Hill Bros ?

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

The word on the street is that we have something like a hundred people waiting for trucks right now though. Unless you're planning a long introspective period of meditation before you get out on the road, the smaller company paying a few bucks less might not be a terrible idea in the short term.

I was going to go with Conway TL my recruiter told me I was good to go but needed haz-mat ,So I spent the $120 total to get it then called him back ,and he says he was wrong...you don't need it right away you have 120 days to aquire it ...So my applicatiion was submitted by recruiter and was approved for hire with orientation on Feb 23rd ...however I would need to go to Phoeni,AZ for oientation then go back home for a couple weeks until a truck pops up ,well I as ok with 2 weeks ,but then last minute my recruiter says that "they" will not let him bring me on right now ,and maybe in a month or so when things pick back up ...lol ...So I'm going with Hill bros as they only have 300 trucks to keep moving and have plenty of dedicated customr base ,so I should do ok...And if not Conway is still an option when things pick up .

[dollarshort]

Well If Hill bros has the miles to roll 2500-2700 during the slow times and 3200+ when busy then you will make the mileage bonus and as long as you don't have any accidents you will get the safety bonus ,which puts you at the same basic pay as starting at Conway ,and only bout .03 cpm less than Crete , And yep I'd trade .01-.03 cpm for a nice T-600...OR Volvo 780 ,As opposed to riding in a 400k mile old beat Crete century .

Being that you are such a know it all about everything else, I am suprised you don't know that by strapping a reefer on your butt your waiting time at grocery warehouses will be tremendous. Althought it will give you plenty of time to polish your wheels. And since you think a good looking truck pays the bills better than a not so good looking truck, you should be rich beyond your wildest dreams in no time.

I just wish you wouldn't be such a hard head and come aboard Knight and follow me around for a year. I promise you that you will make a minimum of $50,000 and probably closer to $60,000 just by shadowing me for a year.

[VitoCorleone99]

There is no Con-way Truckload in Charlotte. Perhaps they were referring to the prospect of holding an orientation in Charlotte. They do orientations all over, but the company is located in Missouri.

If you guys are right about the fact that they're stacking up drivers even when they don't need them, I'll feel pretty optimistic about the upcoming year. They've been telling us that they're lining up all kinds of additional Con-way and Menlo freight so maybe that stuff will keep kicking in through the next few months. I've seen a handful of those loads myself since the beginning of the year. Either that or they're preparing a bunch of extra manpower for nothing (which is entirely possible, I suppose).

I don't pay very close attention to what other people are up to, but it does sound like the Hill Bros. driver mentioned above is pretty happy with them after what must be a couple of years now. He did the company driver bit with them for a while before he bought his truck, so he would probably be a pretty good source for information whenever he gets around here.

[jonp]

There is no Con-way Truckload in Charlotte. Perhaps they were referring to the prospect of holding an orientation in Charlotte. They do orientations all over, but the company is located in Missouri.

If you guys are right about the fact that they're stacking up drivers even when they don't need them, I'll feel pretty optimistic about the upcoming year. They've been telling us that they're lining up all kinds of additional Con-way and Menlo freight so maybe that stuff will keep kicking in through the next few months. I've seen a handful of those loads myself since the beginning of the year. Either that or they're preparing a bunch of extra manpower for nothing (which is entirely possible, I suppose).

I don't pay very close attention to what other people are up to, but it does sound like the Hill Bros. driver mentioned above is pretty happy with them after what must be a couple of years now. He did the company driver bit with them for a while before he bought his truck, so he would probably be a pretty good source for information whenever he gets around here.

I didnt mean they were based out of Charlotte. The guy told me that they have orientation and a terminal there. Maybe he meant that I could be based out of the Con-Way LTL terminal there? I don't know if thats how they work or not but he definately told me Charlotte.

[JR OTR]

I felt the earth rumble, so it was either my blog being mentioned or the results from the last Taco Hell I visited. I occasionally thumb-finger comments at:

Lease Purchase Journal

I drove for CFI / Conway Truckload for 16 months, ending about a year ago. No real complaints except the trucks they ran (T-600 for solos) were too small and poorly designed for my taste. The miles were decent, the terminals were fairly nice and they are sticklers on maintenance and accounting, both big plusses in my book.

When I started with Hill Brothers, the pay was .32 per mile with four cents extra for various other things (safety is two cents, averaging over 2700 miles a week for a quarter is another, and longevity is another cent, paid at the end of January each year for the miles run the previous year). I did not care for the fact that they used forced per-diem (six or ten cents per mile) for reasons better explained over on the tax forum.

They require two year's experience to come on with them, or one year and a recognized truck driving school. That was then, not sure what the requirements are now. If you wish to lease one of their trucks you have to work as a company driver for a few months and put down a deposit ($2,500 on a new truck, $1,000 on a used truck and add $500 if you want a TriPac APU). The delay lets the company evaluate your on-time delivery habits, how easy you are to work with and whatever else floats their boat.

The primary reason I chose Hill Brothers was because I wanted to lease a Volvo 780 and most of their trucks are Volvos. I investigated every lease deal of every company I could find, spoke to many recruiters and visited several others in person. For me, at least, it was the best choice given the options available to me.

After three months I switched over to a lease purchase and picked up my new Volvo 780 on June 6, 2008. Since then I have been doing slightly better than I projected at the beginning. I post financial results each quarter and am about to finish my third quarter with them.

As far as miles go, I am no super trucker by any stretch of the imagination and I have averaged about 2,600 miles per week since I began. Last week was a monster for me, 4,019 paid miles, which is out of character. Most of the loads are in the midwest with a few heading towards the southeast (Mississippi, Georgia), a decent number to Phoenix, and some out to southern California. Compared to my experience at CFI, the trips are a bit shorter (average deadhead is 97 miles and average loaded is 559 for me, through last week) and there does tend to be more waiting at consignees, in particular. I would say roughly 1/3 of the loads I've touched were not temperature controlled and the other 2/3 are.

There are super truckers at any company and I've spoken to a few at Hill. Some can regularly hit 3,000 - 4,000 miles a week if you're willing to run that way and you are in synch with your dispatcher and the planners. I don't personally recommend this but to each his or her own.

In short, I would say yes, the miles are there. The pay scale is really closer to .36 than .32, given the bonuses. I personally have never qualified for the performance (2,700 per week) one, yet I sleep well at night. There is absolutely no pressure to lease a truck with Hill, and in fact the required delay and deposit work to keep out some that shouldn't be in such a program to begin with.

I don't write my blog as a recruitment tool or particularly care if you use me as a reference, but when you call the recruiters ask to speak to Jason and make sure you call him "NINJA!", he'll know where you got it from.

Good luck,

Jim

[robertt]

Hey JR OTR, when you get a chance could you check you messages, I PM'd you, thnx.

[avguy]

Hey JR OTR. I was wondering if I could give you a call or I would say PM you but I don't see that option anymore

Just click on the user name, a drop down box with options, including PM appears.