Melton vs central oregon?

COTC runs 49 states and Canada as well. I run all 48 and I’ve been from Washington to Florida, Maine to California. We really do run everywhere.

And no the turnover at COTC isn’t 85%. It’s closer to 10%. And that’s with it being flatbed. Half of those people had big no no accidents and the rest retired. Very few people quit this company.

 

There’s plenty of room to grow. Orientation was 2 guys last week. It was 5 before that. Was 6 in my class. That’s the most I have seen. They aren’t trying to fill up classes and spend a ton of money onboarding the few drivers they bring to orientation. They really roll out the red carpet. But they don’t roll it back up once you’re hired. It stays out.

 

Cotc goes to AK then but what Canada provinces?

 

Wait... But Melton is “family”

 

I thought that was Olive Garden.

 

I'm about to go to orientation with COTC after talking to two gentlemen there, Jon and Brad. They sound like they represent a no bs company. After being on the phone with Brad for 10 minutes I realized that pay had never even come up, yet I was sure in my head that I needed to check these guys out.

Melton......well, I have had a unique experience from what I gather. They spin it pretty well, orientation was high attrition which made me think they were really special and then the honeymoon wore off the second I walked off of my trailer's truck. For the next month I had broken truck 4 different times, sat over a whole weekend to wait for a specific load, netting me a whopping $230 paycheck for the week, dm's and others who were unprofessional, snarky on the phone types even though their listed job was to help new drivers - one of the outside repairs guys told me I frustrate him after I called him out on covering up a serious problem my truck had - 4 weeks of stuff that just didn't sit well with me. I can sum up my experience with Melton in a story. I met the Director of Safety when my trainer took me around meeting folks the day I was getting my own truck. He never introduced himself or shook my hand. He talked to my trainer like they were pals, then looked at me and asked "Where is your log book?". I was not told to bring it and had left it in my trainers truck, he went back to talking with my trainer without another word. That right there sums up my experience with Melton, most of the folks I dealt with were similarly unprofessional.

The ####ter is that I was so excited to be working for Melton, had heard nothing but good about them. Well, except from this old dude named Rex I had met at home who runs trucks and has for 40 years. He tried to warn me off.......Titan, you're right lol, I never listen.

The drivers I met in Melton were all great, all seemed happy so I was bummed out that it was me that had the "one in a thousand experience.". I really enjoy the work, flatbed is awesome. Hard work for sure, but I missed hard work after going soft on boats for 3 years and took right to it. My runs were all in the 700-800 mile range. I liked that part of it, and am single so being gone just means more money for when I get home, but the way I was treated didn't match my expectations so I left. Maybe my expectations are too high? I dunno......

I really enjoyed the challenge of running a truck with a deceptively long wheels base and a 53' spread axle in places like industrial Chicago and Miami, or a deadhead run I made that was 2 hours of county roads, or my first delivery which included offroading for 3 miles. Flatbed work is good honest work, reminding me of my 6 years on US Coast Guard buoy tenders as part of Deck Force; we always had a chip on our shoulder because we worked harder than anyone else in the service. Flatbed drivers seem to have some of that too, and for good reason.

If I make it through COTC's orientation process I'll post again, but just from talking to Brad and Jon I suspect my experience there would be/will be quite a bit different.

~Rob M

 

Do you know how hard the physical test is I keep watching their you tube video and they are on my list once I hit a year but I am worried about the company test did they have you hooked to a heart monitor or watch for your breathing after each exercise?

 

I didn't know there was one for COTC yet. Melton's was pick 3 tarps up, put them on the trailer, pit them back on the ground, then stand on each foot 30 seconds for balance check. Wasn't hard at all.

As for COTC - well, good thing I have been tarping for 2 months at Melton!!!