May trucking

just finished 3 weeks' training.

Reefer division truck - runnin' 48. Was home within 2 weeks the first time out. Was home within ONE week the second time out.

Tell your dispatcher when you want to be home, and odds are you'll make it. (yes, there are always exceptions). Got told this by several drivers, too.

Pay. Sorta. My pay has been dead accurate - but as a trainee, it's flat rate. X amount per day. It's ALWAYS there on time - they pay to your comdata card. you can transfer off to another account, if you wish.

They pay PC Miler miles. Hub miles are typically higher, so you drove some miles for free. ON the other side, in three weeks, the largest divergence between PC Miler miles and hub miles was 33 miles.

They fix pay problems quickly - I had a problem (couldn't transfer money off my comdata. Called in. 5 minutes later, was done. fixed)

They ARE hardnosed about routing, but it's not 'zero tolerance'. I think a significant portion of their routing is related to where they have contracted fuel stops. But I know in three weeks, we went off route on EVERY load. Not MUCH, mind you, but definitely off. If Dispatch had wanted to complain about it, the opportunity was there. GPS could tell them where we were.

In fact, some times, you have no choice to go off route. Route from Oakland to PA this past week had us on I-80 all the way. Can't. There's a hunk of I-80 in Salt Lake City that is barred to trucks (Construction), so you get detoured around. Out of Route.

 

I say when you start earning your hometime, ALWAYS give a two week notice for it, give it a day or two, before or after the planned day (don't get your hopes up) then remind them a couple times when it is getting close to the date to HOPEFULLY ensure they are TRYING to route you in the right direction, otherwise you might be heading the opposite direction for a while and putting hometime off a few more days.

You are lucky to be so close to a yard/teminal.

 

As far as routing, I find that if you deviate a little they dont mind. I have gone sight seeing and to visit relatives. One of my normal moves is if I am going from Denver to Larimie or west, or vice versa, and I dont have a Cheyenne fuel stop I will cut across US287 instead of I25 to I80. Big Ray turned me on to that. It is shorter and a great ride.

My experience with home time is this. Im home right now. Just got in about an hour ago. I asked to be off from the Fri 11th to Thur 16th and I got home two days early. They said no problem with the extra days off. Ray is right about taking time off. The Trucking Golden Rule "If the wheels arent turning you arent making money" applies here. I have family matters to attend to so I need to be home. My advice is as soon as you get in the Truck to go out, get on the Qualcom and send in a time off message. They do want you to stay out 3 weeks minimum.

I just went by the Yolo yard last Tues.

MTC2665 dont go away mad....just go away. Im gonna guess you had a Freight Shaker. Should have hung around. 09 387's are in. Cal idle leagal and decked out to the Max. Replacing the last of the Freightliners.

 

May doent have "Trainers". We have Mentors. May will not teach you how to Drive. You should know that already. The will help you develop your skills and mostly teach you how May expects you to do you your job. Which I have already addressed.

 

With May you have to start within 60 days out of school or off to school again.

I had a freight shaker but I could not keep it running good to pull hills plus I had issues with my dispatcher but I was out of the Layton terminal at the time and ended up quitting because of the truck, dispatcher, no hometime etc. The Layton terminal is known to be the worst one to be based out of.

P.s I was driving my truck the same way that I drove in my trainers truck.
I also told them after I soloed out I get a freight shaker or send me home I was not going to take a 379 I would of took a 387 but prefered the freight shaker

 

Well, it's now zero hour. I leave tomorrow ( 07/13/08 ) for Phoenix, and the 110 temps. I wanted to thank everyone that's taken the time to respond. It's been quite helpful. It's likely to be a while before I can get back to this, so I wanted to leave a few thoughts ( a little touch of zen here ). First, I'd been asked by my classmates, as well as my school administrators why I chose May as opposed to company "B" ( my school has VERY STRONG ties with a certain trucking company, but I won't mention Swift by name here, I'll just leave it up to all of you to guess which company it may have been ). The main reason I started looking at May was simple. A LACK of advertising for drivers. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about. Pick up any newspaper, freebie ad rags, etc, and you'll see these "puppy mill" companies always looking for new drivers. That kind of recruiting I would suspect is indicative of HIGH turn over ( unless these companies REALLY are looking to employ a million drivers ) !! Limited advertising led me to believe that May is not another "puppy mill". The feedback that I've received here and directly from drivers pretty much backs this theory up. Sounds like it's going to be a good company to work for, based on what I've heard and been told, and I'm looking forward to it. I know it won't be "perfect" but it seems better than a lot of others out there.
My next thought is that I've run across postings regarding things such as not getting enough home time, being stuck having certain routes, and one of the crazier ones, a driver being "upset" and considering leaving because he didn't get the make and model of tractor that he wanted. Folks, GROW UP !! With regards to dispatch issues, keep your dispatcher up to date, and remember. You're not their only driver, and the driver they spoke with before you called could be jammed up in some podunk town, and now the dispatcher has to address that headache. For the driver who posted that he was bailing on May because he didn't get his F/L. Good luck with your plan B action. I'm sure that like Cali, where I'm at, there are bunchs of available jobs to choose from ( oh no, wait. maybe like Cali, you have to fight a hundred other people just to be considered for a job at Mickey Ds ). I may sound a bit crass, but my take on it is this. It doesn't necessarily matter what you're driving, as long as you're moving, and getting those paid miles.
Next, I've seen a few drivers mention their wedding anniversaries here. Just wanted to toss my log on the fire here. November 29 ( my wife forgets, so we just do the day after Thanksgiving for her sake ). This year ( 08 ) will be number 25 for us.
Next, regarding my mention of home time. I'm realistic about home time, and know it won't be weekly. I had to ask because I first started driving with the now defuct Donco years ago. In seven months, I was home a total of 11 days !! When my wife finally threatened both the company and myself with a divorce, I spoke with the vice president of the company about the situation. Long story short, I parked their truck in Tempe, told them to eat stuff and die, and grabbed a bus back to Cali ( got a great driving gig in the aerospace industry 2 days after I got home, so burning the Donco bridge didn't seem to hurt ) !!
Finally, a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you from both my wife and myself. A hearty handshake also, ( unless you're hugging sort. Don't laugh, some are, and that's all right ). If you see me out there, please don't hesitate to stop by and say howdy, introduce yourselves, maybe join me for a cup of joe. It will take some time for me to get used to being by myself, and some friendly faces would REALLY BE APPRECIATED.
Keeping the rubber to the road, and the big doors at the backside,
Scott ( aka Scotty B )
P.S. Regarding the anniversary, it's actually better for both my wife and myself to celebrate the day after "turkey day", which is when we got married. So we just celebrate each year, the friday after Thanksgiving.

 

I pick up my first truck Monday. Would love for it to be one of the new Century's, but hear it will be a 379. Odds are, though, it'll be a Radio Flyer. Not likely to get a 387, either - and not really sure I want one