So ya wanna drive a day cab. (The beginners company guide to ltl)

asphaltreptile311 · Sep 19, 2019

ChaoSS said: ↑

Some of them might but I think a lot of Greyhound drivers do lay over routes with time spent in hotels.
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I didn't think of that

asphaltreptile311 · Sep 19, 2019

FlaSwampRat said: ↑

Plus you get the added bonus of free travel on Greyhound. You can save like $12 dollars everytime you want to travel lol.
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Those aren't negligent savings

McUzi · Sep 19, 2019

FlaSwampRat said: ↑

Plus you get the added bonus of free travel on Greyhound. You can save like $12 dollars everytime you want to travel lol.
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I don’t ever suggest pulling freight that talks back... to any one.

Naptown · Sep 19, 2019

snowlauncher said: ↑

Ok... I'm gonna give away some personal info. I figure it's worth it to inform potential day cab job seekers of what to expect.
I work for XPO Logistics. Although I work out of a smaller service center and not a large hub, I believe I know enough about how the company operates to be informative.
XPO will hire inexperienced or non CDL drivers and put them through an on the job training and probation program. During this time they will be paid a flat weekly rate equal to 40 hours at the starting rate of around $23 hr. I don't have the exact numbers, and the wages vary slightly depending on the region and location, i.e. larger cities and service centers may have a bit higher starting wage and/or payscale.
There are some unionized locations, but they are mostly in the south and east coast. The non-union facilities try to operate very close to union rules to keep the unions out and the hiring benefits competitive with other similar big name LTL carriers.
That being said, new hires will be at the bottom of the extra board(available work). My facility doesn't require "on call" as it were, but if you want to work, you had better be available when needed. My management is courteous enough to try to be reasonable as far as asking extras to interchange shifts mid-week, but there's times when they will ask you to work days and change it up to nights mid-week. That's trucking for ya!
JOB BIDS:
Each new calendar year all non-salary employees are required to bid on the available positions respectively. This is entirely based on seniority, therefore those with the longest service record will get first choice on the most ideal shift or run to suit their needs. The lowest senior employees will get whatever is left. This is a turn off for many new hires who aren't willing to put in their time and work their way up to the better shifts/runs.
Vacation time requests are also turned in at the beginning of the year and are seniority based, therefore if a particular day or days have been booked up by the senior drivers, you may be denied those days. After the initial requests have been given, anyone may put in for vacation at anytime on a first come first serve basis.
Currently at XPO new drivers will be given a substantial raise each consecutive year of service up to the completion of three years in which they will reach top pay scale. At my location the hourly is a little over $28 hr. and around $.68 CPM for linehaul. Hourly drivers also receive time and 1/2 after the 8th hour each day. There is a 401k retirement plan with stock options, and decent family medical, dental, vision benefits with several plan choices depending on individual needs. This is mostly a Monday thru Friday job with paid holidays.
Hourly start time bids are for local pick up & delivery runs, which usually start in the A.M. hours and will consist of a delivery route around a local area and pick-ups before returning to the service center. This may involve multiple tandem trailers being pulled to another nearby town for delivery, liftgate deliveries, or a longbox full of freight. Depending on the day a driver may have 10-25 stops including pickups. Long hours are not uncommon. The biggest challenge of P&D is getting the entire route done before the customers close up for the day, so it really helps to get to know the regular stops and try to work around their various hours, lunches etc.
The linehaul runs are some day and some night, again, this depends on the location. My service center currently has 2 meet & turn day runs consisting of 2 drivers on each run. These particular runs are doubles or triples, and are in excess of 500 miles for a round trip where they meet halfway with drivers from another service location and do a power slide(swapping trailers).
We also have a couple of night runs where the drivers make a round trip to a FAC(freight assembly center), which is another dock or service center where freight is transferred to its respective destinations.
Here are some cons that will probably turn potentials away...
At XPO drivers are trained to work the dock, loading and unloading trailers. Not all bids require dock work, but it comes with the job. The drivers who are on the dock are paid hourly, just as if they were driving. The linehaul drivers who travel to another dock each night for the FAC are commonly expected to report to the dock upon arrival to assist in unloading and loading their own trailers for the return trip. This usually consists of 2-3 hours of dock work each night. They are paid the mileage rate and then hourly for dock time. Most XPO docks are non climate controlled, so it can be a little tough in extreme weather conditions. I live in the mountain states, it can get cold so you have to bundle up and be prepared for it.
The other biggest turn-off for anyone looking to hire on are the cameras, yes they are forward and driver facing, so if the EOBR triggers an event the camera will record and cache 11 seconds of video, some before and after footage of the incident. This is the part where many of you drivers reading this will say "I'm not ever driving for one of those companies."
I get it, but I'm just being as informative
as I can.
Oh BTW most of the trucks are Cascadias,
some new, some old, some automatic, some 10 speed. There are still a few older Ford Sterling tractors too, but these usually are reserved for city runs, so line drivers get the newer equipment. Trucks are loosely assigned to senior drivers but slip-seating is what it is and nothing is set in stone.
I think I'm done with my novel, I hope it helps to inform people about XPO Logistics, and if you have any more questions, let me know.
Thanks for reading!!!
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Nice write up. I have a brother in law that does linehaul for XPO Logistics. He hired on with Con-Way and stuck around for XPO because a few drivers quit and gave him a nice little bump in seniority.

Cardfan89 · Sep 19, 2019

McUzi said: ↑

Wait till you see a Prime Inc. or TMC day cab lol.
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I have seen a lot of prime day cabs lol but my yard is is just down the street from primes home office

MACK E-6 · Sep 19, 2019

FlaSwampRat said: ↑

I used to deliver to one of their plants when I worked for UPS. ####ing bees everywhere.
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Won’t ever catch me in there then.

FlaSwampRat · Sep 19, 2019

MACK E-6 said: ↑

Won’t ever catch me in there then.
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.
It was so bad. It was the cott beverage in concordville PA. It was the worst.

Cat sdp · Sep 19, 2019

:-/

MACK E-6 · Sep 19, 2019

Cat sdp said: ↑

Styling.....

View attachment 299688

LTL isn’t the only day cab job.....
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Good looking truck, but I’m surprised he can even get into anyplace with a tanker behind it.

Intothesunset · Sep 19, 2019

Holly balls you get to push 80mph I am jealous.
But wait aren't you under more storm exempt hours for a few weeks yet??
If only a sleeper were an option.

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