Recruiters

Hey all! It’s been a minute since I have posted. Things are going well and I am quickly my 1 year solo date. That is when my contract is up. I am not unhappy with my current company but want to look around a bit to see if I can find something that either keeps me closer to home or pays more money. In a perfect world, both. But I am in no rush to leave Ashley PNW (formerly Wilson). We are treated well and the pay is decent.

I have NO experience talking to recruiters in this industry. When I first started, I did a ton of research on this site and others, made one phone call and it was done. So to make a long story shorter, I am not sure if what I just ran into is typical in this industry.

I live in Las Vegas. I understand that we are a consumer city and have very little product being shipped out. I know that’s why plenty of companies hesitate to hire from there. One large carrier told me I could expect to get home once every 2 months. That doesn’t work for me. Then I found it. The Holy Grail. Or so I thought.

Company based in southern Utah. 125 drivers. 3 generation family owned and has been in business 75 years. Offers OTR , regional (I15 corridor with occasional jaunts to TX and Ok), and there’s even a couple salaried positions shuttling trailers from Las Vegas to Barstow and back. Only negatives I could find in reviews were “low pay” and inward facing cameras. I don’t care so much about the cameras (safety will want therapy and a raise if they see me nekkid lol) but let’s see how low the pay is.

I called their recruiter and got what I assume is the standard speech about how great they are, we treat you like family etc. Nice enough guy, but then he’s paid to get me to sign up. I asked about pay and I was told he couldn’t tell me until I applied, since he didn’t know which job I was applying for. Ok. Weird. But ok. He told me he wouldn’t request my MVR so my current employer wouldn’t know I was looking elsewhere. (I’d already told him I wouldn’t be available until at least late September because I wanted to finish out my contract and give 2 weeks notice) Ok. I sent in my app and an hour later I’m getting requests for me to approve requests for my clearinghouse and MVR. My thought tended toward the idea that they needed to know if I was hireable before they wasted their time. I approved them and called him back the next day.

I asked a few other questions I thought of and asked about pay again. He said with bonuses regional would be somewhere between 50-55 cpm. That’s around what I make now. But he will not tell me what the base cpm is, nor what’s expected to earn said bonuses. He will not tell me what the salary is for the local shuttle job. His response was “we go over that in orientation “. I asked if they pay practical miles or zip to zip. His response “ I don’t know but it’s fair”. His final parting words were “call when you’re ready to join us and we will process you in”. Umm you want me to quit a job and come work for you without knowing how much I can earn?

Is the unwillingness to discuss pay common in this industry? Am I being too sensitive? Or should I just drop it with this company?

He is either a poor recruiter or something is amiss in your scenario. If your really interested I would ask to speak with a supervisor or a terminal manager to get the information. If they won’t tell you what you are reasonably going to make I would pass on them.

Why not give your current employer a chance to adjust and meet your requirements of pay and hometime?

If you are doing well, becoming a top performer, they will likely do what they can to keep you.

That seems to be the trend now.

When I was let go in May I went on unemployment and had to talk with at least two companies a week. I did more than that and found I couldn't get a straight answer on wages from all but one (local job). I have a friend with this company, so knew how much they paid. We will see about home time as I'm coming up on my first time home, which is more important to me than pay.

Laura

Hey all! It’s been a minute since I have posted. Things are going well and I am quickly my 1 year solo date. That is when my contract is up. I am not unhappy with my current company but want to look around a bit to see if I can find something that either keeps me closer to home or pays more money. In a perfect world, both. But I am in no rush to leave Ashley PNW (formerly Wilson). We are treated well and the pay is decent.

I have NO experience talking to recruiters in this industry. When I first started, I did a ton of research on this site and others, made one phone call and it was done. So to make a long story shorter, I am not sure if what I just ran into is typical in this industry.

I live in Las Vegas. I understand that we are a consumer city and have very little product being shipped out. I know that’s why plenty of companies hesitate to hire from there. One large carrier told me I could expect to get home once every 2 months. That doesn’t work for me. Then I found it. The Holy Grail. Or so I thought.

Company based in southern Utah. 125 drivers. 3 generation family owned and has been in business 75 years. Offers OTR , regional (I15 corridor with occasional jaunts to TX and Ok), and there’s even a couple salaried positions shuttling trailers from Las Vegas to Barstow and back. Only negatives I could find in reviews were “low pay” and inward facing cameras. I don’t care so much about the cameras (safety will want therapy and a raise if they see me nekkid lol) but let’s see how low the pay is.

I called their recruiter and got what I assume is the standard speech about how great they are, we treat you like family etc. Nice enough guy, but then he’s paid to get me to sign up. I asked about pay and I was told he couldn’t tell me until I applied, since he didn’t know which job I was applying for. Ok. Weird. But ok. He told me he wouldn’t request my MVR so my current employer wouldn’t know I was looking elsewhere. (I’d already told him I wouldn’t be available until at least late September because I wanted to finish out my contract and give 2 weeks notice) Ok. I sent in my app and an hour later I’m getting requests for me to approve requests for my clearinghouse and MVR. My thought tended toward the idea that they needed to know if I was hireable bbeen efore they wasted their time. I approved them and called him back the next day.

I asked a few other questions I thought of and asked about pay again. He said with bonuses regional would be somewhere between 50-55 cpm. That’s around what I make now. But he will not tell me what the base cpm is, nor what’s expected to earn said bonuses. He will not tell me what the salary is for the local shuttle job. His response was “we go over that in orientation “. I asked if they pay practical miles or zip to zip. His response “ I don’t know but it’s fair”. His final parting words were “call when you’re ready to join us and we will process you in”. Umm you want me to quit a job and come work for you without knowing how much I can earn?

Is the unwillingness to discuss pay common in this industry? Am I being too sensitive? Or should I just drop it with this company?

Howdy, Miss Matter!

I've not been on Fb much; sorry I lost contact with you & your gang! (Man, girl.. you've got a following, bigger'n Tim & Matt's put together, haha!)

Have you looked at Sharkey? I really LOVE their trucks; my two favorite colors!! A guy we met 10 years ago at a truck stop, Derrick, is STILL w/ them. Says a lot, if you ask me. He's in the PNW, as well. Sharkey ... sharks are GREEN! . (Green & yellow DO make blue, though!) G'town.. look at that MACK, too!!

Still, agree w/G'Town. Is there NOTHING Wilson/Ashley can't do for you ?!?!? Don't know if ya know ScottieD67, but he's got a group on Fb and Y/T .. and recently went BACK to Wilson/Ashley ... and J.Reding is a hostler for them!! They're a cool gang, that group!! Scottie got 'booted' from an L/P with JCT awhile back, for creating videos, violation of Company Policy that they never could provide. He was upside down and had to pay $9K to walk away! (He too, began w/ Swift,and trained for them. G' may know him. Good guy!! After Christner f'd him...Went Wilson, flatbed, back to ... WILSON!)

So glad to see ya stop back, m'lady. Hope some of this helps! Sorry, no direct 'recruiter' experience to report, myself ... YET! I'm pretty sure I know where I want to start, myself... tho!

~ Anne ~