Look out for changes at Quality Carriers

It's called a TWIC card. Pretty easy to get if your background is clean. If you already have HazMat you save about $40 bucks or so.

 

Tell them you'll get it if they'll reimburse you for it . Every QC driver I knew got reimbursed for Hazmat background check and TWIC

 

I work for the same affiliate that RickG works for. I can second that not all QC affiliates are the same - ours hasn't seemed to change, in terms of pay. Our owner bought a few brand new trucks for the new terminal he bought in La Porte, TX, but most of us company drivers who've been driving for him out of his established terminal are driving 10-year old Macks that have 800,000 or more on the odo... except for me, anyway. I got extremely lucky and managed to nab one of a pair of 2007 Pete 379s - and I mean extremely (and possibly temporarily) lucky.

On the flip side, though, most of our latex tankers are as old as I am (I'm 25), and look downright scary in terms of general appearance (outer body is usually dented in several places, extremely dirty due to latex spillage at shippers/receivers). Our shop is phenomenally good about keeping them legal and bending over backwards to make them when they're found out to be not so, however, but even then, it becomes difficult to fix/clean tankwagons that were new back when the trucking industry was supposedly experiencing its golden years.

As for QC et al going downhill, it's entirely possible, but a lot of the more successful affiliates may not even be affected if the company goes under. Just be careful about the affiliate you choose to work for, if you have that option.

(On another note, RickG knows a hell of a lot more than I know about QC - I'm merely supplementing what little I know to add to this mix).

 

I can't see QC going under . They sold most of their terminals to affiliates so they are getting income from percentage with no real expense except overpaid office people at Tampa and office costs and upkeep .
You say a lot when you say you were "extremely lucky" to get a 2007 Peterbilt .

 

That's primarily because, compared to the condo-sleeper Green Mack I had to drive before it, it's like driving a Cadillac... though, I suppose you have a point. Other companies... well, maybe even other affiliates within our company would probably consider my truck to be junky and old, considering all the brand new Pete 386s I see from other terminals.

 

I drove that green Mack . I think it's an '03 . Fist time in a long while I drove a truck with vent windows . It had a fixed 5th wheel that was too far forward . They just bought it last year . Buying a condo was crazy . It won't even clear some racks at customers .

 

Did they give you a guaranteed minimum pay per mile ? With me a lot of percentage loads were below that minimum . If you don't put in a pay request for a boost you won't get it . All loads out of Carrollton , KY are below minimum . Also if you load out of Carrollton on a Friday have Kim in shipping sign for extra trailer charge . You'll get a percentage . If I loaded for a Wednesday Pasadena load it was 2 extra days .

 

I fill out a pay request for every load I do; most of the time, I take mileage pay due to the fact that most of our loads don't have backhauls (I'm an 861 driver) and the latex runs generally have a low percentage (half the time, even if I have a backhaul, percentage pay for us is usually only <$20 higher). I've only pulled the acid bottle run (TTC, I believe it was?) from Carrollton to Pasadena twice, now, and I can't recall what the linehaul was, but I'll try to remember that. Thanks!

 

If you loaded Pasadena on Friday you should have gotten extra pay but Kim has to approve it on the time sheet . For me out of Owensboro the linehaul used to be $100 under my guaranteed rate . Then when Arkema sold out they got a new rate and it was only $75 under my guaranteed rate . Load Monday deliver Wednesday gets no extra pay . That TTC is bad stuff . Watch for vapors from leaking gaskets . Never leave a plant with a leaking gasket . Nobody will fix it on the road .

 

I had a bad gasket on D1606, once, but the weekend guys at the plant found out about it before they started loading it and were kind enough to tell me. Since then, I've tried to make it a point to check it in my pre-trip each time I grab that trailer... though, even then, I'm not entirely experienced in pulling vacuum tanks/acid bottles.