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SAIA | Od driver thinking of switching

runawaytrain said:
That driving record is everything. I see no problems at all. Just be patient it can take several weeks. Just remember this coming from a 60 year old man that has done just about everything in this business and very close to retirement. It gets no better than SAIA ... Is it perfect? Absolutely not. NOTHING IS PERFECT. But the culture can't be beat and this company is growing rapidly and doing it the right way "Union Free." Don't listen to those that can't be satisfied even in paradise. Keep us posted and welcome to the SAIA family in advance if you choose to come on board. With your youth and credentials I see no problem at all.
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I hate to disagree with my elders, but I feel compelled. Saia here has the worst culture I've seen. Even yrc has better culture in this area. I know terrible attitudes when I see them; I work at Sefl for Petes sake. A few months ago saia here had 3 drivers quit on the same day. Only one had another job to go to. Saia drivers here have unhappy customers because they return 3-4 deliveries daily and miss pickups constantly. Mismanagement really, but they won't hire enough people to cover the area. Not the drivers fault, but having to hear from your customers that your company gives horrible service on a regular basis makes drivers have a negative outlook on saia. Maybe it's different in your area. I can only speak to this market.
 
That's a problem I always saw at Saia. No accountability. Saia is so afraid to weed out the under or non-performers that these types can just work to company over. Meanwhile, they are dragging diwn the reputation. They have metrics for everything. Just afraid to use them when it comes to poor driver performance.
 
LTLIndentured said:
I hate to disagree with my elders, but I feel compelled. Saia here has the worst culture I've seen. Even yrc has better culture in this area. I know terrible attitudes when I see them; I work at Sefl for Petes sake. A few months ago saia here had 3 drivers quit on the same day. Only one had another job to go to. Saia drivers here have unhappy customers because they return 3-4 deliveries daily and miss pickups constantly. Mismanagement really, but they won't hire enough people to cover the area. Not the drivers fault, but having to hear from your customers that your company gives horrible service on a regular basis makes drivers have a negative outlook on saia. Maybe it's different in your area. I can only speak to this market.
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Each region is different. My region is state of the art. This company is growing rapidly and with the driver shortage is having trouble finding qualified drivers. We are having some growing pains but we are moving in the right direction. We will become another OD before this is over with. The best is yet to come at SAIA. The culture I see is positive. Perhaps your area does have some issues but in time things will work out. It just takes time. I remember when OD was in an old rat infested dock here in Dallas. And just look at them now. We are building this company right now. We have a strong foundation and the future is very bright. Again, it just takes time.
 
bigbuck said:
That's a problem I always saw at Saia. No accountability. Saia is so afraid to weed out the under or non-performers that these types can just work to company over. Meanwhile, they are dragging diwn the reputation. They have metrics for everything. Just afraid to use them when it comes to poor driver performance.
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Young Lady, this companies reputation is fine and will get better as we position ourselves with better quality people. You work with what you have until your in a position to make changes.
 
Runaway train do you have any knowledge of the Jackson ms terminal I just filled an app out for linehaul driver I'm interested just wanna be able to make an informed decision about leaving my current job with us foods
 
I just don't wanna be laid off or not get enough work not sure with winter right around the corner you guys get pretty slow
 
To the best of my knowledge, Saia hasn't done a layoff since the Great Recession. But if it's gets slow in winter, they will reduce staff and consolidate runs based on seniority. Starts at the bottom and works up.
 
That's what I was referring to. But I have been to terminals where 1 or 2 drivers,typically the "lead" aren't in the rotation at all.
 
runawaytrain said:
Each region is different. My region is state of the art. This company is growing rapidly and with the driver shortage is having trouble finding qualified drivers. We are having some growing pains but we are moving in the right direction. We will become another OD before this is over with. The best is yet to come at SAIA. The culture I see is positive. Perhaps your area does have some issues but in time things will work out. It just takes time. I remember when OD was in an old rat infested dock here in Dallas. And just look at them now. We are building this company right now. We have a strong foundation and the future is very bright. Again, it just takes time.
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MrSippI said:
Runaway train do you have any knowledge of the Jackson ms terminal I just filled an app out for linehaul driver I'm interested just wanna be able to make an informed decision about leaving my current job with us foods
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MrSippl ..... My above post says everything you need to know about SAIA .... If you are lucky enough to get on here you better jump when the recruiter calls you. The food service business will blow your knees out and mess up your back from those ramps if you do it long enough. If your a young man get out ASAP. As you grow older your body will thank you. SAIA is not easy to get on with these days. You must have a perfect driving record and CSA score. You must have good references and a good employment history. You must have hazmat and double and triple endorsements on your CDL plus tanker. Top pay 24.66 hourly plus OT after 45 .... 60cpm in linehaul. You could never find a better company to work for IMO .... But opinions vary. If you want further information send me a PM. I will help in anyway I can. As far as layoffs don't concern yourself with that. We are growing extremely fast and need all the good drivers we can get. Best of luck getting on here.
 
runawaytrain said:
Each region is different. My region is state of the art. This company is growing rapidly and with the driver shortage is having trouble finding qualified drivers. We are having some growing pains but we are moving in the right direction. We will become another OD before this is over with. The best is yet to come at SAIA. The culture I see is positive. Perhaps your area does have some issues but in time things will work out. It just takes time. I remember when OD was in an old rat infested dock here in Dallas. And just look at them now. We are building this company right now. We have a strong foundation and the future is very bright. Again, it just takes time.
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I agree with Train on this. Saia has been around for 90 years but never really branched out from the deep south until 10-15 years ago, and when they did, they started buying up companies and growing like crazy. I've only been in LTL for about 12 years, but I can remember when OD bought WSKT and at the time they were still a little rinky-dink regional carrier and now look at them today.

I think Saia is in the stages of growth right now that OD was in 10-15 years ago. Plenty of growing pains with the run down facilities and not enough equipment to service the growth, but they are definitely throwing some cash at the equipment problem right now. I think the facilities will be the next thing to be upgraded. We are building a brand new 100 door terminal in Chicago right now, and who knows what will be next.

I do feel the pain of some of the city drivers in this company right now. There are a lot of areas that the terminals are just too small and the coverage area is just too large to get everything done and facilitate any kind of growth. Not to mention the abundance of some garbage freight accounts that take more time to deliver than they are worth. Those were the main reasons I switched to linehaul when I had the chance.

Give it time and I think Saia will overcome the current problems.
 
I don't work out of Jackson but have been there plenty of times. seems to be a well run terminal and have some good l/h runs. just be prepared to run the system as low man.
 
System is you run line haul wherever and whenever they tell you. Could be within your region, or not. You may be home daily, or out for a week or more. All depends on volumes, weather, urgency for freight to move, etc...
 
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