Are you struggling with your current company, or perhaps are in a toxic relationship and you just want out? Maybe you are new to the industry and not sure how to choose? Or you are afraid to lose seniority if you jump ship? If you answered yes to any of the above, then this article is for you!
First and foremost do NOT ask other drivers! Every transport company has what I term “Special-People” and “Disadvantaged-People”; and depending on who you ask, the info you get will not be accurate for your decision making. The Special-People will always have the cleanest runs trouble free with minimum wait times, correct trip-info and will practically drive, what I term straight lines, do the job and come home for a nice reset, with the least cycle hours left on their elog. The Disadvantaged-People will get the problematic runs plagued with low miles with unpaid work, excessive wait times and incident prone lanes with costly resets often away from home.
Also, do NOT buy into the gimmick! All companies preach themselves to be the best in everything, the culture and all, respect...etc; and that might be true for the Special-People but not for everyone.
The heart of any trucking company would be its dispatch! Everything else is irrelevant. How dispatch [conducts business] is indicative of the views of upper management and all departments within the company.
It is imperative to understand what I term above [how dispatch conducts business]; this will become clear as you read on.
Are they a caring company treating it's drivers with dignity, caring and respect? What you need to be looking for is the single and most important value: INTEGRITY! Does this company conduct business with honor, honesty and ethics with it’s drivers? Do they believe in being transparent and trustworthy? Respecting the traditional "handshake" value system and earning their way in or they are selective in their treatment, they mislead, forceful and often vague as long as they're legally correct?
The company's integrity is based on how it's dispatch structured and how they conduct business. Ask recruiting to let you speak to the [supervisor] of the fleet(s) manager(s); then ask that supervisor for their pay structure specifically (1)breakdown, (2)waiting to find you loads, while on the road, (3)delays at customer's, (4)border/customs delays, (5)layover / on-the-road reset pay, (6)How they calculate paid trip miles (hub/odometer miles), (7)LTL pay, (8)assisted loading/unloading/lumper work and (9)if city work paid hourly (you are a long haul driver). If INTEGRITY exists this should be an easy question with a straightforward answer combined with a fair compensation to prevent abuse. However, if you hear "depends on the situation", "we balance things out" or similar vague statements then RUN!
A company that has integrity will not hide behind veils and will define their pay structure clearly especially "wait times" be it (1)breakdown, (2)waiting to find you loads, while on the road, (3)delays at customer's, (4)border/customs delays, (5)layover / on-the-road reset pay, (6)How they calculate paid trip miles (hub/odometer miles), (7)LTL pay, (8)assisted loading/unloading/lumper work, and (9)if city work paid hourly (you are a long haul driver).
Never base your decision on the pay per mile alone; However, the above 9 pay points are "key!".
I would rather work for a company who pays less per mile but will compensate fairly for (1)breakdowns, (2)waiting to find me loads, while on the road, (3)delays at their customers, (4)border/customs delays, (5)layover / on-the-road reset pay, (6)Pay actual trip miles (hub/odometer miles), (7)LTL pay, (8)assisted loading/unloading/lumper work and (9)hourly paid city work (you are a long haul driver).
You can easily be abused and frustrated when you become a "Disadvantaged-Driver" in comparison to the "Special-People"; and the way you'll be abused is via the 9 points mentioned above. However, if the pay structure is fair in terms of these 9 mentioned points, at the very least you'll be compensated fairly for your work and wait times.
P.S. I will expand on this article in the summer weeks of year 2022 with examples and scenarios.
