Is It Better To Work For Bigger Companies Or Smaller Companies

Hello, I'm new to Trucking and I keep hearing from older drivers that it's better to work for smaller mom-and-pop trucking companies over big box companies. I currently work for Melton and I like the company's training and the pay is great too. I hear that smaller companies have fewer rules to follow and the pay is even better. Any advice?

Hello Jeremy and welcome!

Since you are new it is best to stay with your first carrier for a year. That should satisfy any training commitments (if Melton has any, i.e. contract) If the pay is good, your question doesn't make any sense. Smaller carriers are getting pinched even harder right now with freight rates being cut.

If Melton is keeping you moving your best move is to stay put. Many drivers new and experienced are struggling for miles/pay right now.

As far as "rules", what rules do you want to break? Breaking rules are usually predicated on a desire for more productivity or an immature driver or both. What rules exactly?

Every small company I have worked for and there has been five of them, don't pay as well as the bigger companies with 250+ trucks. For me, being a widow, and making more money than I have ever made in my life, I can accept the lower cpm.

As for fewer rules to follow, I about blew tea through my nose! HAHAHA It doesn't matter the size of the company, everybody has the same FMCSA rules to follow. I have a friend that worked for Swift for 13 years until his division was closed down where he was at. So he went to the company I was at hauling fresh beef and fresh pork in containers to the Port of Oakland every week. Old School started out with Western Express and did very well there but then moved to flatbed with Knight. He's been there quite a long time and does very well. There are a number of other drivers here that have stayed with their company for many years. That's what you need to do with Melton.

Most old timers that I know want to go back to the old days...no ELDs and no HOS. Life progresses and as drivers we have to stay up with the changes. I used to build computers, I like having an ELD. After my one small company got shut down by DOT back in February 2017, I vowed I would never drive for a company that didn't have electronic logs. Actually I run better with electronic logs and make better money than I did running illegal.

It doesn't matter what the name of the company is on the door, it's how well you work with that company.

Laura

Every trucking company is built on its drivers. Trucking is a very competitive business, driving a truck has little to do with what company you drive for (A Swift truck works the same as a Big M truck), so the "greener grass" over there is not such a big deal - even 1¢ per mile more. Larger companies will have more resources to keep the drivers "happy ". You have training from Melton that you would not get at a 6 truck size company.

As Mtn Gal asks, why do you want to break rules? The FMCSA regs are non-negotiable. If it's rules about ride-alongs and pets, smoking, etc., that may be a deal breaker for some, but the truck operation is pretty much set.

So three votes (so far) recommend staying with Melton.

Being new I understand you listening to older more experienced drivers for insight. We all have. Depends where your meeting them. Are they at your company, at truckstops, at customers, etc…

As with everything different folks have different opinions. This industry is very diverse as are the folks in it.

Sounds like your doing well at Melton. I have met several drivers over time driving for them and they were happy and doing well. The old saying “if it ain’t broke don’t try and fix it” comes to mind.

As for rules, we all work by the same ones as a foundation. FMCSA. The dreaded gov’t that thinks they have all the answers. Companies all have their own policies and are free to instill any policies they wish that meet and exceed the fmcsa minimums.

Bigger companies will normally have more restrictive policies than smaller ones. Reason is simple. More drivers and more chances something will go amiss. The bigger companies tend to do all they can to protect the drivers from themselves, which also protects the company.

Example is use of personal conveyance.

Big companies normally set restrictive limits well beyond what is legally permissible by fmcsa. It isn’t for any other reason than to prevent drivers from misusing it. Misuse gets the company in trouble with fmcsa.

Small companies usually just allow it as written by fmcsa. They can monitor and correct things much easier than the big ones.

Big companies have better benifits than small ones and is cheaper due to the numbers. Benifits such as health insurance is much cheaper per head when a company has 5k employees compared to 5 employees.

The economy has been very tough for along time now. Big companies are showing it in their earnings. Small carriers are either selling out or going out of business. Some of us are still hanging in, but it has been rough. Experts have been making predications when it will turn around for the last year. Guess what! They have all been wrong. Noone knows how much longer we are going to be depressed in this industry.

My vote would go towards staying put. Everything I know and see about Melton is positive.

I’m a “tweener”. I started with a mega company and struggled with a lot of things.

Now I drive for a company that has about 300 drivers and it has been a good fit, I really like it. Small enough to act like human beings are in charge, but big enough to provide a huge safety net for drivers. Their support network is outstanding and I can walk into the owners office just about any time and tell him what a great driver I am. lol.

I work for the largest truckload carrier in North America. But each terminal is like its own business having full autonomy on most decisions. I prefer it for many reasons including resources, equipment, solvency, consistency in policy, and opportunity to rise above the bulk of drivers.

With corporate policy, if you're smart enough and diligent, you can find systemic opportunities and exploit them, that doesn't exist at smaller companies.

But it really comes down to your conduct, performance and relationship with your dispatch and team. Even in a large company, you're still interfacing with a small number of people. How well you perform unlocks higher levels of pay and perks.

The question I always ask is "Have I maximized my earnings potential?" If I haven't, I might not be ready to leave.

I had a "gentleman" just today, try and talk me into thinking my Mega Carrier job pays exactly 💩 and how I would be sooooooo much better off as an o/o like him. Keep in mind, his truck looked beat to heck and back, and the trailer is from a company that I have seen some *stellar* examples of DOT violations from.

As stated, be VERY cautious about who you get information from. One of my female friends drove for Melton, and was mostly happy there. She left over I think it was glass?

I wrote an article about this subject:

Choosing A Truck Driving Job Part V: Comparing Large Trucking Companies To Small Ones

Trucking is a commodity service, which means the lowest-cost provider wins. In that scenario, the scale of your business is critically important because it can give you an edge in many ways.

For one, a larger company has more resources available to develop greater efficiencies. A large corporation has teams using AI and advanced mathematical models to determine the most efficient freight lanes to run, the proper fleet size, hedge fuel prices, haul the most profitable products and develop efficient pricing.

They also have the resources to purchase things like trucks, fuel, and tires in bulk, which gives them a discount compared to their smaller competitors.

They also have the resources available to provide services to customers that smaller companies can not compete with, like allowing the use of their trailers as storage at a customer's facility, parking numerous empty trailers at a customer for on-demand loading, and scaling up operations or picking up freight with little notice.

So, large carriers have a long list of advantages over smaller carriers. These advantages pay dividends to the driver, who often gets better pay, more consistent miles, and more opportunities with a large customer base and many different types of freight to haul to different regions of the country.

The old myth is that a small carrier will treat you like family, where at a large carrier you're nothing but a number. That's garbage, and was in no way my experience over the years. I knew my support team at the large carriers I worked for just as well as I did the small carriers. In fact, it's the large carriers that give out awards, have big picnics and outings for their drivers, and provide better services at the terminals like a driver's lounge, game room, showers, sleeping quarters, and more.

The next time someone tells you that small companies are the better place to work, really pin them down for reasons why. Ask for specific examples of why the smaller carriers are better. I've worked for companies from 11 trucks up to 6,000 trucks and everything in between. My best experiences were at the large carriers, which is why I spent the final six years of my OTR career at a large carrier, US Xpress.

Since we focus on helping new drivers get started, one fact about company size is that in most cases a new driver has no choice but the bigger companies. Why? Because smaller companies have no training program and thus they require a certain amount of experience. Smaller companies typically will only hire a driver with 6 to 24 months of experience.

Conversely, the mega companies usually have a training program that lets new drivers get their foot in the door. Some of them will bring someone on with just a CDLP.

My point is that for new drivers the bigger vs smaller company question is moot.