TruckersReport Review
Reviews should be objective. But, let's face it, give someone a gold brick for a dollar and they'll still have to have something to complain about. I was a solo driver for Bulkley for a total of 18 months-9 months, then gone for a year, then returned for another 9 months. Teams are different, so I can speak only from my solo experience. There is no perfect carrier-all have their Good, Bad, and Ugly. And carriers have their own way of operating that you're either ok with or not. If not, find another carrier or start your own. So, I'll try to keep this review as objective as possible--Just the facts, ma'am. THE GOOD. A guaranteed minimum $1250 per week (conditional). Late model Volvo VNL 860 trucks--auto trans, APU, inverter, refrigerator with freezer, TV mount, company paid Sirius XM; heated seats with a massaging lower lumbar. The lower bunk converts to a galley/worktable with bench seats. Weekly fuel bonuses that can pay upwards of an additional $100+/-, depending. Clean and well-maintained drivers' lounge with a full kitchen, two baths with showers in each with soap and towels provided; washer and dryer-laundry soap and dryer sheets provided; large screen TV with Dish satellite; plush sofa and chairs, and an automated shiatsu massage chair. Good maintenance and repair shop with techs that know what they're about. On-site DEF and reefer fuel. Full-time staffed on-site truck and trailer wash and commercially available for other carriers. Returning empties are washed in-and-out and the reefer tanks refueled. Dispatch is great in getting you home whenever you need or want or getting you wherever you need or want to get to. THE BAD Minimum guarantee as long as you're available for a load. If a doctor or other appointment keeps you for even a couple of hours and a load suddenly comes up and you're not available, you forfeit the minimum. A lot of sitting, even if you have as much as 55 HOS available. Multiple stops pay $12 per -- industry standard is $20 per, some pay $25. I know of one that pays $50. Low pay rate. Seven years OTR experience pays $0.48 per mile, of which $0.15 of that is non-taxed per diem. Twenty+ years pays only $0.52 per mile in a current environment paying upwards to $0.60 to $0.80 cents per mile. Decker pays $0.52 to rookie drivers right out of CDL training. No detention. Period. Which is justified by the minimum. So a 7-hour unload/load time (which happens) won't pay. Don't ask or expect it. When you are legitimately laid over, it pays "up to" $150. A time or two I got $150, other times only $100. It's at the discretion of dispatch; there is no set policy that I've seen. Pay is released on Friday, however, paystubs are dated for the following Monday, unless that Monday is a holiday, in which case it's then dated for that Friday. Getting credited on Friday or Saturday is determined by whether your own bank honors an auto payroll deposit before the official pay date on the paystub. Mine doesn't, so I didn't receive my pay until the following Monday. Being credited on Friday due to Monday being a holiday then means going another 10 days, to the next following Monday, to be paid again. THE UGLY Rear-facing cameras. Supposedly G-force activated, but I discovered management can monitor the driver at any time. All loads return ultimately to the Mothership. This is how Bulkley works: typically dispatched on a Sunday or Monday. Run through the week and then get a load that brings you back to the Mothership by the next Friday or Saturday. Then expect a 34 to 48 hour resets, even if as much as 55 HOS available on your clock and the cycle continues. But no layover pay, which, like detention, is justified by the minimum guarantee. Bulkley does have a set of drivers who live relatively locally that have been with it for years, which makes it okay if you are local, or semi-retired and live within a reasonable distance of the Mothership, as you'll have lots of down time. And it is a good place for new, rookie drivers to gain experience, and, from what I heard, it's not bad for teams. But for experienced drivers know there is a lot of carriers willing to pay much higher rates per mile with a lot more miles, and with detention and layover pay. When I left Bulkley the first time (for a gig paying 30% of the load--sweet) it had 90+/- drivers. When I returned a year later it had less than 60-an exodus of more than 33% of its drivers in a year? Driver appreciation week awarded me with a Bulkley T-shirt and $25 Chick-fil-a card-I gave the card to my dispatcher. Another carrier awarded its drivers a $150 Visa gift card. A carrier with more than 2,000 drivers emailed my W2 within the first week of January. Bulkley mails W2s to your home that you typically won't get until the middle to end of February, and then you have to be routed home to get it. Bottom line: Minimum guarantee, great trucks and perks, but low industry pay rate with a lot of sitting, and thus limited miles. Overall, some things I really liked about Bulkley, but it got down to the $ against what I could make and was offered by other carriers. Nice trucks and ancillary perks are great, but they don't pay the bills.
Oculus Reviews