Question:
I have 4 mos exp w Stevens Transport and have decided to go w Jb hunt b/c of money, no way they would keep me out 8 weeks like Stev..
How are they to work for?
What can I expect at orientation?
I can back but nothing real tricky is there test a 45 or what?? Would like some insight on this..
Any help would be appreciated and the 62 govern does not bother b/c STrans was 65

Answer:
That backing test is pretty simple.
Once you are done with your drive test. You pull into the yard and they will find a spot between to trailers to back into.
How you set up for it is up to you.
Do not get to worried about pull ups. Two pull ups is the max. Dosn't hurt you anymore if you take 20 after the two. Just do not hit anything.
I did 5 years with JB and have no a bad thing to say about them. I think of going back every day.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

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Dont forget that when you are backing. To get out and look. its better to look and take the time then to hit something.
CRAZYCRACKER

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JB's very big on GOAL after you've done your backing set-up but before you start rolling back to the hole. BOL

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Just read the Jb Hunt manual. It will state and explain without question..Drivers financeas are not a consideration when giving out dispatch..They do not care about you.
Also, believe every single negative comment you have ever heard about JB Hunt, they are all true. Especially the low miles and sitting around for hours waiting on a load. You are not important and wasting your time is not important..Only their customers are important.
Also remember after sitting for 8 to 10 hours in a terminal that the local delivery they just gave you is because you owe it to them.. to do for free. Or as their drivers manual puts it. If you drop a load on the yard you owe them a delivery. They will hold you to it. So don't get mad like most. Just do it and love your job.
Don't count on the high miles. Things like "our fleet averages 2800 miles a week". No they don't and you'll soon learn that 2000 to 2200 is a pretty good week. Remember at JB more than anywhere the recruiters are liars.
Do not idle your truck unless it is 20 degrees or below outside. Your FM's performance pay and your weekly idle bonus depend on it. If you do get cold or hot and need to idle just ignore the nasty QC messages you get and don't call until the weather is moderate. They try as hard as possible to forbid any idleing.
Although impossible try as hard as you can to not MT at night or on weekends. Those dispatchers absolutely have no brains and do not care. Except if you make them mad, they will never forget you.
When your at a terminal do not look for the food line. It may resemble a homeless shelter but you must buy all your food and drink from vending machines.
When it's time for your truck to get a PM use the 4 boxes they give you wisely. You will have to clean out your truck and head to a motel to await a new truck assignment. If your lucky it won't take to long or you might even get one right away. I hope you don't mind cleaning other peoples messes, they don't do it for you.
If you don't mind doing alot of unloading with several drops their dedicated is pretty good. Although local drivers do even better.
Also do not believe one word when they tell you your back ground has been varified before orientation. it has not even been started. First words out of the orientations guy's mouth was "your background has not been checked". he went on to say "it doesn't matter who told you it was, it hasn't been so do not make friends in here because many will not be here when it is finished". Truer words had not been spoken. Please enjoy your hourly phone calls to the varifiers during orientation. You will have to call them repeatedly everyday to make sure your still good to go or if you need to leave. Orientation is just plain rediculous.
Good luck at Jb Hunt. A company I rate as one of the worst out there and a true homeless dwellers paradise.

Answer:
I don't know where you live, but hometime sucks unless you are on some dedicated route. Went to work for them and left Arkansas and went east, stayed east and stayed east for a few weeks, ask to come home, told sorry no freight going west, did some more favors and said any loads going west to the house, said nope sorry maybe first of the week, I had was gone over four weeks, I told that dispatcher that is okay, I know you suck at your job and as big as JB is you have freight going everywhere. I know you don't give a crap about me and my home time but I do. So now I will dispatch myself. Goodbye. I deadheaded from North Carolina to Springdale, AR and took their truck back. They asked me what happened and I told them, they tried to get me to stay and said some changes would be made. I told them that it was to late. I kept my promise, if I quit I will bring your truck back, that was in 2001. I left and went to work for a small company with about 75 trucks and been their ever since. Will never work for a big company again. NEVER.

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pete359...................I've read a lot of advice on this and other boards.........THAT MY FRIEND......is about the BEST advice I've ever read, on ANY board.........bar none.........NEWBIE'S, pay close attention to this post.........this person KNOWS what he's talking about, and speaks the Gospel........
Answer:
Thats a fact, the bigger the company the bigger your driver number and the less they care. JB Hunt will forget where you live and it's a good idea if you do also. They whill run you every where but there. East of the mississippi is the main thing for solos. Some teams and alot of O/O's and lease ops will do the long west coast stuff.
As i said, believe all the bad stuff you hear about them. It's going to be more true than false.

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One thing JB has changed is your home time is guaranteed now. You must set your home time 14 day in advance and you will get a comformation sent to your truck with day and time you will be off and for how many hours.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

Answer:

I can't agree more. The thing about it though, is that there is not many small companies who will hire a newbie. They require at least a year of experiance. If you burn a bridge with a big company, intentional or not, you probably won't get on with them and have no choice but go to a big company.
One question though, If a person has exactly 1 year of experiance, is he still considered a rookie or newbie?

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Capt.Kirk wrote:

It depends on what company you are driving for, Arrow out of Tulsa, OK will let you become a Trainer after 6 months.

