CTX

slowhand

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I don't recall ever reading a post about this company. Anybody know the skinny on this company? Any O/O's out there,or know what this companies operation is like?? Thanks eveyone....
 

jasonsprouse

Expert Expediter
I'll put in my 2 cents. I contracted with CTX from Sept 2002 until about April 2003. So my opinion may be a little outdated..

The only reason I contracted with them was they were one of the couple of Expedite brokers that would sign on pickup trucks. I happened to be freshly laid off from Ford with a brand new F350 plow truck.

What can I say, their office was in *the ghetto* (you had to be buzzed in the door). Their Cleveland recruiter worked out of his messy house, and read off the answers to us to their "skills" test so we could fill in the correct answers.

I was threatened with termination a couple times when I refused specific loads. At least one dispatcher (deadhead Ed) liked to move you a couple hundred miles to fill in gaps, even though there was no concrete load.

I honesty can't think of anything good to say about them, and I would if I could.
 

Broompilot

Veteran Expediter
I have posted on this company before. They will run you very hard and long, impersonal, and they play games with your money but you will get paid sooner or later.

This is a division of Central Transport, Pam, Mason Dixon, Universal Am-Cam, Chicopee, Charlotte Express etc... The owner also owns half of the Windsor Tunnel and 100% of the Ambassador Bridge.

Your gona need deep pockets to carry yourself when the pay is goofed up which is about all the time.
 

jasonsprouse

Expert Expediter
I have to agree with the long and hard part. They don't CARE if you have slept, or if you feel a load can be completed safely. I ran 19 hours straight once (2 loads) as soon as I called in clear on the second load, I also put myself out of service, and swore I'd never let them run me like that again, and never did.

Of course, that just isn't CTX, it's a common attitude in all of the transportation industry.
 

jdodge

Expert Expediter
The operation at CTX has change for the better. We have changed the pay roll system with direct deposit we also no longer have off site recruiters they are all located in the building. We have a monthly new letter that now comes out to keep our owners aware of thing going on with in the company. As far as dead heading to a better area this is something that all companies do to ensure our owners are in the best area for freight. The recruiters are more involved with operations and they are the go to guys for the owners. Our owners can call us any time with any problem and we take care of them. Driver retention is at the highest we ever had and hope to continue. You can always contact one of us at anytime. Please feel free to call the recruiting department with any questions you have. We will also be on the forum to answer questions you may have. Thanks and be safe out there.
 

DannyD

Veteran Expediter
I'm replying to the original post b4 I read any other replies. Things may have changed some since I worked there. I don't know. Anyways, in a nutshell I'd say they're crooks. I worked for em & they didn't seem to want to pay me. I wasn't there long for that very reason. I finally did get my money, but only after I said I was taking em to court.

Even then, it's not like I got my money immediately. In maybe late Oct/early November I told em that I was taking em to court on Dec 7 if I didn't get paid. December 6 the check arrived.

Also, their office (and again this may have changed) is in an area I'd sure hate to have a breakdown in. If I'm not mistaken their owner owns the bridge. Ya'd think he'd be making money hand over fist. Yet they can't seem to treat their drivers very well.

Obviously, I'd stay away from that company.

Good luck to ya,
Danny
 

SHARP327

Veteran Expediter
Hi Joel!

I'm happy to see that CTX has realized what ran so many drivers away!

I was with CTX for about 2 1/2 years and I must say that for the most part I liked most of the dispatchers, some had come and gone and some remained, when I cancelled my contract with CTX I took the time and called into dispatch just to tell the cool dispatchers good bye!

If I'm not mistaking there was a new dispatcher named Joel about a year and a half ago..........could this be you?

My recent post about CTX was pulled and I understand why but there wasn't one word of untruth.

Good luck to you Joel and Good luck to CTX, had the changes been made when I was there then maybe I'd remained but at the time I was treated as an unimportant spoke in a big wheel.

Since then I've found a great new home but I want to thank CTX for letting me get my foot in the door of expediting when no one else would even talk to me.

Question is Victor still there?

Life is good now!:+
 

jdodge

Expert Expediter
Good morning Danny,

My name is Joel and I am a CTX recruiter and I heard about the bad experience you encountered while driving for our company. I am not quite sure of the exact details of the issues that you had with CTX; however, since your departure from CTX, we have made quite a few improvements in several departments. I do know if a driver delivers and load very late and it’s in our contract we may not have been able to charge the customer for the load. If you ever get unhappy with your current company I would like a chance to rehire you and personally make things right for you. You can always reach me at 1 (800) 447 5173 ext 5413 and all the owner/operators that I handle get my cell phone number also. As far as our building location goes, we support the empowerment zone, the local people love having us here and the workers in operations like it also.
 

jdodge

Expert Expediter
Hello Sharp327


I am sorry to hear you left our company. Again I would like the opportunity to rehire you, we have one on one relationship with our owner/operator’s and this is where driver retention starts. I used to work in operations years ago. I have been a recruiter for the company for two years now. I am part of the reason things in my department have changed for the better. All problems and issues go to me, and I take care of them. To say the company don’t have problems or issues I would be a liar, but that’s what I am here for. One of my favorite sayings is I am a service provider if I don’t provide the service someone else will. But all the input we get from you! The Drivers is what makes us a better place to work. And as far as your question no Victor is no longer employed here. Thanks and safe out there. Joel CTX
 

DannyD

Veteran Expediter
Good Afternoon Joel,

I really appreciate your reply. Ya did it w/ class & w/out making accusations that what I said wasn't true. I don't recall the details of my runs, though I do know I have only been late one time due to it being my fault in 6-7 years of expediting. That was a situation where I thought the consignee was in the Central Time Zone & they were actually in the eastern. DOINK!!! my bad. I was 45 min late. What stunk about that is I was napping 5 minutes from the destination. Also, that was in the last year, not w/ CTX. Obviously I can't help it if the weather is brutal or if the shipper isn't ready when I get there.

