New Job

I been accepted by Big M Transport...Orientation this week.

Congrats!!

Congrats Simon!

I don't think I've ever heard of that company. They have beautiful looking rigs, that's for sure! Says they have over 300 tractors so it's a nice size company. I'd be interested to hear how things go for you over there.

Good luck, Simon. I'm happy for you.

Colin

Thanks y'all....Ill let y'all know how it goes...Ill be goin out this Saturday...

Congrats!!

Congrats, Simon! My sister-in-law and her hubby both drive for Big M out of Blue Mountain, MS. They are both happy with their equipment, the miles they get, and the general operation of the company. Not a bad choice, I'm my opinion.

Congrats Simon!

I don't think I've ever heard of that company. They have beautiful looking rigs, that's for sure! Says they have over 300 tractors so it's a nice size company. I'd be interested to hear how things go for you over there.

Let me give you a bit of objective information about Big M. Not going to ***** about miles and whatnot. Just going to give some accurate information.

Pay:

1. New drivers start at 27cpm with a 10cpm per diem. Top pay is 45cpm last time I checked. There is a 1cpm safety bonus. It does not stack.

2. Drivers are eligible for a pay raise every 3 months. However, in order to be eligible for a raise, you must first have a minimum of 6 months experience.

3. Drivers are paid for all miles driven, whether empty or loaded

4. Drivers are not paid for all the miles they drive. Pay is from zip code to zip code. If you drive a bit out of the way to get around traffic, you will not be paid for those extra miles.

5. Pay is 2 weeks behind. When you first start, you will be paid your first check 2 weeks after that friday

Equipment:

1. The trucks do look great. The paint is a beautiful red color.

2. The trucks are governed at 65 on the pedal, 68 on the cruise.

3. All the trucks have automatic transmissions. With the exception of the ratty old yard truck

4. Drivers are unable to manually select gears.

5. All trucks have an exterior and interior facing camera.

6. Big M uses volvos, freightliners, internationals, and a few Macks.

7. Trucks are programmed for maximum fuel mileage, sacrificing pulling power.

8. Trailers are decent. Most have air actuated tandems.

9. Big M is good about maintenance and repairs on the road. However, this applies only to repairs that have to do with DOT regulation and drivability.

10. Trucks have speed gauge. Unlike most companies which are told only if the truck exceeds a certain speed, speed gauge will tell them if the truck exceeds the speed limit by a certain amount. However, many roads have updated limits and speed gauge will not be updated yet.

11. Trucks have APUs and thermoking engine-off air conditioning.

12. They advertise 3 year old or newer equipment. Some of their trucks are 4 or 5 years old.

Culture/Operation:

1. Most loads go to the northeast. Only teams will go west.

2. You can refuse to deliver to NYC.

3. Their biggest contracts are Cooper Tire, PCA paper rolls, and FedEx. However, there are many broker loads.

4. They fuel at Pilot/flying J, and a few Loves truck stops.

5. There is a shortage of trainers. Some new people might wait several weeks before going out on the road. This time is spent practicing backing on their range/drop lot in their yard truck.

6. They hire people with criminal records and at fault accidents.

7. They are very strict about spending only 10 hours in the sleeper. Even if you like to deliver while in sleeper to save your clock, or if you can easily make your appointments.

8. There is a pet and rider policy

9. Other drivers have little respect for big m.

10. You can route yourself to get around traffic or take a better route.

Tandems:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Tandem:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

Per Diem:

Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.

Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.

Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.

We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.