How is Melton Truck Lines?

Melton has good equipment, they take new drivers, pay weekly and the starting pay is definitely better than most other driving companies. HOWEVER, it does not matter about the pay per mile when you can not get good miles. Miles here are inconsistent to say the least. Your week by week break down of miles might look something like 2100, 2500, 2800, 3100, 2200. Not consistent at all. Net pay that I have personally seen can range anywhere from $600 to $1100. It ALL depends on whatever loads the Load Planners feel like giving you for the week. In my opinion, I feel that Melton's issue is that the company is more focused on freight productivity and no so much about maximizing a drivers miles so that we can actually make a financial living out here.

The amount of sacrifice, time, effort, and energy is very high here just to turn around and make a net average of $800 per week. Most drivers I meet here don't even make that. I found that by urinating while driving, picking up and delivering early, and sleeping at the shipper/consignee helps me to SOMETIMES get an extra run for the week half of the time but the money compared to the sacrifice, time, effort, and energy is just not here at Melton in my opinion. Especially with all of the tarping that we do all year round. Tarping in wind, snow, below zero temps, 100+ degree temps, mud, cow manure at dairies, etc., really makes a person wonder why on earth are they doing this to themselves. And yes, tarping at Melton is 99+ percent of the time. Also, trucks are governed at 65 which is such a literal drag when you have to pass someone.

This is definitely my last year at Melton and as a truck driver. I am a fairly new driver of only two years. A year and a half of that being at Melton. The OTR life is not worth the money. I don't mind the work/sacrifice but I do need the miles in order for the money to make sense of the sacrifice. I hear about mileage issues from other drivers from other companies online as well as in person so it's not like the grass is going to be greener elsewhere. If the miles were here at Melton, they would not have a high (very high) turnover rate. Because of the way the miles are delegated, the turnover rate is and will be for a while very high. Don't believe me? Go up to at least 4 Melton drivers and see how long they have been here. I'm willing to bet money the average would be less than a year.

If Melton were to orchestrate load planning to where they were focused on drivers getting 3000 miles a week, the turnover rate in my opinion would improve because the money would be there which would make the sacrifice worth it. Unfortunately Melton as well as all of the other big companies care more about their productivity and their bottom line. I totally understand that from a business point of view but I as well as most other drivers are not out here on vacation, we are here to make money. Plain and simple. So all that being said is Melton a bad place? No. Will you make money? Decent at best. Would I recommend it? No. If anything I would recommend Wal-Mart if you have the desire to stay in trucking because I haven't heard anything bad about them although I am sure they have their quirks. I got a jump the other day and the road service guy said that out of all the drivers/companies he deals with, the Wal-Mart drivers never complain. But this is 2016. You don't have to work this hard and sacrifice so much for "decent" money. We don't have to run to a job for a paycheck when we can make our own opportunities. I myself am getting into Ebay reselling. There are tons of money making opportunities that you can create for yourself. How do I know? Because there are tons of people making passive income online and it's always something anyone can do. 20 years of my life have gone to making other people money over the years and I am no longer going to live my life that way. Melton has helped me to realize that. Thanks for reading!