Are you trying to determine if Anderson Trucking Service is the right place to grow your career with? Are you looking for a stable company to jumpstart your flatbed career?
Beginning your flatbed career can be intimidating if you’ve only hauled vans. There are many uncertainties. Will you be able to handle the physical labor? How do you secure loads? How do you hook up different types of trailers?
These uncertainties are enough to run away from the flatbed career path, despite the good money you can make and the successful career you can have with the right company.
As the vice president of driver recruiting for Anderson Trucking Service (ATS) for the past three decades, I’ve been helping drivers like you decide on the best career path. We’ve been around since 1955 and offer a company flatbed program that is designed for both drivers new to hauling flatbed loads or veteran flatbed drivers.
But this article isn’t to convince you to work with ATS and our flatbed program. This article is all about helping you find the best fit for you, whether that means you belong at ATS or another trucking carrier.
It’s important for you to make the best career decision for you and your family. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the potential pros and cons of the ATS company flatbed program.
We understand that pursuing a new career path can be daunting and you might feel uncertain. After you finish reading this article, you won’t feel so intimidated by this decision.
What are the Benefits of the ATS Company Flatbed Program?
The benefits of the ATS company flatbed program include pay, freight variety and training opportunities.
Unique Pay Program Puts the Most Money in Your Pocket
At ATS, we are proud to offer a unique pay program for company drivers. Instead of choosing between percentage pay or cents-per-mile (CPM) pay, drivers are automatically paid the highest amount — whether it’s CPM or percentage pay. You'll get the best price on the load.
This payment system, implemented with the help of our drivers, is beneficial for drivers when freight rates drop. Upside Pay is especially unique and beneficial for the flatbed division because of how much drivers can make on over-dimensional loads versus legal loads.
Increased Earning Potential Maximizes Your Income
ATS company flatbed drivers make on average $75,000 to $135,000 per year.
Extra work offers higher earning potential at ATS. This could be a pro or a con for you.
At ATS, you will have to tarp some of your loads. This can be a downside for many drivers who would prefer not to tarp, especially in poor weather conditions. However, ATS does pay extra for tarping.
If you travel to Canada to deliver freight, you also get paid an extra percentage.
If you are hauling over-dimensional loads, you get a percentage of the over-dimensional pay on top of the basic freight rate.
If you’d like to boost your earning potential, this might appeal to you.
Career Advancement Opportunities Help You Grow
If you want to advance your career, from hauling specialized loads to heavy haul loads, you’ll have the chance to do so at ATS.
You’ll begin as a Class 4 driver hauling legal loads. As you gain experience and choose to haul larger specialized loads, you will move up in classes, from Class 4 to Class 1A.
Should you choose to do so, you can take your career even further by moving into the heavy haul division, where drivers move from Class 6 to Class 19.
As you gain experience, you have the opportunity to grow your paycheck. The variety of the loads is a nice bonus as well.
Company Benefits Keep You Covered
As a company driver, you’ll receive company benefits. This includes paid time off, a retirement account, health insurance, dental insurance and life insurance.
In addition to insurance benefits, company drivers receive benefits that independent contractors would not receive. Company drivers have no monetary responsibility other than personal expenses.
ATS not only pays for your truck and fuel, but we’ll cover the cost of breakdowns, including your hotel and meals while you’re broken down.
While you will typically make less as a company driver than an independent contractor, going down the company driver path provides you the opportunity for stable career growth. Everything is taken care of for you when it comes to truck expenses.
Especially if you are new to flatbed driving, starting as a company driver can provide you with a stable safety net as you get a handle on hauling open-deck loads.
You will have the chance to focus predominantly on making sure you are properly securing your loads and driving safely. You won’t have the added worry of making your truck payment, paying for fuel and managing expenses like an independent contractor would. Instead, you can simply take your time learning the ropes.
Hauling flatbed loads as a company driver may be your first step on the path toward becoming an independent contractor.
Freight Variety Makes Your Job Exciting
As a flatbed driver, you’ll rarely pull the same type of load twice. You will always be hauling something new. One day you might be pulling a legal step-deck, then a 14-foot wide double drop the next day, then an RGN the next.
This may or may not excite you. Perhaps you like freight variety, or maybe you’d rather haul the same thing every day.
