Is it hard to get into get into the LTL side of trucking?

That is absolutely new to me. Usually they drop you off in the deep end and slash your floaties.

If this is true, I would ride out every minute of it and ask as many questions as I could. I got complete shafted when I started and learned stuff the hard way. Say hi to Doug Lowe and Doug Camera if you bump.into them.

 

Yeah hopefully reddaway is getting better? I know from what I've read of your experiences you weren't particularly impressed with one of the barns in Montana. Whatever the case may be, this is a way better opportunity for me than driving with a mega. Pretty excited about it

 

Driving linehaul was not that bad. When I switched over to P&D is when the drama began. We had no TM running our barn and I had some personal conflicts with the lead driver running the place.

What happened to me at my barn was unique to my barn. You would be in the same region, but that doesn't mean you will be treated like I was. If you can deal with the snow, that is 80% of the battle for you 5 months out of the year.

 

I interviewed there. TM is from out east, experienced, sounds kinda gruff at first but seems fair. They can't hold drivers, lots of other barns around there that pay more, good place to get started and learn the right ways to do things, try not to sign anything that binds you there for a period of time in exchange for training.

That TM was running one of the failing TNT outfits back when the wheels came off, so he's been around and likely a good resource if you have questions.

 

That barn always had staffing issues as far as I remember. Back in 2014 they had 5 linehaul guys just walk off the job. They all went to Peninsula or Oak Harbor. Even the company linehaul dispatcher defected to Old Dominion.

Overall, running line for USF Reddaway is not a bad gig at all. But if you find yourself in an area with more options, I would ask around.

 

So I had the interview with Estes and spoke to the TM out of Ft Worth. Cool dude! Straight shooter. We talked about the company. Pay, benefits, the position ect. At the end of the interview he told me he had 7 other people he had interview after me, sheeshh Its gonna be a busy day today for him. All I can do is wait and keep them fingers crossed.

 

I figured as much. The TM pretty much just asked me about my driving record and how much I knew about reddaway. Since I had been doing a lot of research on it I aced that, and then we shot the #### about his history with the company and about Puerto Rico (I'm Puerto Rican, that's rare in spokane but not the east coast where he's from). At no point did I ever feel like I was being interviewed in the traditional sense, and I was not expecting that being a rookie and all! So that points to me that they're having some staffing issues.

As for your second point, I don't think I'm gonna find anything better than them with my experience. Swift has this heavy haul position I was considering but I'm not sure I'd wanna go with them considering all the memes and stuff.

 

You never know until you try. A lot of companies are loosening their experience requirements

 

Try CDI, bulk company, saw their trucks when I was up there. This is cement season.

https://www.cementdistributors.com/

 

I was working 60 hours a week making $72k a year working line. The other major thing is health benefits. $50/month employee copay covers you and your entire family in your household. That one is a huge deal that you need to consider since the plan is worth about $15 an hour with extremely small deductibles.

Regardless where you stand on politics, the truth is alot of insurance companies are asking ridiculous amounts for their premium now that the ACA got rid of the individual mandate but not preexisting conditions. My current job is offering a plan that costs $1,300 a month with a $15k annual deductible. I am going back to YRC because what I have now is an insane plan, considering I only currently make $42k/year

Figure out what is important to you and your family (if you have one or plan on having one). Just keep in mind the CPM or hourly pay doesn't make one job better over another.