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Typically, many of the mega carriers are running shorter hauls. Average 500 miles trips.
This is to keep drivers closer to home and get them home.
Running 500 mile trips on average, you may not get that many miles "every" week.
More time spent at the loading/unloading docks on shorter runs, waiting for loads from dispatch, etc. (your not "always" going to get a pre-load from dispatch) BUT, you'll get home more often.
If your running long distance, coast to coast, irregular freight routes, your not going to be home. You'll be out weeks at a time until they (dispatch) can get you home on a load.
Most drivers, especially new drivers, are under the false impression a carrier can "always" find loads going to areas where you'll be home.
WRONG!!!!
There are pros and cons on freight routes between short hauls and running long distance.
This is why many drivers at JB complain they're not getting miles. JB is a big company, JB can never promise any driver[s] they'll get plenty of miles every week running irregular routes on 500 mile trips

Answer:
Look if your going with JB, get into a DCS account. Dedicated nothing else, DO NOT go OTR. Simple, with any big company OTR is for loser's. Too many people trying to get loads equals a very bad situation.
Me, dedicated 80% of the time I leave at noon Wed from TX out to VA on Fri, head back to TX , home Sun morn or around noon. Half a day in D/FW somewhere on Mon. When I get home dispatch always will ask when do I want to go back out. They will tell me what they have coming out and I pick which run I want to do.
Hometime is day n a half to three days. Keep my truck. Comes to service of trk I drop it off in Dallas, bobtail another truck home, go back and pu my truck nice and washed.
My account was closed through out XMAS, truck and trl sat in my driveway from Dec 25 to Jan 3 didnt have to do anything. Was not forced to work on OTR or another account, bad part wasnt paid for it. Could have worked somewhere during that time chose not too.. No problem from dispatch.Took my week vac. Truck sat in driveway the whole time.
Terms are nice and clean so is the fuel isle. They do hate you to idle the truck, hate log violations, hate dinging up the truck and any kind of ticket or accident.. They hate chains, bad weather and split breaks. They hate bad attitudes if your going to run off at the mouth you better be correct.
They can be a good company to work for however its were you work for them that counts.
Now will you get a good job with them?? Who knows maybe not. This has been the easiest job I have had in trucking. That is I have no tickets, no company log violations, never missed a ld coming from the house, and no late loads. Dispatch knows that Im good at what I do, I see them in person every week, they do go out of thier way to make sure Im happy.. Will you luck into something like that??? Who knows.

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Alot of what everyone says is true here. You just have to remember that EVERY company has people that like them and people that hate them. I have been at JB for almost 5 years, and I have had good days and bad. I get home on my due date and the truck survice is done while I am at home so I don't lose time on the road. When it is done on the road I wa in and in in a few hours and didn't have to take anything out of the truck. Yes there were time I sat because there was one laod in an area and another truck had due home time they needed to hit. Didn't like it at the time but then when it was my home time I got the load and someone else sat. Seems fair to me. What you have to remember at JB is your fleet manager doesn't do much but monitor you, marketing is the one that dispatches, and it is basic, first truck empty is first truck loaded, unless there is a due home driver. You also have to remember that in all trucking companies it is the customer that driver the dispatchs, not what the driver wants or requests. The customer pays the bills. If the freight isn't there it then there is no loads, it is that simple. They do have people that spend all day everyday trying to find freight wherte a truck is. They don't just sit and way for the phone call. Recruiters, are like car salesmen, they are paid on commission. Be very specific with them and make them send promises in writing. Most won't but just make sure you do your homework. Heck call in and talk to a different recruiter and see if you get the same story. Find the company that will work best for your needs, stay with them a year. Talk to other drivers while you are out there. Most of them love to talk. Consider that first yeat still apart of training. After the one year go to the one that you rhink will be your permanet company and enjoy a great job.

Answer:
Dak1 is right about some things but way off on others. First the reason they do short to medium hauls has nothing to do with keeping a driver close to home. They do it because the loads pay better. Most of the time they pay a whole lot better. Then when they have drivers who spend time at docks not being paid or spend time in truck stops not being paid their net income is twice what a long haul ncompany could make. If the truck isn't moving they don't pay the driver. Combine that with short to medium hauls that pay them a buck or better a mile over what a long haul load would pay they come out far ahead in the long run. You the driver are expendable but their higher dollar loads are not.
The last part of what Dak1 said is true. They can not realistically promise a driver high mileage. But unrealistically the recruiters do it all the time. They love showing off the seemingly higher mileage pay and making statements like "our fleet average is 2800 miles a week". Of course that is complete BS because their not talking about the fleet you'll be on. They may not be talking about any fleet because I seldom met anyone who averaged that week after week. But ofcourse as with most bigger companies the O/O's have a much higher mileage average. JB like any company will pass on the long hauls to O/O's and let them wrack up the miles on their equipment. Why not, their running at a very low rate to begin with and JB can suck up the profits that are left over. They don't have to beat up their trucks with big miles doing cheap freaight. They let the happy Owner Operators do it.
Just remember, your finances at JB are not important, only their customers matter.
I still rate them as one of the very worst trucking companies there is to drive for.