Maybe it should be the (ATS)Anderson/Warren/(ICE)Intermodal Carribean Express forum?

I used to work for Anderson for 5 years. Anderson Trucking: Delivering Solutions... One Load at a Time! Is anyone else out there? I see them hauling a lot of windmills here lately.


truckinusa :1036316054:

Maybe you could tell me how long ago it was when you worked for ATS Anderson.
If you work for Roadway now you are probably glad to not have to tarp and secure your loads.
Maybe we can get folks that went through their lease purchase program to tell us how well they liked that program.
And if they went on to buy a new truck afterwards.
Did you leave for greener pastures or were you just burned out with the over the road routine.

:smilie_132:
 
more info about ATS

I worked there for a while. It seemed to me like Warren drivers deadhead a lot and they all get percentage. Its either 65% or 67%. Anderson had a couple of lease deaks when I worked there. The one you lease for a year. The truck usually was from the fleet with around 200k mi on it or more. There was around a $3500 bonus if u completed the lease. This bonus could be used as a downpayment on a "new lease" which was a new freighliner. The only advice I could give is buy your own chains, binders, straps, tarps used and save a ton of money. You make money with their lease but company pays more. The new lease can be purchased if you can come up with the $20,000 balloon payment. Truck payments used to be around $450 a week a few years ago. The used lease truks were $50 cheaper or so. I stayed there for two reasons. Noone pays worth a crap In California. They were fairly honest and always got paid once a week.
 
I worked there for a while. It seemed to me like Warren drivers deadhead a lot and they all get percentage. Its either 65% or 67%. Anderson had a couple of lease deaks when I worked there. The one you lease for a year. The truck usually was from the fleet with around 200k mi on it or more. There was around a $3500 bonus if u completed the lease. This bonus could be used as a downpayment on a "new lease" which was a new freighliner. The only advice I could give is buy your own chains, binders, straps, tarps used and save a ton of money. You make money with their lease but company pays more. The new lease can be purchased if you can come up with the $20,000 balloon payment. Truck payments used to be around $450 a week a few years ago. The used lease truks were $50 cheaper or so. I stayed there for two reasons. Noone pays worth a crap In California. They were fairly honest and always got paid once a week.

truckinusa :1036316054:

Good info.
But as far as buying chains and binders used is great if you find the right seller when you actually need the stuff.
Would you recommend that somebody wanting to hire on as a leaser, should maybe run a company truck for a year or so first to learn their operation, and then maybe try their lease program, or would you say that it does not make that much difference if a new guy just gets in their lease program from day one.
Sounds like you were running out of California at the time when you worked there.
As far as Warren goes you are probably right that you would deadhead a lot if hauling machinery in the Midwest.

:smilie_132:
 
Anderson

I would say it would be better to be a company driver mainly to see if this is what you like. Leasing a used truck has very little risk though because you can back out at any time. You can acquire the necessary equipment if you are devious too. Certain loads can be a real bummer, but some loads are more beneficial to a lease driver than would be to a company driver. Oversize is where the money is for a lease driver. For a company driver it depends. Lease drivers usually get a choice of loads. I lied my rear off about where I worked to start at a little higher pay rate. I would work em on the starting pay. Lease trucks do 70mph I think too.
 
I would say it would be better to be a company driver mainly to see if this is what you like. Leasing a used truck has very little risk though because you can back out at any time. You can acquire the necessary equipment if you are devious too. Certain loads can be a real bummer, but some loads are more beneficial to a lease driver than would be to a company driver. Oversize is where the money is for a lease driver. For a company driver it depends. Lease drivers usually get a choice of loads. I lied my rear off about where I worked to start at a little higher pay rate. I would work em on the starting pay. Lease trucks do 70mph I think too.

truckinusa :1036316054:

Did you have any flatbed experience before you started there. Seems like having some flatbed experience would help to make it up the different classes. I guess they start you at class 4 and you work up to class 1.
Did you stay there long enough to make it to class 1???????????

