What questions to ask on a job interview

I get asked probably once or twice a month about my company because we have nice shiny new trucks. And I’m very honest. When I first started, the first six months I would give my company a C- now I give them a C+ and it seems to be improving. I might even give them a B. Definitely a bit shady here and there, but I am now in a place with them where they respect me and I respect them and I don’t quite get the games I used to get early on. There are also some very clear pluses about the company I work for. And very clear minuses. I tell them.

if you read some of my posts way back, I was an inch away from quitting but I think I’ll stick around for now.

 

When I quit my first job to to my 2nd. I first made a delivery there and talked to a couple of drivers. Lol spent about an extra hour there finding out whatever I could. Made a couple extra trips there in my car to talk to a few more drivers to get real answers. Still took awhile to switch cuz of seniority and vacation pay etc....Anyway, questions are good.

 

Do the office gals show any leg?

 

The Ways Things are headed, "are there communal shower facilities on site" and "who's going to wash my clothes"?
Safety will answer the "communal shower" Question. GO AWAY to safety.
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Safety response moderated for security reasons.
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wannabe "driver:
What do you mean "You have to wash your own clothes and the washers/dryers are NOT FREE"?
What kinda outfit is this eh??
YOUR Company motto states: WE TAKE CARE OF OUR DRIVERS, so How Do You Take Care Of WE THE DRIVERS, EH??

What do You Mean "You Have To Fuel YOUR Assigned Truck"??
Bugger that, No One said I HAD TO ACTUALLY WORK....I want my Teddy Bear Mommie, whaaaa.
I'll, sniff, sniffle go back to the basement under the basement, thanks for nuthin'.
Where's MY RIDE To The Airport?

Safety response: "Since You Quit, You Get the airbus on wheels, ride snailways, now get your baby tail off my yard".

 

The most important question I've found to ask is "What is your main customer base?" Ya know: "Who do you haul for?" You can tell a lot about a carrier by knowing their freight base. Give me their list of customers, and I'll tell you: how you're gonna be treated, what kind of weekly miles to expect, what kind of cpm to expect, what kind of equipment they run, their maintenance schedule, and so on. This 1 question should answer all your other questions.

 

When you ask this question, and they reply with P&G, Home Depot, Lowes, WestRock, Pepsi, General Electric, ect; you're applying to a Mega carrier. Doesn't matter if they don't have but 100 trucks or less, they're gonna operate like a the megas. You're gonna get a truck with all the safety bells and whistles, that we all love so much. It's gonna be an automatic (most likely a Freightliner), and it's gonna have a faster speed on the cruise than it does on the pedal. This is done to encourage you to use cruise control, because the aforementioned safety equipment is more accurate while in cruise control. They will sell it as saving fuel, but the actual savings are negligible. Yes, there are "small" companies that operate under this format. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as I work for a smaller company that operates like this, and I'm actually treated really well. Just my thoughts....

 

More importantly, at a time like this, HOW STABLE THE FREIGHT WILL BE.

Reefer companies with large contracts at major food producers like Hormel, Tyson, or Smithfield will remain steady and busy, even when the rest of the industry is experiencing low freight rates and less freight availability.

 

Show me a truck outside of these parameters that can break 9 mpg at 78,000 lbs. It does, indeed, save fuel, which leaves more money in the pot for driver services and payroll. That's how those smaller companies will remain stable.

We tell everyone in orientation that it is literally because the Detroit Assurance Safety Systems work best under cruise, then show them dash cam footage of our trucks avoiding what would surely be crashes due to the systems being active. Our trucks are also equipped with a pair of buttons on the dash, LKA OFF and LDW OFF. This allows you to turn off the annoying buzzers and chimes for 30 minutes per application of the switch and turn off the little motor on the steering box that is trying to keep the truck centered in the lane against your will. Makes for a much more pleasant (and quieter) driving experience.

 

I really do respect what you had to say. I hate to sound like the old salty hands, but I probably am. I remember how peaceful it was to drive a truck that didn't have all those features. I do, however feel like they have a place in the industry. I'm not knocking those features. I called myself trying to shed some light on how encompassing this one question can be when you ask a recruiter. It is nice to see both sides of the coin tho