scooby109

Well here goes

Does anyone know anyone who does/has worked for them.

Latest issuse of truckstop magazine has a large advert for them, albeit throu and agency.

Not interested in the agency part of it, just company info. and yes i have looked at the their website.

kb33

Pretty sure its a non starter unless you use the agency think it costs around $7000

scooby109

Hi kb33

Did hear that, but figured if I am spending a grand on a trip in late jan, an email to the recruiter and then a call cant hurt. I may even just call at the office and present myself, whats the worst they can do tell me thanks but no thanks, hell wont be the first time the door was closed in the situation!!!

But, and this is the real point, I am unable to find anything further about them.. hence the post.

No point in knocking if they are dire to work for, but as no one post either here or on rival site... we all know who runs that one....

kb33

I think they are pretty good to work for , They do a lot of work for Walmart which can be a nightmare , I'm only going on what I have "ear-wigged" on the 2 way radio.

scooby109

walmart/asda!!! done work for them over here, so its prob the same... loads of waiting around with the big dif. you guys dont get paid by the hour... we do!!

looking at their site, the rates seem to be average

$0.37 base rate;
$0.02 per mile premium on all U.S. miles;
$ 8.00 paid per loaded border crossing event;
$30.00 paid for loading & unloading, including the first and last;
$16.00 per hour on all authorized work time;
$50.00 paid layover after 24 hrs without a dispatch or $50.00 paid resetting Hours of Service while on the road - No hourly remuneration;
$100.00 paid after completion of orientation;



any comments???

vickysteve

Bison will not talk to you unless you use there agency. They are a good firm to work for but the money can be low becasue they do a lot of sitting around waiting for loads, drivers in Canada are paid by the mile not by the hour. I know a few English driver that work for them they say its a good company with new trucks and trailers, all there yards have a drivers room with showers.

scooby109

well thats this thread ended no way am i gonna pay an agency to pass a load of forms around, esp as i will have done all the leg work for them.

As for showers etc, all well and dandy but its the low wages that pay for the twiddly bits in the yard shiny!!!


thanks kb33 and VickyandSteve

alandoug

I've contacted em & you're right. $7000 to earn $800 pw? One step back to make 2 forward? My calculator crashed - again.

Maybe I'm just a capitalist pig or plain simple. But with deals like this on the table, just why is Canada so short of drivers? Answer: press = on calculator.

They've got a recruiting drive in UK soon as Scooby109 says, be interesting to see the look on the guys faces when they're told £3500 (maybe more by then) to pay for paperwork etc... Plus flights.... Be left wiv a room full of dust.

koogar

I guess that's around 450 quid a week.
What do drivers make in the UK these days? Average I mean. Not the top jobs.
Been a while since I drove a truck over there.

alandoug

That is the average (£450). Mate of mine who runs 20+ trucks pays £580 GROSS if you run in on a Saturday morning, he won't have em running bent. That means you average 45 hours a week off at the weekend. That leaves em £470 net. Exchange is CDN$ 1.9=£1? So $800=£421.

Now granted your cost of living is less, but £3500 plus flights etc... Then you are going to have to settle abit which will mean you earn less initially. You are looking at a lengthy pay back period. If you called it £5000 for round figures, thats over 4 years at slightly over £100pw, which is a BIG hole out of £420 or £450. Now if you've borrowed the money.... Interest? That is why I say the figures don't stack up. Even if you're single & just want the "T" shirt, its a high price.

kb33

If that's a dig a me ? Well I too could post pictures of past and present
"toys " Road Bikes/ Dirt Bikes/ Super fast cars I've had em all.

But I don't feel the need to justify my reasons for wanting to come here and make a better life for myself and family, Because I've already done that and put the necessary graft in to make it happen, Something I'm not too sure you have in you to be honest. Soon as I read your first post on here I thought "This guy ain't cut out for Canada".

Until you have been over here and seen for yourself what its really like then you have really have no idea.

scooby109

At the Mo an average wage would be around 400/500 a week before tax.

Take an average of 450 then after tax its roughly 380/390 a week and thats to be home every night!! obviously night out money is extra.

Where I live ASDA/Walmart has a depot,,, 250 drivers and for a basic 45 hr week they get 460.. and home every night not one of them has done a night out since the depot opened 5 years ago. They dont even pick up a spanner,,, they have onsite cover 24/7/364

They way I figure it, if you can earn 800 dollars a week with minimal costs, ie live in truck, and only stay in hotel when forced to,,, 800 as an average is a bloody good wage,,, do the miles and you earn better,,, if you wanna be home every weekend, and thats possible from what I read, then accept the lower wages,,, and yes some companies will pay for the re-training, and then claw it back. That to me is just another incentive to do the miles. Over the year, if on an LMO they have to pay an average wage, if you dont do the miles they then have to top it up, I acknowledge this info came from a creditable source!!!


Even 600 dollars a week is realtive to the cost of living, The one thing thats expensice is housing rented or buying,,, average rent for a 1 bed is 700/800 a month buy a house and its what you wanna pay.

It does seem possible to me that "if" prepared to be away for 3/4 weeks a time then 40-50,000 dollars is an achievable target

But then I am single and dont have to send money home,debts etc, so for me it seems an easy choice..

I can feel the buckshot being loaded......

koogar

Well, I don't live in Canada anymore Alan, but I just wondered what trucking jobs looked like back in the UK these days.
I know what you mean though. It is a lot of money to lay out. I guess it just depends on how much someone wants to live in Canada. Or how much they want to get out of the UK. Maybe some people think it's worth the cost if it means their kids will grow up in what they think is a better country. I'd imagine different people have different priorities.
At the time I went to Canada, I was single and was ready for my next adventure. Having said that, I went to work for Kindersley and didn't have to pay an agency a few grand.

kb33

From what I've been hearing back home your lucky to hold a job at all, never mind one that pays 450 a week.

Of course it could be a whole lot different in Hastings

koogar

I probably got around $1400 every 2 weeks after tax when working in Canada. The longest I was out was 12 days. I didn't care if I ran during the day or at night though. I'd just take my 10 hours off (if in the states) and then set off again, even if it was 2 in the morning.
No idea if it's still the same these days though. Not been in Canada for over a year.