Life Post FedEx Freight... as a Local Cryo Driver

Just returning from traveling for the orientation/onboarding gig out of state. Boss said he put me in for 10 hours today and yesterday as well as round trip mileage and meals into the expense system(full 8 hour day + 2 for traveling), even though I did not have 10 hours of working either day.

I was incredibly impressed with the onboarding seminar. Important and engaging information led by Safety Directors and Upper HR Brass, all were seemingly very savvy about the scope of their positions. Only one question out of the many went unanswered when it was asked, and one HR manager gave the "I'll get the answer for you". Sure enough, she stopped the presentation when she received a response to the question from whoever she e-mailed it off. We were photographed for our badges, which were printed on the spot with dedicated hardware, fed lunch and sat through more safety stuff.

One thing I can definitely say is that this company seems to be FAR more serious about safety than where I came from. Not that this is a bad thing, but I don't think I'll encounter the "Safety above all" "unless it impacts your gate time" type of environment that I've encountered. The nature of the company's hazmat exposure seems to position them in far more constant contact with regulatory authorities, many of whom you'd typically expect, but other higher profile federal agencies that I would not have thought of. BUT, while they seem to be much more in tune to doing everything the right and safe way, they also seem to strive to balance that with maintaining autonomy for their employees, which I LOVE.

So far I'm liking what I see within the company. My supervisor is proving himself to be incredibly accessible, and most importantly to me, does what he says he is going to do. Time will tell, but my wall of skepticism is beginning to weaken as I move further along in this process. I still, however have about 60 hours worth of computer based training before I'll even see the passenger seat of one of our trucks. I'm going through withdrawals not being behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. I'm probably 5-6 weeks away from being cut loose on my own.

 

My location is a bulk flammable gas location that’s soon to do bulk non flammable gas in the not too distant future, the majority of our customer base is industrial, medical and agricultural. There are literally endless uses that any one of our gases could be used for.

 

My list of companies that I was feeling out was Messer, Praxair/Linde, Air Products and Airgas/Air Liquide.