XPO vs Estes vs Old Dominion

I don’t think anyone was saying you can’t do 70 in the rain. It’s just when you’re doing that with the cruise control turned on and the wipers turned off that it becomes an issue.

 

I could really sit and complain all day about a lot of the b.s. that goes along with working for XPO, or probably any other giant corporate company. Truth is, nobody is holding a gun to my head, and if I was really that miserable, I would move on. That being said, I take the good with the bad, or vice versa. The good must outweigh the bad enough for me to stick around, or like I said, I would have been gone long ago. Maybe most all drivers are gluttons for punishment...

 

I know every barn across the XPO (most likely every LTL co) is different, I did have some good times there. My experience the bad outweighed the good for me.
Just like if I transfer to another CC barn, it might be bad compared the Fargo barn. Sioux Falls runs theirs different, but I’d work there at that one in a heartbeat.

@snowlauncher made a good point, but I’ll also add that most everything is what YOU make of it.

 

Say mane , so with linehaul you aren't driving far every night? I'm trying to figure this out in my head with driving per mile, working the dock and driving back?.. xpo told me 88 cent per mile an 38 per hr

 

Hey Bossman, do you work linehaul for xpo? If so how does a typical night go?Do u make most of the money on the dock? I just had a interview with them

 

Depends on the company and then the terminal. At my terminal no linehaul guys works any dock. Ever. They drive and nothing else. Bid run guys make the same trip 5 times a week. Some days, some nights. Mostly nights. It is almost always 9+ hours of driving with most linehaul runs being 10+ hours. Management also busts your balls about hotels so running the Northwest means you make your turns come hell or high water in the snow. Winter time sucks just because a 68mph truck only has 30 minutes to spare in clear weather in the summer on some runs. Guys without bids run extra board. Theyre on call anytime they have hours for the week. Right now lower seniority guys are spending at least 2 nights a week sitting at home not working. At my terminal you need about 5 years extra board to get a bid run usually. This is after spending up to 2 years working dock or P&D for an extra board spot to open up but its not a very big terminal. It takes a long time here to get to that vaunted 100k+ a year mark dedicated linehaul run.

88cpm and 38 dock is a lot of money. Thats well above what im making. Almost all of our line runs are 550-600 miles. Multiply that by 5 or 6 and youre raking in the dough every week. Working dock sucks though. Its far more aggravating than any forklift job ive ever had. All the weird irregular freight, all the strapping and punching stuff in and out on the computer, on and off the forklift 100 times to work one trailer etc.

Some LTL companies dont have drivers work the dock. Id go to those companies.

 

I work for a different LTL, but for a while I was doing the same run that the XPO barn across the street was doing. We would all drive 250 miles to another city, but then I would either be able to turn around and go back right away, or get paid to wait in my truck for a few hours. The XPO guys got down to their barn in that city and had to clock into the dock for 3-5 hours, then make the 250 mile drive back. So they definitely made bank, but they worked 14 hours a day for it.

 

Yes, linehaul is the best bet, if you are in it for the $. How much you make a week is going to vary greatly depending on the miles for your bid run. We've got a few drivers who are turning 350 miles a night. They are done with the run inside 8 hours. It's not the greatest paycheck, but if you compare the cpm to the hourly guys, linehaul makes considerably more.
I'm doing a nightly turn @520 miles. On a good night with clear roads, I can turn triples in about 9.5 hours. Unfortunately, its in the Rocky mts. and the good weather only lasts about 1/4 of the calendar year. The job can be a challenge, but brings home the money. It's worth it to me.

 

When I was with XPO the Minneapolis guys usually did a 10hr turn including dock work. The guy that went to Devils Lake did it in about 8. He built his set, ran them up, broke them and built the return trip. Bemidji turn was about the same time as DL no dock work on either, as there are no docks at either place. The guys that came from the cities, Bismarck and Winnipeg never really did work the XFG dock, that I know of. I think the one that ran up to Minot had to work the dock there.

Where I’m at now, no driver touches a forklift, period. The linehaul is either one 48’ or a 53’ to Minneapolis and sometimes Sioux Falls. It’s usually twin 48’s to Bismarck and Minot and a 3 axle 53 up to Canada.

The Grand Forks driver runs twin 48’s up does a little P&D early am while sort and load him up for the return. He leaves at 0300 and is usually back by 1100. That’s an hourly run, since it’s not a far drive.

 

I worked with XPO for about a year. I had very little actual real world commercial driving experience prior to taking the job and after getting my CDL. Anyone with a CDL knows, there’s very little they teach in CDL schools. When I began, I believed I knew enough- after all, they hired me, right? I guess I didn’t.


Training was very brief. You go through some computer training and sign off on a whole lot more than you can possibly remember or retain. The company just needs you to sign off on it. This way they can claim “you agreed” / “you knew”. Then you’re put with a trainer and go out doing pickup / delivery work for about a week.


When I was hired, I was told everyone does a minimum 6 months Line Haul before any changes in job title. The company has a seniority policy, so naturally the new hires get the less desirable work. I had no problem “paying my dues”. I was put with another trainer for overnight Line Haul. I had no experience running Line Haul or hooking sets prior to this job. I had two nights training on Line Haul including working on the loading docks prior to being told I’d be on my own. The Line Haul loading docks are the craziest / scariest work environment I’ve ever seen in 40 years in the workplace.


They don’t give much hands on training. You’ll either sink or swim. After a while here, you’ll get the impression that your primary job is handling freight and your secondary job is driving. You’re essentially treated like a dock worker / freight handler who just happens to have a CDL. Regardless, by the time I finished working Line Haul, I could hook and drop sets in half the time allowed. I learned and became very proficient at working the loading docks and loading and breaking trailers.


