Hi everybody,

Had my interview with SNI today and was offered a driving position. I would be on a Dedicated JC Penney account driving CO, NM, ID, AZ roughly 2000-2100 miles a week, with 2-3 nights home a week and weekends off. I verified the 24cpm, she stated that's what the account offers but that I'd get premium pay for everything else, and would start off averaging 40-41K/yr. I actually asked a lot of questions from the list someone posted on this site which was Very Helpful! Thanks to who posted! I would train in Fontana, CA.

She did ask if I was able to go into Canada (I thought passports were required now, but she said not for ground) so I might be making some trips there occasionally? I did let her know I would like a few days to discuss again with my family before heading off to training. Earliest would be the 11th of Aug. My youngest daughter just graduated from H.S. and said she's nervous about me doing this but supportive at the same time. I think she's just going to really miss me being gone for 5 weeks (I understand her feelings, so will I...) :cry:

Still I'd like to get in as much experience as I can before the snows come around. She did reassure me that SNI is all about SAFETY and told me if I have to chain it's better to shut down (and get detention pay!). On the downside, they have a no pet policy so I can't bring one of my buds with me, oh well. And, they have an 18 month contract now so I would have to meet that requirement in order to pay my tuition, but that's ok. I mean they are training me and paying for most everything right? I think this is a good opportunity for me but I have to reassure my daughter first (we've never had to be away from each other like this). I'll let ya'll know what happens.

Oh, just a quick question, I've never visited/driven ID, NM, AZ, or Canada anyone have any good/bad experiences or FYI's in ID, NM, AZ, or Canada to give a "heads up?" Thanks again.

Hmmm, .24¢ppm @ 2100 per week = $504 x 51 weeks (one off for goofing) comes up to $25,704 gross. I'm hoping that was a typo on your part.

Getting into Canada is easy. Getting back into the States isn't as easy as it once was. My understanding that all ground travel border crossings will require a passport as of Jan. 1, 2008. I received my passport several months ago so I haven't kept up with whether the 2008 deadline is still in place.

All of that extra stop and unload pay does add up. :wink:

True dat. :lol:

Sorry, I forgot to include that after 6 months safe driving my mileage pay increases to 27 cpm but you're right even calculating the two (24 cpm x 2100 mpw x 26 wks = 13104 + 27 cpm x 2100 mpw x 26 wks = 14742 = 27,846 total estimated mileage pay for first year). Estimating 1st yr earnings at even 40,000 the difference would be $12,154 which I'm hoping it would be conceivable to earn the difference just through the premium pays (stop offs, hand unloads, etc). I asked this at pumpkindriver.com too. I'm trying to go into this realistically.

I was told by the interviewer that the hand unloads on this account would be under 10% but I learned from another person working this account (don't know if it's same area as me though) that they said the hand unloads are 100% so, I need to ask again to verify. Not that I mind doing the unloads myself but I need clarity about how many loads I can haul and unload in a days time. SNI pays $100 per full trailer hand unload and $50 for half. Depending on how much I have to unload after driving x amount of miles it could get "insane." Thanks for pointing this out. :shock:

If you add on $50 for a half trailer unloading per day it looks as though you would earn about $13,000 on top of the base rate. So that gets you up to about $38,000 gross.

Idaho is a gorgeous state and be very careful while driving down the road through Lewiston [believe it's the 97] it has a steep downgrade think its 8-9%. Pay attention to the caution signs for sure. Highway 12 is very curvy runs along the river-a very scenic drive through the mountains for sure. However, it's very difficult to get your speed up. I think it took almost 5-6 hours to go 211 miles. Most companies don't run on that road so perhaps you'll never have to be concerned with it.

If your company is one of the companies that does utilize 12 FOLLOW THE SPEED LIMIT AND PERHAPS EVEN LOWER. 90 is the most beautiful route I think through Coeur D'alene, Idaho I've seen and I've been to all lower 48 and lower 8 provinces in Canada. It is breath taking coming down into Coeur D'alene from Montana. A huge lake surrounded by mountain peaks. [Also Lake Shasta, California is as beautiful as this particular spot. Hard climbs going east toward Montana and easy downhills going west into Idaho from Montana.]

