You can find mileage rates on their website.

I must admit yours is the first negative comment I've heard on the company.
could you expand on that??
Dan

It really comes down to what you are looking for in a company. Too many want the fast speed on the trucks, but due to the high cost of fuel, alot of the bigger and smaller companies are drastically turning their governs down to below 65.

In Schneider, just watch the out-of-route miles, and the way they calculate. It took me nearly 1 year to figure this out, asking as many as 11 people how they get their percentages.

This hurts expecially if you are in the same city and get paid 0 miles to go from one side to the other. Example: If you are bobtailing from a terminal, say Indianapolis, IN, and you are to pick up an empty (or loaded) on the far side of that city, you will not get paid any miles, but you actually drove 15 miles to pick up, this will be held against your percentage (bonus) at 15%. Schneider wants an average of 10% for 3 months, so already you have to make that up, and they are asking for an additional bonus if you make 7%.

It is possible if you know exactly where you are going.

I left Schneider because dry van slowing up and not having any loads, not being able to run the truck to a truck stop after (un)loading, and several other reasons, I went with a small Reefer company (E L Henderson, Salem, IL) who hasn't got a clue on organization. They have the contracts, and the truck ran 70-72 mph. No bonuses to worry about and had the freedom to run the truck to a truck stop to grab food/shower, etc.

After 2 months, I couldn't take it anymore. Fighting to get paid for the miles ran, safety issues, and doing everyone else job I gave up. I now realize what is more important to me.

Also, Henderson offers an owner operator contract, please be aware that this is a scam as well. They don't give you the freedom on the truck to govern at what you want. They give you a truck that someone has already paid off, you end up paying at least 3 times what the truck is worth, and the numbers don't add up. A friend of mine did this, no word of lie, in the past 2 months, he had 2 paychecks, one was for $29.00 (not a typo), and the other was $1000, which they took back as if it were an advance.

Schneider is not the best, but it is a great place to land, either company or as a O/O. Who cares how fast the trucks run if you are not getting paid for them.

I watch as trucks fly by me, slow down, speed up,.... this doesn't impress anyone but themselves because all we see if fuel and money being burned ! !

If everyone would remember: SUPPLY AND DEMAND :: The higher the demand, the higher to supply this, and the cost will go up.....

Stop giving money to the fuel stock holders who want you to buy the fuel at higher prices, they will be the only ones to afford the goods!

Well Im not going to try and argue with ya.

But from what I have seen, Schneider usually tries hard to keep their drivers moving. I have heard fairly little about people waiting rather long period of time for a load. It can happen from time to time, but still. I know for a fact that the bulk/ tanker drivers have been pulling van loads more often, just to keep running.

Schneider also has a reefer division now...not sure exactly what they haul.

As far as truck stops and bobtailing there. it happens all the time. I fuel up at a Pilot in Utah and there are usually a handful of tractors sitting there. Heck, I've seen them up in the middle of nowhere where I know Schneider doesn't even deliver to. I've never heard of them not allowing it...I figure it just counts as OOR miles.

I'm thinking about the driving school then to a company idea, even with SNI, but am curious as to how you know if a school is "accredited". Don't think I've noticed that mentioned in any of the schools' information. Who does the accreditation and how can I find a list of accredited schools (esp. on the West coast)?

Here's a gripe about Schneider.

I'm on a dedicated account for them. For some reason the freight is set up so that we have 3 heavy days and 4 slow ones every week. That means 3 days a week all available drivers are dispatched, and 4 days drivers are turned away. To help the problem, on slow days dispatch routes us to one of two other nearby dedicated account to help them. And on our heavy days, their drivers might help us.

Last Thursday I called my dispatcher at 10am and was told that I was going to do a load save for the nearby Sears account in Manteno, IL. The load was due at 1:30pm and I told my dispatcher I wasn't going to make it and he said he knew, I was just to get it there as fast as I could. I got there at 4:15 and I was turned away by the Sears employees. They informed me that the 1:30 appointment was actually the reschedule, the load was supposed to be there at 7am and apparently their dispatcher "forgot" to put a driver on it. The Sears employees had waited around all day, first for the 7am truck, then for the 1:30 one, and it never came so they went home. They said they'd take me the next morning. I called my dispatcher and asked why &*## no one had okayed a 4:15 delivery time with Sears. My dispatcher knows how to do his job, it was the Sears one that made two huge mistakes, first not scheduling a driver for the 7am, secondly picking an arbitrary, unachievable second delivery time.

The thing that dispatcher did do that pissed me off is refused to let me talk to the Sears dispatcher, or his boss to give him a piece of my mind. I was then expected to sit in this strip mall until the next morning, spending approx 19 hours in a strip mall parking lot. I wasn't allowed to drop the trailer and go anywhere either.

The second shift dispatcher for my account told me that her and the Sears people agreed that I would go to Gary, IN terminal to spend the night so I wouldn't have to spend that long in a strip mall, that I would get paid to drive there and back, which was 100 miles, and that I would get detention pay for the whole time, which was $75. I agreed and did that, came back the next morning and completed the load. I then asked my DBL if I would really get paid that, and he said he'd pay me the mileage to Gary and back, which was 30$ but that whether I get detention is up to his boss, whose also the boss of the Sears account.

This whole situation is effing ridiculous. Because I didn't complete the load on Thursday I couldn't work Friday. Having to sit 19 hours on a load because a dispatcher made several serious mistakes has a big negative impact on my paycheck that isn't compensated by $75, if I even get paid that. I'd settle for not getting the $75 if they fired that dispatcher, but I doubt they will. He seems severely incompetent, but because he's most likely an Affirmative Action hire he'll just keep screwing things up.

I was lied to, Sears was lied to, we both got screwed over. I'm 21 and have less than 3 months experience, this is probably the best option I have for the situation I'm in. I know there's a lot more honest, competent, dependable companies out there, I'm just waiting for my turn.

I'm sending you info on your point about your dispatcher problem. Here's the link to check out, oh I can't paste it. Google "why's america dying", it's written by marty nemko, this guy has EXPERIANCE. Read the part on doctor's, you will have further support for your thoughts on affirmative action. When I took chemistry that were letting affirmatives pass the class to get them into nursing school, my chem. instructor though a Loma Linda University and he had the same problem there. Affirmative action extends it's self far and wide. Read the artical.

Last year Schneider lost the P&G account due to this problem. They all blamed the drivers, but yet I had 4 drivers that I know that were on that dedicated P&G account, and they all basically told me the same thing. Exactly same scenerio.....

Sorry to say that I feel bad for yah, hang in there to get at least a 1 year experience. Being 21 is not the problem, and to get into the real good companies, they ask for 3 years OTR exp.

Every trucking company out there is trying to downsize and change as much as they can to save money due to the "great and powerful" fuel stock holders that are keeping the prices up.

Be glad you were not charged $1.50 per mile for leaving the consignee... Schneider is now charging you this if you exceed the OOR.... also if you decide to leave the consignee without a load you will be charged this as well,.... Yes this is true, they are charging the driver .....

Good Luck

correction to the above comment:
I'm sending you info on your point about your dispatcher problem. Here's the link to check out, oh I can't paste it. Google "why's america dying", it's written by marty nemko, this guy has EXPERIANCE. Read the part on doctor's. You will have further support for your thoughts on affirmative action. When I took chemistry the school was demanding that my chemistry instructor pass affirmitives so that they could get into the nursing school. My chem. instructor was forced to pass them. He also thaught at Medical School in Southern California, and he had the same problem there with medical students. Affirmative action extends it's self far and wide. Read the artical.

I read it...will let you know what I think of this moron when I stop laughing.