Schneider Bulk vs Averitt Express dedicated flat

Averitt is not for everyone... If you do decide to go with them, congrats and at lest give them a try... Drivers come and go with any company, so if you don't like what's there after a period of time at least you gave it a shot, right?

...and the uniforms are free (given 150.00 a year after initial set) so I look at it as I'm not messing up my clothes, but I'm retired Navy so wearing a uniform is the standard to me. LOL

 

When I say it's not for everyone. I mean by the "uniformity" of which they hold standards. Averitt has a uniform. (which most people don't like) Averitt also was clean shaven until approx. 2.5 years ago. Even with that said, beards, goatees, etc... have certain standards. (again which . generally speaking, people don't like)... So folks might say that this alone is way too professional

Add to that... Home time and miles... Averitt has a fine balance of the two. And please do not take this as gospel, as I only have my time with Averitt to talk about. But usually, by Thurs. I know my load going home for Fri night/Sat morning and by Fri. I will usually know my load going out again on Mon. Now if my miles are 1800 for the week, then so be it... Averitt is going to get you home (generally speaking) every weekend. Doesn't matter to them what the miles are, unless you are like me, and made yourself available to run to get more miles... Then your FM will do what he'she can to get you the most miles per week that they can...

I have also said before in many posts that I have a GREAT FM... I still mean it and believe it. he does his level-headed best to get me the most miles per week that he can... A lot of drivers aren't going to be that lucky, or will have to fight/argue, etc... with they're FM to get said miles/loads. So again I can only go by what I have experienced... and so far, I consider myself pretty lucky.

So when I said Averitt is not for everyone, I meant that as a general statement. Each person who works for a company will find Pros and Cons about it, and if you get to a point where the cons outweigh the pros, then it might be time to move on...

As for hard to work for... as far as I am concerned, H3ll no... as long as I am on time, I don't break company equipment, and maintain Averitt standards, they have not once questioned a route change, or fuel stop, etc.. I have had about a run at all. But again... I fall back on only my background and my experience with them.

To me, Averitt has standards for a reason. They work for what they want. They let you drive the truck and don't generally micro-manage things. they let you be you (to a certain degree of course) as long as you follow the guidelines. Averitt has been around since 1971... Seems to me they have a pretty good handle on how to do things. EDIT: and I should add that they are always looking to improve upon things as well to make it better for us drivers.

...and as I said before, those things may not be for everyone...

 

Did you go with Averitt,if so how's it going?

 

I drive Schneider Bulk OTR.

I've been with Schneider Bulk since the spring of 2017. My park location is the Chattanooga, TN Quala wash.

I trained in Houston for 21 out of 31 days. 10 of those 31 were OTR with my dirty, filthy, non-training trainer. The trainers who took me driving were good trainers. The trainers who did the product unload training pretty much just sit in a chair and don't do anything unless you look dumbfounded or are about to blow up the tank. In fact, I actually had a large spill during training because the external valve on one of the trailers was stripped and leaking still, no matter how hard you tightened it closed.

My first Driver Business Leader was a liar and I was completely unprepared for my experience on the road. She even tried to get me to falsify my logs one morning because there weren't any operable trailers at the tank wash. Most of what I encountered on the road was not taught to me at any time in training. Most of what I experienced was also not included in the 'Highway to Success Manual' that they give you (a book which is poorly written and lacks half of what you need to know).

Communication is not a strong suit with Schneider. The night crew tends to know more than the day crew, which is sad since the day crew has better access to experienced driver trainers and whatnot. Long waits on the phone are all to common and less than half of your emails on the QualComm will be answered (even when the question is important and pertinent to the load).

Your DBL does not choose your loads; the Load Planners do that. If you are new, it makes no difference to a load planner. They also seem to plan your routes with no clue that you need bathroom breaks throughout the day.

My second DBL was much better than my first DBL. I got her after two months. She has been very honest and easy to work with.

As bad as things sound here, Schneider is actually a very good company, and mistakes that you make are not treated as a big deal. I've been late a few times, mostly because of things out of my control, but when it was my fault, my DBL was very forgiving.

Tank washes suck. You can never know how long it will take to get in and out. It's possibly the worst part of the job. Tank wash personnel act like the driver is the least important person to their business (which is the opposite of what you would think since, without drivers, no trailers would ever be brought to a wash to be cleaned). I tend to spend anywhere from ten minutes to two hours waiting on them to start helping me with washing hoses or my pump.

Loads and unloads are paid $25 and $35 respectively. Loads tend to take 45 minutes to an hour plus time at the gate (in and out), which varies. Most unloads tend to take around 2 hours (plus gate time), with some loads taking less or more. Your WorkFlow in the QualComm will tell you average times, but these aren't always accurate.