At ATS, we have a wide customer base. We have customers in power generation, aerospace, agriculture, the Department of Defense, mining, printing companies, crane companies, power companies and wind energy. You might be hauling a printing press one week, a crane the next, and a transformer the next.
There’s always something new. This can be exciting to many drivers, but a major learning curve for others.
Training Opportunities Prime You for Success
At ATS, we take a tremendous amount of time training CDL drivers that haven’t pulled open-deck loads before. Keeping drivers safe, the general public safe and the freight safe is our topic priority, so drivers go through extensive securement training before they pull their first load with us.
ATS has a picture program for new drivers in their first 30 to 90 days. Drivers will need to take a photo of every load they secure before they can start moving the load. The photos are sent to the ATS safety team. Photos are reviewed around the clock so that drivers are primed for success and feel comfortable hauling their loads.
Any driver, even someone who has been driving for decades with us, can snap a photo and get an immediate response from the safety team about whether or not their load is secure. If the load isn’t secure, the team will provide instructions on how to secure the load properly.
We’d rather review 20 sets of pictures than have you feel unsafe hauling a load.
Flexible Pet Policies Let You Bring a Friend OTR
At ATS, company drivers can have their pets with them in their trucks.
Not all companies allow this, so this can be a huge benefit for drivers with a furry friend.
What are the Drawbacks of the ATS Company Flatbed Program?
Certain aspects of the ATS company flatbed program may be viewed as cons for some drivers.
Hard Labor That’s Physically Demanding and Time-Consuming
Being a flatbed driver is certainly not right for everyone.
It requires hard physical labor and you need to be physically fit to do the job successfully. Throwing chains and straps on the load to properly secure it can be physically demanding and time-consuming. Crawling up on a trailer to tarp a load presents a safety risk. If you fear heights, you might not be comfortable doing this.
This work can be especially difficult when the weather is poor. You’ll still need to secure the loads even when it’s raining, freezing or snowing.
If this is the path you want to go down, starting as a flatbed driver when you’re young is extremely beneficial. You’ll be able to learn what you do and don’t like early on in your career. This can guide your career path and help you decide what area you’d like to decide to specialize in.
Over-The-Road Trucking Requires Long Periods Away From Home
As a true over-the-road trucking company, you will stay out on the road for 14 days with ATS before you’re routed home. Our customer base is not centrally located; they are spread across the country.
If you would prefer to go home more often than that, being a company driver at an OTR company like ATS may not be right for you.
Being a flatbed driver at ATS also may not be right for you. The length of haul on the flatbed side tends to be longer than on the van side. You are pushed further into all 48 states instead of running in more regional areas as a van driver. If you want to explore the country, this is a good option for you. If you’d rather have a more dedicated route, it’s not the best option.
You may instead choose to pursue a trucking company that offers local or regional driving, where you either get to go home nightly or every weekend. You may also prefer to be an owner-operator, where you can go home as often as you choose.
Forced Dispatch Requires Flexibility
As a company driver at ATS, you will be on forced dispatch. Instead of receiving a few load options to choose from like you would as an independent contractor, you will be given one load option by dispatch. Your dispatcher will advise you on a load.
There are some situations where it is okay to deny a load, like if you are sick, have a family emergency, have shop time or are out of Hours of Service (HOS). Otherwise, you will need to deliver the loads you are given.
Trucking companies with company drivers implement forced dispatch to ensure that the truck is still generating money — especially because all truck expenses are covered by the company.
That means you may have to drive to areas you don’t love to drive in and you might have to tarp loads when you don’t feel like it. Forced dispatch may not be right for you, especially if you’d like more choice on loads.
At ATS, our dispatchers are well-trained. They’ll work with you and talk through your load options and they’ll try to get you loads in areas you prefer to drive.
What if I Still Have Questions?
Starting your flatbed career as a company driver gives you a good chance to learn the job. You learn what you like and have a safety net to learn. ATS will give you the chance to learn the job at your own pace.
Choosing the right career path is an important decision. You should look at every side before you jump into anything. Thoroughly consider the pros and cons of pursuing a career in the flatbed division as a company driver, as well as which company may be a good fit for you.
If you think the company flatbed program is right for you and you’re ready to fill out an application or talk to a recruiter further, you can fill out a full application or our contact form and a driver consultant will reach out to you. You may still have some unanswered questions and maybe you’re still feeling uncertain about a few details. Our team of driver consultants can answer any questions you may still have.