Name Three Things You Love About Your Company

Old School I have to respectfully disagree about not wanting to hear other drivers complaining about preplans. I'm getting my 34 in at a receiver right now and a few hours ago one of our drivers was doing just that about an 800 mile run. I was preplanned on a 500 mile run... So shortly after a phone call my peoplenet started making noise.... ahhh the sound of money..

So please complain to me all you want about those pesky long runs...

And he's right Rainy... good idea for a post... I would add to it but I don't work for a mega

Who said it had to be a mega carrier? I'm sure there are people near you looking for work ;)

I work for a smaller carrier (100 trucks) (90 in use) that wishes to remain nameless😎 sorry. I asked about companies for months before my move and like what I've found. Put in the same diligence and you'll be happy also.

Pay is top notch and to put that into perspective I make the same as very a well known flatbed companies flatbed top out pay. And in a couple of years I'll make what they pay the glass division. With no CPM cap. 1/2cmp every 6 months.

Every quarter I'm expected to do four Protread modules for continuing education and safety training. 100$ every quarter for learning things I was never taught in school.

Maintenance was a night and day change of pace. While working with my last carrier I had people at TA and Loves start complaining when they asked whom I worked for. Because when you have so many trucks on the road sometimes it takes a while to get someone on the phone... it happens. I've learned not to make the call to my new company till I'm walking to the counter and minutes later the counter person is on the phone with our maintenance department.

I've omitted the name for a couple of reasons. One is that my experience with a smaller company doesn't seem to be the norm. And two when I spoke to the owner he said "we're are a small company and we have no desire to grow"

I could go on for days but really a few of you may recall that my requirements for when I was looking for a job were just to be solo and good pay. Even on Brett's list the company I did work for was listed as low starting pay but moved up to average. I would say that I know make above average.

I'm with Crete carrier and love it #1 safety first. They don't push me if I say its not safe to continue on even if it means late delivery they don't push me to keep going #2 excellent benefits package I hardly notice the deduction on my check it's so cheap and they are great benefits #3 I'm on the Walmart dedicated fleet and get lots of miles to the point they wear me out some weeks.

Swift sounds like an awesome company to work for.

I'm sure it is. And similarly, prime has weekly safety meetings in the terminals that are podcasts to our phones. They show us pics of wrecks, the speeds and road conditions and how to avoid the situation. They update us on new things going on like remodeling and new policies. The owner of the company finishes each meeting me thanking us and encouraging us to be safe. Like swift, we can take a SIM defensive driving class anytime we want and get paid $100 plus free lunch. It even gives us a discount on our car insurance.

With most of the big carriers you will get this type of support and the ability to bounce around. Paul has had several positions at swift...but if I wanted., I could bounce to regional or dedicated...or tanker without issues. And back too. Heck if I wanted to come off the road for a bit I know I could get an in house job without a hassle.

That's why I kinda laugh at some people who do the "well I'm gonna give my company a chance until I find something better". It just means you aren't willing to see the good in the company from the start. I get more miles and more loads than others...I know it. But that's cause I'm reliable. I could go to swift and it would be he same way.

Choose your company take advantage of the training and info they provide...network with in house people for " insider expert" info. Rather than relying on a driver in the parking lot...ask the safety girl you know.

You be happy at most places if you manage your time and communicate with dispatch.

I work for H. O. Wolding. 3 things I like about the company

1) Family Atmosphere. They have 350 trucks, but the atmosphere makes you feel like it is a much smaller company.

2) Home Time. I set my home time when I want. I unfortunately can't say I have never missed getting home, but those times weren't the companies fault. My DM made up for it by giving me an extended amount of home time on the next time home.

3). Safety. Just like the "safety first" written on the side of the doors. Just as everybody else has stated. Any successful company puts safety first. It is cheaper to pay any rescheduling fees then to pay for a new tractor trailer and crash cleanup costs.

I have a question for you Paul. Why does the Target DC have such an unusual procedure for getting unloaded? At least the Target DC near Huntsville, AL does.

I have a question for you Paul. Why does the Target DC have such an unusual procedure for getting unloaded? At least the Target DC near Huntsville, AL does.

What's the procedure there? And is it a dry or refrigerated DC?

Patrick, at the DC I work at, we have the driver drop his trailer in a door and bobtail back over to the waiting area, where we come get him when his trailer is unloaded.

I think liability is one reason it's done this way. Target doesn't look too kindly on drivers moving trailers on a red light. As a yard driver, if I back under a trailer with a red light, they'll escort me off the property immediately. And if I send you to a door and you back it in or pull it out on a red light, I'm done in that situation as well--the yard drivers are responsible since we are supposed to check the lights before sending you over.

The other reason is that sometimes we have to move your trailer to a different door to get it fully unloaded. Certain doors have certain receiving technologies. Here, we have ART doors, IBT, Non-Con, etc. ART stands for "Automated Receiving Technology." The freight is not palletized and goes straight onto a conveyor belt, so even a full trailer can be unloaded quickly. So, the contents of your trailer determine what door it goes in and if it has to be moved.

Often, we remove the trailer from the door instead of having the driver do it because we have another move going into that door right away. We always remove the trailer ourselves if the trailer was docked in an ART door because they like to keep those doors occupied all the time.

This concludes today's episode of "Everything you never needed to know about Target DCs."

Looks like only dry, but the place is huge. Reefers could be on another side. It starts of normal enough. Check in at security gate, go drop trailer in this door. Even being told to disconnect from said trailer. What is weird is bobtail over to the office to turn in paperwork then bobtail over to bobtail parking. First time I had to park someplace other than in front of my trailer. Instead of a phone call, your cue that your done is a yard hostler brings your trailer and drops it in the trailer parking in front of you. Then you bobtail back to get your paperwork. Then you go get your trailer and leave. Now the really odd part is signs everywhere saying you are allowed to be on the property for 30 mins. I am still waiting for my trailer and it has been well over 3 hours!

Interstate Distributors

1. Open communication. Problems get worked out and solutions are found.

2. Hometime is a priority. If the DM/planner doesn't hit your hometime it can look bad on them and it is tracked.

3. Multiple yards/terminals. Its nice to know you have a place to park in large urban areas. Also, if you have to run late into the night you know you will have safe and available parking at the yards.