Con-Way... Good or bad?

[Sir_Thomas]

There is not much information about con-way on this board. Good company to work for? Or should I try for other ltl and P&D companies?

[JewelsnTools]

I've never worked for them, but I applied as a 1-year driver applicant. I've got two preventables and the recruiter informed me that this made me unhireable...even though their site lists "3 in 3 years". :?
The issue may have been 2 in what they considered to short a time, but that's neither here nor there, now. The point is that if you have a clean record, and some experience, give them a call. The recruiter took what amounted to a highlighted version of the application over the phone and said it would be reviewed immediately. Called three days later, and they had a decision. Frankly, I was impressed!
Good luck in your search, and it'll be interesting to hear the other drivers weigh in on this.
Jewels

[Stainless]

Check and see if the terminal you're applying at has a flex board or not. If it does, be prepared to be on call, you'll be working days and nights. As far as hours goes its a crap shoot, feast or famine.

Of the Con-way drivers i've spoken with many have said its a revolving door company these days.

[JTM22]

What terminal did you apply to? I applied to be a driver apprentice in a suburb of Chicago here. Was told to expect alot of time on the dock in the beginning, and then taking pickup runs for drivers that aren't available when I first got my CDL.

All the drivers were uniformed, most of the office personnel were too. It seemed more of a streamlined operation than Averitt did when I was there the day before.

On a side note, I make the drive home from work around 11PM everyday on I90 NB out of Chicago, usually see 6-10 Conway LTL doubles heading SB. Usually run into the same 4 drivers NB before I get off the HWY.

[Sir_Thomas]

What terminal did you apply to?

I applied to the Egan, MN terminal.

[Ian Williams]

I worked for CWX in Reno from Dec 05-Jan08. They can be both good & bad.

My advice would be: get on, deal with the crap for 1-2 years to get some LTL experience and move on.

They gave me my break to get into LTL. When I hired on I was total rookie with no CDL and zero experience. I was given super high quality intensive CDL training and had the opportunity to learn from a bunch of veteran drivers.

The pay and bennies have been going downhill for some time now. Pay and polices will vary a bit between the areas that used to be CWX, CCX and CSE before the rebranding. Do a search of my previous posts on here for some of my experiences with them.

Managment likes to play games. You can read the blog of my last month here:

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/fo...?topic=17953.0

[Templedawg]

I've known several drivers who worked for CSE. It is a middle of the road outfit, but a way to get local and get into LTL. do it for 1-2 years and then you will know who to get on with that pays better, treats you better, etc. etc. you could do better, you could do worse.

[felix5oh]

What about CFI? Or Conway truckload rather?

Can they keep me busy?

[JR OTR]

I spent 16 months at CFI right up to the switchover (and a few months beyond). Bottom line is yes, they can keep you busy but if you're a solo you need to love to drive a KW T600, for now at least.

Excellent maintenance, fairly nice terminals. Probably the best OTR company of its size or larger, in my opinion.

Go to conwaydrivers.com for an informative forum by current drivers, or click my OTR Journal link below for my own personal experience if you like.

Jim

[felix5oh]

Thanks Jim, if you dont mind me asking why did you leave?


I really want a job doing local LTL but i'll take this for now. Its a step in the right direction anyhow. If i'm going to be OTR then i might as well be busy and not be layover twice a week.

[JR OTR]

I left because I wanted to lease a Volvo 780 and CFI doesn't lease and hates Volvos, lol. If they did I would be there still, though I don't have it bad where I'm at now.

Jim

[slodsm]

Unless Conway has changed their operation in the last 3 months, I wouldn't recommend them unless you want to team drive. I sat non stop when I ran solo for them. 1500 miles a week was a good week and I love to run. When I drove team for them I ran non stop and made plenty of money but solo was just an excercise in patiently watching your bank account dwindle to nothing.

[VitoCorleone99]

Unless Conway has changed their operation in the last 3 months, I wouldn't recommend them unless you want to team drive. I sat non stop when I ran solo for them. 1500 miles a week was a good week and I love to run. When I drove team for them I ran non stop and made plenty of money but solo was just an excercise in patiently watching your bank account dwindle to nothing.

Nothing has changed in the last three months and my bank account does just fine. Through August 23rd, I had 80,153 miles this year and I don't make any effort to run hard at all. Last week was another one comfortably over 3,000 miles, but that paycheck hits on Friday so it doesn't show up on my annual summary.

That (80,153/32) works out to 2,505 miles per week (including the numerous weeks that I spent at home). If you backed out my days at home, it would be more like 2,900 miles per week while I'm actually on the road. You'll have to forgive me if I think that this 1,500 mile per week stuff is quite an exaggeration.

I never recommend any company to anyone and I'm not going to start now, but if your experience was that bad then you were the exception and not the rule.

[Piece Of Work]

I know that Teams get High-Priority loads, many customers require Teams to haul for them. Solo drivers still get the miles they want, I'm happy here. There are other benefits that make a company a good choice, like: having an inverter to run a microwave and your computer. That saves you money. We don't require that a driver follow the fuel/route directions, it is up to the driver to decide and that reduces stress. Being paid when a trip is dispatched gets you paid faster than waiting for the paperwork to be processed. Hassle-free over the road maintenance at a TA or Petro is another stress reducer instead of being with a company that has a reputation for not paying their bills.

I've been with enough rotten companies to know when I've got it better, if not good.

[slodsm]

You'll have to forgive me if I think that this 1,500 mile per week stuff is quite an exaggeration.

Trust me, it wasn't even close to an exageration. I would consider that a good week. Before Conway I held the same job for 12 years, I don't job hop but I seriously watched my saving dissapear with that company. 300 mile hops with a 2 day trip plan and no ability to deliver early was my norm with them when I was solo. I couldn't even make a car payment let along my mortgage.

Now when I gave up and went team driving with a friend of mine for them, THEN the miles wouldn't stop. I normally ran 6500 a week, sometimes more and that was every week scheduled to the minute. I loved that part of the company as that's how I like to run but I am just not made for team driving so I did it for 3 months and then gave it up. Now I get paid by the hour again with plenty of overtime .

I keep in touch with my old partner though and as soon as he was back solo again he never moved. I am not bashing the company, they had good benefits and I don't think I ever saw a take home pay check of less than 1000 bucks when I was running team but as far as solo, they just left me sitting constantly.

My friend Kyle gave up a couple of months after I did and he hauls tankers locally now as well because he just couldn't pay his bills solo and it wasn't due to location or hometime, at the time I drove for them I lived in NC and he lived/still lives in Ok. Neither of us were home time junkies, I was there to make a living and stayed out a month at a time minimum but what I was making in a month on the road with them I now make in 8 days and am home every night. Granted the hours are stupendous but hey, it happens.

I am not pushing anyone away from Conway, just think about it before you go. I still have two friends who drive there team and they are still raking in the cash hand over fist but they are married and their kids are grown and gone so they stay out 3+ months at a time. It just didn't seem like a solo operation to me anymore. All the teams I knew were doing very very well but the new guys running solo all seemed to be sucking wind.