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Saia Motor Freight Line reviews

3.1
(14)
$1,100 - $1,869/week

Summary

Overall

Home Time

Equipment and Maintenance

Dispatchers and Managers

Salary Surveys

$1,100 $1,467 $1,869
weekly average

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Ratings and Reviews

Current Employee - Jun 7, 2020

Excellent Co In Safety,,they have Cameras in the trucks,,no cellphone use while truck is moving,,I love working for SAIA, it’s the Best Co Job I worked for in my 36 yrs of trucking...

Pros

Excellent Pay , Great Safety Record

Cons

Not for me ,but some drivers don’t like cameras in the trucks

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
No Rating
Dispatchers and Managers

Former Employee - Oct 3, 2019

I have been in shipping for the last 10+ years and not once have I ever received a LTL shipment for SAIA that was damaged. I only used the company directly twice and realized it was a mistake the second time. Every time a supplier uses SAIA to deliver the items are damaged. I don't understand how one company can be so consistently terrible and still be in buisness.

Pros

I haven't found any pros of using SAIA.

Cons

There are only cons to using this company. Material is always damaged upon receipt!

Home Time
No Rating
Equipment and Maintenance
No Rating
Dispatchers and Managers
No Rating

Current Employee - Jul 14, 2019

Its a big company with standard big company issues. Do your job safely & efficiently they leave you alone pretty good place to work.. Its fast paced, high pressure, tight delivery windows. Equipment is ok & getting better. New trucks & trailer's making its way into the fleet daily, definitely improving in my short time. Working conditions, Equipment, Routes everything comes down to the terminal you work at reading thru these LTL boards you will notice this theme quickly. Starting as a new driver. (Again depends on your terminal) You could get a high $$ bid assigned route immediately after hire. Or you may start off as a System Driver till a spot opens. System is our version of OTR. You fill gaps in freight deployment. You go where your needed, whenever your needed. Routes & times change daily. They try to keep you within your region and get you home daily thats a bonus. The rule is alway count on and plan on being out for 5 days you stay in hotels (pack accordingly). You have to hustle in LTL. You dont see too many obese LTL drivers. If your a driver that likes to stop frequently, stand around and chat, take naps thats fine, plenty of jobs that give you that time. LTL is not one of them. Its always Drop & Hook for linehaul. Very little detention time If so its generally 15 - 20min. If consistently late dispatching or arriving you will get flagged and weeded out very quickly. For new drivers this rule doesn't apply they give ya a month or two to learn the system get faster at building and breaking sets. Linehaul is mostly long overnight hours 8pm - 12am start times. (Depending on the terminal, this varies) Weekends are generally off. Some freight moves on weekends, its usually gobbled up by volunteers. On occasion they may force the lowest seniority system driver to work but its extremely rare. I would expect a starting salary of 80k to 90k per year for new drivers again varies on terminal. The more senior drivers make 100k+ per year if they want. Overall its what you make of it. Is it perfect? No! it's stressful, physical at times. long hours. However that's pretty much the trucking industry. They ask alot of you here! They expect alot from you as well! Saia pays us this well for a reason. Why do LTL drivers make so much more? Best answer i can give is come try it. This kind of trucking isnt for everyone!

Pros

They have eased up with discipline on the camera policy (Don't tailgate, No phone in hand) Drivers use bluetooth all the time thru headsets or the radio. You can snack and drink while driving this is a myth unless there looking for a reason. The newer cameras in 2019, 2020 trucks rarely go off, it pretty much takes a accident or violent stop to trigger it. Excellent Pay. Excellent Benefits. Great earning potential. Great shifts if you like working overnight.

Cons

Lack of Communication (Its standard big company communication issues) High Turnover for Management at times. Older truck cameras are way to sensitive.

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Former Employee - Jun 11, 2019

25 yrs. Safe driving. Worked for SAIA 1 1/2 yrs. Got terminated because they used the inward facing camera as a "gotcha" toy.

Pros

SCM, supervisors,drivers and dock workers were great.

Cons

HR interprets the policy as they want, instead of as it is written. Inward facing drive cams.

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - May 9, 2019

I have been in the business 40 years and this is by far the best place I've ever worked. After only 5 months I had a medical emergency and Saia kept me on with paid benefits for 6 months until I could return to work. They paid my holiday pay and for 3 months a stipend to keep my head above water. I will never leave here.

Pros

Great company. Equipment, pay, benefits and open door policy. Older drivers need to be here, because they generally aren't afraid to work. Motels beat the heck out of sleepers.

Cons

Camera takes a little getting use to, but a small price to pay for all the positives.

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Salary Surveys

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Raleigh, NC on Jun 7, 2020

$1,869 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Raleigh, NC on Jun 7, 2020

$1,869 per week

Current Employee

No

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Michigan on Jul 14, 2019

$1,846 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Cincinnati on May 9, 2019

$1,683 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Owner Operator - 1 Year CDL Experience

Surveyed in Dallas tx on Jul 18, 2018

$1,154 per week

Current Employee

No

Discussions

Saia... Anybody?

Giuseppe Ventolucci

Aug 27, 2016

Saia... Anybody?

Starting pay for linehaul system drivers is 54 and goes up to 62 cpm after 18 months.

Starting pay for hourly is 21.85 and you max at 25.12 at 18 months.

Their benefits are really good. Their health insurance is a 80/20 plan and for a family is only about 40/week.

You have major holidays off and paid

You also gain personal/sick days (maxes out at 3 a year) 

You gain vacation in order to schedule after January 1 following your hire date in which you can borrow against, but you have to pay it back in your final check if you do not stay your entire first year.


I just got hired on as a local city driver out of Lexington, KY and am training in Cincinnati for the week.


Also the line haul is based on a bid/seniority system. When you first start you are what is called a "System Line haul Driver" basically means your an at call/fill in driver. They have work for you, but its not the same thing and you could cover for other drivers taking vacation or calling out until you gain enough seniority to bid on a route that is consistent.


The bad thing about the line haul system drivers is that lets say you start off at night on monday night youll run your ten's until Saturday and youll end up on day. So a lot of people complain because they can't get a constant sleep cycle.


The good thing is that you can earn a good 65k your first year as a line haul driver with them! I seen their pay stubs because I told them they were BS'n me!

Is it true about Saia and OD?

cherishangel

May 1, 2015

Is it true about Saia and OD?

I work for saia in the chicago region. I can tell you with certainty that you will not work 80 hour weeks here. We use "vnomics" electronic logs and it WILL NOT let you work more than 70 hours in a workweek. We are a 5 day operation in the city and a 5 to 6 day operation on linehaul. You may have to work a 6 day workweek if you're on linehaul during a busy stretch and you're low on the totem pole. Also, a lot of linehaul hustlers will take up the weekend work by working until saturday, or starting their workweek on a sunday, so you might be working mon-fri most of the time.

Saia info needed?????

Alrsr28

May 1, 2014

Saia info needed?????

Paid every week. You will be on the extra board, do not expect to be home every night, more than likely every 5-7 days. Pay is great so are benefits

Saia?

Mack185

May 7, 2013

Saia?

Saia was good when I worked there but that was before the recession. I worked line haul and a lot of the local guys wished they were line haul. They paid good but be careful you don't mess up, they will fire you in a heartbeat! A guy dropped a trailer because the kingpin didn't lock and they fired him on the spot. Stupid mistake but they don't like it. Another one was if the bar on the front of the trailer unlocked and slid down while you were driving, another automatic fire. Accidents too if they were bad enough. They paid for sitting, breakdowns and mileage. At Reddaway I don't get paid when I sit unless a guy is late on a meet turn. My yard isn't union though.