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Gypsum-Express-Ltd

Full Disclosure: I was recently terminated by Gypsum Express after making a couple of rookie mistakes. They felt i was being dishonest or deceptive involving one of them, but I wasn't. A case of "I said, they said." They interpreted the facts erroneously, but not maliciously. Their decision to terminate me was reasonable, given the way they interpreted things. And notwithstanding any of that, I think Gypsum is a great company that you should consider working for.

Overall, Gypsum was a great place to work. The pay is great for the industry. The insurance isn't top-tier and is comparatively a bit expensive, but workable. The staff I had contact with were all great people who wanted to help. Their orientation program needs work. It's not the people that need improvement (mostly), but the content and lack of thoroughness. The hands-on load securement portion of training was WAY to short. We practiced securing coils, mainly. We practiced no hands-on securement involving the 80% of materials I actually hauled day to day. Recently, they had reduced their orientation and in-class training program from two weeks to one, which I think was probably a bad decision. Any free time you had during the week of training (late at night) was used trying to memorize a pre-trip list that you probably already learned in CDL class. They wanted it memorized in an entirely different order, though. EVERYONE I trained with was worked-up about this. It didn't add anything substantive to the process, it just involved form and was a stressful and time consuming exercise.  Gypsum DID cover all aspects of training on paper and in video, and gave us excellent guides to refer to if we had any securement questions. Also, many of the things missed in the week of training are covered by your driver trainer when you are driving together. But not all. 

The on-road trainer I worked with was a great guy and taught me a lot. Unfortunately, though, he was from a different terminal than mine and I never even got to meet my own driver manager in person (only his), nor have any loads given by him until I was solo. I was never able to build any rapport with my driver manager, so he knew zero about me, preferences, personality, or anything.  And if you read anything in trucking forums about THE most important aspect of success in trucking, it is your relationship with the driver manager. When I went solo my routes were suddenly much different than the ones I had during my training, some (not all) were much more difficult. My first day of work solo was in an insanely busy, jam packed lot full of trucks picking up drywall. I hadn't experienced anything like it before. The trailer was parked literally less than two feet on each side of other trailers and throwing straps and doing tarp work was impossible.  While driving around in that mess to find a place to secure my load, I made a rookie mistake, lost track of my trailer and damaged the mirror of another truck. Everyone I talked to at corporate were great about it, and handled the situation very well. (I was a wreck, my first day solo, first load, and I screw-up). I was never made to feel bad or have my mistake rubbed in my face. It's nice to know a company "has your back" and understands that rookies make mistakes.

The incident that precipitated my termination was another that involved damage, this time to my trailer.  The events leading up to the damage were believed by Gypsum (mistakenly) to have involved dishonesty or non-forthrightness on my part. They believe different than I, which resulted in my termination.  But to emphasize that I believe Gypsum to be a great company, I don't hold any ill-will toward them. If I were a decision-maker at Gypsum I may have come to the same conclusion they did.

At Gypsum, you will get home every weekend. Unless you don't want to. A "weekend," as is the case with most other companies, is typically between 34 and 48 hours. It will always be based around Friday, Saturday and Sunday so it is the true weekend.  And Gypsum is actually willing to work with your schedule. If you need this day or that day off (within reason) they will do their best to accommodate it. They are quite understanding when it comes to scheduling, as long as you are understanding when it comes to realizing that your hours will be lessened due to the requests.

One thing that is important to know about working at Gypsum is that you have to be ready to work. HARD. It is flat-bedding, which means you will sometimes be out in horrible conditions, doing physical work while getting dirty and tired. If you have a good work ethic and are willing to put in a hard day's work for a good paycheck, you will be fine. I am 51 and was able to handle it just fine. But it was hard work, no bones about it. If you are considering trucking, though, It is much easier to stay healthy flat-betting due to its physical nature - this is one of the reasons I picked it.

