Profile For Giff

I wish I could talk with a fleet manager at interstate. Never quite sure what to believe from the recruiters. It was looking good until the recruiter told me that because I live in Dallas most of my loads would be in the eastern half of the country.

The whole reason I was looking at interstate is because I want to find someplace where I can drive all 48 states. If I want to drive just the Midwest and East I can just stay where I am now.

Maybe I'm hoping for too much from one company: 48 state OTR van, with regional that I can switch to at some point when I want to be home more (with inverter and decent A/C and heat temperature controls).

Got to keep looking...

Took it to the shop. The mechanic checked it out, but found no problems. He told me he's heard the same thing from about 50 drivers. It appears the Cascadia just had weak engine braking. Not that big of a deal I guess unless you're driving the Rockies. If I were, I suppose I would be crawling downhill in 6th gear. Or 5th. :-/

Thanks for the feedback Fatsquatch.

I've read and heard good things about Interstate. In my on-going quest to find a company where I can cover all 48 states, with the option to go Regional or Dedicated, I'm looking at Interstate.

These are the questions I asked of the recuiter, along with the responses. If you drive for Interstate and know that something is wrong, please let me know. Thanks in advance!!!

1. Terminal or drop-yard in the DFW area? >>Yes. Was a full terminal. Now a drop-yard with maint. In Ft. Worth. Could park near home.

2. 48-state coverage for Dallas-based driver? >>Yes

3. Solo OTR dry van available? >> Yes

4. Avg miles per week OTR dry van. >>2500/2700 for OTR driving for 2-3 weeks out.

5. OTR Home-time options- weekly. >>18 days, 3 days home. Flexible with your fleet manager.

6. Are there regional or dedicated opportunities from Dallas? >>Both. Could be home weekly with regional.

7. Avg weekly miles for regional from Dallas? >>Varies. Around 2300 weekly if getting home each weekend.

8. Home time for regional? >>weekly

9. What trucks do you use? >>Freightliner Cascadia

10. Can I run a manual 10-speed? >>Yes

11. Can I be assigned a truck with a 'condo roof'? Works for my 6'6" height. >>Yes

12. High capacity (1000 watts or more) battery-connected inverters provided or allowed? >>Provided. Fridge installed already.

13. APUs provided (or comparable heating/cooling technology for bunk area)? >>Bunk heater. Idle for A/C. Idle requirements are different based on time of year. (New trucks have APUs). Based on temp outside of truck.

14. Starting base CPM with 1 year experience >>(.38, .03 bonus if reach 9500 miles in a month)

15. What is break-down pay? >>$50

16. What is detention pay? >>$13 per hour

17. Paid vacation in year 1, 2, 3. >>After 90 days, 3 days vac. 5 days after 1 year. Each year adds 1 day.

18. What is the percentage of drop-and-hook? >>Majority is DH.

19. What is the percentage of driver load/unload? >>No driver unload. Lumpers.

20. Electronic logs? >>Yes

21. Allow pets? Fee? Is there a waiting period? >>Yes/No. Non refundable deposit of $750.

22. Allow passengers? Fee? Is there a waiting period? >>Yes/No. $15 per month when riding.

23. Is there a sign-on bonus? >>yes. $1000 after 30 days if have Hazmat

24. Is it possible to earn performance bonuses? If so, please describe >>Yes. Mileage bonus described above.

I appreciate the feedback. I had another chance to try this out today. 7 degree descent, 3 miles. Once again, the engine brake works everywhere else, but provided no stopping action on the descent. I made sure cruise control was off, engine brake was on, and set to high (40k load). I let it rev up to 1800 (per the manual) with no result. It would easily have keep revving up to 2000 and beyond.

I'm going to take it into the shop.

Question for experienced drivers: I've been driving my 2014 Cascadia for almost a year. I use the engine brake whenever roads are dry. I've experienced something a few times that I've been unable to figure out.

The engine brake works well, and I depend on it regularly. However, the times I've been on a descent of 7% or more, it doesn't work. And that's when I need it the most!

