Pros
You will learn a great deal in a short amount of time. Full time job in the union right off the bat. They have a safety point program that is good. Safety is talked about, and safely doing your job is strongly encouraged.
Cons
Zero work life balance, which they will call "opportunity for overtime". You will work 80 hours a week; the dispatchers and managers will get their 2 days off a week, you will not. Managers/dispatchers/executives/owners wages and benefits have steadily increased, while the drivers have decreased. Old trucks make up most of their fleet, and they are not equipped for Alaska. The warehouse has been thrashed, example, most of the dock plates do not work correctly, the forklifts scales do not work. The drivers are viewed with contempt by the the dispatchers. There is no training, it is sink or swim. There is zero communication among the dispatchers, example, drivers are sent to pick freight that has already been picked up by another driver, or we are sent to pick up a trailer that has already been picked up, or make a delivery that has already been delivered, etc. The dispatchers do not make telephone calls/send emails to customers because they rarely get a timely answer back from the customer, and visa versa, so the drivers are sent to customers to pick up, or deliver and the customer is not ready, or does not have the right equipment to load or unload the freight-you can end up going to the same customer 2, or 3 times before the transaction is actually completed. The dispatchers are not given complete information by the people taking the messages(and the people taking the messages are not given good information from the customer because the person making the call is not the person who is actually handling the freight) , so you most often don't know what you are going to pick up.
