May Trucking Reviews: SAFER Record, Pay, Safety Bonus

A recruiter says May Trucking: family shop out of Payette, Idaho, newer Freightliners, a monthly safety bonus, and a starter seat if you just got your CDL. Then you search the name and land on a pile of unrelated “May Trucking” files in Ohio, California, Georgia, and Michigan. The operating company on the federal file is May Trucking Company in Salem, Oregon. Look up that USDOT before you treat a star rating as the whole story.

Pay, home time, and online ratings move. Verify current figures with recruiting, on Indeed, and on the FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot. Rules change. Verify current requirements at fmcsa.dot.gov before you act on anything in this guide.

May Trucking safety record: what FMCSA data shows

Start with the federal file. People searching “May Trucking SAFER” or “May Trucking DOT number” need the legal entity, not a family last name on a door. On the Company Snapshot pulled for this article, USDOT 94081 is May Trucking Company at 4185 Brooklake Road NE, Salem, OR 97305, mailing PO Box 9039, Salem, OR 97305, phone (503) 393-7030. Entity type: carrier / broker. USDOT status: ACTIVE. Out-of-service date: none. Authority: authorized for motor carrier of property (except household goods) under MC-128527. Authorized for-hire, interstate. If a recruiter hands you a different number, stop.

The same snapshot — FMCSA systems dated 09/09/2026 — lists 1,049 power units and 1,049 drivers. MCS-150 mileage is 84,617,018 for 2025, form date 02/10/2026. Cargo checkboxes include general freight, liquids/gases, chemicals, construction, and a paint line. That is a dry-van and reefer truckload shop with some hazmat-capable freight, not a flatbed specialist.

U.S. roadside inspections, 24 months before 09/09/2026: 2,003 total. Vehicle 1,127 inspections, 77 out of service (6.8%). Driver 2,003 inspections, 15 out of service (0.7%). Hazmat 38 inspections, 1 out of service (2.6%). National averages printed on that snapshot (table dated 08/28/2026) are 22.26% vehicle, 6.67% driver, 4.44% hazmat. Vehicle, driver, and hazmat OOS all sit under those printed averages. That is a rate comparison, not a claim the fleet never fails a Level I.

U.S. crashes, same window: 2 fatal, 15 injury, 40 tow, 57 total. FMCSA counts involvement in reportable crashes without a determination of responsibility. A fleet this size will show volume. Read the current file yourself.

Canada on the same snapshot: 0 inspections and 0 crashes in 24 months. Do not invent a Canadian average.

Safety rating: Satisfactory, rating date 05/17/1995, later review 02/06/2020 typed Non-Ratable. A 1995 Satisfactory line is not a weekly grade. Most carriers never get a new rating unless FMCSA investigates. Walk the fields with our SAFER score company lookup.

Do not mix in lookalikes. A SAFER name search for “May Trucking” returns small files in Lancaster, Ohio; Copperopolis, California; Taylorsville, Georgia; Grady, Alabama; and Sterling Heights, Michigan. Those are not this company. A second Salem file, USDOT 2436465, is the same legal name at the same Brooklake Road address, but it is a broker card: MC-837694, zero power units, zero inspections. Open SAFER by USDOT 94081 and confirm May Trucking Company in Salem.

Who May Trucking is, in plain terms

May Trucking Company presents itself as a family carrier that started in Payette, Idaho, in 1945 and now runs from a Salem, Oregon headquarters (maytrucking.com). Company copy says Clarence and Opal May began with three tractors hauling cement in Oregon and Idaho. Payette is still on the operating-center map. The federal physical address is Salem.

The product is company-driver dry van and refrigerated truckload, plus dedicated and regional seats. Company pages split the work this way: a Western States division with shorter lengths of haul, a refrigerated division for longer miles, and dedicated/regional boards for more regular lanes. Independent-contractor recruiting is pointed at a separate site. This page is about the company-driver seat on USDOT 94081.

