>The thread about negativity got me thinking; and thus, this
>thread. Post your positives and negatives about your current
>or past company, but do BOTH. If you're negative, post it.
>But come up with something substantly positive (and not just
>"I like the blonde in dispatch"). Same if you love your
>company. Tell us about something you don't like.
>
>Try to keep it simple. If you respond, don't criticize. And
>stick to the rules here. If you post ONLY pos or neg, I'll
>delete your post. KEEP IT CIVIL!
Previous company Thompson:
Positive
1) Great dispatch
2) Lots of runs
3) For quite awhile they had me going in a Michigan/Toronto/Michigan loop
Negative
1) Lower end of the pay scale. This didn't matter much to me until #3 from above started breaking down.
2) Coming back to the US from Canada. This isn't the companies fault though. I knew it going in. Still a negative in working for them.
This next one can kind of be a positive on the company if ya think about it because I stuck w/ em even though:
3) Original recruiter lied to me. I was told by their US recruiter (a guy named Bob) that hotels were paid for. One of the reasons I accepted the lower rates. I was told that I'd get $40/nite for hotel while out on the road. I'm thinking this is why they're on the lower end of the payscale. I go to orientation & they drive me to get my decals put on. I get in their car on the way back to the office. I bring it up to Perry about the $40/nite for hotel & he says "huh?? who told ya that? We don't pay anything for hotels" & I'm thinking you've gotta be KIDDING me. He offers me the chance to go back to the decal place b4 they get em put on if I don't want to work for Thompson. I decide to give it a try since I'd already done quite a bit to get signed on w/ em up to that point.
Anyway, Thompson as a company was fine. They can't help where the freight goes & it's not their fault on the US customs challenges. I just wanted to be more local, which leads me to....
EGL:
Positive
1) Local freight
2) Local freight =)
3) If ya wanna take a hotshot (expedite run) ya can. I just got back from Indiana yesterday.
4) Home pretty much every nite
5) I don't wanna overstate this cuz it doesn't happen a lot, but every now & then ya get that $100 run for 25 miles or what have ya.
6) Ya make quite a bit more per mile by having three or four $40-50 runs in your truck than ya do one $180 run.
7) A bad run locally (like say a 45 mile run for $18 or what have ya) is a lot easier to recover from than a bad run of several hundred miles that puts ya out in the middle of nowhere.
8) When it's slow ya can often make a little something. Ya might have some days when ya aren't slammed busy but ya have a run or 2 & make $60 for the day or what have ya.
Negative
1) They want ya to have a Dodge Sprinter
That's about the only company negative I can think of. Even then they let me go back to my Ford, so I have no real qualms.
The following negatives are unique to my situation only. They don't reflect anything bad on EGL. No one did anything wrong.
2)Living 80 miles away from the terminal, there has to be about 3 runs to line up to make it worthwhile. I can't do the one run for $35 if I have to drive 170 miles to do it. The quick $35 run more applies to people who live closer to the airport.
3)I need to be even MORE local because I want to still work 2nd shift & keep my martial arts training. I'm available for split runs (pick ups that don't have to come straight back) but essentially Tuesdays & Thursdays I'm off. So if it's slow on M-W-F I've had a bad week. That's not EGL's fault though.
Take care,
Danny
anther2