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SAIA | Thinking of switching...give me the skinny

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bubs

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I am currently in my third week of working the dock/doing safety rides instead of driving and its only the beginning of september so I figured I'd start looking for jobs. I need the skinny about Saia. Ill probably apply at burr ridge, il. I specifically need to know linehaul mileage pay, do you get paid hourly when not on the dock and waiting for things (like a meet person or breakdown), insurance cost (just me and my wife), if the insurance is any good, average miles i could maybe expect ( i know thats somewhat impossible but your best guess), are you busy and would it be worth it to switch, what dockwork is expected for linehaul, hotel stays and how often and basically anything else I should expect. Ive worked for non and union companies in LTL so nothing is too weird, I suppose. I just want to make an informed decision. thanks
 
Nothing is perfect....especially in trucking. Seems reasonable. Do you think I'd be home most days or in hotels? Doesn't matter just wondering. I forgot to ask how long it takes to get insurance too.
 
How far are you from Grayslake? You would move up the list a lot faster in GLK than you work in Burr Ridge (call it CGO). I thought employee and spouse insurance was 25/week, and 37.50 for employee/spouse/family. Single is 12.50/week for sure. Starting out, you might be a "system" driver or you may get a short bid run. They usually don't keep system drivers out for the whole week, you usually only spend a day or two in the hotel then get home midweek, then go back out for another day or two. Most of the time you'll get sent to MSP, KC, Omaha, Memphis etc and get sent right back to CGO. Or GLK if you work out of there. Very, very little dockwork for linehaulers here. In my 2 years in linehaul, I worked the dock twice, stripping trailers in green bay..
 
CGO is a craphole full of assholes, but seems like that's the norm anymore here in Chicago-land. You'll start out system and be out for a few days at a time, sometimes all week. It's not a bad gig if you can put up with the usual unorganized BS that goes along with LTL. Eventually you will also have a babysitter camera in your face, and a safety manager nitpicking your every move as well, so if you're OK with that...
 
conartist said:
How far are you from Grayslake? You would move up the list a lot faster in GLK than you work in Burr Ridge (call it CGO). I thought employee and spouse insurance was 25/week, and 37.50 for employee/spouse/family. Single is 12.50/week for sure. Starting out, you might be a "system" driver or you may get a short bid run. They usually don't keep system drivers out for the whole week, you usually only spend a day or two in the hotel then get home midweek, then go back out for another day or two. Most of the time you'll get sent to MSP, KC, Omaha, Memphis etc and get sent right back to CGO. Or GLK if you work out of there. Very, very little dockwork for linehaulers here. In my 2 years in linehaul, I worked the dock twice, stripping trailers in green bay..
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I'm about 29 miles from Burr Ridge and 36 from greyslake so it's about the same either way. Do you think greyslake would be better? Im not looking for anything special, U just want to work and not sit on a forklift all damn day.
 
bubs said:
I'm about 29 miles from Burr Ridge and 36 from greyslake so it's about the same either way. Do you think greyslake would be better? Im not looking for anything special, U just want to work and not sit on a forklift all damn day.
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From what I've seen, GLK needs linehaul drivers pretty badly. CGO has been covering a lot of their runs. Employee morale at GLK is horrible though, because of the inept management.
 
PistonRing83 said:
Yeah I've heard nothing good from the guys at UPS Freight. You don't have to worry about purchase transportation taking your runs here.
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It's terrible!
Out of a 215 door hub, they can't even keep 80road drivers busy. We're also not allowed to go into the system. I've only driven five days in the past month. Absolutely ridiculous
 
bubs said:
It's terrible!
Out of a 215 door hub, they can't even keep 80road drivers busy. We're also not allowed to go into the system. I've only driven five days in the past month. Absolutely ridiculous
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Not trying to throw gas on the fire, but if you've only worked 5 days in the last month, then I would say the writing is on the wall. They either have no freight (which is a big red flag), or they are trying to get you to quit. Assuming you are on the Saia insurance, the company (from a financial standpoint) can't continue to pay your health insurance if their return on investment is only 5 days in a month.
 
bigbuck said:
Not trying to throw gas on the fire, but if you've only worked 5 days in the last month, then I would say the writing is on the wall. They either have no freight (which is a big red flag), or they are trying to get you to quit. Assuming you are on the Saia insurance, the company (from a financial standpoint) can't continue to pay your health insurance if their return on investment is only 5 days in a month.
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I've been just working the dock and doing safety rides. That is why at least that part is ok still
 
bigbuck said:
Not trying to throw gas on the fire, but if you've only worked 5 days in the last month, then I would say the writing is on the wall. They either have no freight (which is a big red flag), or they are trying to get you to quit. Assuming you are on the Saia insurance, the company (from a financial standpoint) can't continue to pay your health insurance if their return on investment is only 5 days in a month.
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... He works for UPS
 
They also can't contractually can't lay me off without getting rid of purchased transportation so me and others are in kind if a black hole right now
 
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