The trucking industry is full of job opportunities and great companies to work for. Our truck students have access to exclusive job postings and career presentations that provide a chance to rub elbows with some of these companies, but we wanted to go more in depth. This week marks the beginning of a new feature, where we’ll be putting a spotlight on some of the companies that we work with and that we recommend for employment!
In today’s blog post, we’re interviewing Matt Geib, who is part of the Driver Development department at Bison Transport, about the company and what it’s like for drivers to work there.
Who is Bison Transport?
Matt starts off by telling us about Bison and how the company got started. Bison Transport is celebrating 50 years of business and it has come a long way since 1969 when it was just 18 tractors. The company had originally started off hauling paper, mill products, and other construction industry staples but when NAFTA was introduced, they decided to expand into other territories - mainly retail. Wal-mart was one of the first retail companies that Bison paired with, and they continue to haul for them as well as other retail companies like Canadian Tire and Pier 1 Imports.
Expanding greatly over the past 50 years, Bison Transport now boasts over 1700 tractors and almost 3000 employees. Their entire fleet is a combination of Freightliners and Volvos, exclusively running automatic transmission vehicles. Matt tells us that they have strictly automatic trucks, because the fuel economy is vastly better driving automatic trucks versus standard trucks.
Work for Bison
We ask Matt about the employees that they have on-board and he ‘s very proud of their workforce, mentioning that Bison seeks out a positive attitude and willingness to learn from new hires, creating a great atmosphere within the company. “You can train the right skill sets, but it’s harder to train that positive attitude and motivated mindset,” he says.
New drivers are encouraged to apply at Bison as they have a high-level training program available and are open to taking on Class 1 drivers with little to no experience. Seasoned drivers are welcome too, and Bison employs both independent contractors and employee drivers. Matt goes on to explain that they are currently hiring for Canada to USA long-haul positions, although they do also have local and city work available occasionally. Although he does add that these local positions are highly sought-after, have a low turn-around rate, and are usually filled internally before postings are given the opportunity to go to the public. Most of Bison’s positions are no-touch, meaning that drivers don’t typically deal with loading and unloading the cargo, but there are exceptions when drivers are asked to count their freight when they’re at the docks.
Perks with Bison
Matt brings up a point that a lot of potential hires ask; “what about the money,” and he divulges how the wages work. The long-haul positions are all mileage based and, at the time of our conversation, is .40 cents per mile while driving in Canada, and can go up to .52 cents per mile driving in some of the USA states. Bison Transport will also make sure that you’re taken care of with paid events like live loads/unloads and border crossings, as well as detention time for when customers take their time doing off-loading.
In addition to the pay that all their drivers get, Bison also offers a benefits package for their company drivers which coverage including but not limited to, medications, dental, and physical therapy. Company drivers can also get a safe driving reward, and this takes effect immediately. Each mile safely travelled earns you an additional cent on top of your base mileage rate. While it may not seem like much at first glance, a round trip from Calgary to Los Angeles will net you over 3000 miles, translating into an extra $30+. Many of Bison’s top drivers have over 3 million safe miles travelled!
Bison Transport also provides on-going training for their new drivers and seasoned drivers, including an annual and bi-annual defensive driving course, allowing drivers to refresh their skills and prevent any potential issues on the road. Drivers are also provided with long combination vehicle training in-house as well as an annual adverse conditions course, refreshing them on handling winter weather and road conditions. Even more perks, like profit sharing and access to on-site gyms, for Bison employees are listed on their career page!
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As we wrap up our phone call, Matt sums up Bison Transport by talking about how committed they are to everyone’s safety - their employees, their customers, and anyone that the company comes into contact with every day. They are dedicated to seeing their drivers succeed and being safe, confident, and getting to the end of their run with no issues. In fact, Bison has been recognized by the Truckload Carriers Association as the winner of North America's Safest Fleet 10 times, in the large carrier division! If you’re interested in driving for Bison, you can check out their current job opportunities online!