I just wanted to update in case anyone was curious. After initially leaning toward Cone I eventually decided that the Dupre position was best for me. I had more things that I liked about the Cone job but in the end the difference in money swayed me to Dupre. The hourly wage is actually very simlar but at cone I'd be looking at around 45 hours a week while I will be about 55 hours on a 5 day work week at Dupre. Our drivers average something close to $52K/yr, which isn't too bad for a local job here in Arkansas. The other thing I love is that every other weekend is a 3 day weekend.
So far everything appears to be great. I attended the orientation in Lafayette, LA which lasted 3 days and was for the most part as painless as one of these types of things can be. The accomodations were first class, we stayed at a Marriott Residence Inn. We are guaranteed a 5 day work week, so even though I was only there for 3 days I was payed for 5 at $125 a day. On top of that they comped me $335 tax free for mileage + rental car(even if you use your own car to get there).
Since I got back I am now just about to start my third and final week of training. I hear that some companies will only provide a new gas hauler with as little as 2 days of training. These guys have no problem spending the money to take their time before sending a driver out on their own. They make it very clear that safety is a distant priority over anything else and they back it up with the way they do business. This is why they pay by the hour, because when you pay by the load then drivers are more likely to rush the job in order to maximize pay in relation to their time. Here, you wont hear dispatch try to urge you to hammer down. If you dont have time to finish your daily dispatch, you call them and tell them and they do what they have to do with no questions asked. No pressure on you. You dont have to fear making that call. The only call you should fear having to make is the one where you have to tell your boss that you just made a boo boo(spill, inproper mix etc.).
All of the people are first class too. I am the youngest(35) driver at my terminal and most of these guys have been here for quite a while. There is not much turnover here but they do have some growth which opens up new positions from time to time. After they get me up to speed and on my own they plan on bringing another guy in which will fill us up for the time being. I hear they are looking hard for drivers in southern Louisiana and Texas though. If anyone that has a good record and is interested in a local position like this in those areas I would highly suggest this company to them. I say that knowing as little as I do about them, but I am pretty confident in my ability to judge people. These guys are the real deal. They try to only hire good PEOPLE no matter what position they are hiring, and it shows.
If there is one complaint I have it is the vacation policy. While it isnt much different from a lot of companies I still feel it could use some improvement. After a year I earn a week and then after year 2 I will have earned 2 weeks. Then it is 2 weeks a year until year 10 when I finally get to 3 weeks. All the while they they claim that fatigue is their biggest obstascle to safety. For me I think we could take a lesson from the Euros on this one. I know a lot of people like to work but some of us like to play and relax too. Please dont accuse me of being a socialist for having this view
Capitalism is good but it has some chinks in its armor and this is one of them. I'm just saying, I'm giving you 103 weeks of my first 2 years, and I only get 1 to myself. I think that blows. I would say that this makes me someone's bitch. Haha, well I made the choice so I can offer criticism but shouldn't whine and complain, right? Anyways, despite this particular negative which I blame more on our society/economic environment than I do on this particular company, I feel very very happy with my new job.
Cone Solvents vs. Dupre Logistics
