Truck Driving Jobs

Goin Fer It · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 1383 Location: Couer d'Alene, ID

I haven't seen a thread for May Trucking as of yet, so I figured I'd open one. I'm to start orientation with them on 7/24. I'll will keep everybody posted on the process. I encourage anybody chime in concerning this company and related topics. Hopefully I can relay some helpful info. to anybody that's interested.

Crackaces · Joined: 29 Mar 2005 Posts: 1343

I see you did not decide on Watkins Shepard. :wink:

I understand May is a good company. I believe they are strict on logs like Gordon.

It will be interesting to hear of your experience

Goin Fer It · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 1383 Location: Couer d'Alene, ID

Crackaces wrote: I see you did not decide on Watkins Shepard. :wink:

I understand May is a good company. I believe they are strict on logs like Gordon.

It will be interesting to hear of your experience

Yeah, there was a lot of factors that went into my decision to go with May and I felt they were the best option for me at this time. So we'll see. I've found it interesting reading all the different threads about all the different trucking companies out there. There is a lot of good info. out there if someone is willing to take the time to look. Hopefully, I will be able to give some insights of May (good or bad) as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of info. about them out there. The adventure starts Monday. :D

Colin · Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 1382 Location: Kennewick, WA

Here's a couple PM's I sent to peopla with questions about May:

They have a lot of leg room. I'm 6'5" and it was fine. The issue for me was overall space. The seats are too close together. There's not enough room behind either seat to place a 40 quart cooler. Overall, not enough room for everything I wanted to bring. I drove a 2005 379 for another company and the air conditioning could not keep up in desert California in August. Might have just been their truck. Pretty smooth ride. I had never driven one and the first load having to back into a dock from a street was quite a shock. I could not see beyond the smokestack when jacking the tractor to put the trailer in the dock. It took some getting used to, but a couple more docks and I was mostly okay with it.

The May Trucking advance/reimbursement thing is as such:

All company money you ask for is seen as an advance. This is sort of to your advantage as anything left over after company purchases is a cash advance for no fee. I believe a normal cash advance has a company fee.

So, you're on a load from Salem to Long Island. You know that you need $250+ for tolls across IN, OH, and through NYC. In and out. You know that a lumper is required at the receiver, but the amount is unknown. Your delivery is for Friday and you ask for the money Wednesday when getting fuel in Gary, IN. I believe the pay periods were like "Trip envelopes dropped Saturday through Wednesday pay Friday and trip envelopes dropped Thursday through Monday pay Wednesday." Something like that.

Refer above to the day you're asking for toll advances. Since you're asking for money during the pay period in which the load will not deliver, the advances will come off of the pay period you're in. When you turn in the trip envelope with all toll receipts, the pay period in which you are dropping the envelope is where you will see the reimbursements. This is okay if from week to week if the amounts are equal. But this doesn't always happen. You will find that one check is smaller than it should be (advances asked for; miles for your trips minus advances) and the next check is enormous (miles for your trips and all the reimbursements given back).

I stopped the up and down thing by holding back about $150 per week on my Comdata card (instead of transferring to my checking account) until I had about $400-500 in there. That way I could get toll money and write lumper checks at will as a cash advance with fuel, then ask for toll and lumper advances right before I dropped the trip envelope. That is the way to match up advances with reimbursements.

I would also hold back trip envelopes so one check did not have 5800 miles on it and the next had 1800 miles on it. Even drops of the envelopes made for even paychecks.

I have a few simple Word files that I used to keep track of all the info.

www.goatbased.com/hours_sheet.doc

www.goatbased.com/reimbursement_sheet.doc

www.goatbased.com/trip_sheet.doc

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

**********************

I did work for May based out of Oregon last year. April until October. 6 months was all I wanted to work OTR.

I was in the 48 state temp controlled division dispatched from Payette, ID.

Good points -

Nice trucks, I had a 2004 Volvo 770. 150k with cd player and 8 speakers plus subwoofer. Smooth riding truck and good power on the hills.

Nice runs back east with temp controlled loads. Dry division I didn't do.

Easy delivery times to make. Even for 2500+ mile runs.

Dispatching was pretty good on weekdays. Weekend not so good. I was asked to train a new dispatcher at one point. That was okay. She didn't make too many mistakes. I didn't need that much help, though.

Lumpers all were paid for via the normal method of finding out the amount and getting a Comchek approved. I avoided this by having extra funds in my Comchek account to cover these lumpers. Then I would ask for the money later when it was the best time to ask. More on that later.

Bad points -

Pay was a little low. I had 8+ years and I was only offered $.30 cpm. Good miles = good checks, but they could have been so much better. I think the pay is higher now.

Trucks were governed at 68 mph. No problem for WA, OR, CA, etc, but the fast states were tough to be going that slow.

Payroll was funky. Advances for tolls or scales were deducted the week you asked for them, regardless if you had turned in the corresponding trip envelope or not. Conceivably, you could have $300 or more in deductions, in a week where the receipts from those purchases were not turned in. So your check would be very small for that week. The receipts had to be turned in to offset the deductions. I learned a way around this problem. Ask me if you do start with them and I explain it. They also were very untrustworthy when it came to amounts on receipts. I kept very accurate records of receipts turned in and spent a good amount of time going over the pay stub sheet comparing deductions and reimbursements. Very good advice anywhere, actually. They fixed anything that I had proof that their people had made a mistake.

Ask any questions you have. I'm glad to answer.