Regarding equipment. Gypsum's equipment reflects the fact that they want to maximize profits by lightening the weight of the tractor and trailer. This means you get short cabs instead of long cabs. You won't get any closet, or refrigerator (or even space for a refrigerator). No microwave. No inverters unless you have a CPAP prescription. They have Park Smart systems instead of APU's. Even in bone chilling weather, though, I found the park-smart to be more than adequate. Your bed is a nice size, but is right behind the front seats. Basically, great equipment is not a reason to drive for Gypsum. Their equipment isn't horrible by any means. It is reasonably new and well kept.

Here is an important truth I learned about equipment with Gypsum:  while they don't have nearly the cabin amenities that other companies do,  it doesn't matter, because Gypsum will keep you busy and out of the cabin.  You will have very little if any, down time.  I only had to wait once for a load, and it was less than an hour. Typically, I knew my next load or even two loads before I finished the one I was on. YOU WILL GET MILES WITH GYPSUM. Always. And you get paid well for those miles.  Given the physical nature of the job, in addition to the miles you will get, you will typically run out of hours on the DOT clock every day well before running out of work or miles. Personally, at the end of the day I didn't need a fancy cab, because I just wanted to sleep.  Have I made it clear yet that you will work hard at Gypsum? Sissies need not apply.


So, should you drive for Gypsum? Assuming you are a hard worker not afraid of the elements, a solid YES. I researched over 75 companies before coming to Gypsum and decided that Gypsum was the best one . Great pay (I challenge you to find better), and great people. It has it's warts as I've mentioned above, but so do all companies. They never lied to me, they treated me well, they delivered what they promised, and they did what they said they would do. I would go back if they asked, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed.

(Just try to avoid bumping into things...haha)

Started at the Bensalem Terminal in Pennsylvania and ended up moving to the Danville terminal. The company overall isn't bad, but there is NO room for advancement for hazmat, doubles and triples, or people with a twic card.. Sure you will pull out of a port, but its not like you get the extra pay for that. 

Pros
- Home every Friday and usually didn't have to leave until late Sunday or early Monday
- Pay is good for a flatbed company without requiring any hazmat. Made  66,000 my last year there
- Bonuses. when I started they had 4, but they got rid of 1 to include in your overall pay. Now they have fuel bonus and safety bonus. They may still have the compliance bonus idk
-
Cons
- They don't like to pay detention time
- Some of the office staff can be difficult to get along with. They will smile in  your face and stab you in the back
- The medical, dental, and vision, insurance are some of the worst I have ever seen from any company. 
- They play favorites at times and sometimes they wont give you anything good unless you are really adamant about it.

Overall I would still recommend this company because they do pay very well. If you can become one of their favorites, you have it made here.

* on a side note, Stay AWAY from the Shadyside, Ohio terminal. High Turnover and bad place to work....

I started working at Gypsum Express right out of school as a flatbed driver. the Terminal manager and both my driver managers there are very friendly and will bend over backwards for their drivers, as long as the driver can obviously be productive. follow orders and DOT requirements. don't ruin the companies equipment and treat them with respect. I advanced in the company from a driver  and advanced again. I follow orders and can take constructive critisizm. Drivers have to remember that this is a truck driving job and that you MIGHT not make it home on the weekends. The dm's do their best to get you home for the weekend but they cannot control weather or traffic situations, same as being detained. that is beyond their control. this job requires a lot of dedication and hard work and the money is well worth it all. The equipment does occasionally break down as will any companies equipment. the mechanics do a great job at getting you back on the road.

Got hired right out of CDL school. Interview was quite simple they will be up front about everything and what to expect. Took drug test a couple days later within a week I went to orientation. Travel expenses car or plane hotel room and meals all provided. I only had 3 people including myself in orientation. First day of orientation you will complete an agility test carrying tarp and putting it on flatbed anyway you can and a simple road test. 5-6 weeks OTR with trainer at the end of training must complete load securement pre trip road test and 45 degree backing before going solo. Training is great even during training the money is good. If you need more training you're given an extra week. Easy dispatch run as much as you want monthly bonuses and raises but big on safety. Always home on weekends occasionally will be home early Saturday. Typically more than a 34 hr reset. Great with request of times off. Great company

I had a fairly good experience at Gypsum. I was constantly moving. Anywhere from NJ to FL. I never had to wait more than 30mins for my next load assignment. In a years time,there were only two times that I didn't make it home on Friday, but did get home early the next morning and both were not really even the companies fault(traffic issues and HOS)

The pay was not bad, especially for rookies. 

