What is most important to you

Good pay, equipment, PTO, environment, customers, safety department. If all of those things are good then I'm happy

 

For me #1 is home time. My wife can no longer ride so regular home time 5 to 14 out and 2 home is crucial for me.
#2 Maintenance, I am not a mechanic. I know what right looks like from training so I can identify wrong. If it needs to be fixed i do not want a hassle and argument about it. We are talking about 80k machines, that's not only my life but the life's of other motorists out there.
#3 Mutual respect between myself and the dispatcher. Things happen out there, so professionalism on both ends need to be there. Stuff happens out there; it can be frustrating for all involved. If that dispatcher can go to bat for me and keep me moving once an issue is resolved, I will bust hump to get the job done for them. The opposite is also true if there is no mutual respect.
#4 a good safety and training program. Rules and regs change. I am out here driving doing a job. When a new rule, or method of doing something comes out I want to know about it and be able to properly execute it. That can prevent fines/tickets and improve overall performance.
#5 Pay. I want my pay to match the industry standard, my experience, and safety on time record. Why did I post pay last? The pay will come, it is built into the job. The others need to be there to boost the income.

 

Honesty, good driver spec’ed equipment (fridge, APU, inverter), well maintained equipment, driver friendly freight and customers, and freight lanes.

 

1) Compensation. It's the only reason I work. Including insurance and savings options.

2) Trust. No handholding. Tell me what you need done.. period.

3) Competent company structure. Entailing all.
Safety, payroll,insurance but especially dispatch and maintenance. Good rapport.

4) Equipment. Need to have dependable
equipment, but not necessarily the newest
just reliable.

5) Home time when needed or requested.
No discussion or dissent.

 

Honest with my pay and provide health insurance.
They don't punish me for the mistakes of the dispatchers/load planners/customers.
Equipment is fixed ASAP.
They reimburse on the next paycheck, no exceptions.
They advertise what the job/schedule/pay is really like.
They pay detention pay and don't look for tricks to avoid paying it.
If I can't pick which truck stop chains to fuel at, I can pick the locations to fuel at.
No driver-facing camera.
APU and inverter or unlimited idling

 

BTW, asking a recruiter if the company has or does these things isn't how you find out about the company. Make the company put you in contact with current drivers doing the work you want to be hired for. Ask them to describe the day, week, schedule, pay, benefits, etc. Ask specific questions. How much did you make last week? Who is the insurance provider? How much does insurance cost? When do you get home? How long do you stay home? Etc. Asking "is this a good company? Does not give you a real answer of what good is supposed to mean. Long-term employees can lose touch with what is good pay because they haven't seen what other companies pay.

 

Yeah. What he said.

 

All of the above are of course extremely good answers to the original question.

If you are looking for a carrier for employment--the only other thing I might be able to add to all the above is.....

recession-resistant freight.

Since we're apparently going into a recession (now, or soon...depending on one's perspective)....recession-resistant freight is something else to think about, too.

A lot of drivers will say that reefer (temp-controlled) is always king of freight in tough times--"people gotta eat", etc.

But I would respectfully submit--that's not always where the main action is in an economic setback.

In the last recession (recall that it was pretty short--but DEEP ), I ran intermodal freight for Schneider out of the Atlanta area.

We stayed busy that entire time--in fact, that group started hiring for more drivers...in an effort to keep up with the freight volumes there. I never waited for a load during that period.

Why was freight so steady, one might ask?

I'd say 90% of my loads were for the following: Walmart, Target, Lowe's, Home Depot, General Mills, Proctor & Gamble...and also, a paper mill (paper towels, toilet tissue).

PLEASE NOTE: The above is NOOOOOTTT a sales pitch/endorsement for Schneider--or for intermodal duty, either.

It's just an example to show that you can find "hotbeds" of freight elsewhere from reefer--if one knows where else to look.


--Lual