Tony_Soprano · Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 111 Location: planet earth

i'd NEVER work for a company that forced me to play with my paycheck to get tolls paid.. haven't they heard of transponders like ezpass? or giving each driver a petty cash envelope upon hiring, like 200 bucks, then you submit 100 in toll receipts, they add 100 bucks to your kitty next fuel stop.. use their money, not yours!!!

Colin · Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 1382 Location: Kennewick, WA

Tony_Soprano wrote: i'd NEVER work for a company that forced me to play with my paycheck to get tolls paid.. haven't they heard of transponders like ezpass? or giving each driver a petty cash envelope upon hiring, like 200 bucks, then you submit 100 in toll receipts, they add 100 bucks to your kitty next fuel stop.. use their money, not yours!!!

You may have misunderstood my experience.

I CHOSE to do it the way I did. As a May driver, you are welcome to get cash advances to pay for tolls.

Of course they have heard of EZPass. Was that rhetorical?

Karnajj · Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 1101 Location: Cincinnati

All companies to my knowledge deduct cash advances the week they are taken out. How the heck do they know what you are going to use them for? And I can never understand people worrying about uneven paychecks. What possible sense can there be in holding back a trip
envelope just so that you don't get a small paycheck the next week?!?!
Take the money when it is due you and move on, sheesh.

Colin · Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 1382 Location: Kennewick, WA

Karnajj wrote: All companies to my knowledge deduct cash advances the week they are taken out. How the heck do they know what you are going to use them for? And I can never understand people worrying about uneven paychecks. What possible sense can there be in holding back a trip
envelope just so that you don't get a small paycheck the next week?!?!
Take the money when it is due you and move on, sheesh.

I found that an $1800-2000 gross pay check was taxed at a much different rate than a $900-1000 gross pay check. :P And it was not just double from the smaller amount.

Was I really a $100,000 a year gross wage person? No I wasn't. Why should I be taxed like it?

Karnajj · Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 1101 Location: Cincinnati

You get it all back at the end of the year so whats the difference? We're not talking thousands of dollars here.

Goin Fer It · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 1383 Location: Couer d'Alene, ID

Colin,

Good stuff, thanks for the info. I can already see keeping good records is a must. I start my orientation on Monday, so I already have number of questions to ask and see what type of response I get. Once I get started I'll PM you and we can talk about some of the details. Thanks again!

BigAtrukn · Joined: 03 Nov 2003 Posts: 251 Location: La Habra, CA

I was scheduled for the 17th, but i had to reschedule my orientation. Im going for the 11 western to try and stay close to home. Starting pay is .32 a mile and .36 after 1 year. Colin do you know anything about the dry division, like miles and where they mostly run?

Goin Fer It · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 1383 Location: Couer d'Alene, ID

Well, I'm off today to take that wonderful all day Greyhound "Express" bus ride down to Brooks, OR. lol. I start orientation tomorrow. I checked out the hotel online that they have me staying at and it an above average hotel, along the lines of a Red Roof Inn, Marriott, etc. The rooms have a frig., microwave and the hotel has a pool, workout room and serves continental breakfast in the mornings. While you are in orientation (which lasts three days) May takes care of breakfast and lunch and you furnish dinner for yourself. They also furnish a shuttle to and from the hotel. So, all in all, a nice start with a company. Tomorrow is where the rubber starts meeting the road. I'm sure the first day is going to consist of mostly paperwork. I do know that I have to take another DOT physical and some sort of a driving skills test, no big whoop! I'll post again when I have more info.

BigAtrukn · Joined: 03 Nov 2003 Posts: 251 Location: La Habra, CA

Good Luck! let me know how it goes, ill probly schedule for next monday and take a plane instead of a 22 hr bus ride. Are you goin with the Temp. division or Dry division?

Goin Fer It · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 1383 Location: Couer d'Alene, ID

And so my husband journey begins. The wonderful Greyhound bus ride became extra special for him as they passed Kennewick Washington it was 108 out yesterday. And shortly after leaving Kennewick the air conditioning broke down. When they got to the Dalles they were given a choice to wait for three hours for another bus with air conditioning or continue riding in the sweat box in the sweltering heat. They decided to ride it out. To make things even more special there was an accident on the I-84 that stopped traffic for about an hour.

My husband called and asked me to call the hotel and let them know that he would arrive late. The recruiter had not made the reservation but the hotel said it was not a problem and booked him a room and put it on the May Trucking account.

When they arrived into Portland Oregon they were transferred to an air conditioned bus for the rest of the journey.

Once they arrived to the destination in Salem Oregon there was a yellow cab at the bus stop. This is the company that May Trucking had an account with. My husband an another person that went to the same school took the cab together to the hotel.

The room is very nice. It has a nice kitchenette and my husband has his own room. The hotel also has a pool, jacuzzi and a gym open twenty four hours.

Last night after the bus ride my husband just wanted to make some dinner and go to bed.

Today he will begin his three day orientation. I will be updating the progress and how things will be going for my husband on this board.

Goin Fer It's Wife

Goin Fer It · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 1383 Location: Couer d'Alene, ID

BigAtrukn wrote: Good Luck! let me know how it goes, ill probly schedule for next monday and take a plane instead of a 22 hr bus ride. Are you goin with the Temp. division or Dry division?

My husband is going with the Dry division 11 western states. Husbands bus ride was supposed to be only 10 hours but it ended up to be 11 hours. Not fun at all! If we would have been in a different financial position we would have purchased a plane ticket also.

Goin Fer It's Wife

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