Operating centers listed on the company site and on Indeed posts include Brooks/Salem, Oregon; Payette, Idaho; Phoenix, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Layton, Utah; Lebanon, Tennessee; Pensacola, Florida; Gary, Indiana; plus California drop points such as San Bernardino and Yolo. Ask which yard would actually assign your truck. A Pensacola orientation and a Dallas truck is not the same job as a Brooks, Oregon regional seat.

Pay: posted CPM, then ask which board

May pays company drivers cents per mile, with extras that only show up on a settlement. The figures below are from public Indeed listings and May’s own benefits page when this article was researched. Rates change. Verify current pay for your role — CPM, practical vs ELD miles, which fleet (Western, reefer OTR, dedicated, regional), the guaranteed daily-pay option, and both bonuses — in writing.

• Western CDL-A posts (Redding, Chico, Salem, Grants Pass, Visalia, and similar): Indeed showed $0.50–$0.60 per mile. The Redding and Salem descriptions said pay starts at $0.50 per mile (ELD) and runs to $0.60, plus the safety bonus.
• Entry-level OTR (San Antonio listing): Indeed showed $0.45–$0.60 per mile plus safety and productivity bonuses, with copy that CPM is based on experience.
• Company benefits page: paid CPM, a minimum daily pay option, a monthly safety bonus, a monthly productivity bonus, and pay increases every six months. No dollar amounts for those bonuses on that page.
• TheTruckersReport salary box on the May page sat at $350–$1,330 a week with a displayed average near $773 (verify current). User-submitted surveys on that page from 2026 clustered in the $600–$850 weekly range for newer company drivers. None of that is your settlement.

Those CPM bands assume the miles on the same posting. A short week on a Western regional board is not a 48-state reefer week. Ask for a recent settlement on the lanes you would run, including a slow week, and whether miles are ELD, practical, or short.

May Trucking safety bonus: how it is sold, what is missing

This is the line recruiters use after the CPM. May’s benefits page lists a monthly safety bonus next to a monthly productivity bonus. Indeed job copy repeats “plus the Safety Bonus” without a dollar figure, a points table, or a disqualification list.

FMCSA does not publish carrier bonus plans. The public company pages pulled for this article do not either. So the honest version is: the bonus exists as recruiting copy, and the amount you would actually see depends on rules the recruiter has not posted. Before you treat it as part of first-year math, get in writing:

1. What “safety” means here. Preventable accidents, moving violations, CSA events, idle, speed, camera events — the label covers a lot.
2. How it is calculated. Flat monthly check, cents per mile, or a pool. Paid on all miles or only after a threshold.
3. What kills it. One inspection, one ticket, one late load, or a month under a mile cap.
4. How it sits next to the productivity bonus. Some write-ups on TheTruckersReport describe bonuses as the piece that makes a starter check livable once a driver can run hard. Other write-ups say planners keep miles just under the bonus line. Those are driver claims, not the plan document.

If the offer letter only says “monthly safety bonus” with no number, you do not have an offer on that line yet. Verify current.

What drivers actually say

Public review pages are not a verdict. Indeed’s May Trucking Company reviews, updated 08/23/2026, sat at 3.4 out of 5 across 571 write-ups (verify current). Pay scored about 2.9; work-life about 2.8; management, culture, and advancement about 3.2. Indeed’s own summary listed “ability to learn” as a like and “fair pay” as the improvement area. A recent Salem title praised training, home time, and equipment. That is one post, not the fleet.

TheTruckersReport’s May page sat at 2.4 out of 5 on 38 reviews (verify current). Recurring positives in 2026 write-ups: assigned late-model Freightliners, fast tractor repairs, a daily-pay floor while you are learning, tuition reimbursement, and driver managers who do not micromanage once you are solo. Recurring negatives: starter pay that does not match the miles, a split between the Brooks/Salem yard and Phoenix, iffy trailers (tandems, air leaks), and orientation that some people bounce off. One current-employee post treated May as a respectable starter company, not a top-pay destination. Weigh recent patterns, not a 2015 forum thread.

