 

Do they do orientation in Medford?

 

I recently spoke with a Gordon recruiter... starting wage is .30 CPM, to go to .32 CPM after one year. Medical benefits are $96.00 per week, or almost $400.00 per month. I dont know how GTI was in the past, but I do believe that this is not a good paying company for a newbie now. I have been doing research with different companies and GTI is not one of the better paying ones.

 

Surfer Joe, I can't say one way or the other. Perhaps you could enlighten us about other companies offering a better package. One of the points of this web sight is to share good and valuable information about the industry and individual companies with other drivers.

 

Surfer Joe and any others thinking of this company:
Of course I'm not the driver, just the wife, but I watched what my husband went through with companies for almost 3 years. He's just wrapping up orientation in Rancho with GTI - same company he started out with. Believe it or not at that time new drivers started out at 32cpm but we all know that things change. He's starting out at 30cpm because he's been out of a truck for 2 1/2 year and of course he's disappointed . Here's what he knows though, GTI is a #### good company. They may have changed a little, but I doubt very much. He left them after 3 months and later found out what a mistake he made. He worked for Arrow after that (I'm sure some of you remember that hell hole of a company) and somehow lasted over 2 years. They paid 36cpm but they were one of the nastiest companies out there...money isn't the whole package for those that want to be respected and treated right. Case in point, when Arrow closed their doors they left drivers stranded all over the USA...right before Christmas...with their trucks! There is no one company for every driver from what I can tell. Like Yatista said, you have to choose what's rignt for you. Whatever you choose I hope that you'll be happy and content that you made a good choice.

 

Ok. One example would be ConWay. 36 CPM after one year. Total medical package $126.00 a month.

 

You're correct, they are the premium LTL carrier, start out working docks on a per hr basis and work your way up to steady driving. They also have their freight division for otr. If you can get the job great. Very limited hiring area on any given day depending on local needs. Any others?

 

I don't know which part of the country that you're in, but my husband left Con-Way LTL as a dock worker, also hostled the trailers. I can only tell you that the drivers there work crazy shifts driving and then have to work the docks loading and unloading. I'm sure the company may be different depending on what part of the world you're in but they don't have a great rep here...they hire "part time" so they don't have to give benefits.

One correction to what I posted a day or two again regarding GTI. My husband ended up getting 32cpm when they originally quoted 30. Also, I don't know where you're getting your numbers concerning insurance. Employee only is $20 per week and includes Medical, Dental, Prescription and Vision; spouses add $57 per week and it's an additional $9 per child. Add on more child and that would be $95 per week. I'm guessing you have family with the rate that you're quoting. I'm looking at the GTI benefit book as I'm writing.