[mr pigpen]

I just got my CDL from a top school, and am going to oreation next week, But can anyone tell me what to expect?? like training,Hometime, Miles or just any insight into this company that I may want to know??? Thanx...

[married to the road]

I have worked for arrow for about a year.
Training- orientation from 6am to 5-6 pm mon-fri. get there by shuttle bus from hotel to terminal and back.
Hometime- 1 day off for every 7 out, min of 3 weeks out. I like to stay out 5-7 weeks and take as close to a week off as they will let me.
Miles- up and down for me. might be 3500 one week, then 1400 the next week. you never know.
Equipment- you didn't ask, but thought you may want to know, you will most likely train in an international, and be assigned an 04 freightliner or 06 kw t-600.
They will try to see if you will lie to them while in orientation, training and driving. If Darren sits down and asks about your criminal history/mvr with your background report in his hands or if they ask what you did, even though they can tell from your qual comm, they are just wanting to know if you will lie. try to be honest. try to log legal (make sure you log the right time you fuel and don't go over 11/14/70 hour rules) and get your loads on time, and they won't give you many problems.
Its my opinion that they put their favorites in with the best trainers when you get out of orientation. if you are kind of quiet like me, you may have to wait l little bit. (a couple days to a week, but you are paid training pay to sit in a hotel the whole time). most of the trainers i have met on the road seemed great, but mine sucked.
They will keep testing you to see what you can handle/will put up with. but i figure that is probably tipical for a company when you start out and throughout your first year. like they gave me a load that was to be re-powered and had the other guy sit there and wait for me. i had to go through a blizzard in ND, MN, and WI to get to him in IL. i asked to make sure they wanted me to drive through it and they said to go if i wanted, but if i didn't feel safe to let them know. it took me about 14 hours to go about 650 miles, but i made it. many other things like that or may be as simple as they might give you a load that is 800 miles away and have 20 hours and i think they will do it just to see if you will run all night to get there. they won't give you a load into nyc your second trip or anything like that though. whatever they give you, just try to do it, and if you don't feel safe, let them know. good comunication is critical.
Arrow has many great drivers and if you are picking up a load with some other drivers there, just ask and many will go out of their way to help. if you have any more questions let me know.

[married to the road]

I could post some negative experiences with them, but since you are already set to go, I don't think I should. It is not a bad company, but things could be better. We were told a few weeks ago that Arrow has a new president now. There are some things he is supposedly going to change to try to improve driver retention. There were over 30 in my class and from what I have been told, that was a small to medium class. And that is every week. I hope they have figured out that it would save money in the long run to spend money and make the drivers a little more happy than it is to just hire more and pay to train them. I am waiting to see.

[BigWheels]

Originally Posted by married to the road

...We were told a few weeks ago that Arrow has a new president now. There are some things he is supposedly going to change to try to improve driver retention....There were over 30 in my class and from what I have been told, that was a small to medium class. And that is every week....

:shock: No wonder they've got a new guy running the show! :lol: Any news as to which company he came from? Or if he's been in the trucking business before? :twisted: :lol:

[married to the road]

No word yet. I went to the terminal a few weeks ago, and everyone was talking about it. And my dm mentioned it and said that he was going to come in and make some changes. I am waiting for a letter or something on the qual comm telling us about him, just hasn't happened yet. Changes I noticed were they had coffee and cups and everything to go with it in the drivers lounge. Usually we are out of something in there and have to go to the office to get cream or sugar. The dispatchers went out of their way to be nice as with the shop. One dispatcher who seemed to have an attitude towards drivers was not there this last time. And they are ordering some new aluminum trailors. We all hate those steel trailors. And in general, he has pushed all of the office staff to be more friendly I think. and they are suppoedly going to build a new drivers lounge. I am going back to the terminal next week and want to see if things are still changing.

[dieselgrl]

The new president is from Melton - or at least that's my understanding. The Tulsa driver's lounge is in reconstruction...looks like they have some sort of trailer over there as a temporary deal, but I'm curious to see what they are planning on putting in over there. It can't be any worse than what we had!

