I just had my first day of orientation with Koch (pronounced Cook) in Minneapolis, MN.

I have the handbook in front of me if you have any appropriate questions.

And here is a copy of the blog I posted today.

So far Koch trucking has been top notch.
I arrived last night by plane which was paid for by Koch. I was given a room (alone!!) at the Sheraton Four Points on Industrial Blvd. The rooms are fantastic compared to some places companies have house me in. There is room service here, pool and exercise. There is no free wifi. The people are polite and the service is quick. Koch pays for 3 breakfast buffets at the hotel restaurant which opens no sooner than 0630 cst. There is nothing within sight of the hotel except for a wendy's and a gas station.

The first day was very pleasant, until the class clowns got loosened up and started causing presentations to go longer. You are given an agenda which is pretty much in line with actual events. First you will be greeted, then Human Resources goes over company policies and insurance options. NOTE: bring your information and that of your families. You will need social security numbers, and your medical long form. Be prepared to make insurance decisions. You can change them before your enrollment period. You are not eligible for insurance until 90 days have passed. You can change your mind during that time. The plans are a little pricier than some. A single person who chooses a 750 dollar deductible can have a 30/week premium with 30$ copays. Only the plan with the highest deductible is eligible for the HSA. FSA is available but only after 1 full year of employment. Same with 401k.

Drug tests and Road tests do not begin until 11 or 1130. First day is a working lunch. During this time paperwork is filled out and people are in and out for testing. If you fill out your paperwork the night before (as the packet you are given at check in suggests) you may be disappointed because you still have to set through the process because others did not fill it out.

Drug tests are done in-house. Driving tests are interesting... The trucks they use are 9speeds. So in addition to curves and intersections you aren't used to (normal for a trucker) you have an evaluator and gears that you don' t know. These trucks also shift at 1200rpm. So if you're used to listening to an engine to shift, you'll be sorely shocked when you keep getting told to shift.

After lunch, you'll go through a presentation on the qualcomm and something else I can't remember. They show you a video for Open Road which is a ticketfighting insurance. You also fill out a form for highway watch.

At 4 cst we were released to the hotel and told to be back by 0730. Not a bad day at all. Every person I encountered was nice and seemed to have a sense of humor. One word of advice, do not use cursewords or say inappropriate things even when you think no one is listening. They take professionalism very seriously. If you have facial piercings, consider how important they are to you. Company policy is no facial piercings due to safety reasons. I believe it has more to do with the projected image.

 

Open road is a good plan. Unless they have changed it they cover you and all drivers living in your house for the same price. You also get discounts on motels, car rentals, etc.

 

Howdy Uturn. been a long time and I sent you a PM.

 

Worked for Koch just a year now, have to tell you, they really look after their drivers, being english I needed to go back to the U.K. over Christmas, for a family death, they told me to just call them when I'm back.....When I worked at the Orange truck company, they wouldn't even give me two days unpaid off....but I took it.

The trucks are ok, I'm dedicated out of Lawrence KS, home every Friday night, although sometimes late! but I have a cool boss, who understands drivers....getting around 2400 a week, which all works for me, might not be enough for others, but I'm lucky I guess.

 

and that is sarcasm.

My first load out of the terminal ended with my qualcomm being torn from the roof of my cab when a car cut across 2 lanes and slammed on the brakes on a too narrow shoulder. I put on the brakes and the ice from my trailer came and took off my satellite.

Since then I've taken my time at home, even got an extra day because there was "no freight". I bobtailed back up to columbus, got an empty, drove to Marion, OH for a D/H and headed to st louis, then omaha, ne. My dispatcher was ON ME to hurry up in freezing rain, saying there was plenty of freight in omaha to get me back to minneapolis for repairs. I made my delivery at 2, and spent 27 hours waiting for a load. During that time I made a few phone calls and was assured by the people I talked to that things would get better when I got my satellite back up.

They could not find me a load from Omaha to Minneapolis, so instead I picked up a 750 mile load for a 3 am delivery sun night/mon morning. That was late friday evening and I toldl the dispatcher to get me a load ready for 5 am out of Columbus. He says OK! and gives me the big fake smile over the phone.

I'm parked 20 miles from my delivery. Since I don't have a qualcomm I called in and told them I'd still be ready for a load at 5 am. Well tough crap (he basically said), the dispatchers don't come in until 8 (9 my time) and there is no load on you. (And he was such a pleasant pleasant man too :roll: ) So now, after just having sat 24 hours, and rearrangeing my schedule to do a 3 am, I have to just sit for another 6-10 hours waiting on a load? WTF??? How would it have been any different with a satellite? Didn't my phone call just complete the job of a satellite?

Now, some would say- this is the business of trucking- but you wouldn't say it when it affected YOUR bottom line.

 

Sounds like typical OTR company , sad but true . Hope things get better

 

Could the fact that you are going to have to sit for 6 to 10 hours waiting for a load, possibly have anything to do with the economy, and lack of loads in general??

 

Maybe. But I bet it has alot more to do with the fact that there is no one dispatching loads between saturday afternoon and monday morning.

And this is seriously typical? WOW

That is one thing SNI did have going for them, they rarely had you sitting. Cheap freight or not, I get paid the same.

 

Look around people.......... The economy is slowing, it's winter, who shops in winter! do you notice that there are truck lines out there pulling anyone's trailers?
It's getting tougher and will not improve for a while yet, so sitting around will be the thing going down for the next couple of months......
Switching jobs every other month will not do any one any good.... Stick it out, slow your personal spending down and be patient!
Learn to be something other than a "I want it now" type of human. 8) :lol:

 

People still have to eat and take a crap and go to school and buy gasoline, etc etc etc. So they still need things hauled. I'm just sayin!