The New FFE Driver Academey

You can certainly apply with Carlile after you get that one year in. It's really a matter of supply and demand. They start with the most experienced applicants and work their way on down to the minimally qualified ones. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) IRT has given Carlile a tremendous amount of exposure. Now every yahoo with a cdl is applying to Carlile because the stupid show makes the job look like it's all that. Shoot, people are getting cdl's just because they think they can come up here and "get discovered" by the IRT producers and become dbag reality tv stars. Effin' clowns. Anyway, the competition for the available seasonal jobs is fierce now.

Job availability also depends on what happening on the slope during a given season. If they are doing a lot of exploration and/or drilling new wells or they are building a processing facility or sumpin' or other then the need for drivers spikes. In addition, the gear has to be moved around out in the oil fields themselves. Companies like Peak and CH2MHill normally handle the trucking on the north slope proper but Carlile and Lynden come in and drive the ice roads too if it's a really busy season. Anyway, every year is different in this regard but the projections are that the producers and exploration companies plan to be balls to the wall for the next few years. That definitely works in drivers favor.

Don't forget about Lynden. If you just want to drive in Alaska and don't care whether or not you drive for the IRT trucking company then you have a good shot with Lynden. They are the other big carrier up here and they always seem to have openings. I hear both companies are good to work for if you're not a jerkwad whiner.

Just keep trying with your recruiter. I wound up switching recruiters because my first one kept gaffing me off. Stupid because they get a commission on the qualified applicants that accept employment with FFE. I'd say that if your recruiter doesn't call you back in the next day just stay on the line and when someone answers just say you want to talk to A recruiter, not specifically the one who won't return your calls. When another recruiter answers explain the situation and that you want a different recruiter. They seem to have no problem swiping prospects from each other. And you snooze, you lose.

Watch out about that wanting to live up here deal. I came up for a six month work contract. That six months stretched into 15 years somehow. Just to warn you, the cost of living up here is unreal. And the winters are reeeeeealllllly, reeeeeeealllllly looooooonnnng. Oh, and reeeeealllly, reeeeeeallllly coooooollllld. But if you are into wilderness and the outdoors this is the place for you. It is definitely spectacular. And big.

 

Your recurters blowing you off. That should be a HUGE red flag. An no they dont swap people around.

 

I don't care about the whole "i want to be discovered thing" I could care less to be honest. Just trying it out up there is something I would like to do later on not anytime soon all things considered. I will look into both companies when the time is right but for now I am just trying to gain the knowledge and experience.

Did I say live up there? If I did I take it back I meant visit. Like you said long winters ah I don't know if I could handle that lol, but I am originally from NY so cold doesn't scare me but to much of it just annoys me lol

The cost of living in Alaska is high? I didn't know that. What are jobs paying like up there? Is it true that Alaska residents get some type of resident check or something like that?

We are turning an FFE thread into one about Alaska lol.
Apologies Playmaker.

 

I do understand that people do get busy. I mean its a truck company they must have thousands of applicants.

I spoke to another recruiter who answered some questions I had and was glad to look up my app for me.

 

Well, they did with me. Of course, maybe they were going to hand me off anyway so I can only speculate.

 

Playmaker don't care. This thread has always meandered and wandered off topic but it always comes back. He just wants people to keep it civil and constructive (i.e. no trolls). I told playmaker that he really needs to just host a website at this point. I'm sure FFE would sponsor it. Hey Chad, I was SERIOUS, you know!

