Elite Expediting Extreme Micromanagment, Constant Monitoring, Unrealistic Job expectations, Low Pay, Poor Equipment, Poor resource Use Browns town, Romulus, Detroit, Michigan

Elite Expediting
Brownstown/Romulus Michigan

A little info about Elite expediting first:

Elite Expediting is a small family run company out of Missouri. The president is Bo Beaudin, the Recruiter is his father Bill Beaudin, the secretary is his wife and other family members make up various other office positions. Their only job is to haul Canadian bound expedited freight for Panther Expedited in Seville OH. The primary area they hire out of is the metro Detroit Area. They have straight trucks and are now expanding into Semi Trucks and are desperately/aggressively recruiting semi drivers that can cross into Canada. The pay is 40CPM, you are home daily, or worse case scenario every 2 to 3 days. Medical benefits are given after 60 days.

All I can really say is elite Expediting is a different type of company to work for with a different type of work atmosphere. It did not work for me but it might work for you.

The equipment is in "unique" condition. The semi trucks before I quit were in good shape but that’s only because they’re leasing them from AIM and as such have to keep them in good shape because they don’t own them and will be responsible for any wear and tear. The straight trucks they out right own and have done very little with them. As a semi truck driver you will be required to driver either the semi trucks or the straight trucks. It simply depends on what kind of freight is moving that day. The straight trucks only paid .32CPM and if you drive the straight truck that day, that is what you will be paid for those miles drove.

In regards to the straight trucks:One straight truck, the dashboard was taped together with duct tape. Another straight truck, both seats were completely torn and the metal braces and springs were exposed. Another straight truck, the seal around the windshield was worn out and as such during the winter months of January and February there was salt all over the dash board from where the windshield was leaking. You would be traveling down the highway, another truck would pass in front of you and you would actually feel some of the splash back from it hit you’re face as it passed in front of you. Another straight truck everyone nick named stinky because it had a strong smell of urine in it. Another straight truck had a strong electrical burning smell to it every time I drove it. If you get a chance, during you’re training orientation in Brownstown or Romulus, ask to see the trucks. I would have said to ask to see them during you’re interview but the turn over rate is so high there is no interview. If you can cross the Canadian border, they will hire you on the spot, over the phone or even through email. So the only chance you have at meeting the branch manager and seeing the equipment is during the orientation.

The orientation for Elite is held in Seville OH at panthers head quarters. You do not get paid for it and are required to drive there you’re self and pay for any and all expenses related to it. I was told if I make it a month I would be paid $100 for attending the orientation. However very few people actually make it a month. They either quit or are terminated. I was also told by a couple of drivers that worked there who did make it a month that they never did get their $100.You’re first paycheck takes 3 to 4 weeks and is only a one week or even a partial first week paycheck depending on how payroll fell that first week you started working for them. The reason it takes so long to get a paycheck is because you don’t get paid until the owner gets paid. After that you get paid weekly but you’re checks are 2 to 3 weeks behind.

In terms of PayThe straight truck drivers are averaging 1,200 to 1,500 miles per week. The semi truck drivers are supposed to average close to 2,000 miles per week. I don’t know because I quit after my first week.

They do not have prepass. All tolls have to be paid in cash by the driver. They do give you three $50 advances each week to cover tolls and weigh tickets. I believe it’s on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s. If it’s not enough you will have to pay for the rest of any expenses out of your own pocket. This also includes the U.S customs border-crossing fee of $10.75. I ran the Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York turnpikes to go into Ontario through Buffalo New York. The load I had, I picked up on the West Side of Ohio and delivered it to the Far East side of Ontario near Napane. I had to follow the route the computer gave me which took me all the way across Ohio. You are not allowed to deviate from the route the computer gives you (company policy) unless given permission by the branch manager. By the time I was done traveling the turnpikes the total was a little over $90, plus I had to scale the load. With the scale ticket the cost came to about $105. Under no circumstances will they give you another advance. So I had to kick out an additional $55 to $75 for each trip out of my own pocket. You are expected to budget for this out of your own expenses. They will reimburse you for any added expenses but it takes up to two weeks for it to be processed through payroll. If you don’t have a large sum of cash on hand, you won’t make it you’re first month working for this company because you will go broke quick because you won’t get you’re first paycheck for about 3 to 4 weeks.

One thing about the scale tickets. I was told they will only reimburse for scale tickets if the load is 34,000 LBS or higher. If I scaled the load any lower then this I would not be reimbursed for it. 34,000lbs is because this is the maximum legal weight on each axle. Most truckers know that a 34,000lb load, depending on how it’s loaded, the weight of the trailer, truck, fuel and etc, can easily put you over 34,000lbs on any axle.

