truck driver

van driver

recruiter

owner operator driver

trailer technician

Halvor Lines

This was my first and only OTR job, so this may just be my incompatibility with the position, but it was hard. In the refrigerated division (I never worked in the other divisions except to occasionally haul dry van when needed), they expect you to work like a machine. They give you the bare minimum amount of time to get from point A to B and still expect you to be fully functional despite all the stress and lack of proper rest. They constantly promote safety and wellness, talking about how to de-stress, manage your emotions and mental wellbeing, and how dangerous it is to drive fatigued, but then turn around and give you a breakneck deadline. Let me tell you, only 10 hours in between work shifts is not enough time. If you want to get at least the recommended 8 hours of sleep, then that only leaves 2 hours the night before and morning after to take care of your hygiene, eat, and unwind. 

That aside, the company is mostly great. Lots of benefits and incentives to do well. There used to be a rewards app where you could answer a daily trivia and complete safety and wellness quizzes to accumulate points. Those points could be used in the app to buy actual gifts. I got a brand new Nintendo Switch this way. They got rid of the app and I could never get the website to work properly, so that was a huge disappointment. They have quarterly bonuses, competitions between coworkers, weekly grill-outs during the summer at the terminals, and lots of other fun activities. The terminals are pretty nice, too. Each one has a pair of courtesy cars for drivers to use so they can run errands. 

There isn't any PTO for drivers at this company. They do work with you to get you as much home time as you want, but it's not paid. Instead, you get a yearly bonus on the anniversary of being hired that increases according to the number of years worked. That bonus can be used however you want. Mine usually went toward holiday shopping, but I could have used it for a vacation if I'd wanted. 

Company drivers are paid by the mile, but it's city-to-city, not hub miles. So, in my understanding, you don't get paid the extra miles if you end up needing to take a detour. You do get detention of $50 every hour past 2 hours at a shipper/receiver, so long as you call it in to your dispatch. After 24 hours of detention, you get $150 layover, which was pretty nice. At least, that was the policy when I worked there.

The company equipment are all newer, after about 3 years they sell off the older ones and replace them with brand new ones. The trucks are primarily Volvo and Kenworth, but my last truck was a brand new Freightliner. They're all double-bunkers even if you drive solo. They all come equipped with a mini fridge and space for a microwave, as well as a TV with satellite. There was a survey asking drivers if they'd prefer to keep the satellite or have in-truck wi-fi instead. I'm not sure what came of that, but while I was there, it was only satellite. They're pet-friendly and have a passenger policy as well, which was really nice. 

I had a love-hate relationship with this job. I tried going local in my state, since there is a division here, but somehow they were never hiring. I think I would've done much better in this company if I could've transferred like that instead of being OTR the whole time. But, it is what it is. 


TEAMS BEWARE They do not have team freight at Halvor Lines. They have solo freight that they hold until its almost late & then give to a team & call it team freight. They give teams loads with multiple drops [otherwise known as LTL freight] - but pay like 10 bucks a stop [not counting the 1st stop] - They either don't understand they're ripping you off... or they don't care. Either way, if you're a team... you know this is ridiculous. Halvor doesn't. They don't understand how teams are supposed to run & they lack the humility to make changes. Examples. They have [at best] 50% drop & hook. Usually less. Sometimes their "preloaded" trailers aren't even ready so those turn into "live loads" too. They do not prioritize teams over solos for freight. They don't even understand why a company would prioritize teams. They think a team is a tool for the company to utilize if a solo won't make it in time... they'll have a team meet the solo, swap trailers with the solo, take it the rest of the way... & then sit on it all night. [To be fair] They will give you long mile loads... but they broker every load back to Wi-Mn area... & you will sit for hours on docks...sometimes days waiting on brokered live loads. You only get paid detention if you are on time to the appointment...- which makes sense when you hear it. - but they don't tell you if you're on time to your live unload & the consignee holds you until you're late to your next appointment... that's "your problem" They don't know what a rolling reset is. They utilize the Netradyne camera driver scoring system... which has improved. But is still terrible. Do your own research on that if you'd like. Add to that their trucks are governed at 65, but all equipped with retreads, so they max out at 64 = a lot of frustration just trying to go down the road. *The ppl who score high on Netradyne...[over 1000] are achieving this by waiting for a car to cut them off....& then abruptly braking to "create safe distance" -if there is anyone behind you this is actually irresponsible & dangerous. It's effectively "brake checking innocent ppl" in a commercial vehicle. But that's undoubtedly how they'll refute my remarks on that. Lastly, they worship their "best fleet to drive for" endorsement. You will get spammed with constant requests to review them... & if you don't give them a perfect score, you become public enemy number 1. They will smile & give you no freight till you quit. [Or ridiculously bad freight.... freight a solo would consider new employment over. ] We were patient & went thru 3 different managers... which is to give the appearance of "trying to work with you" - but all the managers work out of the same office, are friends, & none of them understand teams... so they all reinforce each other in their incompetence. If you think this was just a personal thing.. Ask your recruiter questions. Ask specifics.



