manitouman

If you want to work for Maverick, do not hide anything. Full disclosure of your situation is always your best bet- especially with the CIA-like process at our company LOL! Hide something or leave something out... they will find it. And you will be sent home. SOunds like, tho, you should be just fine. Get in the app line ASAP.

 

Hi Manitouman,

I drive for Maverick in TCD (don't call it reefer at the terminal lol)

You're in a prime spot for TCD, I'm in Illinois and Indiana a lot (especially Indianapolis). I hate Chicago too, but we do have a lot of customers up there, so you will be there from time to time. I tend to pass through there more often than I pick up or deliver there, but you'll see it plenty lol.

jxu is right, be 100% honest with Maverick when you apply. But it sounds like you should be good to go. Be aware that if you have not driven OTR (ie subject to DOT logs & rules) for at least 6 months in the last 2 years, you'll be coming in as a student, and will have to go with a trainer for at least 21 days.

If you have any other questions, I am at your disposal. I've been driving TCD for almost a year, and I still remember the hiring and orientation process and all that good stuff. Feel free to ask anything you'd like.

 

Although we sometimes get some odd runs, our main running areas are Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and sometimes Oklahoma, Ohio and Wisconsin. We also go to the northeast sometimes, however I notice that they don't like to keep drivers up there for a really long time, if I get a run going up there I'm usually back in the south in less than 7 days. In the northeast, we primarily run in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey. (These are all pickup and delivery locations, obviously we have to cross other states to get to some of these places).


Detention pay is $15 an hour after 3 hours, to a maximum of 10 hours I believe. We do have to wash out the trailer after certain loads, like chicken that is not frozen, but Maverick will always pay for that.

I've never been pushed to stay out longer than I wanted to (as long as I did 14 days). I've been asked to volunteer a couple times for loads they really needed help on, and I usually do when they ask, because typically they're good runs. I can only recall that happening a couple times, though.

You will NEVER be instructed to cheat logs here - not ever. Big no-no. I have had to violate them a couple times due to being asked not to park at a customer and I was out of hours, but there's no way to avoid that, and its very rare. You will never be asked to run illegally here, and you better not be caught trying to either. If anyone ever does try to make you run illegally, a single call to Safety will take care of that problem. I've never had to make that call. The e-logs are nice most of the time, and can be a pain at other times, but I think they do a lot more good than bad. You won't get starved out here, either... You'll show up in the radar if you're consistently getting less than 2000 miles per week, they'll look into your loads and stuff if that happens, and try to help you figure out the problem, whatever it may be.

Miles are okay for the most part, I typically get between 2100 and 2800 per week, although that can vary, which I'm sure you know. Obviously your home time weeks will have lower mileage, but that's nothing new.

And don't worry about being long winded, we're happy to help and answer questions. Any more, feel free to shoot them to me.

 

Yeah, I am just a "NORMAL" flatbedder (as Razorrange would say LOL!). CaptainX3, Exhawkeye, and Flatt should be able to answer your TCD questions. Alls I know 'bout dem is their trailers sure are noisy. Haha!
I started my day today over in your neck of the woods. Danville, IL..... Wish ya luck Man.

 

Don't be sorry, you're not bothering me at all!

As a student, you'll start at .35, go to .38 at 3 months, then to .41 at 6 months. I don't know if your next raise comes at 1 year total, or 1 year after your 6 months (18 months total). I won't be able to tell you that until June 20th lol.

We have quite a few customers that we do drop and hooks at, but at this time it's kinda random. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't, even at the same facilities. I do know that if we have an empty trailer somewhere and the customer will let us drop the full one, we'll do it. Less time always equals more money, for both the company and the driver.

We do go to NYC sometimes, but its rare. I've been told its less than 1% of the time. I've only been once, and that was when I was with my trainer, and they wouldn't let me drive into NYC with so little experience lol. But you will probably be sent there eventually, at some point.

The trucks have EPUs on them (they're like an APU but run on batteries only, not a little engine like a Tripak). They want you to try to keep your idle % as close to 10% as you can.

Until this quarter, they offered a fuel bonus for mileage (mpg). Starting next quarter, they're introducing the PFP system, which gives you points for certain things like miles per day, fuel mileage, out of route mileage, customer compliments, etc. You can score up to 100 on your "report card" and you're given a bonus on your miles for the next quarter based on your score. Top level is an extra .06 per mile for every mile you drive during the quarter after the report card is given. Look for the thread called "Maverick PFP" on this forum here, us drivers were discussing the new system and there's lots of details there.

The speed your truck is governed at is based on your fuel mileage. New drivers start at 62, and once your mileage gets to at least 6.5 mpg (roughly), you'll be able to go 65. If you drive carefully, it takes about 7 - 10 days to go from 62 to 65. It is possible to get the truck up to 68, but ironically, if you drive slow enough to get to 68, you'll drop right back down once you start driving at 68 and your mileage drops lol. Most drivers get to 65 max.

21 days is the absolute minimum a trainer has to keep you. Most trainers will not release a brand new student until at least 4 weeks, but since you do have experience, but just not recent enough for insurance, your trainer might cut you loose at 21 days as long as you show him you know what you're doing. I came in with some OTR training from a previous company, but only 2 months worth. I was in my trainer's truck for exactly 4 weeks to the day.

My trainer was one of those weird guys who stays out 6 - 8 weeks at a time, so he didn't go home. However, Maverick did send me home for 4 days after I had been away from home for 6 weeks, because I originally hired in for glass and switched to TCD, and there are very few TCD trainers, so I had to wait a couple weeks for a spot to open up. Maverick will make sure they get you home once you are out for 6 weeks, even if you're not done training.

If your trainer goes home during your training, you'll go home too if he lives near you. If not, they'll put you up in a nice hotel to relax over the weekend or however long he's at home.

I think that covers the second set of questions... Keep them coming if you'd like to know more. If you don't have a referral yet and you do apply with Maverick, feel free to PM me for my info.