There are issues with communication(mostly my issues were with my load planner who left after I had already left) but honestly, they were a lot better than my second company and 10 times as better than where I am at now. 

The only issues I had were the long two weeks of orientation in Michigan City, IN and they use the ParkSmart electrical system. There are no generators and they usually have your truck locked out to where it won't idle but for 5mins at a time. You have to learn how to conserve energy or you will wake up with your CPAP mask sucking to your face at 430am.

a typical day at work for instance would be getting there early in the morning working the back area with my headset so I can hear orders and start making them before they hit my screen cooking on the clam grill while dropping food down in the fryers as my setup for the morning while when I can preparing food for the change of the lunch hour (when according to the time allotted) as the time gets to lunch I was put on a side of my own because of my speed and being able to help my pier if food needed to be cooked on that side after that I would just go home after my shift. management was ok depending on who ran the floor that day my co workers for the most part were easy to get along with while the hardest part of the job was keeping up with certain aspects of the job because some people tend to loaf around but the most enjoyable part was knowing that at the end of the day I did my job and others knew and saw that of me.

I worked for 3 other trucking companies before coming to Gypsum and I was tired of knowing people only by a number. At Gypsum, when drivers come in or call me on the phone not only do I know them by name but most of the time by the sound of their voice. The owner cares A LOT about his employees and always doing what is best. I see myself staying with Gypsum until I retire. If you work hard for Gypsum then Gypsum will always do good by you. I enjoy what I do here and I enjoy the people I work with. We have many drivers that have been here 20+ years and in this industry that is amazing! The owner is always investing in new equipment. Gypsum offers more bonus programs for the drivers than any company I have ever worked for and they are very OBTAINABLE bonus programs. Fuel, Safety, Compliance, Performance, Referral, clean DOT inspections. Overall, great company!

Gypsum Express is not what they make them selves look. The owner DOES NOT care about employees. There is extreme micro managing. They have the good ol boy system going. Drivers DO NOT get home on weekends...well if your a chosen driver and a yes man you will be home on Friday evenings. You will do a lot of short hauls and a lot of sitting and waiting on loads. The mechanics are treated very badly. They work under intimidation and fear everyday. They get no overtime pay and work around 55 hours a week. All trucks are governed at 64 mph. They are a very unforgiving company. If you stand up for your self you wont last more than 2 months. If you want to work there go ahead. Write a review in 2 months and tell us. Oh I worked there. A lot of the positive reviews are not drivers or mechanics. They come from the IT department.

I applied with gypsum express 2 weeks ago was given the job got a congradulations from management and upper management was given a drug screen and rental car and 2 different start dates had the job in the bag until I couldn't provide a w2 or pay stub for a company that no longer exists management would not even give me the time to find anything with my old employer on it so they decided after giving me the job that I can know longer have it my driver recruiter felt so bad for what had happen its not his fault its managements fault I am spreading this awareness so this does not happen to some one else in the future gypsum express should be ashamed

When I first got my CDL, Gypsum’s pay was far behind other competitors but with their new pay structure, they’ve made quite the impact to keep you invested here. I’ve had no trouble getting time off when I ask in advance, everything I’ve been told has been truthful and honest (very rare for a trucking company). Monthly safety bonuses, fuel bonuses, good CPM, New Jersey bonus for pickup and delivery. No NYC at least for the single dry van division. When they say weekends off, that’s exactly what you get. 2 full days Saturday and Sunday. You can request to leave out Sunday however if you’re in the market for more money. 

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