The New FFE Driver Academey

if you don't have a checking account wells fargo will be there during orientation in lancaster and will open you an account. pretty much all you need is a pulse and by the time they leave you'll have a temp atm card. i don't think they do paper checks anymore. last case is i think they will put it on your tcheck (fuel) card, problem there is the fees involved in getting your money off of it.

check and see if you can move the date and get those permit tests done before ya go. another benefit there is you'll get three chances at each test, where if you go through the academy you may only get two chances.

 

The academy will give three chances. My class lost 6 people because they failed the written DPS exams three times. There was 2 that were held over from the class ahead of mine so they could take the DPS driving test again.

 

good to know. cause in my class they didnt.

 

well just about done with the trainer -- has been long 6 weeks truck gets pretty small sometimes n last week hopefully run hard like we did for awhile makes time go by faster had 3780 miles 2 weeks ago only 2200 last week i would rather do the 3780 they both payed the same but time flys when truck is rolling 22 hrs a day or more

 

thought i would mention this theory about following distances to mr peace sometime--- i was on I 95 yesterday up by new york city around 3 in the afternoon when a rolls royce darted in front of me --- i immediatly tripled my following distance === told trainer theres no way in hello i am going to make a call to that old man and tell him i rear ended a rolls----- we were in new jersey for 3 days delivered swapped out a trailer and then picked up another load--- every texan i have met hates the east coast including my trainor that was the closest he was ever to nyc--- all you have to do is assume they all drive like aholes and act accordinly had a jumper on the delaware bridge caused a cluster a parking lot allmost run into our cab and the truck in front of him that just pulled out of the scalehouse in md they just closed the scale causethe ramp was full i got over to middle lane to let the trucks on exiting the scales the moron in the parking lot stayed in the right lane and put the hammer down why he didnt see the truck pulling out of the scale i have no idea fortuanatly i seen him coming ( mirror checks are important folks) and seen a potientially property damaging situation coming so i backed off before he got trapped he never braked and was within inches of creaming the truck in front of him came right into our lane if i wasnt allready braking it would have been a mess what he was thinking i have no clue i am just glad i am proffesional enough to allow space to prevent something -- your gut instinct would be to trap the idiot and assume he puts on the brakes now if i did that and he hit one of us it would of been his fault of course but it was preventable and i prevented it -- thats why they tell you to check your mirrors and be aware of your surroundings and try to prevent something before the shiite hits the fan if i didnt see the moron in a no win situation and hard braked i most likely would have been rear ended if i panicked and swerved over a lane on i 95 during rush hour would have been murder at least 3 cars before the pile up anyways the fun started after that my trainer and him were going at it on the radio for at least 10 minutes was a lot more fun than filling out an accident report and you guys that are just starting out dont assume just because somebody is driving a truck they know what they are doing there are a lot of folks out here driving a truck that havent a clue what it means to be a truck driver--- try to remember what they taught you and if it helps pretend ms deb is in the passenger seat tapping on the window she does that for a reason

 

Hi guys and gals,
I asked this once before in this thread, but didn't get any kind of response. Maybe I didn't open it up to enough members.

Has anyone following this thread either themselves started with the Academy, made it beyond their first year, are still with the company, and are still happy with the company or have you known someone who does fit this description?

I've read this entire thread and have kept up with the new posts. From what I've seen, most everyone is pleased with the Academy. However, what I haven't seen is someone that sticks around for their full year or beyond. The OP (Playmaker), left the company just before his year, and there were a couple of others from classes within a couple of months after Playmaker's class that stayed a while and would, at this point, be past their year mark (some even became trainers for FFE). However, those others have not posted on here in quite a while.

Now, I understand that even after completing a full year, most new hires/students won't stay with FFE and move on in hopes of more miles, higher pay, local jobs, etc... However, it would be worthwhile having an idea of what percentage of FFE Academy Students complete their 1 year obligation, and do so without getting "starved out", as is the case with so many companies (not necessarily FFE, but there are companies who do).

I have posted elsewhere on the forum asking about FFE, but largely got negative responses with no reason behind them, or the reasons given were from 10+ years ago, when the company was under different management.

The Academy sounds great, and I have no questions about the Academy. I just want to get a more full picture of the likelyhood of getting through the 1st year.

Thanks in advance.