Who May fits — and how to vet it

May tends to fit a new CDL-A driver who wants assigned automated Freightliners, will run OTR or Western regional, and can live with starter CPM plus bonuses that are not printed. Company recruiting lists paid orientation, pets, a rider policy after you solo, 401(k) with a match after a waiting period, and tuition reimbursement. It also lists a case-by-case MVR review. Requirements change. Verify current hiring bars with the company.

Look elsewhere if you need a local clock-in seat (Indeed copy on several CDL posts said OTR/regional, no local), you need a published weekly guarantee instead of a bonus you cannot see, or you will not run 48-state weather as a first-year driver. Compare other carrier files in our trucking company reviews hub rather than picking a logo off a Facebook ad.

1. Confirm the legal name and USDOT. May Trucking Company, Salem, Oregon, 94081. Not a lookalike in another state, and not broker file 2436465.
2. Re-open the SAFER snapshot the week you would start. Authority, inspections, crashes, rating. Use the SAFER lookup walkthrough.
3. Get CPM, the daily-pay option, both monthly bonuses, and the raise schedule in writing. Ask for a sample settlement on your board, including a short week.
4. Name the terminal and the division. Brooks, Phoenix, Pensacola, and Payette are not the same review.
5. Cross-check people, not just the logo. Indeed, TheTruckersReport, and a carrier search on cdlscan. cdlscan is two-sided — carriers review drivers, and you can research the house — and search does not require buying a full report. It will not replace SAFER or the offer letter.

If you have already run for May, add a review on cdlscan so the next applicant is not guessing from a recruiting card. Search is free; a full report is paid. Neither one replaces looking up USDOT 94081.

Frequently asked questions

Is May Trucking a good company to drive for?

It depends whether you want a starter or Western regional seat and can live with CPM plus unpublished bonuses. USDOT 94081 shows active authority, a Satisfactory rating, and vehicle/driver OOS rates under the national averages printed on that snapshot. Indeed sat at 3.4 out of 5 on the 08/23/2026 recap (verify current). TheTruckersReport is harsher on a smaller sample. Verify current pay and home time for your board.

What is May Trucking’s USDOT number?

On the snapshot used here, May Trucking Company in Salem, Oregon, is USDOT 94081, MC-128527. A second Salem file, USDOT 2436465, is a broker card with no trucks. Confirm the number on the truck matches 94081.

How does May Trucking pay work?

Public jobs post experience-based CPM. Indeed listings in this research showed about $0.50–$0.60 per mile on several Western seats and $0.45–$0.60 on an entry-level OTR post, plus safety and productivity bonuses. The company also advertises a minimum daily-pay option and raises every six months. Rates change; get the current package in writing.

How does the May Trucking safety bonus work?

May advertises a monthly safety bonus and a monthly productivity bonus. The public pages pulled for this article do not state the dollar amount, the mile threshold, or what disqualifies you. Ask for the current plan in writing and run a sample month both with and without the bonus.

Does May Trucking hire entry-level drivers?

Yes — recruiting copy and Indeed posts target entry-level and experienced CDL-A drivers. Company pages describe assigned trucks, paid orientation, and tuition reimbursement. Training length and any repayment terms change. Verify current hiring bars with the recruiter.

Where is May Trucking based?

The company says it began in Payette, Idaho, in 1945. The SAFER physical address is Salem, Oregon. Payette remains an operating center. Ask which yard would assign your truck.

How do I look up May Trucking on SAFER?

Do not search the last name and stop. Open FMCSA’s Company Snapshot for USDOT 94081 and confirm May Trucking Company in Salem. Read authority, inspections, crashes, and the safety rating. Ignore same-name files in other states.

What do reviews say about home time at May?

Company FAQ copy says each driver gets a driver manager who works on home time, without posting a days-out number. Indeed and TheTruckersReport comments split: some drivers say home time is honored when approved; others treat May as an OTR starter where the miles come first. Pin down your board before you sign.