Shorthaul pay (less than 50 miles, I believe) is, I think, $40. Detention pay after two hours is, I think, $12. I believe they pay in quarter hours on detention.

My pay has always reflected all of the work I've performed, and I have always been reimbursed for on the road work-related expenses.

Everything my recruiter told me has been accurate. I average around 2,000 miles per week. I average about $900 per week before taxes. I'm actually starting to make a little more now that I am making $0.47 per miles. I started at $0.425. I was at $0.45 after two months. I made $0.47 after seven months.

I got a $5,000 sign-on bonus. I received $1,000 after two, four, and six months. I will receive the final $2,000 after twelve months.

I get six days off per month. I can choose them for whatever days I want. Those are full days, meaning that I always get home the night before my days off, and leave the day after my days off. Once, I got home a day late. One other time, somehow my days off were entered incorrectly, and I didn't get home until five or six days later (which I was actually happy about, because they sent me to Miami and back through Orlando to the New Orleans area on that load. That load got me about 2,000 miles in four days). I usually take every other weekend off, getting home on Thursday nights and leaving out on Monday mornings.

Things have smoothed out since the first two months. I've learned a lot. I think that the only reason to stay in bulk is to eventually either become an owner operator or to get on with a local company that pays really well for experience and you get to deliver the same basic product every day. OTR life is very stressful. Schneider only has a few local, regional, or dedicated bulk routes across the nation.

Schneider does not allow inverters in their trucks, so you either have to break the rule or suffer without one. I think they are afraid of new drivers leaving them on when the truck is not running, and draining the batteries.

Bulk is difficult in the summer if your product or customer wants you to wear the fire or chemical suits. I was in Houston when it was 102 degrees out and wearing a fire suit. I drank five or six bottles of water while it took three and a half hours to unload a very thick product, and I still was fatigued and dehydrated. I almost fainted; it was so hot. I also had to unload recently a little south of Chicago in Indiana at 7 degrees, with a 10 or 15 below wind chill for five hours on a thick product that froze up when the cold air hit it. Then, the next day, I went to Chicago to get the hoses and pump cleaned where it was negative 4 degrees with a negative 20 wind chill out and spent half an hour outside drying my pump and taking care of my hoses and other things.

You will work your butt off sometimes. I keep thinking I should switch to van. Most of the loads are drop and hook, and if I stay OTR, at least if I do have to sit while loading or unloading, it will be in the truck, though I won't get paid for it. I'll also get several cents less per mile, but should I care? Maybe I should go regional and get home every weekend. I don't know yet.

I've gotten to drive to Los Angeles, CA. I was stuck there for three days because I needed a restart and waited on a load. I couldn't get a rental car without a credit card, so I took the bus all over town and saw the sights. There isn't much to see; LA is a dump. The Santa Monica Pier and beach area were nice to visit. I had never seen the Pacific Ocean. There's a cool market downtown. Just don't stray too close to Skid Row unless you enjoy the company of drug dealer, drug addicts, and the mentally ill, all of whom make their presence felt downtown.

I've gotten as far as Miami, L.A., Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago, and as far northeast as Ellwood City, PA and Keasbey NJ. Where you go in bulk seems to depend on where your park location is, when you go out, and how long you stay out. The longer you stay out at one time, the more likely it is that you'l be sent somewhere far. I tend to get spells of TN to PA, or TN to TX, and back. Driving through western Colorado on I-70 as the snow was beginning to cover the mountains was great to see. If I had left east an hour later, I probably would have had to put on the snow chains because that area got 10 to 18 inches that day. Snow chains are mandatory on I-70 in CO for more than half the year.

I usually get through the terminals at least once every time I'm out (except for one or two times where I didn't get through one at all). Get some ice and a shower there, and do some laundry. Stock up on extra lights and other trailer parts, especially tire valve stem caps.

If your tires look like they need changing, and the shop guys disagree, go to one of Schneider's many tire banks (at certain truck stops) and they will likely agree with you and change them (usually faster than Schneider's busy shops will).

Schneider is a good company. They just need better communication and better trainers.

I chose tanker for the experience, for the exercise, and because I figured that tankers would be easier to navigate at a truck stop or chemical plant, but these plants design their truck paths with as little space as possible for tankers, so there was no advantage there. In fact, I drove van 8.5 months for USA Truck many years ago, and van drivers have it easy compared to tanker drivers in regards to available space at shippers and customers.

I don't know what else to say right now. If you have questions, ask away.

Good day.