I spent 37 weeks ( almost 9 months ) on Line Haul, averaging 65 hours a week. The hours were unsustainable. Always being asked to do more, work longer etc. I’ve been in the workforce for 40 years, served in the military and have NEVER been required to work such long hours. I’m also a married homeowner and home maker with kids and grandkids. There’s no work / life balance. The word “barely” should precede the words “home daily” on the job postings. At this stage of my life, I’m definitely not trying to be the “married to my job” type.


Line Haul drivers here are grossly underpaid and over worked. Most don’t realize they’re working 60-65 hours a week for the same pay that someone on daytime / city makes in about 50 hours a week. That’s because they’re being paid per task ( a combination of hourly pay and mileage pay - which avoids having to pay overtime ) versus the P & D model of hourly pay plus overtime after 8 hours worked.


Most overnights I was fatigued and honestly amazed I made it through that period alive and without incident to myself or anyone else. As a veteran, this whole period actually did feel a lot like “boot camp” for trucking and dock work. The majority of nights I was required to work very close to the 14 hour DOT HOS limit. You answer to supervisors and managers ( pencil pushers.) that have zero clue never mind experience about being a commercial driver or really care what they’re asking you to do. If you refuse work for safety concerns, you’ll get reprimanded.


I actually was reprimanded once for notifying a dock supervisor that I required rest versus working loading docks so I could be fit to make the return trip. They won’t let you leave a Line Haul terminal until you have all your freight.


I requested daytime / city but was still stuck doing Line Haul another 3 months. This was after two new drivers got hired and somehow stayed on Daytime P&D work. I took issue with that to HR and my seniority over them. Apparently they were never told the same thing I was when I was hired. Namely; “everyone does 6 months Line Haul when they start here”. One of those guys quit after he got properly put on Line Haul, and rightfully so, because he believed he was going to stay on daytimes.


I was put on daytime P&D and began having incidents. Minor damage to their trucks - no police reported type stuff. I was never a reckless driver. Just stuff that’ll happen when you’re still a relatively new commercial driver. Like when you’re suddenly put in a straight truck after driving a tractor for 9 months, or being a driver who only had experience running Line Haul and a little OTR time prior to being put on P & D. 2 of those 3 incidents occurred when I was required to do an additional pickup after already working a full shift. I definitely didn’t have much “close quarters” driving experience. Did they blow those incidents out of proportion? I’ll never know. It seems there should have been some consideration. Regardless, I had to work more normal daytime hours, I could no longer sustain the overnight Line Haul hours. I already “paid my dues”, and then some. I would have quit had I been kept on Line Haul and certainly came very close a few times to doing just that.


Bottom line was - I performed my job to the best of my abilities, met or exceeded expectations, figured out the majority of the job myself ( because I had to ). I was dedicated to the job even when new people came - had a bad attitude- and / or expected special treatment - and quit. I saw 6 people come and go ( 4 drivers and 2 supervisors ) in the year I worked here. I was always on time, went above and beyond, never refused assignments and my performance was improving exponentially.


I had one too many “stupid new trucker” incidents and that was it. Game over. I even appealed the termination, but their “termination review board” didn’t even care that I worked there for a whole year. All they cared to speak about were those 3 incidents. Incidents I certainly wasn’t proud of or happy about, but wouldn’t and didn’t, deny my fault with.


The company is the epitome of micromanagement and ridiculous performance metrics. Everything is “by the book”. “Losing” this job just leaves me clueless honestly. I guess it’s easier to just keep hiring more inexperienced drivers. There’s always a fresh batch eager and willing to take a high paying job in LTL with little to no clue what they’re really getting into. In my overall life’s experience- there’s always a limit. This job definitely pushed it. You get insufficient hands on training before they push you to go on your own and they repeatedly push you to do more, work longer and stay later. There’s always “we need you to do one more thing”, when you already feel tapped out after working a full day and then some. Then they’ll act as if they don’t understand why you made a mistake. This terminal was also actually experiencing a deficit / shortage of drivers when I was let go.


The main reason you won’t hear people at the company complaining is because the pay and benefits are among the best ( not the best though ) out there. Sadly that just meant you became more willing to tolerate more. To stretch yourself beyond reasonable limits to “succeed”. More-so than anyone really ever should at any job ever. Far more safety concerns relating to what they require a driver to do than just a few incidental dents and dings to their equipment. Employees here have convinced themselves that they’re being treated fairly and reasonably.


My advice? If you’re a commercial driver with less than a year experience and you truly want to succeed at this job - DON’T take it. Get more driving experience - especially close quarters driving experience. Enough experience where you’re confident and comfortable in almost any possible situation or scenario imaginable, especially performing maneuvers and hooking and backing. Even then, it’s likely you still won’t see what’s coming. Even veteran drivers make mistakes and encounter situations they never did before.


It’s stuff like this that makes one wonder why these trucking companies keep hiring recent CDL recipients and expect them to perform as if they have years or decades of experience. It’s because they can. Because there’s 10 more applicants waiting for your job. You’ll either survive or you won’t - there’s no grey area. You can’t get experience without real world time behind the wheel, but you can’t keep a job without the experience required to handle every situation.


If an employer was interested in actually retaining talent, they absolutely would and should be more lenient in certain cases based upon experience level. Holding a new driver accountable to the same rules as a veteran driver is ridiculous. It’s absolutely a set up for failure without exception.


The biggest insult is never being allowed to ever return to a company again. That’s a first for me. Realistically and reasonably speaking however, people with limited training and experience are going to make mistakes, especially when they’re being pushed beyond their limits on a daily basis. There’s a big difference. I definitely made great money, definitely learned a whole lot, but it feels like a whole year of my life vanished in the blink of an eye. As I mentioned before, I’m just left feeling mostly clueless.


I’m also surprised the company isn’t unionized. It certainly should be.