I'm Officially On Furlough

Ward Transport just recently opened a terminal here in Chicago. Been advertising for line-haul and city driver ever since. I applied and was surprised to get a call back almost immediately offering a run to Columbus and back every night.

You guys know anything about them?

I don't think I've ever spoken to a ward driver.

Research I've done implies that it's like any other LTL company. Runs can get cancelled and you end up doing something else based on business needs.

Experiences tend to vary by building, which is very common in this world.

My advice is to be careful jumping into LTL right now. You may come out ahead because it's a new building in a major transportation area and that means it's probably understaffed and that's beneficial to you.

If I was being recruited, I would ask how often that run gets cancelled

What happens if it does get cancelled?

What's the delay policy?

What's the bid policy and how many people are in front of you, how many more people do they plan to hire?

These questions will give you an idea of how much work will actually be available for you and it'll give you a good understanding of the policies and procedures that will have some effect on you.

I 2nd everything Banks said. I can not really recall seeing any of their trucks on the road.

Columbus and back is a heck of a run, where is their Chicago terminal? That has to be over 5 hours each way on a good day. Great run to get right out of the gate, my big question is why is it available.

Their Terminal Bobcat is in Chicago Ridge. Where the old yellow terminal used to be. Pretty sure it’s back there somewhere.

I’ve only seen their trucks twice. All of their terminals are Ohio and east. Nothing in Indiana. I did ask the recruiter why this particular run was available and only this run and he said wasn’t sure why exactly just knew it was available.

I did ask how many drivers they were adding he said only a few. It’s right by my house which is why I even considered it. It’s on the terminal manager now to give me a call. Because my biggest question also was why is it available.

I would find out exactly how many miles that trip is. It could be so tight a timeline, nobody wants the extra pressure each trip.

Because my biggest question also was why is it available.

A lot of guys with seniority in my building hover on the the 250 miles each way runs. The 600 miles plus runs tend to make it to the lower guys.

That has to be over 5 hours each way on a good day. Great run to get right out of the gate, my big question is why is it available.

I'm not a fan of those runs. I'll do them and I've done them, making a lot of money but I wouldn't bid it. It's a lot to do everyday and I agree with what Packrat says

It could be so tight a timeline, nobody wants the extra pressure each trip.

I did ask how many drivers they were adding he said only a few.

I'd press a little harder. They know how many drivers they're hiring and "a few" isn't an answer. Shady stuff like that makes me start taking steps back. Give me all the information I need to make the best decision I can for myself. Don't be vague because you need drivers and you're afraid of what my reaction will be. When I went to FedEx I asked how many apprentices are you hiring and the person I was interviewing with said we have this many applicants so far and we have this many spots.

A lot of guys with seniority in my building hover on the the 250 miles each way runs. The 600 miles plus runs tend to make it to the lower guys

All our 600 mile runs are held by the top guys. Most of our shorter runs have to go through the Chicago terminal. by the time you do that it adds up to almost the same amount of time as a longer run, for less money and more aggravation.

I would find out exactly how many miles that trip is. It could be so tight a timeline, nobody wants the extra pressure each trip.

We do meets with Columbus drivers by the Ohio line because we can't make it there and back in a day.

From what I see it would be 640 miles going around Fort Wayne. Or 700 miles taking the route we do down 65 to 70. Which means they expect you to average 70 mph, not really realistic with all the construction on 80/94 and everyplace else.

Most of our shorter runs have to go through the Chicago terminal. by the time you do that it adds up to almost the same amount of time as a longer run, for less money and more aggravation.

Yeah, that does suck so it makes sense. That's not something we deal with on meets, but it does happen when you're going from building to building. Our longest building to building run is Youngstown and it's 640 miles. I've had to stop at other centers to drop/pick up trailers. It's not bad because it's an easy on/off of 80 and it gives you a short break.

Also not bad because the handheld will tell you where to drop the trailers and what trailers you're taking. With the accessory pay being what it is, you'd get paid for an hour, but you should be able to get in and out in 30 minutes.

This announcement of "one FedEx" is going to Jack that up though. Now they can have us run freight and ground trailers indiscriminately. That's going to suck and I'm not looking forward to it.

Drove past the terminal this morning. It looks like they are sharing a building with FedEx, or the building that they are in is just that small. Trucks were mostly beat up looking Freightliner Columbia’s A few new Mack’s and internationals. For some reason I thought Columbus was further west.

This was wishful thinking on my part. I appreciate the responses. Guessing lay down runs are what they have.

Banks what is a "service center" with Fed Ex Freight? Are those smaller facilities that lack linehaul drivers, instead have the bigger terminals drop there, but have a small dock for P&D primarily in lower population/rural areas? I had an article from Freightwaves pop up on my Google page saying FXF is closing 29 service centers.

what is a "service center" with Fed Ex Freight?

It's a fancy way of saying terminal. FedEx uses a mix of hubs and end of the line centers. Instead of having to say Hub or EOL, they just say service center.

A hub breaks trailers and sorts freight based on destination. An EOL center only deals with their freight and loads their pick ups to trailers to be taken to hubs to be sorted.

I had an article from Freightwaves pop up on my Google page saying FXF is closing 29 service centers

It's 28 centers and 1 relay yard in Alabama. I've been following it. I have a list of the centers they're closing effective August 12, 2023. They have other centers absorbing the freight and it looks like they're allowing drivers to follow the freight which means they can transfer to an approved station and dovetail into the seniority list. Instead of going to the bottom of the board, they'll be wedged in like they were hired at that building. I haven't heard anything about severance packages being offered, but I imagine they will be.

With the recent announcement of one FedEx, my assumption is that they're gearing up to make a massive a real estate deal or they already have one in place.