Gordon Trucking

It seems like Gordon's pay is low and the miles per week are low.

 

Do you drive for Gordon?

 

No, talked to a recruiter yesterday.

 

I went to school in tacoma. my class went to gordon to check them out. a great outfit. how often do you see a gordon truck broken down on the road? there equipment comes straight from THEIR own truck dealership. right now i am regrearting the fact that i did not start with them. oh well, live and learn. but, they are not the only company out there. but they seem to be a very good one.

 

As a 5 year driver for GTI, I have rarely been reprimanded for logs except procedural errors (forgeting to sign it or entering daily mileage driven). GTI's policy is log how you drive it (this is what I do). I rarely ever see California, Oregon or Washington (the lower speed limit states on the West side) but all of my DOT inspections have been in these 3 states and never a DOT ticket for speeding or incorrect logbook. Im governed at 62 mph (please dont run me over) and log close to 60 to 62 mph sometimes even 65. Even in California driving 60 mph and logging 60 mph will not get you a ticket, because 1) your still the slowest vehicle in the state, and 2) even over 4 hours the extra 5 mph is only 20 miles, easily justifiable in your logbook if 15 minutes up or down. If your your favorite driver of your dispatcher then you'll get plenty of miles (sometimes to many) and fine management of your logbook to assure you always have hours to run is a MUST. Resets are common with GTI with the hard runners. The biggest thing that will get you in trouble with GTI is Overspeed and OverIdle as measured by sensortracs in your Qualcomm. Got to watch coasting down those long shallow downgrades and getting the truck up over 68mph (the first level of overspeed) and 71mph (the second serious level). And as for overIdle (the majority if the trucks have been outfitted with ThermoKing APU Tripak systems, that provided your air, heat and battery charge and 1600watt inverter) Got to watch your idle time - 1% is the company standard with APU's and I think 15% without. We have alot of "bean counters" at GTI lately always trying to shave 1/100th of a mpg out of the trucks to save a penny an hour per the fleet. SInce fuel prices have softened up a bit, it hasn't been so bad. But still no cost of living payraises in 3 years now and were still governed at 62, management promised they would roll us back up to 65 when prices improved, YA RIGHT. As for the safety department, I never hear from them. Read somewhere that GTI's safety record was second in the nation for being the safest carrier (WalMart was #1 by 1%) and can honestly say I rarely ever get red lighted on the prepass (CA is a 50-50 but thats CA).

 

LVNV,

I am going to be joining GTI in December and looking at doing the 17 western states. What division or route do you drive? Do most of their trucks have APU's? GTI appears to be a pretty reputable company, your thoughts? Any insights words of wisdom would be welcomed. Thanks.

 

Hey there. I'm from Sin City too and was wondering how often you get home and if they allow trucks to be taken home.

 

bMac - I am just starting into a new refrigerated dedicated position thats winding up. It runs from Nevada to Missouri and back. My whole career has been with the refrigerated board. I have no family, so I stay out around a month at a time (I come home a lil more during the winter, because its slower and I dont like snow). The longer you stay out, the farther out you'll drive. Reefer board runs from Central Washington to Mississippi or Arkansas are common. Dry van runs a lot to Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and such. We have a full terminal in Green Bay, WI. We run all over. If your one of those, got to be home every weekend, then you should live along I-5 between Sacramento and Seattle. On an average day running up and down I-5 you might see have of the entire company. Lot of dedicated runs along I-5. One thing I keep in mind is that the reefer board gets paid 0.02 more per mile when the reefer is on then a trip as a dry van. Also a reefer can also be used as a dry van, so when the reefer side is slow you could and will pull dry freight. (I figure about 25% of my loads were dry). I would average apx 2600 miles per week (and I say average). All paperwork is scanned in via Transflo Pegasus, so dependent on how your trips end and you get your paperwork in, I usually have one week with 1500 miles and the second week will have 4000 miles. Budgeting is a MUST with GTI. They do not give out personal cash advances at GTI (only under extreme emergencies and its extremely costly to you). They do give out cash draws for company approved goodies such as pallets and lumpers and such. Payday is once a week, if your paid via Comdata you'll see you paycheck Thursday usually after 1800. I get mine direct deposited and WaMu takes there time, so I get paid Monday as soon as the bank opens. As far as I'm aware most of the trucks have been APU retrofitted (I think the 3000 #'s and up) but I still see a few without. As for reputation, well I've been with them for almost 5 years (12/22 will be 5 years) and have not had any major problems with them, and with the economy the way it is today, were still rolling as a viable company (unlike a lot of companies out there now that are driving thru bankruptcy procedings trying to keep there heads above water or some big comonay swoops in and buys them up) . Insights of wisdom --- hummmmm. Confucious says, "Man who stands on toilet, is high on pot" j/k oops wrong kind of advice. Always know what your doing, and anticipate what others will do around you. Log yourself how you drive it, dont be a complainer and stay out of trouble and your career should be just fine. Also as I mentioned before, WATCH YOUR OVERIDLE AND OVERSPEED.

nicnat2 - With the new dedicated im on its supposed to be 6 days out (3 out, 3 back) and a 34 hour reset at home. When I ran OTR, I stayed out 3 weeks in the winter and come home for 3 days, during the summer "non-snow" months, I would stay out a month or longer and then take 5 days off somewhere. (GTI policy is maximum 4 days off saved up, get in good with your dispatcher and they'll let you slide on somethings like this). As for Vegas area, were kind of iffy on trucks going home. Our yard is in North Vegas off of Losee between Cheyenne and Craig and we share it with another company. They dont like a lot of personal cars there or us to spend the nite there in the truck. Again, this is one of those, get in good with your dispatcher. I usually park my truck at the Pilot or the Flying J and leave it there, but have occasionally taken it home (I live next to a supermarket, so I can pull it behind the market even with a trailer and jump over the wall)

love2drive - Is very correct, Valley Freightliner is its own company (both Pacific and Mt, Vernon WA). However the Gordons do own it or lease it or whatever control they have. All of our company trucks are Freightliners, go figure. And as for me personally, when you do breakdown seriously enough to be taken to another Freightliner for repairs, we usually (or so it seems) get priority service. However I know theres the nightmare storys out there, and I try to avoid the F/L dealer in Sparks, NV like its a disease. Our trucks are routed in for service every 18000 miles and you can always swing by a shop to get things fixed or send in a Mac 10 (qualcomm) and they'll route you somewhere for repairs or send out a mobile unit.

 

Right now, our pay is probably a bit low over the industry. But 3 years ago we were the top of the nation. But with the economy the way it is, were not driving thru a bankruptcy like a lot of carriers or go out of business.

Depending on where you live, your dispatcher, and what board your on, you could see miles anywhere from 2000 to 3000 a week. I personally average about 2800 a week. Average western US length of haul is apx 800 miles. And if you go back east the avg length of haul is apx 1600 miles.

 

LVNV,

Thanks for the info and words of wisdom. I appreciate your insight. If we run into each other on the road, the cup of coffee is on me. Best of luck and keep the rubber on the road.