It was not that long ago that Saia was pretty much an I-10 company. Since then, current management has grown the company by buying other companies and utilizing their infrastructure to service the new territories. Saia now covers about 3/4's of the country. If I remember correctly,Saia moved into the Indiana area a few years ago when they bought the Connection Company. The infrastructure is probably left over from the old company. According to the company newsletter, Saia does open or improve terminals, equipment, etc.. How the management team determines which improvements to make is anybody's guess. I can tell you that the company, like other companies, worked through some bad times a few years ago. However, it seems that the company is once again making money and is spending money on capitol improvements like trucks and trailers. As far as the disorganization goes, is it caused by the facility being too small to handle the freight levels or is the local management team not working well. The first you have to live with but another thing that I have noticed is that Saia isn't shy about replacing terminal managers.
When I started, I was hired off of the street because none of the city guys wanted the run even though the work environment, at that time, at my barn, sounds a lot like how you described the current situation at Indianapolis. Whether I was too lazy to look for something else or the warts of the company didn't seem so bad, I stayed and I have made a nice living at Saia and hope to finish there in a few years. Now, many years later, the city guys keep asking me when am I going to retire so that they can bid on the scheduled route that I run for linehaul. I can tell you that they pay every Wednesday, hardly ever cut, and the insurance and 401-k is okay. I can also tell you that the opprotunity to transfer around the country is available. Check out the website and see what is available for yourself.
If Indianapolis is a relatively new barn, with some infrastructure problems, and with some employee turnover and not a lot of old timers with senority, it might be a good time to hang around and work your way up the senority ladder.
