Ruan (formerly Jim Aartman)

[Aftershock]

I havent heard or seen anything on here about Ruan in a long time. At least not since Cyanide was with them (Aartman). Does anyone have any thoughts on how the company has changed since Aartman was taken over by Ruan? Is it still the same company as far as people, pay, loads etc.? I really enjoyed reading your 30+ page post Cyanide. It has really made want to get into food grade hauling and Ruan is still at the top of my list.

[rcpilot]

I drove for them earlier this year... I was a Aartman driver before that and nothing except the service intervals really changed... they tried to turn the trucks back to 65 but that was squished... when I left in March there was still promises of pay raises that still hadn't come about... we were able to stop at most any Ruan garages for services so that was nice.

You start at .32 and after 90 days ya got to .34 and they pay perdiem... I had one dispatcher and she was great, You have one dispatcher if you run out of the Florida term and one for teh Ripon, CA terminal and one for strickly west coast runs. If I hadn't moved to Florida I would still be with them...

[Bumper]

I think Ruan is the company I see loading/unloading over at Kraft in Tulare all of the time.

With Tankers I am never sure if it is coming out or going in......

[Aftershock]

Rcpilot: do you think I would be able to get on with Aartman? When the Nascar season is over with, I will have 10 months of experience. I have the tanker endorsement on my license but no tanker experience; I pull a van trailer now.

[Kurbski]

Rcpilot: do you think I would be able to get on with Aartman? When the Nascar season is over with, I will have 10 months of experience. I have the tanker endorsement on my license but no tanker experience; I pull a van trailer now.

Why do you want to leave a nascar job? Are you driving a team truck ?
I am sure the schedule never stops since they have added so many races over the years. I use to work at DIS for 8 years on pit road and the tool truck then decided to watch the races from my lazy boy.
BOL with the tanker companies.

[rcpilot]

Rcpilot: do you think I would be able to get on with Aartman? When the Nascar season is over with, I will have 10 months of experience. I have the tanker endorsement on my license but no tanker experience; I pull a van trailer now.

Ruan requires at least 12 months of exp... but it doesn't hurt to call and ask...

[Aftershock]

Kurbski: No, I drive for a mobile marketing company and set up a display at each race. Since we go to each race, home time is almost non-existant. We only have off during the Nascar off weeks which is only 3 throughout the 38 week season. I also have a difficult time working with our crew. There have been a few other things that happened this year that have made me feel the way I do. Plus I can make more money moving freight so food grade tankers is the way I want to go.

rcpilot: Is John Pfitzer still working in Ripon? is the number still the same: 800 871 9038?

[rcpilot]

rcpilot: Is John Pfitzer still working in Ripon? is the number still the same: 800 871 9038?

Yes and Yes

I may be calling him soon myself 8)

[Aftershock]

Thanks for the info! In order for me to send in an application, can John take care of that or will he tell me I need to go to the Ruan website to submit one?

[rcpilot]

In the past I filled it out with him, I would call him to see what they are doing now. He may fax you a application.

[Aftershock]

Dak1, Cyanide and anyone else who is involved with the foodgrade tanker part of the house: how has the economy effected you and your company? Has the freight slowed down? Have the companies laid drivers off? Does the economy not have an effect on food grade because its food and people still have to eat? I may be seriously looking for a career change and was hoping to get involved with food grade at some point.

[derelict77]

Dak1, Cyanide and anyone else who is involved with the foodgrade tanker part of the house: how has the economy effected you and your company? Has the freight slowed down? Have the companies laid drivers off? Does the economy not have an effect on food grade because its food and people still have to eat? I may be seriously looking for a career change and was hoping to get involved with food grade at some point.

The Tulare, Ca terminal of Ruan "my employer" has been losing business and money consistently for at least a year. Many drivers have been laid off and job security is non-existant. I usually sit at home for at least 1 or 2 days of my scheduled work week because there is no work. Ruan should probably never have gotten into the dairy business out here ;-( This job was awesome untill about 4 months ago. Now we are all awaiting the giant axe of poverty.

[Aftershock]

Losing business? Why is that? Are the producers going elsewhere because of bad service or just the economy taking its toll? Are the other big carriers like Indian River/North American, Bynum, and Oakley picking it up? I thought the cows never shut off so the job would be pretty stable for everyone involved. My mom works for Dean Foods and she says they are covered up right now cause egg nog is in season. Its colder across the US so more people are drinking coffee and so, more creamer is being used at all of the restaurants and grocery stores.

