Rats the size of fully grown German Shepherds

__________________
Al

as a former schneider driver myself i can agree to some extent with what you are saying. Yes, schneider has tried to improve their retention rate. the new pay increase is one area that will help. I left schneider because of low miles. I tried every approach i could to get more miles. schneider just couldnt provide them. If you can get them to run you schneider is not a bad company. I can say I was impressed with all the tools that they have available to the drivers. Their operating centers are some of the nicest i have ever seen. in fact a few of them are pretty high tech. The slow trucks werew a nuisance, but 63mph isnt all that bad. It would have been nice to run 70mph out in the midwest where that is the posted speed liomit in most states. I am from the northeast, where 65mph is the normal speed limit, but have the time you cant run that speed anyway. with the heavy traffic and rolling hills i consistently averaged 55-57 mph running around. I have always said that i would sacrifice the 2mph for a little extra power to pull the hills. Schneider runs a 375hp detroit engine but in addition to a governed speed of 63mph, they cut back the fuel intake and you dont get the full 375 horse. this leads to a lot of slow pulling in hilly areas such as pennsylvania, and I-81 in southern virginia, which schneider runs quite a lot of. another perk that i liked about schneider was the use of the fuel card to pay for cat scales. at $8.50 a pop, you could easily spend a ton of cash. after all schneider loveas to haul heavy. As i said i was really impressed with what schneider had to offer as far as their facilities and amenities provided at those facilities. The bottom line though was that i never got any miles and they never got me home on time. with all they had to offer, it wasnt enough to off set missing time with the family, and not being able to pay the bills. i have always said that schneider has the potential to stand alone as THE carrier in the business. they have the freight, they have many different opportunities, they have the facilities and the cash flow. all they need to do is find a way to put it all together properly. pay a little more attention to getting the driver paid, and getting him home, add some more ponies under the hood, and better maintain their equipment. getting anything fixed was like pulling teeth. I lived comfortably out on the road, i just didnt work comfortably. most of the time i wasnt working at all. for someone just starting out, i have told many people that schneider national is a great place to get your start. they provide in depth training, the experience of that first year is unmatched. it is that second year and beyond that takes its toll on you. I have found that 1 year accident free with schneider will land you a job with anyone. because of their picky hiring standards and training programs, if you tell another company you worked for schneider, they will bend over backwards to get you to switch.

Will Schneider allow someone to pay for their own training or do they want you to be locked into a contract for 18 months?

Yes you can go to any CDL school pretty much. I went to one in the Sacramento, CA area and am heading to Schneider orientation/OTR training on Oct. 6th in fontana. I do not have to sign a contract and as long as I work there they will be paying my tuition payment for the school I attended.
I would recommend this solely for the reason that you DO NOT have to sign a contract and still get your tuition paid.
Hope that helps. Good luck.

truckin916,
Thanks for the reply.

If someone doesn't want to go the CDL school route prior to getting hired by SNI can they just start with Schneider's training academy and pay SNI tuition out of pocket? My big concern is I don't want to owe anybody anything (money, 18 mos, etc).

JBC,
This is what I heard as I start training on Oct 6th (maybe this next weekend if I can schmooze and get in sooner):

If you don't have a CDL and need one, Schneider has a training academy that will train you. The cost is something like 4,500 (I think, could be wrong). Either way, they will take out something like 12.50 a week out of your paycheck (basically thats an hour of work for me, the way I ran the numbers) for the cost of tuition and they will do that for 2 years. At the same time, THEY will pay 60 dollars each week for tuition. If you stick with them for 2 years, you only will end up paying something like 900 bucks for the cost of the program. Not too bad. Of course, I haven't seen the fine print either so there could be more.

Ziggy,
Are you going to Fontana, CA for your training on the 6th? If so, see you there!
I already have my CDL (just got it)...how about you?

Truckin,
Yeah, Im going to Fontana on the 6th, although I called my recruiter and asked if I could get in a week earlier (per my route managers suggestion, so I could meet him). She said that was unlikely, but would keep me in mind. I don't have a CDL yet, so I wil be there for the full 2 weeks, and then do OTR training on the route up here. I just passed my physical today and got my permit...but i only took my General knowledge, will need to get the combinations and air brakes too, along with hazmat within 30 days.

Oh okay. Il'l see you there then. Sounds like most people that come in with their CDL end up staying for the 14 days as well, we just get a paycheck and don't have to pay for the training. I was told we'll get tested on the pre-trip inpection, 90 backing and a road test. We'll see how I do when I get there, not used to those 53' trailers.

Im worried about backing too. Well everything for that matter as I 've never driven a truck before (at least anything bgiger than a 26 foot penske with a car hauler.) But I already know what I'm doing when I finish schooling....delivering to dealerships and auto parts stores...I really want a bunch of practice backing up.

Just took a drive earlier tonight to the local truck stop where the truck is parked. Figured it was mine (lol...mine) as it had a trailer with a lift-gate on it and I know that one of their trucks like that parks here in one of two truck stops in town nightly. Front bumper had some damage. Will zip back there tomorrow and see if he / she comes back as then I can identify the truck easier.