Question:
Well, I did this for tankers and now I'm going to do it while I'm here at Shaffer Trucking (hopefully for a very long, long time!). You know, the nice blue trucks with the reefer trailer that has a puffin (NOT A PENGUIN!) on the back. For those that don't know, here's some basic info for ya.
-We are a refridgerated carrier out of New Kingstown, PA that runs 48 states and Canada.
-Average dispatch for National fleet drivers is about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks out, with 2 to 3 days in (not counting the day you get home or go back out).
-We have a Northeast regional, Southeast regional (currently full!), and a Midwest/East Coast regional fleet. These drivers get home on the weekends.
-We have between 750 to 800 trucks and 1,400 to 1,500 trailers.
-We can and will pull Sunflower and/or Crete loads if necessary to keep drivers moving. Layovers seem rare with this...
-We seem to be one of the top carriers for Hersheys, Pillsbury, and Mars/M & M's.
-We have contract lumper services set up for some of our accounts, and regular lumpers are covered 100% if you choose not to unload yourself.
-Will accept students from a PTDI school or a school with an acceptable curriculum (I think the course has to be 160 hours AND approved through safety).
-Training is ( weeks long (shorter if you have some prior OTR experience up to a full one year), pay is $400 weekly, and if the student signs the unloading paperwork with his/her trainer (if you ever unload) they split the unloading pay.
-Starting pay following training is .32 for the National fleet (what I'm in) and Northeast regional fleet; .34 at a year's experience; .01 increase up to .40 at 7 years. Subtract .02 for the Midwest/East Coast regional and Southeast regional fleets (I believe the Midwest/East coast and Southeast regional fleets top out at .3.
-If I either choose to OR have to unload freight, I will get $35 for a straight pallet jack pull off, and the greater of .04 per case or $75 for a full hand unload (a minimum of $110 for a 40,000+ lb. load but I have to touch EVERY piece of freight...WHEW !)
-Holiday pay of $50 for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's (after 6 months).
-Layover pay $65 (after 24 hours).
-401k eligible after 3 months (you can put in up to 15% of your gross pay, and the company only matches 10% of the first 5% but...)
-Company also has a profit sharing that you become enrolled in after a year (Crete and Sunflower have this also).
-Orientation is (2) days long, and the company covers the transportation, lodging (one person to a ROOM unless you're husband & wife), lunch, and dinner while there.
-Load select dispatch allows you to choose what load you want depending on your unload area AND available hours-of-service.
-We do run teams, preferably husband/wife and with a year's experience. Inexperienced teams start at .36 split.
-ALL equipment is 1999 and newer ('98s getting traded in now) Freightliner Century Class equipped with 430 HP Detroit, 10-speed tranny, 70" condo double bunk sleeper, cruise, jake, opti-idle, 65 mph, pre-wired for CB.
-In my opinion, a great benefits package AND rider program.
Now for my personal experience in the past week since orientation... After leaving C.T.L. Shaffer provided me a rental car for my drive from Jacksonville, FL up to New Kingstown, PA, and reimbursed me the gas cost coming up. I got up there and checked into my room (not shared with anyone else!!!) at a fairly nice hotel (Appalachian Motor Inn). Orientation was cut and dry. Shaffer wants their drivers to be as productive as possible while staying LEGAL. Lunch wasn't anything fancy, but a foot long sub with a bag of chips was plenty for me. Dinner was your choice at the local Bob Evans with an $8 meal voucher. Yeah, I had to put in a few cents of my own but I'm not a small eater! My trainer is a NE regional driver. I appreciate that because my exposure to this area is limited to two trips to CT and a ton of NJ. A note about Shaffer's training program: the trainer must be in the jump seat at all times while the student drives. Read that again. He/she CANNOT be in the sleeper with the trainee driving, and the policy is for the student to do ALL driving and backing. The trainer must also have a minimum of (5) years OTR, (3) A.T.A safety awards, and at least (1) year with Shaffer. The trainer must also be recommended and approved through A LOT of staff personnel, many of which are former drivers themselves. That is another aspect of the company I greatly appreciate; having personnel that have lived and understand this lifestyle.
We went out Wed. night to Enfield, CT for a live unload at Martin Brower (McDonalds distribution). Drove to Deerfield, MA for a d & h (drop and hook) at Caines Pickles. Went to Philly, PA for a live unload at Betty Inc. Proceeded to a Pillsbury warehouse in Oglesville, PA to d & h our load going to RI Monday. Is this different than tanker? Oh yeah! Is it as bad as some people make it out to be? No, and doesn't seem to be headed that way after listening to my trainer and numerous other drivers at the yard (and the many I spoke with before coming here). Bumping docks seems easy; did tanker involve that much more effort to back up into a spot? It sure seems like it! I really do like the attitude shown to me by the personnel here, and I can say that everything recruiting told me has shown true so far. The only thing remaining to be seen is the dispatch and hometime every 2 1/2 to 3 weeks due to living in FL. Give me another week and a half after I get released to solo. More to follow... :
www.shaffertrucking.com
www.cretecarrier.com
[This message was edited by Cyanide on December 02, 2001 at 14:17.]