W/ CTX I simply didn't get paid as agreed upon. I got a few different stories as to why. Like each day might be a different story. Don't recall exactly "what" the stories were, though thinking back one of em seemed to be the lady in payroll was sick or something. Not totally sure. Anyways, I gave em a week & when I still didn't get paid I left.

I'd call down there, every day or two, & ask if my check had arrived. I'm sure the guy got sick of my calls. His response went from "your check should be on it's way soon" to a lot more hostile responses a lil later on. After this went on for awhile, I just set a date that I wanted my check by. I told him if it didn't arrive by Dec. 7 I was heading to court. (I still remember that date for some reason, Pearl Harbor maybe???) That gave em about a month to come up w/ the payment. Anyways, his response was something along the lines of "DONT YOU MAKE THREATS TO ME!!" I'm not one for idle threats, & I pretty much relayed that to him. Going to court was gonna happen if I didn't get paid. I figured that they'd had long enough & if I didn't have it by then, they prolly weren't sending it. Anyways, December 6 my check arrived.

Now, all this happened in 1994. As I stated in my previous post, things can change. I noticed another post had said his opinion might be outdated also. I wrote my post w/out having read his, so both of us had similar experiences.

I haven't met you, but I already respect you. I wish you were there when I had my challenges, maybe I'd still be working there. As for my current company, I'm pretty happy w/ it. I'd like to think I'll be w/ them until I'm ready to retire. I pretty much drive locally & when I'm ready to move out of Michigan, they have offices all over the country. Who knows though? Our paths may cross again. I do have a 2000 van, though if I was to find someone who would put it in service, I wouldn't be the one driving it.

I wish you the best of success,
Danny
 

davebeckym

Expert Expediter
Jason Sprouse you are a contract employee. There is no way CTX or any other expedite Co can make you run for 19 hrs. straight.
If you turn down a load because you need to sleep and they threaten or give you a hard time, they are trying to treat you like an employee.
The IRS has rules about what makes you a independant contractor, one of which is you can refuse loads. If they won't let you refuse a load, they should be turned in to the IRS. If YOU didn't try to refuse the load then Shame On You.
 

jdodge

Expert Expediter
Good morning Danny,

Please the next time you are here in the Detroit area please stop by my office for lunch on me I would like to set and talk with you. Thanks agian for the valuable input. Joel
 

MSinger

Expert Expediter
Joel,
I will have to agree with Danny. That was a very classy and professional response to his concerns.
 

SHARP327

Veteran Expediter
Well yesterday I ran into a CTX driver and we talked a bit and the subject of Victor came up and the CTX driver said oh no Victor is still there!

So Joel which is it? is Victor there or not?

He was one of the biggest reasons why myself and a lot of other drivers departed CTX and management there should know better by now!

You wouldn't be Victor disguise would you!

I'd hate to see those good-o-boy pats on the back being taken back!
 

simon says

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
The history of this company is simply that they were the primary carrier for Chrysler. Since all the big three found that it was far more reliable to farm out all their work to NLM and let them find the carrier with the best rate and most reliable service, CTX had to swim elsewhere. CTX was not alone in this, but I have heard they were hit the hardest. I had a dispatcher who left them and went to a local Detroit expeditor, and she said they USED to have a lot of freight.
In my opinion, there are about six or seven companies listed on this site as 5 star carriers, who I would classify as 1 star carriers. If you want to do well in this business, you need to work for a company that has a lot of freight outside of NLM, National contracts, and is as diversified as possible. I think most of us know who the top five are. If you go to work for someone just because they give you a warm and fuzzy feeling (big arrow) or is close to your locale (1 class), you will be making a big mistake, unless you want to stay very local and sleep in your home bed every night.
 

jasonsprouse

Expert Expediter
> Jason Sprouse you are a contract employee. There is no way
>CTX or any other expedite Co can make you run for 19 hrs.
>straight.
> If you turn down a load because you need to sleep and they
>threaten or give you a hard time, they are trying to treat
>you like an employee.
> The IRS has rules about what makes you a independant
>contractor, one of which is you can refuse loads. If they
>won't let you refuse a load, they should be turned in to the
>IRS. If YOU didn't try to refuse the load then Shame On You.

You're right, they can't MAKE you do anything, same as an employer can't MAKE you do anything. However, the affor-mentioned "Victor" who was a supervisor there, had no problems threatening to suspend or terminate your contract if you didn't do what they wanted. I hope he was let go because of the kind of person he was, but more likely he went to make lives miserable somewhere else. You would refuse a load, and "Victor" would be on the phone 5 minutes later demanding to know exactly why.
 

lineboss

Expert Expediter
So what is your suggestion, if you don't mind!
Sometimes I run hard for weeks, but now is slow & I talked to 3 drivers this week that are coming to ctx from other companys.1 or 2 loads a week ain't gitner done son!
 

dhalltoyo

Veteran Expediter
Hi Simon Says,

Could you please send me an email? I have a couple of question that I would like to ask you.

I will thank you in advance for your assistance.

Best regards,
 
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