I've been away from Arrow for a little bit, and I've definately noticed the sweeping changes already. There's been a shakeup over at the Equipment barn (my old business manager is now over that entire outfit), and new driver retention programs are starting to roll out. Honestly, it's rather exciting in a way. Tulsa's shop used to be notorious for being horrible... so far I've had a much MUCH more positive experience with them.

My orientation class (I rehired over Memorial Day) was about 50 overall - about 50/50 split on students to experienced...three Arrow rehires, myself included.

I'd tend to agree with most of what married to the road posted though. Now trainers are mostly getting '07 Kenworth T600 condos though instead of the Internationals from the few I've talked to this week. (They are trying to recruit me to be a trainer, but I have a rider on my truck, and honestly love my Freightshaker)

The best advice I have for you is to be honest and communicate with everyone from Orientation staff to Training to Dispatch and they will be honest with you. PAY ATTENTION to what they tell you in Orientation - the skills they teach will serve you well. Arrow has changed the way I drive, even though I originally came to the company with a few years under my belt.

PM or email me if you have any questions. I'm actually just hanging around Tulsa for the weekend myself getting things ready to rock and roll.

[mr pigpen]

Thanx to you all, this is just my 2nd post but I've been lurken for over a year now. I guess I'd like to know what to expect while in training, like is it running like a team operation or what? what are you haulen?how many pass orientation? or just any advice would be much helpful. thanx again MR

[married to the road]

Hey tndieselgrl, I have not seen you post in a while and wondered what happened. So welcome back to Arrow. There is a trailor there? I had heard they were going to build a new driver's lounge, but nothing had been done the last time I was there (about 3 weeks ago). I am going to head that way when I get off of hometime Monday. Need to get in the shop for a couple minor things. I have been sitting here asking about a few companies this week, but I may stay for a little while to see if there are some real changes. Have you seen any new aluminum trailors? They said they were ordering more. And Arrow has been good to keep their word most of the time. Well, I will probably be there Wednesday, and if you aren't gone yet I might see you there.

[dieselgrl]

Originally Posted by married to the road

Hey tndieselgrl, I have not seen you post in a while and wondered what happened. So welcome back to Arrow. There is a trailor there? I had heard they were going to build a new driver's lounge, but nothing had been done the last time I was there (about 3 weeks ago). I am going to head that way when I get off of hometime Monday. Need to get in the shop for a couple minor things. I have been sitting here asking about a few companies this week, but I may stay for a little while to see if there are some real changes. Have you seen any new aluminum trailors? They said they were ordering more. And Arrow has been good to keep their word most of the time. Well, I will probably be there Wednesday, and if you aren't gone yet I might see you there.

Most of the reason I've not posted is because I was just trying to get everything set up for orientation and then make it through the week. Arrow's orientation still exhausts the living daylights out of me!

Yeah, there's a trailer/portable building and some porta-johns over between the equipment shed and the old driver's lounge. The lounge is now closed off and it looks like they've started some sort of construction. I really don't have any idea how much...it's intreguing though!

As for the trailers, I've not really seen a pool of new aluminum trailers yet - but you know if they are ordering them in they will move out of the terminal FAST. No one wants a steel unless it's all that's there. Heck, one time I ended up with one of the stretch trailers that weighed more empty than the total weight of the freight (styrofoam insulation) I picked up!

I'm in truck 330439 if you're around (company number 5085 - don't have my lease numbers on it yet)....I'll hopefully be gone no later than Tuesday morning though - shop willing :lol: If I don't catch you this time though, hopefully you'll stick around long enough so we can meet up.

[married to the road]

Originally Posted by mr pigpen

Thanx to you all, this is just my 2nd post but I've been lurken for over a year now. I guess I'd like to know what to expect while in training, like is it running like a team operation or what? what are you haulen?how many pass orientation? or just any advice would be much helpful. thanx again MR

You will be doing most of the driving, you should have enough time to get there that you don't need to drive like a team. Pass orientation? If you can pass the physical and drug test then there shouldn't be any problem passing orientation. Arrow hauls about anything that you can put on a flatbed, metal in every shape and size, lumber, air conditioners, hay, equipment, etc...