My 4 Month Review of Schuster

This is a 4 month review and I’ll update as time goes. 4 months isn’t a very long time, so any experiences are subject to change, but here’s my review at this point.

Overview of company:
Predominantly reefer company out of Le Mars, Iowa that’s the main carrier for Blue Bunny ice cream. Also have lots of freight that come from Tyson plants in the northern Nebraska and western Iowa locations such as Storm Lake, IA and Council Bluffs, IA. Also the primary carrier for pulling dry van loads for Bomgaar’s Supply stores. It’s a 48 state carrier that’s typically out for 3 weeks on an ‘out and back’ style of running. If you take a load from Iowa to Georgia for example, your next load or the one afterwards will almost certainly be back towards Iowa. It can get repetitive at times, but it also means a lot less 300 mile loads just cause they paid well off a load board. No driver facing cameras.

My Pay, Equipment, and Miles here:
I’m making 56cpm with a 5cpm bonus paid out monthly to total 61cpm. Bonus is don’t be late due to driver error and be safe, and it’s guaranteed. Speeding isn’t very strictly watched either. Can run 3mph over all day, everyday if you choose and no one will complain. You’ll pay the consequences if you’re ticketed though. Benefits are above average with 401k matching, and PTO accrues from day one. I’ve only worked with one dispatcher so my experience is based off working with him, but I’ve averaged 3100 miles a week with an average length of haul of around 1000 miles. Have had 4 2000+ mile loads and regularly see loads upwards of 13-1500. The equipment is a slight con, solely for the fact that they run International LT’s. All are 2019 and newer with a Cummins and well-maintained, but we all know how International build quality is. Reliable fleet, but definitely not luxury. They’re not ‘brand loyal’ and I have seen some brand new KW’s getting stickered, so maybe they’re making a swap in trucks over the next couple of years. Trucks are governed at 69.

My reasoning for why it’s my favorite:
I know, you read through all that and thought ‘well, that’s decent. Doesn’t stand out much from many other reefer companies, though.’ When I was looking to make a jump to the reefer side, I was looking for true 48-state carrier with long runs, and that’s what I found here. Might not be the highest paid out here or the fastest truck, but I’m having fun with trucking that I didn’t find at other OTR companies. I also feel some stability and a sense of family here. A lot of the employees on the office side are all locals and making careers out of the company since it’s in small town Iowa. This means everything from payroll to dispatch runs smoothly and the owner is even in at the office everyday like any other employee. Being a 50 year old company with steady growth also adds a nice sense of job security. Will I be here for 15 years? Probably not. But knowing that I have the job security to make a career out of one company if I choose is a nice feeling.

 

The 40 is only for extra stops outside of PU and Delivery. I was disappointed when I found out too, but seems to be the standard so didn’t expect any different.

East coast is basically if you drew a line from Syracuse down to Harrisburg, PA. It should be worded Northeast pay IMO. Baltimore and Washington are included as well. Extra pay for NYC. Going to NYC is optional, but does pay extra if someone chose.

 

We use Great Danes. Not too knowledgeable on the technical terms for the specs, but I do know they’re spec’d out for the thickest insulation possible. Thermoking precedent S700’s. Occasionally we pull the Well’s Blue Bunny branded trailers and they’re carriers, but we don’t pull them often.