private fleet

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by duckdiver, Jun 28, 2012.

  1. Lonesome

    Lonesome Mr. Sarcasm

    10,158
    19,834
    Dec 15, 2007
    Northern Indiana
    0
    Right now, I drive for a private fleet, a manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. We have 3 trucks at this plant, hourly wage, home every night, there are worse gigs out there.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

    12,812
    6,135
    Jul 22, 2008
    Owensboro , KY
    0
    WalMart , Schneider , JB Hunt , and other cutthroat companies are out to eliminate private fleets . Schneider making Emerson Electric a dedicated account and Watkins Shepard taking over Broyhill Furniture distribution are examples .
    WalMart told vendors "Don't ship your product . We (Schneider ) will pick it up . "
    Newbies going to BFI's are cutting their own throats . Get a better job with a year experience ? In a year some of those better jobs will be dedicated accounts for your current BFI . The drivers you put out of work with private fleets will have taken more of the better jobs with other carriers .
    Don't expect to help BFI's steal accounts by working cheap then be welcomed at the carriers that lost those accounts .
    Better carriers expect better performers . Drivers out of my terminal run a lot of 600+ mile days . Would we really consider hiring a Prime driver happy with running 500 miles a day ? We just got a good new contract near Houston that Schneider lost because of poor performance . Do we want to hire Schneider drivers for this account ?
    The good tank carriers would rather hire an OTR driver with 2 years experience but no tank experience before they hire a Schneider or Prime driver with tank experience .
     
  4. keithstark1

    keithstark1 Bobtail Member

    8
    5
    Oct 7, 2008
    Arlington, TX
    0
    Ricky, I think your reply was a bit harsh. It is important to remember that not everyone got to start in the good ol' days with a chauffeur's license. Now adays it is getting harder to get a good job out of the gate. I started driving about 10 years ago, and with Schneider no less. As a 21 year old with little prospects, I have to say that they were ok to deal with. Like every company I have worked for since, they have issues, but believe they are a good place to learn things. They put a lot of resources into helping a new driver figure things out. I did my time, and I got the hell out. I went on to being a teamster for Yrc. Therefore, I have seen both sides of your equation. I definitely know what it's like to have someone come in and under bid something. Just keep in mind that newbies have to fit in somewhere, and my experience with Schneider taught me a lot. I was never once asked to do anything illegal, and their size gave me a lot of growing room. Btw, I routinely ran 650 at Schneider. There are some real idiots driving some of those orange trucks, but they usually don't last long. I have seen super truckers in Peterbilts screw up too.
     
  5. mbarseghyan

    mbarseghyan Bobtail Member

    3
    0
    Nov 7, 2012
    0
    Hi everyone,

    Since all of you here are talking about private carriers, I have some questions regarding them.

    I was wondering if private carriers (such as WallMart, Coca-Cola, other smaller ones) face any deadhead problem? Do they have an optimised system to ensure all the trucks are full when coming back to the origin of departure? How this works ? Thank you in advance for your inputs!
     
  6. Autocar

    Autocar Road Train Member

    3,167
    2,358
    Apr 28, 2012
    The Hot Rod Shop Oxford, AL
    0
    Some do, some don't. They don't make money on trucking, they make money selling their products.
     
    mbarseghyan Thanks this.
  7. mbarseghyan

    mbarseghyan Bobtail Member

    3
    0
    Nov 7, 2012
    0
    Yes, I agree, but I was wondering, maybe they would like to reduce their overhead costs by finding some loads on their way back?
     
  8. DirtyBob

    DirtyBob Road Train Member

    1,909
    1,617
    Sep 2, 2010
    Indiana
    0
    Poor performance on an account does not necessarily mean the drivers were the cause. Dispatch and management can screw that up as much as a driver can. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are plenty of examples of drivers that screwed up on their own, just pointing out it can come from multiple sources.
     
  9. Autocar

    Autocar Road Train Member

    3,167
    2,358
    Apr 28, 2012
    The Hot Rod Shop Oxford, AL
    0
    They do, as time permits, but it is not a priority.
     
    mbarseghyan Thanks this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.