So many things wrong here could write for hours. Low pay- they pay 50 cpm but what good is that if getting 1500 miles a week? Slow 64 mph trucks. If have disagreement with dispatch they will call Rosemount shop and break something like fuses a light, hose to radiator. If you don't catch it you will be on the side of the road waiting and wasting time.  Dispatch will not answer the phone and give out wrong info to the driver such as addresses so the driver looks stupid. Dispatchers disrespect drivers.

As for the company, they are shady.  They pay zip to zip not real miles. That's basically stealing. Their favorite tactic is to send you into a city with 3 stops. You get paid 25 bucks or so for the two stops but you will drive all day in dense city traffic let's say Baltimore delivering their LTL freight and make $60. Then your reload will be from the same place so you do 3 deliveries one reload and get paid $60. No mile pay coz it's 1 zip.
Keep in mind you will be getting messages and calls about what's taking so long etc all day. Get to stop #2 and there's 10 trucks in front you the driver get blamed. Late to your next delivery? You are blamed. City traffic back ups? You are blamed.

Then good luck finding parking coz you'll be out of hours at the end of all this. Go over your hours and you get written up by safety. Get pulled into a scale for violation they caused and you will be blamed. No wonder it's a revolving door.

During my last months they were literally trying to steal money. Every week I had to call up to be reimbursed for tolls, supplies, detention and yes miles. Trips I completed and scanned in magically did not show up on my paycheck. So the company from week to week owed me money! Must be nice for them an interest free loan. And from talking to other drivers it was happening to them too.

I was there for one year and went through their Halvor Gold CDL program. Signed a one year contract and finished it. Great school and instructors. They have great equipment. If you want to make good money I’d recommend you choose their Deck Van Division unloading ATV’s, side by sides, golf’s carts.  I would always get good miles and the pay was really good compared to other divisions. If you want to get your foot in the door for trucking I think this is the best company to go with. They did just update the pay for all divisions too. Even though I think it could be better they still are making constant improvements. Another thing. If you’re out on the road don’t expect dispatch to ask you if you want to go home. Tell them ahead of time  on when you want to be home and they’ll work something out to make sure you get home. A lot of people can spend months on the road and complain about home time but never communicate with their dispatch. Talk to them and they’ll work something out. One last thing.  Don’t expect this job to be a 9-5 your schedule might be all over the place sometimes. Depending on the store or shipper/receiver you’re at. I just don’t get when other drivers say “I always start my shift at ___ and end my work day at ____. If you’re gonna run like that you’re not going to make much money trust me lol. Just expect the unexpected sometimes.

