Milk delivery (non bulk)

Yeah, some are and some aren't. Union route truck drivers work for the company, such as Stroehman bread (which is big in the NE, I'm not sure if they're available around your area), and Wonder Bread, before they went bankrupt. Non union are O/O's and are contracted, and they bid for runs, such as Flowers Foods/Tasykake. Usually these guys get a base salary of around $200, and get a percentage of EVERY bread and cake sold, that's union drivers, O/O's are paid whatever the contract that they agreed upon. A lot of their expenses is paid for by the company, including benefits. Sort of like Intermodel O/O's that work for a brokerage firms like the Hub Group, where a lot of their expenses are paid for by the firm.

I think any DSD job, whether it's beverage, bread, cakes, doritos, lays chips, nestle, etc., etc. etc. has some form of sales involved. I not sure how beverage and chips guys get paid, but bread guys get a percentage of everything sold.

Here's an insider tip. When you buy bread at Wal Mart, buy the GREAT VALUE brand. They're made by the same big name brand. That also applies to hamburger and hotdog buns as well. And don't EVER buy bread or cakes from thrift stores. They're basically outdated goods that are not good enough for the supermarkets.

 

Can anybody here compare this craziness to LTL? I have every LTL company under the sun here in my town. That is honestly what I wanted to shoot for to begin with. I don't mind hard work at all, but it's nice to still be able to walk at the end of the day. Plus, every hobby I enjoy doing is pretty rough on the body. No way I could even think about doing any of that stuff anymore. I can't even go on bike rides or run with my wife after work either. My bodies broken and I'm sleeping by the time she's home. Lesson learned, "no money is worth not having a life".

 

LTL is much easier on the old bod, but may not pay as well. Also may have to put up with longer hours, slip seating, and maybe even some dock work.

 

LTL is NOWHERE near as difficult as Milk delivery. I don't know where you're located at, but a lot of LTL companies will train from the start. I would recommend Old Dominion (because they seem to be the HOTTEST LTL company right now) that's if there is one around your area, or Fed Ex Freight, because they start you off at a decent payrate, and they really don't lay you offs. If none of these are around your area, just go with ANY LTL company that has a training program. I would skip UPS Freight, because you don't have enough experience to be qualified, but you CAN apply for their dockworker position and work your way up inhouse.

 

Thanks guys! All of those mentioned above are in my area. I also see that Holland always has an ad up for a driver training program (could be a red flag?). I'd have to spend the 4k to get my CDL first though. Or... End up crippled from this job and get my CDL paid for through them in a few months..

 

Red flag...MAYBE. I would say just driver shortage.

Some of these LTL training companies will have you COMMITTED at least a year, or you'll have to pay back the cost of training. YRC is one of them. I don't know if ABF, R+L, OD, and such has the same policy. I would imagine they do, since they're investing money in training you from the beginning.

 

Looks like I wrote this at the perfect time:
You'll be acing there interview in no time.
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/doubles-and-triples-operational-standpoint.309940/
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...ds/ltl-markets-the-business-of-it-all.314741/

 

Alright lets talk about USF Holland what do you want to do Road or City? Road your going to be driving primairily at night far from home and there will be days you will not be home at all. Holland is like Gordon Food Service only of the LTL world they are actually one of the few profitable parts of YRC. They are high performance that means 600miles a night left door closed hammer down. Remember this is permanence base and Holland is a performance based company you'll make big bucks there, but they are a reginal LTL carrier meaning that what they sell is the service of we can get it from Ohio to Tennessee will say faster then a national carrier because we don't have to send our stuff to some break bulk in the wrong direction to be sorted and put on another truck (kind of) what they are doing is saying we stay in a certain region and we can turn 1 day transit times where other national carriers might take 2 days to do that same run.

Shippers like this and go with them for that. Now if your in the city with USF Holland it's a lot of stops and get ready to perform some real miracles with a 53' trailer. My experience is mostly with 28' trailers I would struggle for a fact if I went to do Holland and did city work there, it would be a real but chewer for a little while, but you stick with it you'll learn.

You'll make good money at Holland I suppose I can drop the USF part of it US Freightways is dead and gone YRC is the box they were buried in. At any rate though good cashola there, but performanced based. They like freight to make it on time undamaged. You have to run 600 miles a night on line haul to get the miles, you will be sleeping in motels during the day and some of the motels will be alright and others not so good, it's where ever the company decides they want to send you. Holland has been getting some new equipment lately, but they have a lot of old trucks 3million plus miles that were left over from the USF days heck I bet some of the trailers are left over from the TNT days. You might even see a couple trailers with ghost markings that say USF Redstar which is now gone New Penn picked up the slack on that one.

The thing about Holland is there part of YRC which it's a long story basically it's a tail wagging the dog kind of story and there was some bad upper management and a lot of we need to expand now and will do it through acquisition and like US Foods there was to much buying out of smaller companies and merging and for a minute there in 2008 it didn't even look like YRC was going to make it and right now they are struggling to hold on to there place as third largest LTL in the country Old Dominion is on fire right now and breathing right down YRC Freights neck it's anyone's game right now and will see at the end of the year but Old Dominion they are burning up the charts largest growing national LTL right now and if there's a company to knock Yellow Roadway Company down a peg it's Old Dominion there the company to do it and there gunning for the top personally and I could be wrong, but I think Old Dominion is out to knock XPO Logistics-Conway down a peg to number 3 that's who I really think they want get after. I don't think Old Dominion can beat FedEx Freight, but given the past set of what's going on I can see Old Dominion beating YRC and possible getting in a real nasty knock down drag out fight for second place with XPO Logistics it'll be interesting to see that is for sure. YRC company the national LTL division there has been a lot of turbulence lets say in the past half decade there.

However on the Holland side of it that company which YRC owns has been doing very well which is why new tractors have started to come there way, they went through a shipping rate reduction lately and have a lot of freight and need drivers. I don't have a reason to leave my job where I work now so I won't, but if I was in the job market with LTL freight and I want to make money because this is all a production game to me, Holland would be where I would seriously consider going. They have a lot of freight to move there business is up and I would be there applying to work the night line trying to run as many miles a night as I can click click click click goes the odometer and that's all money in your pocket.

 

Update: Body is getting used to the intense abuse (kind of). The real downfall... Working from 2am-6:30pm. That doesn't even give me 8 hours to sleep. No time for a life what so ever. Only 2 weeks in and it's already taking a toll on the wife. By the time she gets home, I'm passed out. Now the real debate is, 1. Make good money and have no life? Or 2. Go back to my old job, make enough to get by, and get my life back? Inlaws just called me to come over, have a couple beers, and play horseshoes,but I have to be in bed in about an hour. Didn't realize how much the little things in life mattered until now.

 

I wanted to ask you how it was cooking at the dairy? Now I know, ugh that's a tough. How many stops a day are you doing?