Answer:
Nice to see your doing OK , I have run with shaeffer trucks a lot , so far nice bunch of guys.

Answer:
Gotta wonder: Could this be advertisement? It's apparent this place is never going to change....then again; why should it? It gets the clientel it deserves.
Bette Midler

Answer:
This poster just does a fine job of including alot more of the details that some people may find VERY interesting. The tanker thread this poster started with are also quite well done.
Some newbies are interested on what actually goes on and what they can expect from someone who is going through what they soon will be hoping to do themselves....
Great job Cyanide! (I still like the tankers best though )
Fozzy
The snake that cannot cast its skin perishes. So too with those minds which are prevented from changing their views: they cease to be minds.

Answer:
Cyanide,
good luck and after a while that reefer will lull you to sleep.
let us know your tractor # so we can be on the lookout for you,it's the dock thing ya' know

Answer:
A company that seems to care about safety; good training plus governed apparently well maintained trucks.
Been around Gordon Trucking alot lately{buying a truck next door} and they seem to care too.
A buddy of mine trains at May and he thinks the same of them.And I'd sleep behind him like a baby.
Dont have that confidence in anyone else and if He'll train for them that tells me they must be at least ok cuz he dont need the $$ or agravation of training

Answer:
Fozzy...
Thanks for letting me know that I'm not posting the wrong way, and for the compliment about tankers. Now, what was so much better about that thread than this one ? I do want to make this as informative and TRUTHFUL so that others have good info if they're curious about getting into something.
NY Redman...
Nice to hear from you again. The first night out, I think the reefer actually helped put me to sleep. Maybe the noise helps since I'm used to a lot of it (when I deployed on the squid's taxi-I mean the aircraft carrier-my unit always seemed to get the berthing space under the catapults or landing area). But no problem sleeping, even with the opti-idle function kicking on and off through the night.

Answer:
About reefers...
The last part of orientation covers how to operate the reefer unit. If you are like me and come in not knowing anything about them, you will at the end of this class! Though we still have quite a few of the older (NOISY) units, the company eventually plans to have 100% "Whisper" models...NICE!!! These are units that are extremely quiet; I can't hear it with the truck running and in my opinion, this unit is a lot quieter than an idling truck. But, even the old ones don't bother me a bit (see note in previous post)

Answer:
Your posts are pretty much read like a journal, the good the bad and the stuff in between. Newfolks can read these posts and not have too many more questions about what you are saying...or what the life of the OTR driver can be like,,,
Fozzy
The snake that cannot cast its skin perishes. So too with those minds which are prevented from changing their views: they cease to be minds.

Answer:
This stuff is great!!!! Now this is what trucknet should be all about. Comming hear and hearing exp. and stories about driving. Being able to learn stuff. Not this other crap that has been going on in the RT...pissing and moaning. Keep up the good work

Answer:
Well, delivered this morning to Super Valu in Cranston, RI at 6:30. By 10:00 (A.M.) my trainer and I were finished unloading our trailer full of Eggo's, pancakes, and get this, "meatless" buffalo wings (?), with some extra cash in our pockets. We did have to pull everything off with a pallet jack then break it down, segregate it, and re-stack on separate pallets. Lumpers were very polite, even though we declined their services, as were the warehouse crew. None of the boxes weighed more than maybe ten pounds, and I can see me doing this more often for the "pocket change" ! Head out tomorrow to load a trailer of dry freight in New Milford, CT bound for "OK" Grocery in Pittsburgh, PA. I like the versatility of a reefer being able to haul both temperature-sensitive and dry freight. Endless possibilities...
Oh, a simple additional note about the equipment, it is assigned and goes home with you provided you have somewhere safe and secure to park it

