P.A.M. Transport, Inc. - Tonitown, Ar.?

O.K. I have made my decision. After checking out PAM the school they use is a CDL mill. I am going to attend ATDS and pay my own way. Class starts on the 2nd wish me luck on finding a decent company. Thinking about McElroy or TMC.

 

Good Luck with school. I don't know where you are from but you might like to check into Roehl. They are a very good company. My husband drives for them and they take new grads.
Again good luck.

 

I have decided against flatbed and Roehl won't let me take my truck home where I live. I have applied with CFI.

 

I started my driving career with PAM in 2003 and stayed there until 2005. I have nothing but good things to say about them. As far as their dismissing students, when I was a trainer for them I never once saw ANYONE (student or experienced driver) dismissed for any reason at all. In fact, if you were dismissed by PAM, most likely you had already received at least one if not MANY warnings regarding the actions one was doing which would lead to dismissal. This company fulfilled everything they promised to do from the get go. As far as the whole "Penny A Mile" comment, well I did only receive $0.24/mi when I first started, however my first year there I made just over $40,000 and averaged about 2800 miles per week (PAM calculates your paid vacation by taking an average of your miles for the past calendar year and paying u those miles at your current rate). I was given two raises my first year there, and then in Oct. of 2004 they gave a 3 cent across the board raise. I've heard from friends of mine (whom I went to trucking school with in 03 and who are still with the company) that they raised starting pay for newbies to $0.28/mi in January of this year. I've actually considered going back to work for this company. I will always support PAM because as I said before, they kept their word. I was never promised or told anything that didn't happen. Like they say on their website "we're big enough to service but small enough to care". I'd recommend this company to anyone who is starting off in the trucking industry. I do however wish that they offered manual transmissions, but I understand why they don't from a business perspective.

 

I just commented about PAM on another post, and will try to reiterate what I said there on this thread. I started my driving career with PAM in 2003 after completing my CDL training at MTC in the St. Louis area. I can honestly say that they did not make any promises that they couldn't keep. I also developed a good relationship with my DM. I wasn't truck number 44433, I was Brian, and she knew me when I called. Also, I did my best not to call my DM everytime I had a problem with a short haul, or a customer that I knew to be good at delaying me at the docks. That's not to say that I wouldn't, in a friendly manner, remind my DM of the things I did without complaint, however she would in turn reward me with a nice long haul. In my short experience out here (just over 3 years now), I have learned that the less you are in your DM's hair, the more likely you are to be rewarded. Also, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS do your best to deliver your load on time! These are just a couple of things that have made my time out here on the highways of the US much more enjoyable and rewarding. I still avg 3000+ miles and have worked for 3 different companies. Granted, I'm single without any children so staying on the road for a month at a time is no big deal to me and I think companies find that appealing. The point I'm trying to make is that PAM is a great company so long as you are a great employee. We as drivers expect certain things out here, and likewise, companies expect certain things from their drivers. So long as these things are being done, there is no reason that everyone won't benefit out here. I hope this helps.

 

Well said scarecrow

 

Hmm, at 24cpm x 2800x 48 weeks comes out to 32256, guess you got a raise in pay your first year. that's a shame to have to start at that,I beleive most companies start 28 to 32cpm, these companies are really screwing newbees,if nobody works for them,they will have to pay more.

 

Scarecrow~thanks so much for that info. I know he'll be a good employee, so it's good to know that everything else should fall into place correctly! I was just getting a bit paranoid after reading so much bad stuff about different companies. And since this is all so new to us, and it's very important that he do well and be paid for his efforts, I am just being the dutiful wife and worrying. LOL Thanks again for your reply.

Nina

 

Well I can't say for sure but I doubt most companies were paying .28 per mile in 2003. As he stated if you read his message and mine they have a starting pay of .28 per mile now for newbies.

If things don't pan out with CFI I will be going with PAM. The main reason I like CFI as my first pick is that the recruiter is going to try and get me credit for my previous experience 10 years ago so that I will be starting out at a higher rate per mile after I get my truck. She said it should workout as long as they can verify my experience. Others have posted that CFI is very honest and if they say something it will be so. I am crossing my fingers

 

From the P.A.M. payscale info at driver solutions....

• New drivers begin at $.28/mile as a solo driver
• Pay increases to $.29/mile after 3 months; $.30/mile after 6 months; $.31/mile after 9 months; $.32/mile after one year

This is to be pretty much the same payscale across the board with any company that hires inexperienced drivers, unless it is a flatbed company.