Grand Island Express / good or bad

Hi My name is Kate Flanagan. I am 57 years old. I have been driving solo for 21 years. Two years ago I came to Grand Island Express at the urging of a friend of a friend. They are a rather unique company - They took a little getting used to at first. We drivers have grown so accustomed to being treated BADLY, and being lied to by recruiters, that when you find a company that is actually GOOD to you, you get your guard up wondering what the catch is. Grand Island ( GIX ) is, without a doubt, the BEST company I have ever driven for and unfortunately, I have driven for over a dozen of them in my 20+ years out here.
They start you out kind of slow at first so the two of you can "get to know each other". But if you want to run - and run LEGAL - they will work your butt off after the honeymoon is over. Have you ever heard the expression, " The company with the best load planners, wins" ? GIX runs LEGAL. They re-trained their load planners and dispatchers to rigidly adhere to the HOS as well as maximizing the miles put on a truck long before it became the industry norm. They voluntarily implemented electronic logs, knowing that someday they would be required. They are so far ahead of the curve, it's refreshing! They DO offer you more than one load. They DO have part-time and casual drivers. They will kill themselves trying to make sure you pull your 34 hour restart in your own home ( if that's the way you want it ). Yes they run a LOT of meat loads, so being on-time is REQUIRED. You are REQUIRED to call the load planner for your area and let them know what you need for your next load, before you even get empty. How many companies do you know that allow that? Most of them, you can't even get your own dispatcher to answer the phone much less a load planner! Another thing they do that I think is freaking fantastic is their mentor program. Every new driver, regardless of years experience, gets assigned a senior driver as a mentor. Your mentor gets paid to make sure you are successful at GIX. If you have any questions, problems, or concerns, your mentor can cut through just about anything to get you answers.
The biggest problem I see with new drivers is all about attitude - We've been lied to so many times, we walk in the door with a chip on our shoulders and the attitude to go with it. And for some, it takes a long, long time to realize they don't need that mindset here. Instead of being passive, mindless steering wheel holders, GIX expects you to actively participate in your own career. your own success.

My personal email is: flex926@hotmail.com. You are welcome to contact me with any additional questions you might have. Just for the record, for the purpose of calculating my week's paid vacation, my average for my first year was 973.00 weekly. And I was STILL home once a week!

 

Good luck man! What kind of trucks do they have? Do you know their speed? Are you going to be running 48 states and CA?

 

Take a look at my post under nekiteflyer. Questions? flex926@hotmail.com

 

That sounds too much like a recruiter. I apologize if you aren't one but the whole email for more is how crst got my info and never quit calling.

 

Hey nekiteflyer, thanks for the info. I have been checking companies lately... Would you mind answering some questions here? I would appreciate if you would..

What kind of trucks do they have? Their website shows a Columbia Freightliner... What is the speed on their trucks? What kind of transmission? And are they all double bunks?

Do they offer a driver the option between dry van and reefer? If a driver chooses dry van, will he/she be always pulling dry van?

Do they expect drivers to go to NYC and/ or Canada? How far northeast do they go? And how far west?

I read they run in CO, Rocky Mountains and such....What is their shutdown policy? And chain policy?

Do they let driver stay on the road for 2 to 3 months? If so, do they allow driver to 5 - 7 days off?

Do they have other terminals south of NE?

I can call them and ask all these questions... but since you are a driver, I would like to know from you. And I really appreciate your attention. Be safe there man.

 

2012 Freightliner Columbias / 65 mph / Mostly east- no NYC. No CA.

 

Not sure of the trannys. I know they're ten speeds, no automatics / yes, they are all double bunks. We pull reefers Occasionally there is a dry van in the mix but very seldom. No Canada, NYC, or CA. The farthest west we go is Denver. We do have some freight that goes into the Northeast but we have drivers who live in Maine that use those loads to go home on. As for chains, the Colorado fleet carries them but I didn't run west so I'm not sure. I'm a Jersey / MD / PA driver. "LET" you stay on the road 2-3 months? Why on earth would you want to? Again, I couldn't answer that one for you - I was too busy #####in' to be home once a week We have a couple of drop lots around the country but Grand Island is our only full service terminal. If you PM me at flex926@hotmail.com I'll give you a phone number - NO I am not a recruiter. What I am is a writer making a living driving a truck. Or I was... I drove for this company for a year until I blew out 2 discs in my neck. The Doc says I'm done driving permanently. Rather than kick me to the curb like any other company would have, this company shelled out a lot of time, money, and effort retraining me to be the night dispatcher from home! They have a couple of quirks that used to irritate the crap out of me but when you look at the whole package - you will NOT find a better company. But if you're a truck stop hero, you will not like it here. They schedule things pretty tight. And these meat loads MUST be on-time. Hope this helps. I have a blog on Letstruck.com, user name: Kate. Check it out. I've said the same thing on my blog site as I'm telling you here. Feel free to connect back with me any time. Safe Journeys.

 

No, sugar - I'm not a recruiter. I'm a used-to-be truck driver. A year ago I blew out 2 discs in my neck. Rather than kick me to the curb like so much garbage, like any other company would have, this company re-trained me to be the night dispatcher from my home office a hundred miles away. See what I mean about that "too good to be true" attitude? Like I told "ROCKS" they have a couple of quirks that used to irritate the dickens out of me but when you look at the total package, they are the best. Hands down. Be safe out there. Feel free to connect any time. This night shift gets a little slow at times Gotta say - I do miss hiking in the mountains up by Loveland Pass!