[derelict77]

Losing business? Why is that? Are the producers going elsewhere because of bad service or just the economy taking its toll? Are the other big carriers like Indian River/North American, Bynum, and Oakley picking it up? I thought the cows never shut off so the job would be pretty stable for everyone involved. My mom works for Dean Foods and she says they are covered up right now cause egg nog is in season. Its colder across the US so more people are drinking coffee and so, more creamer is being used at all of the restaurants and grocery stores.

Ruan is losing business to companies who underbid us. We provide better service at a higher cost, they provide, well, a lower cost. Darrel Green and Northwest Territories have picked up many of the Land of Lakes routes we used to haul. Myovich is picking up alot of the California Dairies routes we used to haul. I have recently been hearing that there are to be no more layoffs, and that we have the right amount of employees for the business we have, but my hopes are not augmented ;-(

[GOOSEMAN]

I pull a tanker for an O/O, (Milk), and I run to the same dairies that Ruan does.

The Ruan that I'm referring to is based out of Fort Wayne, and these guys are up the their azzzes with work, so much that they are having a hard time keeping up. I've seen them dump milk down the drain, due to the fact that it was past the req. temp. ! I've gotten to plants an hour early, hoping to get in before my appt. time to find out that I made it just in time. Because there were 12 Ruan trucks to come in, all 12 where either late/canceled from the night before or just running 2/3 hrs. behind.

They seem to have a hard time getting to the (right) farm and getting to the process plant on time.

I'm run Mi. - Oh. - Penn. - Kenn. - Ma. - Wi., load at the farm here in Michigan, deliver to whatever plant on the schedule - unload - head back to the farm, leave the truck & trailer, and come home to sleep in my own bed every night.

With all that said, the slump in the economy has not what - so - ever effected my pay check -- " Those fricking cows, just don't know when to stop", I'm still making anywhere from $800.00 - $1200.00 week. It all depends on the plant that I haul to, because my pay is based on "Per Laod", and each plant pays different !!!

I'm not just talking smack, but with all these guys bashing different aspects of the Truck Driver, there are jobs out there that a man can make a killer pay check, and still make it home every night. Don't get me wrong, there are times that I do have to run hard (legal) to keep up the the cows, but right now it's working for me and my family !!

[Biscuit Lips]

Thanks for posting that Gooseman. I enjoy reading about what other segments of the industry are like for different folks. Sounds like you have found some job satisfaction, which seems to be rare in the trucking business.
Sorry, I really do not have anything beneficial to contribute to this thread just being a post *****.

[GOOSEMAN]

Hey Biscuit - the best part of it is, if I have something going on for the weekend, the bossman while run my loads for me. But if I want to run 30 days I can.

Normaly I'll take off every other weekend, just for some R & R, and to get some things done around the house.

[Cyanide]

Concerning the company formerly known as Jim Aartman, now Ruan, I would say that they have been effectively "ruined" by Ruan's policies and lack of any increase in the pay package for the OTR drivers, whereas the local guys seemed to initially make out well when the buyout went into full effect. I attribute much of Aartman's demise to the mistake of opening up a terminal in FL and hiring former Indian River and Bynum personnel to run the show and then, continuing to keep them on board after it seemed that it was everyone else who always took the fall for problems that always rolled downhill. When dispatchers and terminal managers are getting fired almost as often as you change your underwear, it seems logical to clean house starting at the very top. However, that wasn't the case as obviously some people know how to always come out smelling clean regardless of how much crap they fall into...

Had things never developed in FL and the company had stuck with being a predominantly West-coast and Midwest freight lane runner with dairy, egg, and yeast products and with the occasional FL juice load, and not tried competing with the Big 3 down there for a full-scale operation in the Florida juice and Southeast milk markets (which was done at the insistence of the FL personnel) I feel that it would still truly be Jim Aartman of Ripon, CA. And honestly, I would probably still be driving there as well. For a tad over two full years I absolutely loved being based out of and running for Pam and Jon out in Ripon, though I still lived in Florida. The work was always there for me as well as great home time. I can't stress that enough...I LOVED IT THERE! I'm sure many who ran out of Ripon will agree on that point. But the writing was appearing on the wall that changes were coming, and not for the better...

Unfortunately the people in Florida tried making it Jim Aartman of Mulberry, FL and for some strange reason always seemed to have their ideas accepted and implemented thinking that they could make things better than it already was, and how things had been done years on end. And in the end they screwed that company up so bad by doing things the way they had done it at Indian River and Bynum, with the notion that the company would make more money doing things their way. Ruan coming in and implementing their policies is nothing more than a band-aid being put on a sucking chest wound, and if things don't change drastically an amputation is probably going to occur in the future. Ruan will most likely just simply cut their losses and that long-haul food-grade element of the company will simply fade away and be absorbed by other companies out there. Eventually they will get tired of hitting their heads against a brick wall and realize it hurts enough to stop doing it!