The New FFE Driver Academey

As far as receipts they now want your manifest #,pro#,and po#,on every receipt.I have been haveing issues getting paid for months on lumper reciepts,heck they detucted for receipts I have turned in for oil or whatever i put out of pocket,there payroll seems to do what they wantEven after scanning multipile times,I usaully need to do a sit down with my DM and have him email payroll to get it straight.Time loss driving to get something paid to you that should be a none issue.I am not here bashing just saying they need to get there act together.I never had to babysit my checks like I have to do here.

 

Get your experience and move on to a good company that doesn't play games w/ YOUR money. They've done it for over 30 yrs and with economy slow they will do it more than ever. They haul cheap freight and try to make it up on backs of workers. All you can do is double and triple check your side and keep after them to pay up. Shouldn't be that way-but lots of things in life aren't the way they should be. I would think you would rather keep a lot of good , reliable men/women drivers for years than always be changing hands. But that kind of thinking is not in vogue anymore.

 

Just got done with the "hell weekend". Connie is an awesome trainer, unless you piss her off. But dam it was hotter than hell on the pad. Gonna be rockin now driving this week. Shifting today.

Congrats to the seniors who hit DPS this morning to get their CDLs and hit orientation. Can you alumni give us some insight on those three days?

Thank you,
TK

 

Sweet, thanks Playmaker. Everyone says this whole week flys by. Cant wait to hit the road..

 

You guys be #### careful out there. I talk to friends in FTW all the time and hear about the excess heat. I am trained to be in it and still have to be careful. WATER!! Coffee, tea both dehydrate you. Get water BEFORE you head out. Hopefully several hours early. For every 3/4 bottles of WATER you can have a sport drink. Weather in Afghanistan is about like TX only little drier. Also worked in Iraq. Up to 130 there. Nothing but Death Valley compares. But heat problems sneak up on you quick. 1st sign for most people is headache. Don't mess with it. I have seen a lot of folks fall out over here. One time you get 2nd chance. 2nd time and you're going home. No license or job is worth dieing for.

 

I took a ride down to the FFE office in SLC today to meet with the staff there. Great group of people there. They explained to me that they focus on LTL at that location and if I were on LTL loads, my dispatches would be handled out of there. They explained all OTR truckload trips are scheduled out of Dallas. They said that LTL pays more then TL because of all the extra stops. The downside is you have to unload your own freight. Any one want to speak to this? What are the good and bad aspects of TL vs. LTL? Thanks.

 

Ahhh the Grande. This week you will be driving all over town and on friday they will take you to the grande for lunch. Next weekend you are on the range again to polish your skills for dps. Everyone that passes dps gets van ride to grande. BE SURE TO FIND SOMEONE IN YOUR CLASS TO ROOM WITH, AND BOTH GO TO THE COUNTER AT THE SAME TIME!!! If you don't you might get stuck rooming with some freak stranger that snores and has a stupid ringtone and talks about nascar too much (Sup Trey). Or treat yourself to some peace and spring the $22.50 per night to get a single room.

Be on time in the morning and DONT say (But.... we learned this in the academy) just shut up and don't fall asleep.

Now...you will be spending a little time at the grande...get to know the shuttle driver "Ed" he is a older black man that drives a old 64' el camino(sp) He parks in front of the bar (bobbi socks) so you now when he is working. He is a very cool guy. If you want to get out he is the man... ASK ED not the desk when you need a ride. He will drive you in the shuttle to Chilis, movies (Super cheap theater) but be sure to throw him a few bucks. Take care of ed and he will take care of you.

Oh...the sausage gravy at the breakfast buffet is usually cold early in the morning and tastes like crap and if you want eggs have the dude at the end make them fresh....wayyyyy better.

One more thing..AVOID the "SIX DOLLA, SIX DOLLA" Chinese food guy when you get to the Lancaster terminal its pretty nasty. However the "Truckers cafe" delivers there and has a AWESOME burger. The safety desk has a menu.

####...I'm hungry

Tell Connie Patrick says Hi!

 

I couldn't agree more. The only thing I could suggest a little different is to drink the equivalent of at least two bottles of water before you hit the heat. And don't take the sport drink suggestion for granted ... loosing salts and electrolytes too quickly is almost a guaranteed trip to the hospital.

DRINK CONSTANTLY, when you start feeling it ... or worse STOP SWEATING ... it's already too late and you've started into heat exhaustion.

Big Duker: Thanks for your service to our country sir!

 

I hope not to offend you, I don't mean to but I like that comment. This is my first post on this forum, I have read this forum for many months as I have not been happy with my job and have been looking into this industry for a couple years now. This thread specifically I have watched for almost 3 months and have read in it's entirety 3-4x now. I like how you are no longer all doom and gloom.

To the rest of the posters on this thread, especially you FFE people it is awesome to see a group that is sick of the bitc#|ng and complaining. I admire the fact that you have been proactive in keeping it off this thread. The forum admins have the forums setup for every type of discussion. This is the positive group praising their employers and there is another group doing the opposite. Forum members need to read what area they are in prior to posting. Finally to the original FFE crew of posters, you have done a great job being very clear and documenting so much of the process, for this I thank you all.

As for all those with the serious wisdom, experience, years and miles under their belt who say this is a dark shady company or school your opinions don't mean much without your threads of the great companies you would suggest for a noob or someone starting out. Anyone can point out flaws, and problems but your wisdom is proven when you can provide a solution rather than just saying 'don't go them, they are rats, they'll screw you, etc...' Name a company in this world that won't screw you?? Granted some far worse than other (England? lol) but tell me the ones that aren't bad if your going to bash a company that employees are actively driving with and proudly praising.

I hate my job now, but some of my coworkers love theirs. Am I looking forward to leaving ? Hell yeah, but I still recommended the job to my brother because he might like it. He knows what I don't like about it, but his issues will not be the same as mine as we are all different. Basically if you have something better to sell the world, say the company and we will look into it. Then nobody will be so hard on your replies as you have offered wisdom with the negativity. Now done with rant.

My only question before I finally make this leap and call FFE up... After the dreaded 6 weeks with the stranger/trainer that might hate me, how long after I step out of that truck until I get the keys to my assigned truck, then how long till I get my first load? After all, the minute we shut off that truck after the six weeks with trainer is probably the same minute I am not making $455 on a salary right? I have many more questions but they are not related to this thread so I will place them elsewhere.