Yeah, it's real spendy up here. Here are a couple of urls for supermarkets websites so you can take a look at current grocery prices...and these are the SALE adverts:

http://weeklyspecials.carrsqc.com/customer_Frame.jsp?drpStoreID=1807

http://fredmeyer.inserts2online.com/customer_Frame.jsp?divID=701&drpStoreID=00653

I have it on reliable information that Carlile pays their seasonal drivers .34 per mile. Keep in mind that if you drive the haul road (Dalton Highway) you roll a huge number of miles doing 20-35 mph because of blizzard conditions or whatever. You can wind up stranded in Coldfoot for days because of weather, or worse, if you plan poorly, in your truck stranded somewhere on the road waiting for a snow thrower to come dig you out. I would imagine that Lynden is in that ballpark as well. The Teamsters pay $34.70 per hour but will only dispatch union members with at least 3 years otr and union jobs are few and far between. Actually, most of the drivers who work on the north slope are union. That there is a truly awesome gig if you are lucky enough to land it. 2 weeks on, 2weeks off...union pay....44 hours per week guaranteed overtime. Man, it's heaven I tells ya'. They have huge vacuum trucks called "super suckers" that are place at several strategic locations around the field that are just there in case something springs a leak. They do nothing but sit in their cab waiting, reading, playing on their laptop, sleeping, anything to maintain sanity. And they are making six figures a year just to stand by. There are actually a lot of trucker positions on the slope but no one ever leaves unless they die or retire. I mean, a guy would have to truly be insane in the brain to give up that gig. What a life!

 

I know Playmaker doesn't care I was being silly. Yea this thread is AW-SOME, it helped me come to my decision on choosing FFE. I am very happy that Playmaker created it. You know how it is when your like " hmm, what company do I choose?". And then comes the research so I'm glad I stumbled on this thread. I second the motion to host a website .
I know sometimes you need to take some risks to make some money. So when the time comes i will look at Carlile and Lynden and see what happens. I am a electrician right now so I know all about risks in my line of work but unfortunately there is no money in it right now bc there are A LOT of electricians in FL and no one wants to pay big money anymore AND job security is out the window. Just some of the reasons I chose a new career. Yea that union job sounds SWEET but like you said you need to get lucky as hell to get one or you need to know someone.

The prices in the ad are nuts but then again some of the prices are the same down here.

Oh yea I called recruiting again today and again no answer from mine so i called the main office again and spoke to the same guy i spoke to yesterday. He told me that my recruiter is prob just busy with the students comming into the class monday so thats prob why shes not answering. I understand that shes busy and thats fine but he also said that they are moving on my application and so far everything looks good.

BTW akdennnis I am scheduled to go on to FFE on DEC 5th if you are in the yard around that time frame come say hi id like to thank you in person for the helpful answers to my questions and for the knowledge about Alaska. You cant miss me ill be the short guy with a cap on

 

I had already pretty much made up my mind about FFE when I stumbled across Playmaker's thread. That cinched it for me. And the fact that FFE was the only company willing to make a hiring policy exception for someone from Alaska may have had something to do with it too. Heh, heh.

The timing with my training should be just about right to get on Playmaker's truck for my finish training because he gets out of trainer's school right around the same time. At least I hope he can pull some strings in that regard! We will be done with my finisher training around the time you will be undergoing your otr orientation at Lancaster and should be back at the terminal for me to get my truck assignment. Maybe it'll work out for you so that you can jump aboard with him when he's done with me since the timing looks about right all the way around. Providing, of course, he can pull some strings. You reading this Chad? What about that? lionheart seems like our kind of people, no?

 

Well I hope Playmaker can pull some strings and get you on his truck and when your done i hope he can do the same for me. In either case when all is said and done lunch is on me for the both of you

 

I like Tex-Mex. He!!, I like anything that's mostly not moving anymore. Playmaker mentioned somthing to me about really liking stale saltines with rancid peanut butter so he'll be a cheap date. lol...just kidding! But I know he's fond of roadkill. Says it's pretty tasty with enough cracked black pepper and Tabasco. He says that it makes for a real economical meal and in our line of work we come across the main ingredient daily so we don't even have to go out of our way to score some. Playmaker knows all the tricks when it comes to running hard and really cranking out the mileage and roadkill really saves time for meal breaks. Truck stops? We don't need no stinking truck stops!
OK, that was fun. Juvenile, but fun. Only kidding, Chad.