Averitt | Thinking of Joining the Force

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I'm currently transitioning out of the army and currently going to driving school. I'm set to test out next week. The recruiter out of Birmingham came down and talked to us and I like what she had to say. I've called around to a few companies but I really haven't liked what I've heard. She said if I was hired that I would be doing regional to start out with. I have no issues with that. I was trying to see what the average miles per week were with that side of the house? Also, how much home time do you get? I expect to be gone most of the week and get maybe 36-48hrs at home a week. I've read through a lot of the post on here and it sounds like a lot of the news guys are staying out on the road and not taking time at home. I don't want to be like that. I looked at first thread on here about the pro's and con's of working here and I see is about even. I know a lot of them are from a few years back. Has the company changed much since some of those post? Thanks for any info!
 
You will be on electronic logs and forced dispatched which means if you're legal you run. For example you may unload at 8 am and sent to an Averitt terminal a few miles up the road to pick up a 2300 LTL Load driving all night. You will sit on the yard all day which will give you your 10 hour break. Doesn't matter that you slept the previous night and will want to sleep the next night, you're legal.

Now it's Friday and you want to head home. You're only a couple hundred miles from home thinking should be no problem. But wait we have a load that has to deliver Saturday morning 8 amand it's not even getting you home. Sorry you're legal. Now you have to take your 10 hour break get your load home thinking now I can have a couple days off until they hit you on a load 34 hours after you get home. You're legal.

Basically what I'm saying they say when you go home and when you leave. This company has changed a lot in the last few years. They have such a large turn over in truck load they have a system in place to keep a steady stream of new drivers coming in to replace those who quit...
 
If your a NOOB, just out of school, you would be OUT OF YOUR MIND not to come to Averitt. Yes I moan and groan at what is going on, but I couldn't see myself working for anyone else. You will start out in TRUCKLOAD, you will be with a trainer for a while,(I'm not overly impressed with the people I see who are trainer's, but that's just me) You will run into situations that 1TT1 mentioned, but that's the way it is sometimes. You will run on electronic logs, You will run legal. Mileage is 1500-3000 miles a week, averaging out around 1800-2200. You want to get burned out, screwed over and not have any kind of home life, go to one of the CRAPPY predator outfits, Swift, Scheinder, Werner, US Express, Knight, USA Truck I could go on forever on this...Do the SMART thing if your want to drive truck come to AVERITT!
DO NOT BELIEVE A WORD YOU HEAR FROM ANY RECRUITER FROM BHM, Listen to the ones from COOKEVILLE, I have NEVER heard of a local recruiter.
 
The truck load industry is evolving with the storm of new regulations that have come down the last couple of years...yea Averitt is above the rest but they have had to adapt to the regulations to make their business model work...they have freight to cover but the government has so binded their hands that they have to figure a way to work with in the regulatory laws which means the driver has lost complete control of his life...
 
Thanks for all the info. I'm really trying to find something that will be good pay and that will take care of my wife and me. The only truckload carrier that I'm even considering is Maverick. I talked to the Schnider recruiter and they are starting out at .29cpm. I like the LTL companies cause eventually you can work you way into a good run. Maybe Averitt's pay will get on the same scale as some of the LTL companies. I know UPS Freight top pay is .66cpm so hopefully they will step up their game a little bit. Any word on if Averitt is playing on join the union? I don't know much about it, just what I hear from my dad.
 
Thanks for all the info. I'm really trying to find something that will be good pay and that will take care of my wife and me. The only truckload carrier that I'm even considering is Maverick. I talked to the Schnider recruiter and they are starting out at .29cpm. I like the LTL companies cause eventually you can work you way into a good run. Maybe Averitt's pay will get on the same scale as some of the LTL companies. I know UPS Freight top pay is .66cpm so hopefully they will step up their game a little bit. Any word on if Averitt is playing on join the union? I don't know much about it, just what I hear from my dad.
If your starting out, your best bet is going to be Averitt, but then again it's your choice. At Averitt , you will be able to transfer out of TRUCKLOAD, in to LTL......DO NOT GET SNOOKERED INTO DEDICATED!
I've been here over 10 years, and have made a good living in TRUCKLOAD!
 
