Expedite companies in Canada - information

[Bigslick]

Ok Guys I know there are alot of people that want to know about Adco Logistics out of Mississsauga so here it is. (as much as I know anyways)

I have been with Adco for 1 year now and am looking to make a change as soon as things pick up. The pay rate for a straight truck is 1.57 pm but that is only for loads going into the states,and They pay you 75% commision for all loads coming back into canada. The catch is that they do not show you invoices for the return loads. So you never know what the actuall billed amount is. right there thats a problem because it gives them the ability to pay you what ever they want and you just have to take there word for it.

There fuel surcharge was non existent untill a few months ago, drivers kept complaining so they had to implement one. Its still pretty low compared to the others out there, i think around 8 cents for a straight truck. There insurance is 800 a month and qualcom is 100 a month. They never paid any empty miles the year i have been with them, but dispatchers have told me that they are going to start, but no one in dispatch knows how much or how it works.

One of the biggest problems i see with these guys is that all drivers are on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week, which is in my opinion stupid. and trust me they will call you at all hours of the day and night.

Another problem is that they say they have no company tucks which is not true. a couple of dispacthers who are related to the owner own several straight trucks. If its slow who do you think will get the better loads??

The only good thing about these guys is that you can run 24/7 they really dont care. if you wanna drive 20 hours a day thats up to you.
They always have return loads usually before you even get to the destination. You will make money with these guys but im confident you will make more with someone else.

I can go on and on but whats the point, When I first started expediting people on this site were very helpful to me and I just wanna do the same. Hope fully you can make an informed decision with the info i provided.

[kree8ive]

Bigslick, thanks for the info about Adco. I don't know why I didn't pick up on it before, but I suddenly noticed last week that the rates Adco shows in their recruiting ads say "To USA From Canada". This begs the obvious question, how much do they pay coming back to Canada? It doesn't seem like there's a definitive answer to that question.

I have an old Adco recruiting ad from a few months ago that shows a mileage rate of $1.15-$1.20 per mile for straight trucks and then lower down says 75% commission for straight trucks. I assumed that you could choose whether you wanted to run on the mileage pay system or the percentage pay system when you signed on. Their newer ads show a higher mileage rate ($1.57 for straight trucks) and make no mention of commissions.

When I spoke to Adco in December, I was told they paid $1.57 per mile for straight trucks and wasn't told anything about a different rate for return loads. I specifically asked about empty miles during that call and was told you get $0.75 per mile after 50 miles. When I called back last week, I was told $1.65 from Canada to USA, $1.10 from USA to Canada, and $0.60 for empty miles.

Now Bigslick has told us he was getting $1.57 per mile from Canada to USA and 75% commission from USA to Canada with no pay for empty miles. I'm guessing the $1.65 figure I was told last week is $1.57 plus $0.08 fuel surcharge. What about the $1.10? Are they replacing the 75% commission with a mileage rate for return loads? Or is $1.10 an "average" of what the 75% commission works out to? Who knows? It sounds like they're going to implement empty mile pay, but as Bigslick says "no one in dispatch knows how much or how it works".

He also brings up a good point that you never really know whether you're truly getting your fair share on a percentage system since you never see the invoice showing the freight rate. It all comes down to trust I guess. From what I've read, percentage pay was the norm in the trucking industry until the 1980s when a lot of guys started worrying that they weren't getting an honest share of the pie. Now, most of the industry has transitioned to mileage pay. It removes the suspicion and might make your budgeting a little easier, but it also eliminates the chance to "cash in" on a more lucrative load. Personally, I wouldn't mind a percentage system as long as the rates were high enough to keep my slice of the pie respectable (and competitve with mileage rates from other carriers).

As for being on call 24/7, I guess that's the nature of expediting. It's not something I've ever had to deal with in the truckload end of the business where things were scheduled in advance.

