Starting with Interstate on March 24th, in Fontana, CA

I'll be starting up my 3rd driving job in the past roughly 3.5 years, and my 4th overall, with Interstate, this monday, 3/24. I'm pretty excited about it. Most of what my recruiter has put on the table sounds awesome. From what I've read about the company on here, I don't seem to find too much negative from INTD's drivers, which I'll take as a good sign. And if anybody does have some negative input they'd care to put on here, go ahead and feel free to save it. I don't care to waste my time on any negativity garbage. And we all know, there is no such thing as a perfect company, and whatever flaws Interstate might have, will surely expose themselves to me in due time.

They'll be starting me off at .35 cpm, with a safety/fuel bonus of .03 cpm, on a 12 days on/2 days off 11 western regional fleet (dry van side). They actually had tons of home-time/run-time fleet options available. I thought about signing on for the 18/3 fleet, just in case 12 days at a time might not be enough to get me some decent miles, but decided I'd be more comfortable with the 12/2, and then if it starts to turn out I need to run a little more, I can always either ask my dm to keep me out or maybe try to transfer to the 18/3 fleet. They're a non-forced dispatch company, which is always a plus to me. Mind you, I'm not the kind of driver that turns down more loads than I accept, but I'm sure we've all come to find that sometimes you've just gotta be able to put your foot down with your fm, and say no, or at least try to work out a compromise on an undesirable load, like a p/u + relay or something along those lines. I'm also told they have a pretty generous pet policy, where they'll allow you to take up to two furry friends with you, which being the dog lover I am, is always a very good thing to me. I haven't had a dog in several years, due to working for companies that didn't allow them, and of course not wanting to have a pet that I would always have to leave behind at home. But that's about to change in the near future . I don't remember for sure what my recruiter told me the deposit per pet is, or how much of that is refundable, but if I recall correctly, I wanna say ?$750?. Little steep, but for my peace of mind of being able to have a pet with me, worth every penny!

In the meantime, I was wondering if I might be able to ask some current Interstate drivers a few questions, about a few things I'd prefer to get straight from the source of the people who are already doing the same job as I will soon be starting.
1)Do the company trucks come equipped with Pre-Pass and/or E-Z Pass? Seeing as how I'll be running out west, I'm not as concerned with the E-Z as the Pre, but I'll gladly take what I can get.
2)Does Interstate allow company drivers to fuel at TA and Petro, at least once in a while? Or are they another company that only ever sends their drivers to P/F-J and the occasional Love's? I know most companies only get fuel discounts at P/F-J and Love's, so that's understandable enough. But I'd be lying if I said, I've never paid for a shower out of my own pocket, just because I had the choice between a TA and a Pilot, and just couldn't talk myself into parking at that big yellow turd...I mean Pilot.
Other than that, that's about all the more that's either on my mind at the moment, or that I haven't yet asked my recruiter about. Well not that it's a big pressing concern, but I do suppose I could also ask about
3)Are there any normal job-related expenses that you will either not be getting reimbursed for? And any that you'll be expected to pay out of your own pocket, to get reimbursed for at a later date (as opposed to being able to put on your fuel card), i.e. scale tickets, load straps, oil, coolant, windshield washer fluid, replacement wiper blades, etc?

I'd appreciate any input you could give me, though like I said, I really don't care to hear too much of the negative, pissy variety. So if that's all you've got to offer up, then please don't. Once I get this orientation over with next week, and on the road, I'll check back to as often as I can, to update how my new adventure is coming along.

 

Sure quiet on this board. Lol. Anybody?