Job hunting is a pain

[eptp88]

I was working at a small company recently when out of the blue my dispatcher called and told me I was the new oversized/flatbed driver. The other one quit. They dont pay any extra for the work but expeect you to stay out all the time and do the extra work for free. Anyway I told them no and we parted ways. I called Celedon but 2 days before orientation they called and lowered my pay .04 a mile so I stayed home and kept looking. Here's where I am now....I am prehired and okayed (is that a word?) for orientation for JB Hunt .37 a mile, Shaffer .37 a mile and Heartland at .45 a mile. I live in Valdosta Ga and will be running the S.E. out of Atl for JB/Schaffer and Jax Fl for Heartland. Jb said out 12 to 14 days/average 2500, Schaffer is out 21 days/average 2500 and Heartland said home 3 out of 4 weekends/2200 a week. Heartland is more home same money less work. Seems like a no brainer. Any current drivers for any of the three out there to verify those figures. Also how are the benifits ....

[Luzon]

This is directly off of Heartland's website for SE Regional out of Jax.

1 year experience $.38
2 years experience $.385
3 years experience $.39
4 years experience $.395
5 years experience $.40
6 years experience $.405
7 years experience $.41

That .45 is probably with safety bonus, nice guy bonus, all the moons in allignment bonus, etc. That is, assuming you have 7+ years experience.

I'd suggest going to a couple of the many truck stops along I-75 near Valdosta and talk to some drivers from those companies as they come through the fuel islands. Ask them how they've been running, etc. You get a lot more information fact-to-face sometimes.

[Jackrabbit379]

Glory, Glory!
Go Dawgs!


Looks like Heartland might have the edge on pay.
If hometime isn't a must, and as long as you get the miles, I would go for the higher pay.

[eptp88]

Heartland just called. The recruiter said if I don't have my long form from my physical I have to pay for my own. What a cheap deal. My card is for 2 years and the doc's office said my previous employer paid so the have to call and ok the deal. Of course the refused..LMAO

[BigSlim]

Eptp88, from experience and what I've heard over the years; anything out of Jax FL. has less miles and pay. An Ex Schneider and Knight driver I caught cob webs getting good loads from out of Jax FL. What kept me from going to Heartland was that nitch that something just isn't right with their layout.

[scrubs147]

I ran with Shaffer for 4 years up until 2009. The miles kept getting worse by the week to the point that most Shaffer drivers were lucky if they averaged 1700 miles a week. I was a National driver and they ran me regional for the most part and then I was stuck in the NYC to Connecticut areas. You did a lot of sitting and waiting for freight and they kept saying that it would get better yet they continued hiring more and more drivers. Eventually I needed to find work elsewhere because the $300 average wasn't doing it for me.

[merrick4]

Job hiring is a pain too believe me. We are a small outfit (16 trucks) out of South Florida. It's nerve wracking sending someone new out there till you get comfortable with them. We just hired a guy and it was a long week till we got him back and out of the truck. Complete moron. Seems to me, honestly, people want to make money but they don't want to work. You'd think we'd have it easy. Our drivers make decent money, do not sit and get home really as much as they want and that's out of South Florida which isn't easy. Direct deposit, decent equiptment, Transflo so everyone gets paid weekly yet it's still difficult to find good drivers.

The good thing is when we find them they stay. We still have one of the drivers when we had two trucks a couple of years ago.

[Windwalker]

Heartland just called. The recruiter said if I don't have my long form from my physical I have to pay for my own. What a cheap deal. My card is for 2 years and the doc's office said my previous employer paid so the have to call and ok the deal. Of course the refused..LMAO

The last physical I got, my employer said that DOT requirement is that the long form must be in the truck with you. Available if DOT wants to see it. We kept ours in the permit book. The company kept a copy of it on file. It would have been simple for me, leave the company, take the form along.

I got asked for the card a few times, but DOT never asked for the long form. Did that change again?