I can feel and hear when it kicks in, but for some reason going down a steep descent it doesn't seem to engage. Everywhere else, no problem. When I get to the bottom of the hill/mountain and I let my speed pick up, I can touch the brakes and engage the engine brake. But when I'm in 7th gear (for example), trying to keep my speed near 25 mph, no engine brake.

I've read the manual to see if I'm doing something wrong, but I didn't find anything helpful there.

Any ideas? I'd appreciate any feedback.

Thanks for the feedback.

I do work for them. I am not one of the OTR guys. I started out Regional and now run extended Regional. I stay basically in the Midwest and Southeast regions. I know a majority of their freight is in the Eastern half of the U.S. They do have a decent amount of freight that goes to Arizona and California. I have a buddy that does OTR. I can ask him for a more definite answer.

Taking a guess off the top of my head I would say 70/30 (east/west). Of the "west" freight I would say at least 75% is heading towards Arizona and California. Again, those numbers are just the impression I get from chatting with other drivers at our terminal. Deb R. Is another TT member that drives for Wolding. She has been driving for them a LOT longer than I have. Maybe she will hop on and give you a better answer.

I looked at the H O Wolding web site, and it says they do 48-state OTR. Do you work for them? How much of their freight goes/comes from the western states? I see there are drop-yards in Phoenix, Southern Cal and Washington.

I sent a note to H O Wolding recruiting asking about this and got a generic response of "OTR drivers cover east and west, but it depends on customers". I'm trying to get a sense of west/east: 10/90? 40/60? 50/50?

Not a good fit for me if it's 10/90.

With H O Wolding you can have an inverter installed, but they require you to have 4 months with them first. You can either buy your own or buy the one they sell, but the one they sell is on a timer :(

Hah! I grew up on a dairy farm, so I'm no stranger to work! (Milking twice a day, 365 days a year...).

Now, however, I am comfortable in my wimpy-ness. :-)

Flatbed ain't bad, put ya big boy pants on lol

I suspected that #4 was false. Roehl seems to be an exception among large companies in providing (for purchase) a nice inverter. It really makes a difference in the quality-of-life on the road. It shows a company is serious about the welfare of their drivers.

I am looking at moving to the 48 State OTR Dry Van division at Werner. I've had a great year at Roehl, but I want to cover all 48 states, and Roehl doesn't really do that (dry van).

I sent some questions to a Werner recruiter. The questions and his answers are below. The responses seem pretty good, but I would really love for a Werner driver to provide feedback. The guy I'm talking with at Werner seems like a stand-up guy, but I know that some recruiters can sometimes be 'creative' with the truth.

1. 48-state coverage for Dallas-based driver?: >>Yes

2. What trucks do you use?: >>Freightliner Cascadia, KW T680

3. Can I be assigned a Cascadia 'condo roof'? Works for my 6'6" height: >>All trucks are Condos

4. Are high capacity (1000 watts or more) battery-connected inverters provided or allowed?: >>Not provided, but you can use them.

5. APUs provided for bunk area?: >>Bunk heaters. Idle truck for A/C. Truck will idle continuously when temp > 70 degrees. No penalty to driver for idle-time.

6. What is the percentage of drop-and-hook?: >>90% or greater

7. What is the percentage of driver load/unload?: 0

8. Avg miles per week OTR dry van?:>>2800

9. How is home time assigned? Is it a strict rule, or basic guideline? >>6 days out, 1 day home. There is flexibility to work out home-time with your Fleet Manager as long as you're pulling your loads.

#1 true

#2 partially true, they also have Pete's and Volvos in the fleet

#3 for otr pretty much all trucks are condo yes. They did habe done baby bunks for certain accounts.

#4 not accurate. They do not allow battery connected inverters except under certain situations. Inverters that plug into the 12v plug are allowed.

#5 true

#6 I couldn't give you an exact percentage, but mostly drop and hook. Though you will go through periods that seem to be all live load.

#7 I've never unloaded a trailer. If you go to certain accounts they are 100% driver unload

#8 I usually average about 3k. The miles are there if you show them you can run them

#9 true