PACCAR Reviews

Pros

PACCAR offers employees the opportunity to expand their skill set and work on assignments above their job title. This allowed me to grow in my career and gain experience outside of my normal day-to-day job.

Cons

The pay is below average and men often advance faster than women.

Advice to Senior Management

The managers who offer their employees recognition for their achievement help make PACCAR a positive place to work so I hope other managers and VPs begin doing the same.

Pros

Rewards Results driven, career oriented professionals. Simple mission statement, make profits by providing the best trucks in the world. Exceedingly smart management and peers. Seventy-Three Years of profits and large cash surplus provide stability and enable the company to invest in the future. Nice to be able to work at a company where you are proud of the product.

Cons

Strict rules on work hours. Very conservative norms. People not emotionally invested in their job will get washed out quickly (Pro?).

Advice to Senior Management

Update Salary Structure.

Pros

Good benefits-health, dental, vision, 401k matching @ 5%.

Cons

Difficult to grow within the company--don't always promote from within.
Not flexible in work schedule or telecommuting--even when technology is available.
Pay is very low in comparison to other similar leading industries.

Advice to Senior Management

Put more investment in your employees--change the thinking of 'it is a privilege to work here" to "we appreciate our employees by hiring the best to make us an industry leader". To keep good/hard working non-management employees, you need to start paying at least average salary wages.

Pros

PACCAR has a good reputation in the industry. They do a great deal for their employees and offer good benefits. If you are able to relocate, there are many opportunities available for advancement.

Cons

You must be willing to relocate to truly advance in the company if you do not live in the Seattle area. They are more interested in you having a degree than having actual experience. The salary is average, but could be better.

Advice to Senior Management

There are some great people that work for the company already that could benefit the organization but are overlooked due to their lack of a degree. Experience and loyalty should mean as much as a college degree, especially when some people had to go straight to work instead of college (for financial reasons) when they were younger. You need to look internally for your future leaders.

Pros

Excellent bonus and stock purchase plan

Cons

Extremely conservative company (suit required) and very little people interaction. All business, all the time.

Advice to Senior Management

Conservative management styles went out years ago. Management syles should change as the business world changes. If companies don't change, the find themselves out of touch, and the next thing you know it's too late and your out of business.

Pros

Opportunities globally. Management will challenge you to achieve results. Company is very detail and quality focussed. Education is critical and company will support employees who desire to advance their degrees, provided the employee has shown leadership and committment to their roles.

Cons

Sometimes too top down in focus. will tolerate some mistakes, but if get on the "not popular" list can be a long time getting off.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more sensitive to employee morale. Provide managers a better tool to reward effort during difficult times. Keep emotions in check in front of mid level managers and employees.

Pros

No great deal of intelligence required to do the job. In fact, most engineers could do it in their sleep.

Cons

Limited opportunity for professional growth in the engineering field. In fact, little real engineering is ever done here, so your resume doesn't grow and professionally, you stagnate. Ten years here is just one year's experience repeated ten times.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to learn what it is your subordinates do; this will help tremendously when they are explaining difficult technical concepts to you. Try to think beyond the 3-slide Powerpoint presentation.

Pros

PACCAR is a stable, growing company. From the perspective of strategy and financial growth, the company is great. For some selected employees, PACCAR heavily emphasizes on promoting from within.

Cons

PACCAR's culture is extremely conservative, and has the "good ole boys" mentality. Mark Piggot AKA "The Chairman" has ran this company successfully with his strong team of executive talent. However, the company truly under-appreciates those below the executive level. The company advertises itself as to being "lean" in expenses and pays non-executives below market value while expecting them to work a ton of hours. However, executives are compensated well above market value. The "Chairman" has good and bad days and the employees run around in fear of running into him on a "bad day." There are many "unwritten" PACCAR rules such as requiring everyone to wear a suit daily, for the ladies not wearing open-toed shoes and always wearing pantyhose (even on the hot days), not using the elevator if you are going up or down two flights and not crossing the street to grab Starbucks during working hours.

Advice to Senior Management

You're a smart business man but learn to value your employees... Also, put your "PACCAR unwritten rules" in writing if you want to hold your employees accountable... Hopefully, the next time you find one of us crossing the street to Starbucks during our law-required 10 minute break, you will fight the urge to yell and ridicule them in front of others as you normally do... and instead, hopefully, you will act like the professional business man that you are. Employee satisfaction and healthy work environments produce more effective employees, "Chairman."

Pros

Solid history of profits and old school

Cons

Old school slow to change and adapt to changing business needs.

Pros

401K, Pension
Some cool co-workers who try to show you the ropes
Lots of funnies stories around the office about Mark's micro-management and quirky dislikes.

Cons

Was recently told to work 11 hours for an engineering push - w/o freebees.
Was previously told to work weekends for an engineering push, at least on that push we got free soda and coffee.

Seems like these overtime e-mails from managment are the NORM now.

Sad I took the job offer. Had another offer out of state, took this one so I wouldn't have to move the family. Now I hardly see the family.

Dress code right out of the 1970 Ross Perot handbook.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't lie to new employees. You lied to me when I was hired about forced UNPAID overtime.
How about comp time for travel.

Watch out or SPEEA will organize your engineering force. God knows why they haven't already.