I was told by Bill Beaudin during the phone interview I would get a credit card to cover tolls and etc. All I got was a COM DATA card, which only covers the bridge tolls going into and out of Canada. U.S customs and the turnpikes do not accept it.

The branch manager Will constantly called me all the time. Every two or three hours I was getting phone calls from him about something. Everything had to be approved by him. The man is a control freak and a perfectionist and wants to be in control of everything. If he could, he would manage the office and drive all the trucks. It would be a one man operation. You were not allowed to make any decisions on your own. All you were according to him and as I was told, was a driver. My job was just to simply "drive" and not think.

The logs are completely electronic. Normally this could be a good thing but they abuse it. They use the Qualcomm to monitor you constantly. Anytime the truck stopped for more then five minutes I would get a call from the branch manager "Will" wanting to know why I stopped. Anytime I was at the shipper longer then 20 minutes, he would call wanting to know why it was taking so long. Anytime I was at the consignee for more then 20 minutes he would call me wanting to know why it was taking so long. Normally most companies give you at least 2 hours before they start calling, not these guys. Most companies understand that the driver has no control over how long it takes unless they’re loading or unloading it themselves. All of the loads for elite were 100 per cent no touch. However whenever the branch manager "Will" called he would call and ask me questions in a format in which he was "fishing" for something to complain about. It was almost as if he felt I was some how at fault that it was taking so long.

The only week I was there I ran into an accident on the 401 in Ontario. I had to slow down and follow the flow of traffic at the speed that it was traveling at until I cleared the accident. Once I cleared the accident I got about 20 miles/minutes down the road and "Will" the branch manager called. He called me wanting to know why my average MPH had dropped below 60MPH and started complaining  and telling me this was a hot load and that I did not have the time to play around with it. I explained to him what had happened and even told him to call the Ontario Provincial Police and ask them if there was an accident so that he can verify it. He told me that was not his job and to get my ### moving.

Whenever my 10-hour clock would restart, no matter what time of the day or night it was, guess who was calling? It was Will wanting to know why I was not already at the truck waiting for my next load. There was no set schedule. You simply waited by you’re phone or the qualcomm waiting for you’re next load. It was supposed to be locale but it gave me the impression they wanted me to stay in the truck even though they gave me the option to go home every night and the option to decided when I wanted to work. I was informed by Will that if I took anymore then the 10 hours that was required for my break then I did not want to work and they did not need me. I have never been so tired working for a trucking company before.

The branch manager "Will" controls and micromanages everything. He’s confrontational and seems like he goes out of his way to find something to complain about. It got to the point at the end of the week that I would deliberately give him something to complain about so he would hang up the phone and leave me alone. He does communicate with you, but it’s not very clear or he will tell you one thing and if the owner Bo did not agree with it, it seemed liked he would some how find a way to blame you for it. To give you an example, most of the time they deadhead you back into Michigan once the load is delivered in Canada. The last load I delivered I had to stay out over night because I ran out of hours. I was told during the second orientation at the Brownstown terminal to ignore any loads that came over the qualcomm after completing my load and not to accept any of them because it was his job (WIll) to accept or decline them. He told me once the loads were delivered to dead head back to Michigan. That night he told me to deadhead back to Michigan once my clock restarted. Apparently some time during the night Panther assigned me a load that was supposed to pick up in Ontario and deliver in Michigan. I never got a qualcomm message and I never got a phone call. The qualcomm issue I'm guessing was because of the area I was in. I know when I worked for other companies sometimes it would act up in Ontario as well as Texas. Texas is even worse then Ontario. Why I never got a phone call from him my guess would be because he had been awake for four days straight managing the office duties and driving.

I worked for Werner Enterprises for a year and a half and worked for Swift for the last 6 months prior to working for this company. After two years of doing over the road I wanted something locale. Never in my life have I ever worked for a company that Micromanged it’s drivers the way these people do. No matter what people say about Swift and Werner, the one thing that neither one of those companies have ever done to me was micromanage me to this level. They assigned me a load and as long as I delivered it on time and never turned down a load, I ALMOST NEVER heard from them. As a result I have gone back to Swift.

Also something else. The companies policy is that "Will" or whoever is the branch manager, in the event another driver refuses or can not take a load for whatever reason, then "Will" or the branch manager has to take it. So between his duties as the branch manager he also has to deliver any loads that other drivers can’t or refuse to do. He is also only one of 3 drivers out of about 14 that has a HAZMAT license. So if a Hazmat load comes up, he almost always has to take it cause no one else can. The week I was there he had been awake for 4 days straight and had driven two of those days. I would not be surprised that if at some point or another, whether it’s him or another driver, Elite expediting is involved in some kind of a driver fatigue related fatal or non-fatal accident.

I don't know if the company is just simply having growing pains or if they just don't give a d**n about their drivers. As of right now, they have no semi drivers. All of them quit.