Total Quality Logistics is an independent logistics provider that is based out of Ohio. The company posted $2.24 billion in revenue in 2015, so they’re a large entity and the second-largest freight brokerage firm in the country.
Who is TQL Logistics?
TQL was founded in 1997 and is now the largest private company in Ohio. The company offers TL and LTL services. While headquartered in Ohio, TQL maintains 48 sales offices around the country and has 3,800+ employees.
The company operates in 21 states.
Operating as a produce shipper initially, the company has grown significantly over the years, with revenue doubling between 2011 and 2015.
Hauling for Total Quality Logistics
There are jobs available at TQL in sales and various other fields, but we’re going to be focusing on trucking. You need to find loads to haul, and what better company to choose than one that is a logistics operation?
The company works with carriers all across the country, so if you have your own fleet or you’re an owner-operator, you’ll be able to access the company’s 20,000+ loads per week.
A few things to know about the company is that they have loads available for:
- Flatbeds
- Reefers
- Vans
And the TQL Load Board is far more refined than a lot of the competition. The company offers three access options for qualified carriers: live, web portal and mobile app.
Through the portal, you’ll be able to access:
- Load board
- Post trucks
- Check payment status
- View payment history
- Complete check calls
- Fuel advances
- Multiple user profiles
- Support
- Send documents
- Search alerts
- Check calls
Some options are only available on specific portals, i.e. sending documents is only available via the mobile app.
Total Quality Logistics Pay Options
Waiting to get paid is never fun. Expenses need to be paid, and if you’re not paid quickly, you’ll find that it’s impossible to meet the demands of being a trucker. The company offers several payment options:
- 28 day terms where no fees apply
- 7 day terms where fees apply
- Next day terms where fees apply
Direct deposit is available, so money is deposited right into your account.
There is also a dedicated payment resolutions team that is easy to contact and available when you need them most.
TQL Salary Information
There are a lot of complaints against TQL, but these have to do with dispatchers and a lot of mix-ups.
There aren’t many complaints in terms of pay because the company’s high revenue allows them to pay their employees well.
When driving for the company, you won’t be a traditional employee, so they don’t list their pay rates, and finding salary information is difficult.
If you want to know general salaries for other careers at the company, you’ll find the following:
- Sales reps make $35,000 on average and up to $58,000
- Account reps make $35,000 on average
- Logistics managers earn between $14,000 and $115,000
This information is all from Indeed, so the salaries are submitted by people that work at the company already.
Reefer Loads
A post from 2012 from one driver noted that the company pays $2.75 to $3 per mile for reefer loads. This is one of the only posts where you can see how much a person driving for the company makes.
But further reviews give us a lot more details from the company and their pay.
Total Quality Logistics Reviews
Before we get into TQL reviews, keep in mind that people generally bark louder when something does not go right. In our industry, we understand so take the reviews with a grain of salt. For the most part, we see TQL as a major player in the freight industry over the next decade.
With that said, lets dig deeper with some of their bad reviews, as they seem to be the only ones that get attention online. But there are some strong points in a lot of reviews, with fast pay being the biggest perk.
Aside from this, a few reviews say:
- TQL wanted to pay a driver $750 for 800 miles. The driver said the load should have paid $1,500 for the route.
- Another driver complained that they billed him for being an hour late for a delivery with no time posted. The driver was billed $150 for the issue.
A lot of issues have to do with detention time and dispatch not understanding the situation. We see this with a lot of the new companies in the logistics industry. One of the common issues we’re seeing is a lot of detention time on the company’s part. A horror story, or dozens, that seem to pop up weekly are similar to this scenario:
- The driver is told to arrive at 11am for a pickup.
- The load wasn’t ready until 5pm.
- The driver had to deliver by 9am the next morning.
- The driver broke laws to get the load to a closed company at 8am.
The issue was that dispatch told the driver they would “try” to get the customer to pay for detention time.
One driver called about a load in Boise, Idaho, and when he called, he found that the load was 120 miles from Boise. The rate the company was willing to pay was 85 cents per mile. Numerous complaints against the company exist, and a lot of this has to do with the brokers on the other end of the call.
Some drivers in 2016 were stating they were paid $1.8 CPM, which isn’t too bad, but the driver didn’t state what was being hauled.
Deadhead is a common issue, too, and since deadhead doesn’t kick in, people sitting for 4 hours are paid for only 2 hours of deadhead. The rate for one driver was $100, which the broker cut down to $50, so the driver was being undercut.
The final verdict is that drivers need to be cautious when driving with TQL and make sure they have clear communication on load schedules. The workers in the office get paid well, but drivers have to deal with a lot of outside variables to keep a steady route.