The New FFE Driver Academey

Im sure your whole 1 yr exp cabwannabewrecker says alot...that is if you dont believe in yourself or have the pride in what you do so know surprise now is there? sure your first choice of career choice was it mcdonalds you mentioned earlier I suppose trucking was your second choice..dont worry your dreams of being the best fry cook may still come true with that attitude..

 

produce loads cost too much to run reefer lol i dont like waiting at the meat plants but both are good miles , things are starting to pick up now , got 3 load choices on a preplan in colorado today all good trips took the san antonio the window started the earliest and will give me a chance to warm my bones lol , i like light loads 20,000 or less lol my fuel mileage coming up from dallas was 5.87 , 43000 lbs produce load 287 sucks for fuel mileage , picked up in columbus 13000 lbs for the ltl lancaster got 7.8 on that trip plus this produce load will take more reefer fuel than 5 cents a mile and the other load was at 46 and didnt have to put a drop in , well i got allmost 3700 miles in last week so should be a good check , we have to think a little more when you start buying the fuel lol my average mileage is 6.5 which will work but the bottum line drops fast below 6 , price makes a difference too so i check internet before everytrip loves is most often the cheapest and i seem to get better mileage from them , my truck is set at 72 but starts burning a lot more fuel so i run at 70 or what ever the speed limit is , the mileage is about the same at 68 and 63 frieghtliner designs there trucks to run at 68

 

Yeah the shop told me they were set for 68 seems silly its only 63..

 

The Playmaker! I am trying to get with FFE! Thank you for the information!

 

most of the lease trucks are set at 68 but 70 on cruise , they had trouble setting mine because of somebody tried to hack in to it took them 4 tries to get it right but it runs 71 on the pedal and 72 on cruise but useally run speed limit or 70 , starts sucking fuel after 1500 rpm unless i am passing a ffe company truck then its hammer down lol

 

Just got accepted into FFE! I am super excited! I better do good or else!

 

awesome for you good luck set your mind to it you can accomplish it easily

 

I don't really get on here anymore but after finally getting past my 6mths I'll give my 2cents worth I will probably leave once my year is up and I fufilled my contract with FFE.Not that FFE is a terrible company to work for but I can't see making it here as a company driver.

Unless you want to become a L/O or a trainer you won't make any money I'm barely keeping my head above water as a company driver at 29cpm I need around 2.5k to 3k miles a week it is not happening here more around 2k, if I'm lucky. I don't want to lease or train and I believe this company is geared more around that since it is such a revolving door around here people leave everyday and new meat comes in everyday. Unless things really change for me I can't justify staying here especially when I see other companies offering 35 to 38cpm with one year experience.

But as a training company they really aren't that bad most of the problems you will have at shippers and receivers and all the waiting times has nothing to do with FFE and is just how the trucking industry works or actually doesn't work in my opinion,anyways just my 2 cents worth, good luck.

 

Your right privy its not to bad here my only issue is the camera in my trk and the pay.however its the worse part of the yr for driving it will pickup shortly.

 

yea guys its picking up pretty good now ; i have been given choices on my last few trips , privy your right it takes to long here to move up the pay scale and unless you lease or train its hard to make out unless you went the ltl route I was told that after your year was up you can negotiate and get a better deal from them than 31 cents they say , training deffinatley isnt for everyone , we have some good trainers they seem to do a good job at weeding them out -- not sure i could deal with that job either but compared to some of the trainers from the other socalled training companys i think ffe has an overall edge --- leasing is not for everyone either , you have to run a little harder than a company driver and overall i think we get the better trips , I am doing pretty good last week after everything i netted $1765 -- wish i could do that every week lol but my average is in the 1200 range my maintenance account has a little cushin in it now so i should be ok , but i have a couple of friends that arent really doing that well only making around what a company driver is making ,and there are people actually in the hole were they owe the company money and end up turning there truck in ; theres a lot more thinking and planning involved than what a company driver has to do and you have to be able to get along good with your dm and more importantly the planners , even picking the loads is a little harder than what i thought it was going to be . you have to think what kind of load your going to be able to get on the other end , you have to keep your deadhead miles under 10% of your total and what i am going to have to pay for fuel in the states i am going through and what kind of mileage am i getting on that run - i payed out over 2600 in fuel last week so thats the number 1 expense , the payment and fixed costs are constant if your sitting at home its costing 100 a day , you cut your fixed cost per mile by 50% if your averaging 3000 miles a week compared to 2000 , not shopping around for fuel can cost you 300 a week also . every little thing you do effects your bottum line , i have my fuel mileage figuired out on the major interstates and us highways we travel ( with 40000 lbs ) the best is on I-5 at 7.67 probley due to it being flat for the most part and trodding down the road at 57 mph lol , i get .75 better mileage on i-10 than on I-40 plus fuel is 25 cents a gallon cheaper on i-10 plus the snow flakes are seldom seen ---- the worst roads are I-44 in mo I-68 , 287 northbound I-70 westbound through kansas and co. i get .5 mpg more on I-80 than on I-76 in pa , light loads are the best but they dont give that out on the tenders you just have to go by memory and get lucky lol i figuire my mileage out by math the people net is close but i am old fashioned lol --- i also keep track of the winds and avoid headwinds when possible --- then driving habits effect mileage and idleing too --- i drive 70 a lot where its legal and it cuts the mileage down some compared to 65 --- but then it makes up for it a little when you blow the doors off an ffe company truck lol