Melton Truck Lines

A little while back I posted asking about Melton, was leaving Werner. I was nervous about jumping ship and going to another company because I was in a financial crisis and needed to end up somewhere that I was going to get paid good. After talking to a few people, I finally made the move. Just want to share my experiences for anyone thinking or looking into Melton.

I started the last week of November. I went home Thanksgiving, but stayed out Christmas. Staying out for Christmas was my choice. I could have gone home if I wanted too. So, where to start?

Orientation: If you are an experienced driver you'll attend orientation in Sunnyvale, TX. As of the end of this year Melton is building a new and larger terminal on the other side of Dallas. So, depending on you ended up going this may change. If you are new and have no experience, you'll attend orientation in Tulsa, OK. So, with that said, my orientation was in Sunnyvale, TX. There was 15 of us that started, all said and done only 9 ended up getting a truck. The others were let go for medical reasons, failure of drug test, and lying on the app. So, if you've got anything to hide don't apply to Melton, they'll find it.The first day is going over the basics, introductions, and so on. Over the next few day's you'll learn the basics of load securement, take your driving test (which is stupid easy), and amongst other things. The total length of orientation is 4 days. I started on Monday, had everything done by Thursday. Thursday night a driver for Melton drove me and a few others through the night to Birmingham, AL where we picked up our trucks.

Trucks: Trucks are okay, I'm a little picky about mine but I also stay out for a month at a time and don't like small space either. Which is why I personally dislike the T660. But I've made it work and it suits me for now. With the T660 you get an APU and inverter. When you eventually get a T680 you'll have an APU, inverter, and a fridge provided to you. Yes, you'll eventually get a T680. Melton is in the process of phasing out all T660s and purchasing only T680s. I had a few issues with the first truck, they gladly gave me another when I asked. The second has been good so far.

Pay/Miles: I had 4 months of experience before coming to Melton, so they started me out at .43 CPM. Leaving Werner this was a huge boost from .28 CPM. The miles have been great too. I'd say on average about 2,500 a week or so. A few weeks 3,000+, some 2,800 or so. Two weeks, though was less than 2,000. One was because I was going home on Wednesday and not going back out until Monday. The other was because I had ran 3,100 miles one week, then 2,800 the next week, so I was really low on hours and rolling the hours was minimal from the week before. I was only getting back 3, 6, 6, 8 and so on. So I took a 34 and reset. Rolling hard the next week or so and then onward to home. The other big thing that I love? That I rarely sit for very long. The longest I've sat was 3 hours and that was because I was in the middle of nowhere and ended up getting a load of hay in SD and headed to MO. But usually you won't sit longer than an hour before you have a load and are headed out. I also recommend shelling out the money and getting your Passport Card, TWIC, and HM. These will help you tremendously here at Melton. If you go to Canada you get an extra .06 CPM for whatever load goes up and whatever load comes down. So, right now I'm at .43 CPM, but if I go to Canada, the load going up and the load coming down pays .49 CPM. By the end of your first year you'll be at .49 CPM so that'll actually be .55 CPM going up and coming down. If you haul a HM load it's an extra
.08 CPM. If you haul a HM going to Canada it's an extra .06 + .08! It adds up quickly!

The company: I've been treated great by everyone here. It's pretty cool to see how well they treat their drivers and try to take care of them. Like I've always said, any trucking company's backbone is their drivers. Without them, no one in that company has a job. Melton has this figured out and strives to keep their drivers happy and taken care of. They are also very family orientated too, so that is nice! Note this though, if you live in the Tulsa area you do have to leave your truck at the Tulsa Terminal. This can get quite annoying at times, but it's only a small annoyance considering everything else.

I'm sure I missed something. So if you have any questions feel free to ask. I honestly can't think of anything bad so far.

 

The sad part is that I had agreed to employment for .30 CPM. But it was not until I had left and started reviewing my pay stubs that I realized I was actually only getting paid .28. It's a minimal difference, sure. But still not cool that a company would do that! To be honest, I was a little nervous about the securing and tarping of a load, but it has come rather easy (or easier than I thought it would). It's not too difficult and you get the hang of it rather quickly. But I agree, the starting CPM is much higher.My end goal is to become an O/O in oversize and stepdeck. So Melton is just a stepping stone. I've heard there is a lot of money in oversize loads! How long have you been in flatbed?