Halvor Lines, Superior, WI: No longer worth it

It's easy to see that SnowBeGone is unemployed and having a blast playing on the computer. How's flippin burgers?

 

This is actually a pretty decent list.

All of Vogelsburg's rigs are pretty fancy, I think they are small enough that they aren't hiring, but who knows.

 

Never worked for em. I'm at Bay&Bay where the skies are blue and the grass is green 99.9% of the time.

 

When I started out I lived for 3 yrs in a flat top Freightliner and it didn't bother me in the least. Your paid to drive the truck not live in a chrome encrusted hotel room. Get you fat butt out of the truck and walk around instead of sitting in the seat and whining on the cb.

 

A women used her giant hooters to take over a company?? Must have been the Double D Avenger.

 

Every outfit has their good and bad points, these guys are not as bad as some are claiming.

A few years ago they dealt with just about everything possible that could go wrong all happening at once. Freight rates plummeting, skyrocketing fuel prices, much of USG and paper mill accounts falling apart, and bad timing buying out Timberline in my opinion.

Was there unfairness and favoritism here at times? Sure, but show me a job that is completely fair, and makes 400+ people from all walks of life totally happy 100% of the time.

And sure, Halvor Lines could be one of the last companies "fighting the system," throwing away the Quallcom and still running drivers like fly by night cowboys with loose leaf logs. Sure they could give the DOT the finger. And at the same time watch the insurance rates go through the roof and have all employees wind up in the poor house, as well as being a big red flashing target for every Squad car and scale house. With less than 400 trucks they are barely a blip on the radar as far as having a say in all that and would be fighting a losing battle.

In this day and age real-time tracking of freight is a must for some customers, and 10 or so dispatchers calling 300+ drivers on the phone every three hours would be utter chaos.

I do not agree with electronic logs, especially mandating them, but even on paper logs these guys never tried to push me beyond legal limits.

I had 2 go-arounds with these guys. And hopefully I don't have to rule them out if push comes to shove for a third try.

Why did I leave? I guess you could say I never found my "comfort zone" here. Like it or not no matter how nice a company claims to be about getting you home, you are at the mercy of available freight and the companies freight lanes. Meaning nine times out of ten anything I took home was 80 or so miles out of route. When freight dried up it was like pulling teeth just to get loads to begin with. If I lived up there or if they had a terminal closer to my house maybe things would be different. So I left for greener pastures.

I thought going to a small company was the answer, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't make life much easier. I pulled reefers and made a lot more money, but worked way harder for it. On top of it there is more responsibility on the driver, no one is going to hold your hand and make every little decision for you.

Having a faster truck with loose leaf logs is all relative, you don't get any more sleep and are just expected to run harder.

So I think there are a few legitimate gripes on here, but some have taken it to the extreme. If you don't like your job, find a different one. Just don't let the door hit you too hard on the way out.

 

I've been in trucking all my life & there have been times when things got rough. Trucking is trucking, doesn't matter if it's Halvor or any other company. Reading these comment's to me sound like you guys are pissed cause they didn't do things your way. You were an employee, so you do what your told, buy fuel where your told. You were working there to make money, right. Well Halvor is in business to make money, so therefore they had you buy their fuel where they wanted you too. If you drivers think it's so easy running a company, why don't you start your own trucking company. I did, I've got 1 Trk leased onto Halvor. Before that I had been a company driver for various companies. So I no what it's like go have to pay the hi fuel price & all the other expenses, like maintenance & insurance. Halvor has been in business since 1968 so they must no what they're doin.

 

i live 10 miles north of minneapolis, MN i'm friends with a driver at halvor, is there any other "starter companies" in minnesota or western wisconsin worth checking out?