Dispatchers owning trucks is a concern for me because there is definitely a chance that their trucks will get the better paying loads. Adco's recruiting ad says "guaranteed 8000 miles" for company drivers (I assume that's per month). Is that the company drivers in the dispatcher owned trucks? Is there a guaranteed minimum mileage for owner operators? Apparently not.

As for me, I never did get all of my questions about Adco answered but I've basically been turned off by the effort of trying to get the answers from them. Their ads say "Contact Graham at 647-...". Every time I got him on the phone he said he was "too busy" to talk to me and I should call the other number and talk to David. I would try that and get David's voicemail. Between David and Graham, I left about a dozen voice mail messages between November and January and neither of them returned a single call.

[kree8ive]

I finally got around to calling Roaring Express last week too. They pay 64% commission and the fuel surcharge is currently about 7% to 8% (fluctuates with fuel prices). They pay the insurance, license, and the bridge toll at the border but you have to pay the $100 per year customs fee. That's the first time I've heard that one, but its chump change compared to the license and insurance costs.

The guy I spoke to said their trucks average about $100k per year in gross revenue and don't have to run a lot of miles to do it. As mentioned by Bryan in a previous post, Roaring Express is based out of Windsor and runs a lot of freight in the corridor between Detroit/Windsor and Toronto. They also do short runs from the Windsor area to Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.

They're currently looking for 3 ton and 5 ton straight trucks in the Windsor area. He wasn't sure if they had demand for another truck in the Toronto area right now because most of their freight is Windsor based. He also said there's not much difference in revenue between the 3 ton and 5 ton trucks.

I also called back TST Expedited last week to ask about their average revenue. I was told tractor trailers averaged $90k to $110k in 2005 and the best earned about $120k (they're pushing for tractors right now, not straight trucks).

[kree8ive]

I had a meeting with Dynamex in Cambridge recently and came away with a few more tidbits of information for those interested. They give a nicely detailed sheet breaking everything down. The key points: paid 69% of gross which works out to $1.28 to $1.73 per LOADED mile depending on the load. (Empty miles are out of your pocket). There is a floating fuel surcharge and the formula used to calculate it uses a baseline price of 48 cents per litre. Average income is $120k per year, high income is $160k per year. Straight trucks average 101,000 total miles driven each year (loaded, empty, repositioning). Insurance is $642 per month, satellite fee is $115 per month. They pay for the base plates, you pay HUT. WSIB is paid by Dynamex. You pay your own tolls. Optional group benefits are available. It seems like a good company and their pay package looks competitive.

[sunshine to all]

sunshine to all: Ontario vanman living in South Dakata are you still operating for dynamax and if so can you give me info on working for them. Like can you make a living on their base rate for a cargo van? Thanks :)

[simon says]

I live in Detroit, drive a D' unit, and I just saw this posting/thread today. I will tell you what ADCO told me. At first they were somewhat interested in a US based driver, then not taking any trucks on. The fellow Ravi is about the most uninterested person you ever want to talk to. Most recruiters want you to be attracted to their company, not turned off.
RJR may run hard and long as well (but I'm not to sure their tractors are going too well). Panther does run a lot of Canadian freight, but I doubt you would be happy with Landstar. They have no tractors in the expedite side.
RJR and most CA companies seem to not care much about HOS... except for Dynamex. They want straight trucks, but their vans and D's must be all WHITE.
If you know anything else about RJR, send me a personal note.

[Shah786]

i am looking for a job as owner operator(straight truck) and i live in Brant ford Ontario Canada could some one point me to wards a good company to work for.i don't wanna cross the border as i have small kids at home all help will be appreciated.

[samchap]

I found this website

Expedite Carrier.com

[dean07]

i would stay away from the following companies, cause i worked there and know what they are about, ROARING EXPRESS, reason i left there is that they say they will pay you 67% of the load, when you ask what the load grosses, they will never tell you, and i did the same trip to the same destination 3 or 4 times, and my price got lower with each delivery, lol, umm he is a thief.. ELITE MESSENGER, they are even bigger thieves then roaring, i will leave it at that. CTX, just look at my threads about them, HORRID!!!!, i AM HEARING THAT FOR THE BIG TRUCKS THAT TST will keep you pretty busy!

