Estes | CBS (087)

[CbusTrucker]

Is anyone here from Columbus, OH? I had an interview today with terminal manager and was then sent out for a DOT physical and drug screen.
The position I applied for is a Combination Regional/Local driver. Will I be filling in for line haul and P&D, or just line haul? How many scheduled runs are there and to you expect to get more? How many extra board drivers are there? What is the turn-over rate?
I've heard great things about Estes and am really looking forward to working there. Hope to see you guys/gals out on the road soon.

Be safe

Luke

 

[Rollin]

Just curious did you ask the TM these same questions? What attracted you to Estes?

 

[CbusTrucker]

I didn't ask these questions, because I didn't think of them until after the fact. My mind was on getting the DOT physical over with. I probably should have wrote these down before I went in, I'll give you that.
Estes seems to me like it's one of the best companies to work for. It's financially stable and non-union. No offense to any union guys, of course. I have friends that work out of CBS and they like it. I like that it's a large, well known company.

 

[Frootloop]

That combo could mean you could do just about anything. If you're particularly interested in line haul tell your TM if he has any strictly linehaul you'd rather do that before you get too deep in the process. Not sure if anyone on the board is out of Columbus but you can't go wrong with E, they should keep you busy but you want to hire on in the particular category that you want to work in if possible. P and D, Hub, Combo, or Linehaul, they all have their own seniority board. However if you do hire on as combo, if you change categories, your combo time will go with you to whichever one you choose, which is unique from the others. Safe travels and happy trails out there.

 

[Elinehauler]

Combo you would be filling in as needed on both Road and city. Week 1 might be peddling freight locally during the day, home every night hourly pay. Next week your supervisor needs you to cover a Chicago night time run, covering that scheduled drivers vacation, mileage pay. If it is a layover, that's what you'll be required to do. The other guys already gave info on seniority in each type of work. Take the time as combo to really figure out what type of work you like more, what money you like more (Road pays significantly more), what time of day you want to be home, etc. Once you sign a schedule and it is awarded to you, all the time you worked as combo carries over to linehaul. If you then decide you're tired of pulling pups at night, and want daytime, guaranteed home daily, you start at the bottom of city board. Or, you can stay combo and work days one week, nights the next. It really all depends on what 087 needs at that moment. That's the mistake I see a lot of new guys make. They get hired as combo, hate the city. Sign a decent run in the middle of the year. January comes around and that run gets taken from them by a senior driver. Cut runs on said year, you now have to run the schedule nobody wants and or extra board. Then they either quit, or go back to city(if there's an opening). You now lost all the time you could of had in city if you would've just stayed combo or bid city to begin with.

By the way, there is daytime linehaul runs, some are turns, some are laydowns. I don't know what runs or how many are available at 087 but I do know it's a break bulk so there is probably plenty of options.