New Mexico I think I've driven through on 40 and 25 mostly. The only part of 40 [east/west route through N.M.] that just isn't "right" is east of Albuquerque where they seem to have perpetual construction going on now for over 3 years. The road dips and curves in places you wouldn't expect until you're in a dip or major curve. 25 [north/south route through N.M is a piece of cake.

Arizona I say that the border crossing into Arizona from New Mexico is horrid [40 east/west route]. I don't think I've gone through that scale many times without being hauled into the scale. I don't know if I just look like someone to pull in or what. I rarely if ever get pulled into any scales due to the fact that I have PrePass/EZ Pass. However, that place just irks me. Perhaps the Indians are just looking for major revenue or something. 17 going to Phoenix from Flagstaff can be very steep in places. WATCH YOUR SPEED. You'll get going way too fast if you aren't utilizing the jax like you should. Highway 89 north of Flagstaff can be tricky also. Be cautious and follow the speed signs-go slower in some cases. 10 and 40 are pretty easy.

Canada is a pleasure for me because I've done more Canadian driving than U.S. I used to haul trucks when I first started driving and went almost exclusively to Canada. Not many drivers can go if they have misdemeanors, felonies or owe back child support they can't get into Canada. Hence, very few of us at the Volvo Plant could enter Canada. Consequently, I was on the fast track there 80 trips out of 100.

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER PICKING UP A LOAD FOR CANADA ALWAYS FAX THE PAPERWORK TO THE BROKERS WITH THE PARS NUMBER ON THE BOL- this is a sticker with a bar code that the company will furnish you. [ALWAYS KEEP EXTRA SUPPLIES OF PARS NUMBERS IF YOU GO FREQUENTLY. IT'S HARD TO GET THEM UNLESS YOU ARE BY ONE OF YOUR TERMINALS. PARS ARE SPECIFIC TO YOUR TRUCKING COMPANY. YOU CAN NOT JUST GO INTO A TRUCK STOP AND GET THEM.]

You will never go wrong if you fax it prior to leaving where you're hauling it from or shortly thereafter at a truck stop or the closest place you can fax it. Brokers get the paperwork into the custom system prior to your arrival. If the paperwork isn't in the system you can wait hours and in my case on my first trip to Canada days. [Arrived on Sat. night and broker wasn't in until Monday morning-no one else could get paperwork in but the Broker.]

Once, you get this system down it's a piece of cake getting into Canada. It's not fun coming back into the U.S. We have to pay $5 per truck. There is some pass now like EZ Pass/PrePass that companies can issue you. If you get that pass you won't have to pay the $5 toll. I've never asked for it since I've hauled freight up there infrequently. I used to fly back and deal with U.S. Customs at the Airports when hauling trucks. Hence, I've just paid the $5 toll to get the truck back in doing freight. It's not fun they quite often have you go in and show them paperwork and I'd prefer to go into Canada and not have to come back. HA-HA!!! No kidding.

Our company had a fax sheet that had the following information on it that we faxed the brokers. The sooner the better that way if there's a glitch getting into the system you can straighten that out via phone/fax prior to your arrival. NEVER FAX LESS THAN TWO HOURS PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL THAT WILL PROBABLY NOT GIVE THEM ENOUGH TIME GIVEN THE FACT THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO GET SEVERAL TRUCKS AT ANY ONE TIME ACROSS THE BORDER. WE ALWAYS CALLED AT LEAST TWO HOURS IN ADVANCE TO ASCERTAIN THEY HAD IT IN THE SYSTEM. THAT WAY IF THEY DON'T TWO HOURS IS USUALLY ENOUGH TIME TO STRAIGHTEN ANY MESS OUT.

Our company had a fax sheet that had the following informatioin on it that we faxed along with the BOL that had the PARS number on it.

1) Our Company Name and Phone number
2) Truck Number
3) Trailer Number
4) Where you are hauling it to in Canada
5) Estimated time of arrival

Good luck, I'm going to Private Message you also.

I don't know what kind of JC penney dedicated you're going to, but if it's a DC to store one, you will make more money unloading trucks than you will driving..been on that acct.

It sounds like a lot of hard work for a driver. Melting hot in the summer, no AC when unloading, plus freezing in the winter.

welcome to LTL trucking