Vaughan Transportation

CommDriver did you not stay with Vaughan? If you are still there how do you like it so far?

 

I'd like to hear some recent opinions myself. I have worked for them in the past (2008) thru a temp agency. No worries with the Penske trucks. I ran a few short-hauls: Ardmore (DOT foods), a night run to Ft Worth, and a day trip to Muskogee. One OTR trip, a multi-stop ATL, & 2 in NC with dead head to Pine Bluff,AR to pickup. The lower-than-average pay is the only negative I've heard.

 

I guess I contacted them at a good time, today that is. I start Monday as a local driver. Nothing to brag about on the pay side<$12hr/.33 mi>.
The terminal manager did tell me they had been bought up by Reser's Fine Foods.
Having been out of trucking for almost 3 years, this should be a good move to get back into pulling a 53' reefer.

 

Let me know how it works out for you Rich.

 

Will do...

 

Headed to the metroplex in the AM. I was off on the mileage pay, it's .34mi. They give you a $50mo cell phone allowance.

 

Well how did your first week go ?

 

Pretty easy. local to Wal-Mart Paul's Valley, DOT foods in Ardmore, a few in-town trailer moves and picked up a skid of carrots at Thomas Bros.
I'd like to be busier on the hourly side. If one trip to Ardmore or PV is all you have for the day, it's a short day.
It's nice having them pay for a cell. I scored one at Wally-World ($50mo pre-paid, unlimited min).
I wish I could do some OTR, but still have 1 kid in HS, and my wife made me promise no OTR until she could go with me...
I'm kinda curious how the Reser's buyout will change things. Maybe they will leave things alone, maybe not. I haven't found much online about their transportation ops other than Southern-Cal transport having a dedicated contract with them.
I've seen 2 or 3 owner-op tractors there to haul some OTR routes. I'm a bit worried about the 96% CSA on driver fatigue. Since I haven't done a OTR route for them since 2008, I don't know how they run that side of the operation.

 

Ok, 3 weeks in. The lady that hired me (safety) told me from day one to turn in an "off-duty" log for all days that I work local only, 100mi radius. That worries me. Their current CSA driver fatigue number is 96%.
The tractors are mostly Cascadias with a few Century and T-600s. I've used a couple of the Penske Cascadias w/APUs. Neither worked, some wiring recall. Aurora lease trailers are being turned in, to be replaced by Xtra lease.
I've talked to a couple of drivers who say the log issue is the timing of the stops making it near impossible to run legal. We do multiple loads per week of our products to HEB in San Antonio. They are timed so you have 8hrs to get there. The guys I talked to say they back up their log to show leaving earlier and then show a 10hr break in SA. Reality is they sleep about 3hrs during unload and then deadhead back. I'm kinda hoping Reser's comes in and straightens the transport side out, but who knows. I like it, for the most part, but I worry about the logging issues.

 

That would worry me as well.