That is good to hear about the union. I put in an application for Montgomery which is about an hour or so away depending on where the terminal is located. I live 15 minutes from Opelika, but the only job openings they had were for combo drivers. If I get hired on hopefully I can transfer once I get a little time under my belt. Is dedicated that bad or does it just suck for mileage?
 
I wouldn't get your hopes up about transferring into LTL it is almost impossible especially at a small terminal like Montgomery...
 
Awesome! Is the LTL side paid hourly or by mileage? I read a post earlier by Iceman and he made it sound like he got paid hourly. I was looking at the flatbed division, but I was told you have to be in the Birmingham area to get in on that.
 
T Maybe Averitt's pay will get on the same scale as some of the LTL companies. I know UPS Freight top pay is .66cpm so hopefully they will step up their game a little bit.

Have you ever heard the saying "Wish in one hand........................." ?? 20 years ago Averitt was competitive in their pay, fairly close in line with the competition. However, sadly, the rank and file (myself included) have allowed them to hold a low pay scale. Far too many people agreed to run the road as combo drivers at $0.045 less per mile than an already low paid shuttle driver. There are SO many drivers going along and taking the daily screwing without ever saying a word and standing up and demanding equal pay. The company gambled when they started this atrocious practice and sadly they won the bet. If I were classified as a combo driver and they threw me a shuttle run to be run at combo pay, I would kindly say screw you.

As far as UPSF, they are union. They get paid for all the incidentals that Averitt thinks they can get for free. Every minute of their time is compensated for. Sadly, Averitt wants you to wait for 2 hours for free and then get paid $14 an hour to babysit their equipment if you break down. Wait 45 minutes for free while they finish loading your trailer. To fuel your truck, to hook your trailer, to do a pre-trip, to back the trailer to the dock. Multiply this times the number of mileage drivers on the road and you can see that Averitt is reaping a huge cash cow because we go along to get along and frankly, the shirts in Cuckooville couldn't care less....they smile all the way to the bank.
 
My thoughts are, I understood the pay scale when I started here. If I wanted to make union wages and had to pay a third party to keep my job, I would have pursued a union outfit. I have put one son through college and will do the same starting this Fall with my youngest, I have spent a week or two at the beach each of my 25 years of service, I have a large home and late model vehicle, a nice savings and a healthy 401k. Not to mention the several thousands of dollars I give back to God and to various charities. I refuse to compare my pay to any other driver at any other company, there is so much more to life than a weekly paycheck for me.
 
. I refuse to compare my pay to any other driver at any other company, there is so much more to life than a weekly paycheck for me.

Hence why I am ready, willing and able to volunteer for a cut at the drop of a hat. My home time is FAR more valuable to me than a paycheck. I, too, owe nobody anything, have put 2 kids through college, flown and gone and traveled any and everywhere I choose to go (I want more time to do it and will GLADLY take the time off without pay and fore go those childish attendance points). We eat out quite often and do not hold back and with a very healthy 401 k for both me and my wife, I worry about nothing.

CM I was responding to what you said in post #9.
 
There's a lot more to consider than if it's 29cpm or 32, consider the holiday pay, yes averitt has changed and it takes a couple of years to get max holiday pay, but also count in cost of insurance and if your cheap insurance at another carrier is as good as the insurance here. Questions to consider with all carriers, how much of the freight is driver unload and how much is no touch or drop/hook, home time, opportunity for advancement such as moving into the local or dedicated, which can be good or bad depending on your families needs. Also consider what area each carrier runs, do you want to be in NYC or the northeast a lot? I doubt it but many carriers with newer drivers take that freight.
There are pros and cons with the union, yea UPS freight has high pay, but get one of their drivers to be honest with you and tell you about the work environment there, the local guys doing city hate it and claim that they are being managed as if they are in a package car and not a big truck and those runs paying the big money take years to get. If money is your ONLY goal, get into the car carrier divisions, but none of it is going to be an easy ladder to climb when you are starting at the bottom. Each division here is different and each service center, each account, each fleet manager and everything accross the board is ran a little different than the next finding what fits your family's needs is key.
 
but also count in cost of insurance and if your cheap insurance at another carrier is as good as the insurance here.
Not to mention that we are enjoying our last year of employer provided insurance that is worth a crap. It took a HUGE hit for 2014 and will be non-existent, as is the case with most other employers.
 
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