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XPO | Starting at XPO next week. Any tips?

looksstock said:
So I don't post very often mainly just read but I have to comment on this when is being the "low man" supposed to pass around here? I've been here for over 10 years now and have put up with a LOT of BS and unfortunately I'm one of those guys that is maybe a victim of my own success, by that I mean I come in get my crap done and more often other people's crap don't complain even when you know dispatch deep down wants you to by giving you the crapiest truck possible when yours is down or a surprise volume to run BEFORE you go peddle your route which on average is one of the heaviest out of our barn. I just look at him and say I don't care all pays the same but after 10 years and nothing but 1 step forward 2 steps back you've got to really question what we're doing here. Now the cherry on the top is we've had a couple guys retire and a couple more coming up now they've given up on even blowing smoke and have started telling us straight up "your not moving up we're hiring am dock guys" and they wonder why guys are leaving I myself have a couple applications out that hopefully come through. Rant over
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Amen brother very well put.
 
Good luck and stay safe. I wish it could have been all positive responses for you but they were honest . Hopefully things will improve in the future for you young guys. In the meantime it will be great experience. Oh yeah Have respect for what you do never settle for less.
 
DanielHK said:
Only have 8 months of experience and no LTL.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm starting on Monday so if I have any more questions, I'll try to ask in this thread. I'm hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
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Best advice to you is suffer though a year, get that years worth of LTL experience and then take it somewhere else. You won't be losing a lot of seniority if you quit in a year and you'll be gaining a lot by going somewhere else.
 
DanielHK said:
So, I have been driving a truck for only 8 month. Got hired the day after I got my CDL. I do enjoy it, being in new places, seeing small towns I would never see otherwise. However I have a wife and a 2 year old and my wife just gave birth to our daughter two weeks ago. Time for a change. I want to be home so I applied to XPO. I'm in the Chicago area and everything that's local, requires a 2+ year experience. I know this will be a different ball game since I'll work the dock too. My wife's nephew works at a different terminal and he gave me a few tips. Good boots with safety toe (composite), good flashlight, get some thermals for the winter and two sets of gloves. Anything else you guys can think of for a newbie? I will train one week with a p&d driver and one week with a line haul driver. After that I will do line haul over night. Thanks in advance.
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If you actually get through all the drama that's been mentioned in this thread and decide to gut it out and stick around... I would highly suggest that you max out your 401k as much as possible. Why? cause us old timers had our pensions frozen in 2006, and new guys now get nothing by way of a pension. This company will not go union so forget about a big teamster pension at the end of your driving years. Soooooooooo...dump sacrificially as much as you can into that 401k every week. We just had a guy here that retired Aug. 3rd w/ $1.1 million in his 401k after 23 years. It may not be a gigantic nest egg for the guy, but it sure beats my tally right now. That's why he's all done at 65 and I'm still trucking in my upper 60's. Good luck to you and think about your distant future (which will come quicker than you realize), your wife, and your little ones.. :1036316054:
 
sucker666 said:
Good luck and stay safe. I wish it could have been all positive responses for you but they were honest . Hopefully things will improve in the future for you young guys. In the meantime it will be great experience. Oh yeah Have respect for what you do never settle for less.
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vppforme said:
I wish, I wish, someone had beat me over the head with this message when I got started. I still have many years to go but could have been in a much better place already if I had been open to this advice.
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Do not be toohard on yourself a lot of us thought we would have a pension to rely on also.
 
vetran peddleman said:
If you actually get through all the drama that's been mentioned in this thread and decide to gut it out and stick around... I would highly suggest that you max out your 401k as much as possible. Why? cause us old timers had our pensions frozen in 2006, and new guys now get nothing by way of a pension. This company will not go union so forget about a big teamster pension at the end of your driving years. Soooooooooo...dump sacrificially as much as you can into that 401k every week. We just had a guy here that retired Aug. 3rd w/ $1.1 million in his 401k after 23 years. It may not be a gigantic nest egg for the guy, but it sure beats my tally right now. That's why he's all done at 65 and I'm still trucking in my upper 60's. Good luck to you and think about your distant future (which will come quicker than you realize), your wife, and your little ones.. :1036316054:
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That good advice. Now here another. Stay out of debt and what I mean is stupid debt like credit cards and car loans. Then you won't be one of those drivers that need 60hrs a week to pay his bills.
I laugh at the guys with those 400 and 500 a month auto loans for 6 and 7yrs.
Google Dave Ramsey and watch his videos then it might make sense
 
Fly-by-night said:
That good advice. Now here another. Stay out of debt and what I mean is stupid debt like credit cards and car loans. Google Dave Ramsey and watch his videos then it might make sense
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7 easy steps to financial freedom. If you're someone who was never very good with spending/saving money wisely, Dave Ramsey's is a great program to get you back in the right direction.
 
upnorth said:
Listen to him every day. I'm not a religious guy at all, but his advise is rock solid.
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He did it. Went from living high on the hog with lots of debt to filing bankruptcy. To now living high on the hog with no debt. That's a person you listen to.
 
DanielHK said:
Only have 8 months of experience and no LTL.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm starting on Monday so if I have any more questions, I'll try to ask in this thread. I'm hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
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Just get through this winter. Man, the doors will open for you next spring. It's a sacrifice. But a worth while endeavor. Just fight your way through this. 8 months of this. Keep your mind on the end result. Don't get clouded by whatever is in your way today.
 
Get whatever experience you need and go elsewhere ASAP. I stayed around there for over 6 years, like an idiot. Their insurance is an absolute joke, and you'll be on a forklift for at least half the time you're at work, if not more. On linehaul you'll never know what time you're starting or where you're going that night. Then they will cut runs and change the lineup at the last minute and you'll get screwed. Either that, or you'll sit in the drivers room for 2-3 hours waiting for your loads to be done. You won't get paid for waiting, either.

It use to be a great job and was worth putting up with their bullcrap to gain seniority, but those days are long over.
 
PistonRing83 said:
Get whatever experience you need and go elsewhere ASAP. I stayed around there for over 6 years, like an idiot. Their insurance is an absolute joke, and you'll be on a forklift for at least half the time you're at work, if not more. On linehaul you'll never know what time you're starting or where you're going that night. Then they will cut runs and change the lineup at the last minute and you'll get screwed. Either that, or you'll sit in the drivers room for 2-3 hours waiting for your loads to be done. You won't get paid for waiting, either.

It use to be a great job and was worth putting up with their bullcrap to gain seniority, but those days are long over.
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Waiting around for 2 or 3 hours on your own time is called flexibility
 
sucker666 said:
Waiting around for 2 or 3 hours on your own time is called flexibility
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Yes, to the company. Flexibility! We hear the same crap! The three Con-ways, CCX, CSE and CWX wanted to be premier carriers. In my opinion they achieved that goal. Con-way Inc. pissed most of that away and XPO has pissed away anything left plus any future gains. Go somewhere else.
 
ole man said:
Yes, to the company. Flexibility! We hear the same crap! The three Con-ways, CCX, CSE and CWX wanted to be premier carriers. In my opinion they achieved that goal. Con-way Inc. pissed most of that away and XPO has pissed away anything left plus any future gains. Go somewhere else.
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Tell us how you really feel.
 
It's sad I can remember how positive these forums were towards the company back in the day. Outsiders use to think we were in a cult we were so loyal. I feel bad not being able to give this young fella something positive towards working here. I hope for his sake and other young prospects and for the company itself that it takes head to these post and changes it current course. Good companies are built on the backs of dedicated loyal employees .I think a good part of upper management knows this but their so busy chasing that 80 % o/r that their not seeing the big picture.
 
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