I'm baaaaaack!!!!!!!!

Equipment is mostly Freightliners and Volvos (780) with auto shift 12 speeds and APUs (TriPac), including an inverter (1500w). You can buy a fridge through the shop for around $250 installed, and you can pay for it through payroll deduct if you want at $50/week.

I've averaged around 2500 miles more or less, although with all my recent time off its been a bit lower, around 2000. I'll be back on track soon.

I'm not sure what they'd start you off at; they started me at .38/mile but I had over a million miles experience. You get a .01 safety bonus for every month you keep your nose clean (speeding, logs, tickets, incidents). Your safety record is used along with productivity to assign you a score which is used to assess you every six months, and that score determines your pay increase. If you work well you can be at max pay (.42) in six months. I have a friend in recruiting who can give you the specifics on how that works.

In addition, every quarter they give away a car. Past models have included tricked out 4X4 Jeep Wranglers, Lincolns, and a pretty nice Pontiac G6 sedan. To be in the drawing you have to qualify for the safety bonus two out of three months.

They use Speed Guage to track your speed compliance; if you go 6mph over they will know about it. You get two speed violations a month before you lose the bonus (unless it's egregious, then one will do it). They also have dash cams, forward and driver facing. These are for safety and driver protection (they don't record unless there is an event).

Most loads are customer freight, with brokers used for back hauls or to get you home on time. Biggest customer is Cooper Tire. Good news on that is lots and lots of loads, seldom more than 30,000 pounds. Bad news is you can grow trees waiting to unload them (you're not allowed to assist--my guess is somebody hurt themselves because they used to pay drivers to assist). Cooper doesn't pay detention to us. You generally don't get more than one live unload a week so it's not that bad. We do a lot of paper loads for Packaging Corporation of America.

Only time I've ever been involved touching a load was a restack when a pallet collapsed. 20 minutes of work, paid $25 by the broker. You'll have to sweep out your trailer before dropping at PCA for paper.

All in all this job is cake (ask any flatbedder, reefer, or P&D guy on this thread). They treat me quite well and I'm thrilled to be working here.

 

You'll be fine; everybody gets paid less while they're learning. Being close to the company will work in your favor. And you can be at top pay within a year. Your low overhead means you can get through your training period more easily than most. Just listen to your trainer and remember to keep communication lines open with the company. Most of all, be deliberate in your actions. If you think first, you'll be a little slower in the beginning but will develop the habits that will keep you and the equipment safe for a lifetime. If you try to rush things, you'll find yourself going slower because of having to do stuff twice or you've damaged something. Good luck!

(I wish I had referred you to the company!)

 

Meh. No skin off my teeth if you do or don't. I'm not on this forum to make money.