[pjjjjj]

I found this website

Expedite Carrier.com

Hmmm, owned by EO!

[pjjjjj]

i am looking for a job as owner operator(straight truck) and i live in Brant ford Ontario Canada could some one point me to wards a good company to work for.i don't wanna cross the border as i have small kids at home all help will be appreciated.

I think they're all basically the same, everyone complains about all of them, for the most part. Take your pick. Oh, and as the good Col would say, your 'don't wanna' might get in the way with any of them.

[DesertHorse]

Hello Everyone,

I'm a D truck driver O/O been in business for 9 years, worked with TST for 1 year, it was Ok at that time, to make the money with them you have to be on the list for a while, I lasted with thompson for 6 weeks,there was no decent run at that time 200-300 mile,
After that I moved to ltl, its very hard work, been with current company for almost 6 years.
I always wanted to drive a cargo van really, and I'm thinking about it now again, I'm wondering if the cargo van owners can give some info on the rates and yearly earning, I'm interested in Dynamax out of Cambridge, if anyone has any information.
Thank you so much

[Highway_Man]

I was with CTX for quite a few years when I first got into the business but got tired of the way things were there. I joined a company in Mississauga about 8 years ago called All Canadian Courier. I have a B unit and I like the fact that I have a dedicated route that gets me home every night and gives me guaranteed miles and money, which is really important in a crappy economy. I couldn't imagine trying to make my living on running Chrysler freight now a days. I must admit I don't miss sleeping in the parking lot of the Detroiter for days on end waiting for my next load.

[cheech]

Hey There
I,m in Montreal,have been working at the same company for 23 years now(CanPar Transport) as a city p&d Driver with a 5 ton straight body on the same route for about 18 years.So last year I decided I wanted to start driving on the highway(no more delivering and picking up 200-350 parcels a day)
At the time I had class 3 license with air and manual,with this license I could drive anything except a coach or tracter-trailer.So I decided to upgrade my license to a class 1,so off to driving school I go.And oh man what a shock I got going from 6 speed to 10-13 speed and 30 ft to over 70ft.It took some getting used to but I got the hang of it.Anyway so I pass everything and now I have my class 1.This is a unionized company so I have to wait for a position to be posted so I can bid on it and hope someone with more seniority does not out bid me.Well that was a year ago this week and still no highway job..I have had this licence for a year now and I did one trip Montreal to Larado texas and back with a buddy of mine in June when I was on vacation I drove about 1800 miles of it,the trip was 4250 miles.I loved every minute of it.But if I had the choice I would still rather drive a straight body,I guess cuz I'm so used to it after all these years.So about 3 months ago I started looking at other companies,And all I keep hearing is(YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH HIGHWAY EXPERIENCE)Two companies told me they would put me on the waiting list for driver training program,YANKE AND CHALLENGER MOTOR FREIGHT.These are the only two where I live that have this program. What a catch 22 situation, 23 years driving but with the wrong license.So last week I stumble across this web site FEDEX CUSTOM CRITICAL.So I called them the guy tells me the same thing (NOT ENOUGH EXPERIENCE ON THE HIGHWAY).He said if I was willing to get TDG CERTIFED and a criminal search done(WHICH I DID THIS WEEK) he would pair me up with another driver cuz out of Montreal there are only tractor-trailers and no straight body trucks.There are a lot of Expedited Transport co in Montreal but they all have tractor-trailers.Mostly all of them in Canada are in Ontario.Is it possible to live in Montreal and drive out of Ontario and bring the truck home when I'm off duty?
WOW WHAT A STORY.
So any help or advise from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS:
CheeCh

[finbar73]

just some canadian names to research mostly out of Mississauga.Over the road,DJA,PACEX,JUST RUSH.the recruiter at over the road was pretty straight forward with the info.and I have not heard to many if any bad things from drivers at dja.sorry for the lack of detail but just a few more ideas company wise