 

that's a really good question. i would imagine the number would be low. not necessarily because they hate it at ffe, but turnover in general in the industry. i've seen some numbers at other companies, ranging in the 80% or higher range. drivers could leave for tons of reasons, # of miles, better pay, going regional even that otr in general is not for them. i've only been at this for a couple of months but it's hard not to see the ads for other companies that are starting @ 34 a mile with only 3 months experience. but for me right now, that $3,500 check i'd have to write for leaving early is a pretty strong reason to be content and just drive.

the academy is good. and by the time you finish with your trainer, you will have the basics of being a driver not just a steering wheel holder ( i hate that term.) but for me the real learning started on the first trip i took solo.

what are the odds i'll stay a year? well, if they continue to shoot me straight and get me the miles that they have promised i prob will. but if a company called and offered me regional run in texas/ok/nm/la with the miles at a decent rate? geesh that would be really hard to say no to.

 

While I was at the Academy; another FFE driver showed up to shower and wash clothes while waiting for a load. Me and some others were talking to him while he was there. He went through the Academy about a year ago and he likes driving for FFE. While he was in the area, FFE called him into the Lancaster terminal and traded out his truck for a 2013 Cascadia. He says that he don't have any plans on changing companies and that the past year, FFE has treated him right.

My trainer has been with FFE for the past two years after going through the Academy. He also has no plans to leave any time soon and that FFE has been treating him good for the past two years.

 

Well, from my research, the industry's turnover rate is largely due to the companies. Many of the "training" companies seem to be looking for the cheap labor (ie, students just getting into the industry and are willing to accept peanuts to get their foot in the door or just have a job). Once said students are to the point where the company would have to pay the student more due to experience, they start a "starve out" period where they get the student only enough loads to prevent them from having to pay layover pay to the student. The student then only gets a few hundred miles a week with no layover pay, and is now not making enough money to survive on the road unless they've saved enough money when they were making the miles. This then forces the student to quit the company. Unfortunately for many, this may mean repaying the company for CDL school, and some companies charge more for their CDL school than FFE. In these cases, the student is now in a worse situation than before getting behind the wheel.

Where they may have been making minimum wage working fast food, retail, etc..., decide to go trucking to improve their life, get a company to pay for their training (or go to a CDL school and choose a company that takes inexperienced drivers), begin driving solo (or team depending on the company), making more money (gross) than while working their previous job (albeit taking more working hours to do so), and now finding out that it IS expensive to live out on the road. Now the student is learning to minimize their road expenses and starts to get a bit ahead. WHAAM!!! This is the point where the student is now eligible for a raise based on experience. Yeah, they get it due to it being in black and white on the pay scale, BUUUUUTTT, the company now starts cutting miles. First, just enough to make the student think, "OK, this is just a bad week. It's not too bad and should pick back up soon.". That's where they would be wrong, because now the company starts cutting back the miles even more. The student now starts complaining to the dispatcher about not getting enough miles to survive. The student is now labeled a complainer, and the runs get shorter and the layovers get longer, but only to the point to where they don't have to pay layover pay. This goes on and on. Now the student has no money to fall back on, isn't making enough to live on the road, and is forced to quit or starve. The company gets extra money for hiring new drivers, can charge a full amount for the load, only pay new driver pay for the load, and for the ones that have training programs, they get money from the student by forcing them out of the company as described above, and forcing the student to pay back the company more than the company spent to train the student.

I'm not saying all or most companies do this, but many do. It's also not the only reason. As you stated, many leave the industry because they didn't realize what OTR life entails or are having troubles at home due to OTR life. Drivers have been known to be treated crappy by their companies as well (again, not all companies).

I'm asking because it's probably my biggest concern beyond rider/pet policies as my wife and dog would be riding with me. So far, I've gotten the rest of the info I need to make the decision. I can handle a crappy boss. I can handle being OTR for weeks or months at a time. If I budget right, I may even be able to handle a brief "starve out" as a "let's see what the new guy can take. If he handles it well, we'll keep him and get him going again", provided that it's not long, and they do get me running again. I can handle having to document EVERYTHING from Qualcomm messages, to times, getting copies of Trip Packs, etc... to ensure that I'm covered. That being said, if a company tries to "starve me out" just to get me to quit before I'm free to go, I don't wanna be there to begin with. It is possible to find this out before hand. Granted, the FFE Academy is fairly new, it has been in use long enough where some guys have the answer to my question. It's just a matter of where they are.

 

Thank you very much. Good to know. Now if only someone had replied like that a month ago when I first asked... I'd still be right where I'm at, but with FFE being at the top of my list of companies when I do take the plunge.