Looking for opinions about driving for Groendyke

@mustang190

 

We have Groendyke fuel haulers out of Pueblo. I'd have to think mountain driving experience would be helpful. I remember an ad they ran a while back, looking for drivers, and nobody applied. I heard they were a good company to work for.

 

I’m sure it all depends on which terminal you’re at.
Some are mostly if not all refined fuels, some are strictly chemical and some are a mix.
Just understand that they are a large company and you are a number.
Yes you can get miles but it all depends on how you want to run and the terminal.

 

Worked out if Detroit with Dana/Suttles. Groendyke shared the yard with us. Not very large only about 6 drivers but they had all been there long term, 6 years and longer. They seemed decent enough though my info is old, about 20 years or so. The fact that they’re still around says something to me though. General chemical has some behemoths to deal with Luke quality carriers and KAG. If Groendyke has hung on this long they must be doing something right

 

I've never worked for Groendyke myself, but I did spend almost seven years at one of their competitors so I know a few drivers who have worked there and I've spent enough time around Groendyke drivers to get a sense of the company. I'd say as far as trucking in general goes, Groendyke is way above average in how they treat their drivers; on the chemical tanking side of things, they're probably somewhere in the middle. It's worth understanding that chemical tank companies operate differently in lots of ways than dry van and reefer outfits--for one thing, in general they pay much better and treat their drivers with more respect. They also tend to operate as if each terminal is its own separate company, so compensation and loads can vary quite a bit from terminal to terminal. I used to drive for Superior Carriers (before they were bought by Heniff) and when I left I think Superior had over 700 trucks; Groendyke has closer to 1,000 but they also have somewhere around twice the number of terminals Superior did. I can say at Superior, I never felt like a number, nor was I ever treated like one. Most dispatchers knew me by name, and recognized my face, and that tends to be the norm in the tanking world, so I doubt it's much different at Groendyke even though they're fifty percent bigger than Superior ever was. There are still the kind of jobs in the chemical tank business that people want to stay with until retirement, and in my estimation Groendyke likely has some of those jobs.

 

OP have you worked in chemical tankers before or will Groendyke be your first tanker job?

 

Did you ever end up joining? I currently work here and can answer questions but no point if you are already on board, been here one year and 3 weeks.