Core Carrier Corp One year reivew

I just completed my first year trucking. I did a six month review of Core and included some background in my previous thread here:
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...37406-core-carrier-corp-first-six-months.html

Today marks my first full year. Came to Core from truck driving school without knowing much. Knowing what I know now I don't feel like I made the wrong move with Core based on my only two concerns with a first truck driving job. I will not work for a forced dispatch company. I will not be told when I can go home. Core has excelled in these two areas, based on my experience. I have refused loads and just held my ground when they started the "but why" game. Simple answer was always "Have you become a forced dispatch company overnight?" "OK then, answer is still no." Next point of home time. I requested home for Easter. They couldn't find a load. They tried a broker, but that failed, broker really screwed up and the warehouse was closed I was supposed to pickup from. Started to get that fit hitting the shan feeling, but they dead headed me 500 miles to pickup a load that went right through Kansas City. That impressed me. Saw the family, ate some ham and eggs. Grabbed a reset and hit the road again.

Huge problem with Core is they do Van and Reefer, and a lot of drop and hook. Sometimes your playing wheres my trailer game with them. I have wasted whole days trying to track down a trailer. I hate it when they go from a van load to a reefer load back and forth all week long. I'd rather stay on one then swap after a few weeks.

I wish I would have found a better paying job. I did over 120,000 miles at 34 cpm. For those of you reaching for the calculator that's $40,800. There was also cartage and layover and detention added onto that, but not much. Granted that's more than my last job, but only by nine grand. Basically got below min wage and worked 70 hours a week. They started me at .35 cents per mile, but I only saw .34 cents. I could never seem to get that one cent performance bonus. Oh I also could never get that extra cent idle bonus either. And its not necessarily Core, but the industry as a whole. Working for cents per mile with a slave sleeper coffin behind the wheel isn't going to do it for me anymore. Next job will either be a percentage of the load, or an hourly wage. I will try to work my own truck to make that little bit extra if possible.

Too much unpaid downtime in the industry. Especially at Core. I had a lot of unpaid downtime. I'm not holding it against them, everything was clear in the contract I have with them. Detention after two hours past the apt time. Well I would rather be early than late, so that was usually three hours unless the truck stop was across the street. Layover after 12 hours and you couldn't be under a load. Again its in the contract I signed with them. I think I would have been better off finding a gig with an hourly wage. If you ask me the whole system is a scam. Go work for peanuts your first year, then find a better job where their insurance can take you and pay you better.

I don't want any of this to come off like I'm ragging at Core for problems in the industry apparent at every company out there. Let me put it like this. If your getting a CPM first job gig. I'd take Core over any mega carrier. They all have the same rigged game going on. If your lucky enough to land a job with an hourly or percentage cut that hires students. Take it. Even if the hourly seems low, believe me if you take some of your better checks with CPM and divide by your hours worked your probably under min wage. I'd love to see a list of OTR companies that pay hourly or percentage and take students.

I went in depth on my six month review. I don't have much extra for the full year review. I made it. They didn't aggravate me to the point of abandoning their equipment and ranting about it on youtube. I did shed a little blood, sweat and man tears. I did want to go to a different company many times but its just more of the same out there, until you bang out that first year, then doors start to open. I'm banking on Landstar hiring me. Wish there were more companies like them. Might have to grab my own authority. I might try tankers if I cant find a good company to lease onto. I don't understand how these guys are eating on a buck a mile with power only leases.

More on Core... I had to have non forced dispatch and certainly enjoyed it. I took a lot of full weekends off, no questions asked. Just parked the truck on an early Friday and sent in a free form on the computer with my available hours for Monday. Had a lot of three day weekends too. Sometimes two days just isn't enough. You'd be surprised how good you feel just taking a little extra time off here and there helps. I wonder how many guys and gals quit their job with their company when all they needed was a little more home time. Its comfortable here at Core for a newbie. I wish they had me in better equipment. Wish they had better wagons. Wish they paid more. Wish they paid for breaks and layovers and detention a lot better. Wish they had retirement benefits setup for stronger retention. Wish all their dispatchers were ex drivers. Wish the wallpaper in the driver lounge tasted like snozberries.

I cannot recommend Core Carrier Corp for a company you'd want to retire from. I cannot recommend Core Carrier Corp for a seasoned driver who knows what he is doing. But if you want to have control of your ship. I'd recommend Core for a few reasons. You pick the route you take. They do have a fuel guide you have to follow, but all TAs and Petros and most flying Js and Pilots are on there. If not, call in for an override if you want. I had to a few times. Just got scared of that little fuel light. You have to commit to every load. They never told me what to do.

Oh for those of you with a shady past.... Or a medicinal history.... They don't do a hair follicle. I have read some posts on here about guys getting clean, but just clean enough for a wiz quiz. Look if your looking to turn your life around I don't expect you to go away to a monastery for a year to wait for the junk to leave your hair follicles. I also don't recommend you getting into this industry unless your drug free, and plan to stay like that. On a side note, other than the pre employment drug screen, I haven't had to take a wiz quiz all year. Now there was another guy from my truck school that didn't even make it past the random he got at school. He was the only one that got a random test, and kinda looked like a tweeker. Go figure he failed. We don't need any more bad drivers out on the roads. Too many already.

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That brings up an interesting point. When I started driving I thought it was the 4 wheelers that would bother me the most, but it isn't. The people in cars don't know any better. They are like children. They don't realize the amount of room you need to clearly maneuver. No the biggest problem I have are other truckers. Two points to you new and veteran truckers, because both of you are at fault here. The tailgating and leaving no space on a pass is just ridiculous. Just because your bumper cleared mine by ten feet does not mean you can jump in front of me. There are some days I am slowing down so much to get my safe following distance back, that it feels like I am going in reverse. Here's a quick lesson for you cretens. These idiots slow pass one another in their governed trucks all day hopefully getting down the road that half mile an hour faster, but I usually see you knuckleheads at the same truck stop when I shut down. Add it up sometime. One mile an hour faster for the ten hours you drove. Ho mahn. Did you just get a whole extra ten miles logged. Sheesh. Your getting to the truck stop ten maybe twenty minutes before me? I hope you have a good accountant and an offshore account to hold all that extra cheddar your raking in with that ten extra miles a day.
RANT OVER.

Feel free to post any questions you might have about Core. I'd be happy to answer them. I will be glad to put Core in my rear view mirror. Came to Core with three goals. One year experience and no wrecks, no tickets. All three goals accomplished. Off to bigger and better things.

Thank you TTR.

 

Thanks. Most of these first year companies are the same. Got me where I wanted to be.