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

All new trucks that PAM has bought since the 2003 model year have been autoshifts. The only exception to this is the used brownish colored International trucks they bought when Cannon Express sold out, which I believe they have now completely phased out.

 

I am just starting my traning period with PAM next week. I have talked with serveral drivers that worked for and are still working for PAM and they said all in all they were a good company to get started in the industry with. We will just have to wait and see.

Scott

 

I'd have to agree with what you've heard so far about PAM. Some people love to bash this company and, of course, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. My two years with them were not without problems, however the company always did what they said they would do. Keep a positive attitude, learn to take the bad with the good and you'll be fine with them.

 

Will I get the miles ? I am willing to go anywhere and be out as long as I need to be to make money.

What problems did you have with them, can I avoid them ?

Scott

 

There were basically two problems I had with them. A lot of their freight is with the automotive industry. When the automotive plants go on shut down (which happens twice a year, conveniently enough around the Fourth of July and Christmas/New Years), things really slow down and it seems to take at least a month to recover. During those times, I do remember coming up short in miles (around 1800 or so was the lowest I ever ran in a week). This is because they give their trainer and team trucks priority. Those trucks will move before solos will.

However, on the contrary, I vividly remember being told by my dispatcher, "I can't give you anymore miles than what your currently getting without getting either one of us in trouble with Safety and the Log Dept." During this time I was consistently getting 3400-3700 miles every week.

It's a "luck of the draw" of sorts. Develop a good repoir with your DM and you'll be a success. Don't complain about the little things, and try to stay out of your DM's hair. Before you know it, he/she will be throwing miles at you like crazy. You may find yourself talking to another driver who says he has sat somewhere for 2-3 days, while you were in and out of there on the same day. This exact scenario happened to me on many occassions while in Laredo, TX.

Speaking of Laredo, get used to going there. As I said, they run a lot of automotive freight. Laredo is the preferred border crossing for the automotive and many other industries. I understand that PAM has greatly improved it's facilities down there.

If you get a trainer named Perry, let me know. I think he's the best trainer PAM has. He's a long haired, long bearded biker looking dude, but knows a lot about a lot of things....especially being a good trainer.

 

Well I am new to the industry so I am willing to do what ever it takes to earn my stripes. I am 40 so it is not like I am some punk kid that has a super trucker complex. I just want to make some money and stay busy.

Thanks for all the input. Now I have to go figure out that darn 14 hour rule....

Scott

 

The 14 hr rule is simple. If you start your day at 0700, you MUST end your day by 2100....regardless of what you've done during that day. Don't try to confuse yourself by working around this just yet. For now, consider it as the end all, be all. You will learn in time ways to make your logbook work for you, which is not encouraged on this site, but is practiced by many a driver (myself included).

 

I got the rule and I understand it. Just trying to figure out how you could leggaly run 3700 miles in a week

 

creative writing.

 

I hear that. I feel like I am going back to school...

Thank you for the input about PAM and I of course will keep you posted. I had a lot of people tell me not to do Drivers Solutions but I talked to some people that went through the program and loved it so I guess like everthing in life there are two sides to everything.

Scott