:smilie_132:
 
heavy haul

The move from class 4 to class 3 is just based on how many oversize loads you have hauled. I believe it was 3. From class 3 to 2 you have to take a test. I took the test and it was just map reading skills, finding the center of gravity on loads and trailer and other common sense crap. The reason I upgrade was in order to haul class 1 loads. Supposedly a class 2 can haul them. Well that is pure bs because I never did. They have a lot of idiots that will hit bridges and crap if they were to just turn them loose. When I started I bsed them that I had flatbed experience, but I was smart enough to ask questions and I already had a good idea of how to tie down and tarp loads. Doesn't take a rocket scientist. I also figured out I like flatbed a lot better than reefer. Reasonable apppiointment times and quick load and unload. Generally I was empty or loaded in 1 hour but there were a few exceptions.
 
The move from class 4 to class 3 is just based on how many oversize loads you have hauled. I believe it was 3. From class 3 to 2 you have to take a test. I took the test and it was just map reading skills, finding the center of gravity on loads and trailer and other common sense crap. The reason I upgrade was in order to haul class 1 loads. Supposedly a class 2 can haul them. Well that is pure bs because I never did. They have a lot of idiots that will hit bridges and crap if they were to just turn them loose. When I started I bsed them that I had flatbed experience, but I was smart enough to ask questions and I already had a good idea of how to tie down and tarp loads. Doesn't take a rocket scientist. I also figured out I like flatbed a lot better than reefer. Reasonable apppiointment times and quick load and unload. Generally I was empty or loaded in 1 hour but there were a few exceptions.

truckinusa :1036316054:

Very good points you made about liking flatbed work instead of reefer work.
I started out hauling swinging meat in reefers and did it for about ten years. Loading and unloading a reefer takes a lot longer, especially if you go to grocery warehouse and get jerked around having to put the stuff on their pallets(certain block and height).
The only thing with the reefer work is that it is a little more steady and usually don't end up laying over weekends waiting for a load.
Good thing about flatbed work is that the customer is usually happy to see you and they load or unload you pretty quick.

:smilie_132:
 
miles

I averaged 3300 miles a week and I was making .38cpm. At the time top pay was .40cpm. I noticed they bumped up the oversize pay to .06 to 25cents. It used to be .04 to .20 cents. I never got over .14 cents though and that was a nasty load. Class 1 loads pay the .20 cents. Most of the Class 1 loads are hauled by guys with 4 axle tractors or multi axle trailers. Main things I hated about ATS are 1. hauling granite and getting lower stop pay. 2. getting oversize loads with no permits on fridays. Permits are always a hastle. Class 1 tractors have fax machines and special dispatch. 3. not being sent home on a regular basis. I pissed them off because I always got a good load going home to California. 4. Being stuck running short loads on the east coast a lot. 5. being cheap on layover pay
 
I averaged 3300 miles a week and I was making .38cpm. At the time top pay was .40cpm. I noticed they bumped up the oversize pay to .06 to 25cents. It used to be .04 to .20 cents. I never got over .14 cents though and that was a nasty load. Class 1 loads pay the .20 cents. Most of the Class 1 loads are hauled by guys with 4 axle tractors or multi axle trailers. Main things I hated about ATS are 1. hauling granite and getting lower stop pay. 2. getting oversize loads with no permits on fridays. Permits are always a hastle. Class 1 tractors have fax machines and special dispatch. 3. not being sent home on a regular basis. I pissed them off because I always got a good load going home to California. 4. Being stuck running short loads on the east coast a lot. 5. being cheap on layover pay

truckinusa :1036316054:

Point number 4 is probably the reason why a lot of carriers are going to regional runs and also try to get their drivers home more often. Some carriers even every weekend. That is something that one has to consider when hiring on with a carrier that does 70% of their hauling in the east coast and then the driver wants to go home to California.
The only way I see to get home more often would be to go the owner-operator route and then you can choose your loads.
As far as point number 5, nowadays with most trucks running an APU you could live in the truck running your TV without freezing in the winter or being hot in the summer.
Averaging 3300 miles a week is pretty good doing flatbed work. You must have had some loads that were preloaded for you.
I only average 2500 miles a week right now and that seems like enough work, when you are not so young anymore.

:smilie_132:
 
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