Question:
Hello,
I am going to go to a community college in Alabama and get my cdl. I spoke to the terminal manager at Con-Way Southern Express and he said they hire inexperienced drivers. From speaking with two of there managers it sounds like a good paying job and benefits. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Have a great day!!
House Shoes

Answer:
Im guessing you are talking about the apprentice program. Now, I work for CCX, which is run by a totally different group of folks, however I believe the program is the same. Depending on the type/size terminal you apply to, you will spend up to about 6 weeks working the dock, after which you will be evaluated and reccomended for driver training. You will be placed with a trainer for a predetermined period of time, and then take your road test to get your CDL. I believe you only have one shot at the test. If you pass, you then get offered a spot as a flex driver, which basically means you will still be doing mostly dock work and some driving whenever there is extra freight that needs pick up or delivery. After 3 months you become an associate, and more driving opportunites will become available.
I can say this much, Con-Way is a great company. Yeah, it's hard work, so dont expect to find any couches in the drivers lounge like at some other carriers. But the benefits are great, the trucks are no more than 9/10 yrs old, and from having worked at several other carriers over the past few years. i can say I feel very certain that I have found a good carrier that I can stay with until I retire.
Best of luck...

Answer:
I worked for two different terminals with Conway Western Express... Missoula,MT and Salt Lake City,UT. Here's my experience with them:
Missoula started out pretty good, had a linerun to Butte 130 miles each way. Would work on the dock in Missoula for about an hour then in Butte for 3-4 hours before heading back. The NEWEST truck had 350,000 miles on it, the average though was close to or over 1,000,000 miles... yes you read that right... 1,000,000 miles!!! Didn't mind it though. Then was put on P&D run. I was only getting about 24 hours a week and saw no changes in sight.
Tranferred to Salt Lake City, again, things started out pretty good. For the first month was getting good lineruns: Beaver,UT, Carlin,NV, Burley,ID, Pocatello,ID, and Wamsutter,WY. But then they hired a bunch of new guys behind me and my whole world changed. I ended up working on the docks 3 and 4 nights a week. They have NO set schedule, you're expected to be in with 2 hours notice no matter what time of day or night it is as long as you've had at least 10 hours off. I'd get stuck working the dock and guys with less seniority than me kept getting the good lineruns (which pay a heck of lot more than working the docks). Yes they work your azz off, and they give you nothing for it but a paycheck! To Con-way, drivers are just a piece of equipment just like a forklift or pallet jack! At Con-way you don't even have a real job description, you're just expected to do whatever they want whenever they want you to do it. Drive linehaul, drive P&D, work on the dock, empty trash cans, whatever... they expect you to LIVE Con-way. One Friday I was told I'd probably be working Sunday night about 9pm. I got off Saturday morning went home and went to bed. Expecting to work Sunday night I cut my weekend extremely short by going to bed Sunday afternoon. 9pm rolled around and they hadn't called, when I called in I was told they didn't need me after all. Couldn't go back to bed so stayed up till about 2am. Got a call at 3am saying they needed me ASAP. Told them that I hadn't slept and would be too tired to drive, but felt good to work the dock, was told that's all I was going to do anyway. Got up and went in, worked on the dock till 1pm and when I was getting ready to punch out (after working all night without a lunch break) was told I had a P&D run that I needed to do first. Reminded them I hadn't slept and was too tired to drive, was told that I NEEDED TO MANAGE MY SLEEP BETTER!!! How can you manage your sleep when you don't even know when you'll be working?!?! This was not a one-time thing either, it happened like this almost every weekend! Take a close look before considering this company, they hire young inexperienced drivers and managers... why, because anyone who's been in this business a while knows better!!!
I no longer work for this hell-hole and would never advise anyone to even consider working them! [/b]
Answer:
Oh yeah... how much do they care for thier drivers...???
The majority of thier trucks are Ford Aeromax or Sterlings... they have NO fuel guages, no radios (not even AM), no trailer brake valve, no keys for the ignition (most of them use a toggle switch), some of thier trucks still have air-starters on them, the average truck from what I have experienced has nearly one million miles on it... the most uncomfortable seats in the world (lowback seats), the older trucks have a manually locking differential, but the newer ones do not even have that (ever try driving a single drive axle truck with an open differential pulling triples in Montana in the winter??? fun...). They build thier own trailers reusing axles from retired or wrecked trailers, how many companies nowadays can you name that still use wedge-brakes on some of thier equipment?
Doesn't this just sound like a company that respects thier drivers and cares for them?
By the way, just so you know I'm not new and uniformed... I've been in this industry since 1988 (new compared to some of you oldtimers though), have been in every position from hostler to terminal manager and worked for several companies. So my opinion is fairly well informed, not just some newbie learning the ropes, yes I made a mistake going to work for Con-way and had made that decision after reading some of the posts on this website, but I hope that I can at least give others a fair perspective of what they'll be in for or at the very least another opinion from somebody who's been there...
Answer:
The conditons at Conway differ from terminal to terminal,division to division.
Which is a problem concerning opinions,keep it mind when making decisions.
Contact the Drivers from the facility you plan to work.
Answer:
xx

Answer:
I dont quite see how driving a Ford/Sterling no more than 10 yrs. old proves that a company doesnt "care" abour their drivers?? The terminal I work out of, the oldest units are 95 L8000 city trucks, which are a hard ride, but are slated for replacement by mid-year. Plus, XGO just put forward a new policy to retire tractors based on mileage and not years, so after a 1,000,000 miles the tractor will be on the path to retirement. And every unit 2000 and newer has air-ride, traction-control and all the hookups so drivers can use thier own radios. And I dont know about Western, but CCX stopped using air-start in '97. And I havent heard anybody complain about the seating...every tractor has air-ride seating, and newer units have the better Bostrom seats with big arm-rests and smoother movement. Plus the tractors and trailers and even forklifts are washed monthly. Hey, if driving around in a 2004 Sterling with air ride, A/C, single-range tranny, trc-control, and a decent seat is not good enough for you, then why not go over to roadway or yellow and you can drive a nice 1985 GMC, or a 1983 Ford C truck with a bench seat???