Answer:
Hey gang! Well, after a small absence I'm back. Truck # is 82059 and even though freight has been SLOW for us lately I still love this place. Have been kept moving every day, even though some of the runs have been very short (will cover this in a moment). Only setback was having a load cancel in Tar Heel, NC last Friday which really screwed up the week, but things will get better. Have been getting three load offers on about every load (depending on time of day I get empty)...the earlier in the day the better. Lots of D/H loads and the live loads/unloads go fast. I'm usually in and out within an hour; two if the shipper/receiver is really dragging a**! It's nice when hiring a lumper to get the price, contact dispatch, and a couple of minutes later getting an express number for the comcheck. No hassles whatsoever...
A correction to my original post:
The Natl., NE regional, and Midwest-East Coast regional fleet all start and pay the same up to a .40/mile cap; the SE regional pays .02 less up to a .38 cap. Currently the SE is still closed (lots of happy drivers there) and I took the last FL spot...sorry!!!
The trainers are required to be in the jump seat for the first two to three weeks until he/she are comfortable with upgrading you so as to run as a modified team (I did this with my second trainer).
About the second trainer... My first one was ready to release me after the third day and after a week tried cutting me loose. Safety wasn't too happy with that! So I went with another trainer to get a second opinion and he did the same thing and managed to get me solo'd out before Christmas. Went home for the holidays, left out on Dec. 26th and got in yesterday afternoon.
Another little bit of info if you decide to come over here. Here's how long you would have to train as directed by Shaffer's regulations (all considering you went through an approved school):
T/T School grad only 8 mos.
0-2 mos. @ 6-8 wks
3-4 mos. @ 6 wks
4-6 mos. @ 4-6 wks
6-8 mos. @ 4 wks (this is where I fell in)
8-10 mos. @ 2-4 wks or less upon review
10-12 mos. @ 2 wks or less upon review
As for what I've done since Dec. 26th, here's the miles for each trip I've done:
828
800
575
344
616
504 + an extra stop
556
1051
More will follow as the adventures continue.
Y'all be safe and have fun !
www.shaffertrucking.com
www.comcar.com/ctl/ctlindex.cfm
[This message was edited by Cyanide on January 13, 2002 at 10:03.]

Answer:
If you come out of T/T school only you will train for 8 weeks, not 8 months as I mistakenly typed !
www.shaffertrucking.com
www.comcar.com/ctl/ctlindex.cfm

Answer:
I'll catch y'all in another three or four weeks. Time to go make some money! Heading out in a couple hours to Albany, GA picking up peanuts going to Mars/M&M's in Cleveland, TN. After that I'm gonna try to catch a Waco, TX load or possibly back to PA to IL or MO. Will have all my notes ready to post later. Be safe and have fun.
www.shaffertrucking.com
www.comcar.com/ctl/ctlindex.cfm

Answer:
What an adventure it has been, to say the least. When I left I was to head to Cleveland, TN but...that load was changed to Waco, TX and the fun began. Here's the trip miles from there to here...
Albany, GA to Waco, TX: 1035 (d/h)
Waco to Dublin, TX to Hershey, PA: 1581 (live ld & unld)
Hershey to New Kingstown, PA to Salt Lake City, UT: 2010 (d/h)
Salt Lake City, UT to Sumner, WA: 820 (lv ld & unld)
Sumner to Othello, WA to Manassas, VA: 2718 (lv ld & unld)
Manassas, VA to Mechanicsburg, PA to Temple, TX: 1770 (d/h, lv unld)
Temple to Dallas, TX to Doraville, GA: 916 (lv ld & unld)
Doraville to Kennesaw, GA to Kissimmee, FL: 501 (d/h, lv unld)
Had no problems with the exception of running through that snow in the Midwest. Didn't have to chain up, nor do I plan to. The one time I would have had I chose to keep pushing on, dispatch already knew how bad the weather was and asked if I would need the delivery appointment pushed back another day. So, I parked it for the night and the next day everything had cleared up. All runs on time as scheduled with no delays. It was interesting hitting those nice single-digit temps in South Dakota. Sent just a little bit of a chill through this Floridian's bones!
Back at the house until Monday morning. I'll be back on later...
www.shaffertrucking.com
www.comcar.com/ctl/ctlindex.cfm