First driving job, Meh (formerly Valley Proteins)
Pros
local and will hire a new driver. Lenant on violations such as abusing sick days or showing up late. Will work with you on scheduling (A common phrase heard is "Nobody Cares" or "It is hard to get fired") lots of OT if that's your thing. Learned the skills of backing in tight busy areas which prepared me for my next job.
Cons
pay is Ok but not up to starting rates available elsewhere. Job is gross(hauling condemned meat, offal, and spent restaurant oil). The company seems to always have clerical errors when potential new companies did background checks on me. They told one company my experience was driving a straight truck. Some new drivers hired end up driving a straight truck not getting the valuable experience needed to start a career as a Class A driver. (especially those with gear restrictions). Always felt like the guys who stayed were stuck and those that cleaned up their records or had clean records left. Equipment is older(in my case as a new guy) and the trailers to haul in the dump bed did not have hydraulic dump arms. There was a hydraulic arm trailer that sat unused two days a week but was never allowed to be used by me(it was reserved for a senior guy). This required dragging barrels(200-400) pounds up on a lift gate, down a catwalk, and dumping manually with the potential for splashback (gross). Why these are even still used is beyond me.(they also have load pay drivers and grease trap drivers whose jobs will be different).