Answer:
All the Conway SX drivers down here that I've talked to seem to like their job. I haven't noticed any really beat up trucks. Their day cabs and not the fancy OTR sleeper trucks some seem to prefere buit they are good for a day job. Jobs at Conway and some other places all come down to priorities.

Answer:
FedEx Freight will take you 2. Ok benefits and pay. But you will work you candy-butt off.
New equipment (KW's) though.

Answer:
Our conway trucks here are very new. Like New1-3 years. I almost went to work for them. I have 2 freinds that have worked there for years. They really like it and earn ok money.
Now, were I work at now. Most of our trucks have over 1 million to 3 million miles on them. The company buys trailers and they build their own. As they also build their own straight trucks.
Now, they take very good care of the equipment. No A/C, stereos work, but other then that. There is nothing fancy about the trucks. About half are air ride. The seats do suck. They are very bad seats. No lumbar support or they are jump seats with no AIR.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

Answer:
There's more to a job than the equipment to drive, when the management (at the terminal I was at...) treats drivers like $&*%, it doesn't help morale any to have to drive junk also. The traction control on the newer trucks still isn't as good as a locking differential, it simply applies the brakes to the wheel that's spinning through the ABS... Here in the rockies that can be worse than just an open diffential as it keeps applying the brakes alternating from side to side until it slows the truck to an almost complete stop. I have never had this happen to me, it has happened to quite a few of the drivers here. I wish I had been given the luxury of driving around in one of those fabled 2004 Sterlings... they must be pretty nice! Heck, I'd have been happy if they had just let me drive anything even half the time!!! Since, after all, I was hired to drive and my job title was DRIVER / SALES REPRESENTATIVE, not DOCK WORKER. I didn't mind working my fair share on the dock, but when I was on the dock 3 and 4 nights a week and brand new guys were getting great line hauls 3 and 4 nights a week, that's B-S! When I used the supposed "open door" policy to talk with management about it, I was told that they would use whoever they want for whatever they want and their concern was if they didn't give the new hires enough miles that they were going to quit... I honestly hope that not ALL the terminals are run like the Salt Lake City terminal, if they were, there wouldn't be anybody working there at all! And yes, I could see them wanting to work me on the dock more if I had an unsafe driving record or they had any safety concerns, but I've had no tickets, no accidents, no incidents ever and have 2 safe driving awards.
I'm not trying to sway everybody's opinions, I'm just telling my experience to give a well rounded voice of opinions from which to make a choice.
Answer:
When it comes to road drivers and LTLT drivers you have night and day.
Tell the ltl guy he has to tail gate all 15 stops that day no problem. Tell that to a OTR driver. They come up with federal marshal stories.
Many OTR types have no clue the rec is not resposible for unloading. Unless it is in the freight contract. The rec in many case's do not OWN that freight till it is placed or tail gatted to their dock.
When the carrier picks up the frieght. They take into their own property. That aint their freight. It is yours till you get it on their dock.
The biggest problem with OTR is the wait times at rec. The driver and carriers need to start getting on the shippers to get the freight off quicker. Not the rec unless it is a collect shipment.
I know most OTR folks have no interest in this. You all can keep compaing. While you comrads make some money. Figuring out how things are to be done per the contract.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

Answer:
Hey, I never complained about having to do P&D... ever. I loved doing P&D just as much as driving linehaul. I just wish they would have let me do it once in a while. I didn't even mind working the dock as long as I wasn't getting stuck on it all the time. I come from an LTL background, not an OTR background so you're kind of preaching to the choir. I just think the guys should get an equal round of what needs to be done. I've worked my fair share of 16-18 hour days at my job prior to Conway and NEVER complained, but Conway seemed unable to work me more than 6 or 7 hours a day! I don't have a lot of bills, but when I can't even pay what I have it's pretty sad and time to make a change. I'm staying in the LTL world, it's probably one of the best and most secure fields in this industry, I'm just not going to stay with Conway.
Here in Salt Lake City CWX has 91 drivers... in the past year they have hired 51 drivers... of those 51, 5 are still here. THAT"S SAD! But along with the drivers that have quit is also an Assistant Terminal Manager, Human Resources Person, a couple of Account Executives and 3 FOS's... Believe me, there's a major problem here at this terminal and I hope UGO is aware of it. I had sent an email to Kevin Hartman but felt nothing was going to change. They are giving Conway a bad name around here! I've heard the guys that had been here a while saying the motto here in Salt Lake is "BEAT THEM UNTIL THEY'RE HAPPY" and I thought it was a joke, but I don't think so anymore. Times have changed and drivers need to be treated as if they were actually some form of human being!
Answer:
You really want to make an OTR driver getting into LTL go nuts... tell him he has a set of doubles and will have to break them up and rehook them at each of his first 3 stops then pick up the empty pup on his way back to the yard...
That usually does it...
Answer:
Leo, Many OTR drivers go nuts once tghey find out they will be loading and unloading most of the freight.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!