Worst company I have ever worked for...Period.
If you fuel out of their designated fuel stops YOU get charged for the fuel!!
And their Fuel/Mileage bonus? Forget it unless your driving 3000 miles a week or more!
Management doesn't have a clue what is going on AND they don't seem to care!
Good luck contacting the dispatch team they don't answer the phone!
They will give you around 25 business cards at orientation and tell you how they are "Here to help you" Only problem is you can call every one of the numbers and most likely NO ONE will answer your call. What a joke!
The pay is another issue they pay ZIP code to ZIP code...In other words AS THE CROW FLIES! You get paid about 1/3 the miles you actually drive! Lowest pay I ever made driving a Semi in 30 yrs! 
Don't believe the BS out there you can do better...Unless you are fresh out of school and looking for a place to start out.
Most funny thing I noticed is maybe 10-15 tractors sitting and yet a orientation class of anywhere from 6-15 people almost every week! Where are they all going?? Right out the back door that's my guess?
I can only imagine the turnover rate among new hires is quite high.

Over the 2 + years I worked here, I have had many good experiences with different people. Most of which were in my first year. However, with freight becoming more and more scarce (flatbed division), it has become common for me to sit at some truck stop far away from home to wait for a load. Going to the west coast almost guarantees this. 
While making deliveries, a lot of places don't respect you or your time as you sit in a dock for long periods of time (refrigerated division).
Halvor Lines does have some good resources for drivers to help them with things like weight loss, benefits, retirement plans. And for the most part, everyone is somewhat friendly.
Expect to be gone from home for 10 to 15 days at a time if you want to make good money. Halvor is a great company for new drivers to start out and get a few years of industry experience.

The good: Trucks are usually changed out every 3 years or less, trailers maybe every 5. Equipment well maintained. Terminals are clean and have exercise equipment and snacks/food. 

Pay is very low but has improved somewhat in the last 2 years.

The bad: slow, underpowered trucks, 64.6 mph on a good day with new tires. More of their loads always runs east than they like to admit to. There is no forced New York City and supposedly no forced outbound dispatch, yet they try to hound drivers to take these sewer loads constantly while their favorite drivers get the easy stuff. They won't hesitate to constantly leave you sit and wait on reloads from the east coming back west. They are a lot of yes men and useless office jockeys here who don't have a real job, yet think they are so important. Too much intrusive micromanaging here. If you work here, get your experience in and move on to something better.



When hired, I asked about travel lanes.  I was told mostly Midwest, but I continually get offered North East loads.  Halvor is not a forced dispatch company, but from what I've been offered it looks like they do more PA, NY, NJ than I was led to believe at hire.  

Almost everyone at Halvor is upbeat and very positive.  They are genuinely nice people.  And that makes up for some of the weeks I'm out and running a little slower than I like.

I've only had one driver manager here.  His major problem is he cannot plan ahead; or doesn't understand the way logs work to keep a driver moving.  The people who plan the return loads are very efficient in finding loads that allow the driver to best utilize their log and run hard.

The head of the shop is a little gruff, but has opened up a little since I've been there.  I think it takes awhile for him to start believing a new driver might know when something is wrong on a truck and/or trailer.

So okay here's how they paid training work does it matter if you drive 0 miles a week or 6,000 you get $250 a week you get paid every other week more you drive the Richer your trainer gets you don't get to keep any of your miles trainer gets paid for the miles that you drive you do not I had an awful trainer it was very impatient from the start I left because I could make more money as a school bus driver I could make more money working at Walmart the training was horrible the pay was terrible yes I get it you're in training you know I'm somebody's training you course I can. They should make more than you but you should still get paid for the miles that you drive even if there's places that will train you in and they will at least pay you for the miles that you drive even if it's $0.20 a mile you still going to make a lot more money then this

They do what they promise, youll get the training pay, the equipment is within 5 years. They will get you home whenever you ask them too but if you live off the beaten path it will hurt your check a bit since freight going near small towns is rare. Not their fault but they will let you drive home without a load if it comes to that which is better than canceling appointments to a lot of people.

If you dont have a cdl they will get you set up and as long as your willing to ask for what you need they will try to get you it. Pay is low according to a lot of truckers but it will beat retail any day of the week. Get your start here, and if you enjoy it stay, if you want to look for more after your year do it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 204 salaries reported	$106,765 per year
Van driver 86 salaries reported	$93,000 per year
Recruiter 7 salaries reported	$52,500 per year
Owner operator driver 18 salaries reported	$73.00 per hour
Trailer technician 4 salaries reported	$31.00 per hour

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