Southeastern Freight Lines

What type of schedule do the city drivers work? how many hours in a typical city drivers work day? do they pay overtime to the drivers? Thanks.

 

I would call if I were you but you dont have to. Its best to have a friend or something that works there that you can put on the application. But anything that makes yourself stand out from the others (in a good way) go for it

 

sorry its been so long i cant get this site to email me with subscription updates. should be automatic. anyway.

NO OVERTIME!!! all terminals will be different according to their customers but typically city drivers come in at 9 am and work until everything is done. usually if you get a small load and finish by lunch, you will come back and get another load. and if you get back early, like 3-5 pm you will run pickups. we have a lowes DC and a home depot DC close by so even if you get back after 5 you will probably have to deliver lowes or home depot. just drop and hook.

all in all I think I averaged about 50 - 55 hours/week.

sometimes the might have you come in early like 6 or 7 to run an early delivery but if they do, its usually a big load going one place so you wont have many stops. then when you get done early come back and run pickups and lowes/home depot.

you can almost count on 9-10 hours a day if not 11-12 and sometimes if you get held up by a customer on a big delivery at the end of the day or an important pickup then 13-14 hours. Ive only been trying to get back before my 14 runs out a few times. that makes for a sleepy day tomorrow

oh and i dont know about southeastern transport but this is a link to the only logo ive seen for southeastern freght lines

http://uway.org/public/img/gallery/southeastern_freight.jpg

but ive never seen a texas location
here are some typical trucks and trailers

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/morton/2005/feb/file0032.jpg

just use google earth im sure theres a houston location since we
run texas now. terminals will usually be about 100 mile radius apart but they get sparse out west

heres the website with all the locations

http://www.sefl.com/seflWebsite/servlet?action=svcCtrInfo_getSvcCtrData#TX

 

PMURCYARD-

Thanks again for all the information. I am currently in the military on active duty and looking to retire in the next year or so. SEFL sounds like a really good company. I plan on getting my CDL from a local school before I retire and will almost certainly apply at SEFL. I dont mean to get personal but can one make upwards of 50K at P&D a year? I also read that workdays are typically Mon - Fri with holidays off, now is that really holidays off or is it time and a half if you work them? Once assigned a truck is it yours or do you share? Thanks again for the info.

 

So how is it going for you?

 

You will need at least a year of driving experience to get the job. also, dont jump the gun on getting your CDL because if you just get it and dont use it then nobody will hire you anywhere. you need to be driving a truck within about 3-6 months of getting the CDL. once you have about a year or 100,000 miles, then you can go without driving for about a year but after that most companies require a refresher course.

The pay- somewhere about $22 an hour so at 40 hours you'll make about 45k but thats top pay. i dont know what you can start at. but you will get way more than 40 hours most of the year. it slows down around fall and winter, thats when you might only get 40 hours. personally I have been making almost exactly 55k since ive been here. I run vacation relief for the line haul drivers also. thats usually driving over night to another terminal, do a drop and hook, sometimes wait for another load, then go home. the shortest run we have at this location is 432 miles per night, which at 52.7 cents per mile is 1138.32 per week before taxes. not bad for sitting down listening to the radio.

And yes, monday thru friday thats it. the only time I ever worked saturday i volunteered. and thats something that is only available once a year. memorial day is three day weekend. we just had monday off for the 4th. 2 days + weekend for thanksgiving and christmas. and you get paid 9 hours for holidays i think. and 9 hours for vacation days. 8 hours for your 3 personal days a year.

but no you wont ever get time and a half. i dont care how many hours you put in or when you work. and you wont ever work a holiday.

the only people i ever hear of being up there on a weekend are the managers if they need to catch up on something. or the line haul dispatchers in columbia sc

definitely dont ever give up trying to get on here. its got to be at least in the top 3 companies in the industry to drive for. Its definitely the best company I've worked for. even if you have to go drive OTR for a year first, its worth it. Or you could apply for a dock position and try to move up to a driver. then you dont need any experience. just dont be too terribly awesome on the dock or they wont want you to move up
the dock guys probably make 14 - 16 per hour and about 40k. not sure on that and depends on how many hours you get

 

PMURCYARD,

Sounds really good, definitely will be my top choice even if it means running with Swift for a year. I have been told that some companies will take the fact that you served 20 years in the military into account and perhaps give you a shot at driving earlier than the one year requirement, have you heard of SEFL doing anything like that? The schedule sounds superb!! exactly what I'm looking for. I completely understand about not getting the CDL to quickly, my plan is to get it during my last six months before retirement, maybe even work part time for them on the dock prior to retirement as well. They have two big signs outside the Houston terminal advertising for drivers and dock workers. Anyways, thanks again for the info, very helpful and informative. Out of curiosity, does SEFL have recruiters? it may be benificial to me to speak with them and explain my situation and possibly come up with a plan to get me driving as soon after retirement as possible or maybe even during my last year in somehow.

One more last thing ....the trucks, hot seat or is one assigned to you and only you?

 

no recruiters. I think only the OTR companies have recruiters. The terminal manager is who you need to talk to. They only take online applications. Play dumb and go to the terminal and ask for an application and let them tell you to go online and try to meet the terminal manager and hopefully that will make you stand out. Or put in the app and then a few days later call and ask for the terminal manager and discuss the app. But he will be the one that does the hiring.

I would seriously apply for a dock position and tell them you want to be a driver. Ive seen several young dock guys start driving with no experience. Didnt even have a CDL before they were hired. Also that will give you an inside look at how things operate and it will help you when you start to drive. I started here after only a year and 3 months of OTR driving and there was a steep learning curve. Its a whole different job. But who knows, you might like working the dock. Driving is a lot of extra hassle and most drivers have a couple "incidents" when they first start driving P&D. I mean you will go wherever the delivery is, residential included. It can be very nerve racking. Personally I wouldnt mind switching to the dock even for a pay cut. I was gung ho! at first but after 7 years im getting burned out on it. Though it will make a big difference if you are very familiar with the Houston area.

As far as assigned trucks... depends on the terminal. If you drive line haul then yes you will have an assigned truck. I believe they assign a truck to a certain route. so say they have a houston to dallas run and scott in truck J345 runs it then he goes on vacation for a week and you're covering for him then you will have J345 all week. And when bids come up and Jimmy takes the houston dallas run for the next six months then jimmy will be in J345.
now in P&D it depends on the terminal manager. some guys have assigned trucks and some dont. Its safe to say you wont when you start. But the guy that runs Huntsville everyday might. When I first started they said they dont assign trucks but now they do but only for certain people. When I started the P&D trucks didnt have air either but I think they all do now.

Another position to look at is combo which is working the dock and driving when there is an extra load. Or dock half the day then a short run... just whatever they need. Then you get driver pay and dont get all the hassles all the time. That would be another way applying for the dock could be beneficial. move from dock to combo and then to P&D or even line haul when the opportunity comes.
Line haul is the best as far as money to work ratio. say you run houston to dallas and back every day. about 242 miles maybe 4 hrs so a 9 hour day and you make 66k. only problem is you wont start out on that run. you will probably start on wild which is running anywhere and everywhere and out all week. but you will still get home every weekend so not too bad of a deal

 

PMURCYARD,

Sounds really good, I truly appreciate the insight and advice. Like I said, I still have a little over a year before I finish my 20 years but it's never to early to start looking. I have considered all types of trucking jobs and all companies but I believe I am sold on SEFL.

 

When you say "out all week" I was not aware that SEFL even has sleepers?