trans am, do or dont?

As far as all 48 states, they do not go through the Rocky Mts, you will go as far as Denver and that's about it. Bill never had chains. We went to Long Beach CA once but not through the mts, it was thru the desert. Beautiful!! They will send you every where else though but a LOT of their loads are National Beef which is in Liberal and Dodge City KS, and Tyson and whatever they can find you to get you pointed back in that direction once you deliver. There is a thread in the bad section called "My 16 week experience with TransAm" It is really informative, I believe the gentleman was a lease operator. I dont think it ended well. I would recommend reading that one. TA is not that bad for a company driver, especially if you are looking for experience.

 

I'll find that post. Yeah, this kinda sucks ... because I love driving out west - it's cool as far as scenery and I've NEVER had trouble finding a place to park, even at night. (Well, in some of the cities maybe, but not in the desert I mean.) I just hate the east coast. I hate PA and WV and Maryland and those places. Maybe not all companies try and mess with you life Swift. But those DMs, they never seem to understand that if you aren't parked by 6 or 7 in some place you ain't parking! Thanks for the info!

 

As a company driver, yes you are on forced dispatch. Only place that doesn't hold true for is NYC. TA is pretty good with their routing system and so far have had no problems with low bridges etc. Did get routed up I 95 in RI and found out later I wasn't supposed to. There is a bridge in Providence that has been derated and is only good for 16 tons I think. $3000 fine if you go over it. You'll go thru PA alot but mostly be on the interstates.
The trucks all have APU's so idling is not a problem.
Not much of a problem with getting called to do a live load with TA unless its doing a swap. They are very proud of their 98.2% ontime pick up and delievery and you usually have a loooooooong time to get there. Have not had a dlievery or pick up but twice, that i wasn't there in plenty of time to get it done.
The Rockies. As a company driver, you won't go thru them while the chain law is in effect. They'll route you around them but don't think you'll get paid the extra miles for it. L/O's have the option of buying chains and going thru them all year around.
As a L/O, you will have the option of refusing loads but don't do it to much or you'll get crapped on. As long as you don't mind working for less money than a company driver, don't have a family to support, and don't have much in the way of bills, you can still make money. Just remember tho, that you have to buy your own health insurance, do your own taxes tho a firm is provided, for a price, do your own retirement etc. Thats all part of being a small business owner which you are as a L/O.
Hope this has helped and will be willing to answer any other questions you might have.
Oh joy, just love having a bull hauler pull in next to me. Peeeuuuuuuu!!!!

 

panhandle flash, thanks a lot! This is all great information. Especially good to hear their routing is good. Nothing like missing your turnoff because of bad directions and having to drive 20 miles until you find a place to turn around!

I never worried about bridges too much until I found one in Iowa that was not listed in my atlas. This made me think there were probably lots that weren't listed ... which is really stupid because from what I hear cops aren't too cool about helping you back up if you have to back up three or four blocks and block traffic. Kinda made me paranoid about getting lost in places like PA and NJ. Thanks again!

 

yeap unless you go lease then you have to get chains are go out of route on your own pocket

 

I'm confused - do lease drivers have to chain up or what do they do? When I was with Swift, when it was snowy enough to chain up we'd just go park somewhere...

 

Has to do with how the chain laws are written. You MUST carry chains with you during certain parts of the year, does not mean you have to use them. I too would just pull over and park

 

Okay, thanks, man